Turning Point Youth Centre secures more donors with Christmas fundraiser (Submitted photo/Belinda Martin)

By Elliott Knopp

Youth Fundraiser

Turning Point Youth Centre secures more community donors

Dec 18, 2020 | 10:27 AM

Getting creative and harnessing the energy of the holiday season has resulted in a local non-profit receiving a financial boost.

Earlier this month, the staff at Turning Point Youth Centre (TPYC) launched their 12 Days of Christmas fundraiser. The holiday-themed event brought in over $2,600 in one-time donations and added 12 new monthly donors to the program.

TPYC Founder Belinda Martin said the donations from the event help out the organization in a year where fundraising options were limited due to the ongoing public health concerns. The youth centre had originally planned two fundraisers in the spring, but public health guidelines set out to reduce the spread of COVID-19 led to the cancellation of the events.

“It’s a huge help,” Martin said. “We had a fundraiser planned in March two weeks after everything got shut down. Then we had a concert fundraiser planned in May that we had to cancel. So coming up with a COVID-friendly fundraiser was a little bit challenging.”

Throughout Dec. 5 to 17, the event opened up an opportunity for people to sign up as a monthly donor. On the first day, the monthly donation was set at $10 per month while seeking 12 applicants. After that, the cash denomination would increase each day until the final day reached a request for one donor chipping in $100 per month.

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Prizes and incentives were included with each registry and improved with each denomination. The event also features a grand prize for people who interact and share the event on social media.

Martin mentioned the first days of the fundraiser started slowly with very few donors signing up. Shortly after that, as the denomination increased, more donors began registering to sponsor the program.

“It’s nice having monthly donors because then you have that guaranteed monthly income. It was cool seeing that people wanted to contribute bigger amounts rather than smaller amounts.”

In addition to raising money to cover operating costs, the event worked to increase exposure to the organization. On each day of the event, videos showcasing different aspects of the program were uploaded to their Facebook page. The brief video series includes different rooms, amenities and people within the organization.

While the 12 Days of Christmas event has concluded, TPYC is still accepting one-time donations and registrations from those who would like to become a monthly donor. Prizes and incentives remain available to new monthly donors until the end of January.

Grand prize draw winners were announced on the TPYC Facebook page. Donors and people seeking information can reach the TPYC on their newly renovated website.

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Elliott.Knopp@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp