MAKE A DIFFERENCE EVERY DAY.
Please use this toolkit to help others rise UP.
401GIVES starts Monday, April 1st at 6:00 AM.
401Gives ends Tuesday, April 2nd at 6:00 PM.
Total Fundraising Goal = $35,000

OUR 2025 TEAM

Ally Marrinan
Alyssa Kohler
Aphiwe Ntloko
Berenice Arends
Ken Carlo
Kim Finnerty
Maggie Stark
Martha T. Cummings
Meg Pickering
Mike Fontaine
Robin Carlo
Siyabulela Rabie
Susan Wolf Greene
Zuki Mbuli

HOW TO SIGN UP

Step One
Write us (info@universalpromise.org) or text us (+14018558984) to tell us you’re interested and to give us your email address. We will follow up within 24 hours with the information you will need.

Step Two
What’s coming? Once you hear back from us with an invitation, you will make a fundraising account for 401Gives or sign in (if you already have an account). Then you will click on MANAGE PROFILE (or TELL YOUR STORY). Add the details, including a photo of your volunteerism in South Africa, if applicable.

Step Three
Choose a fundraising goal of $150, $250, $500, $750, $1,000, or $2,500.

ANYONE WHO RAISES - not donates - at least $2,750 as a member of Team Universal Promise may qualify to earn a spot on a future volunteer trip. All volunteers must follow the guidelines presented here, and may be subject to minimum age restrictions, and anyone who does not meet those guidelines may not be allowed to participate, even if he or she has raised the requisite $2,750.

Included are housing, meals, ground transportation in South Africa, gratuities, a safari, and cultural events, only during the period of volunteerism. Excluded are round-trip airfare and personal items (including, but not limited to, laundry, phone, insurance, alcohol, snacks, etc.).

Offer must be completed within two years from April 1, 2025. Non-transferable.

Step Four
If you add this link (https://youtu.be/xcjiH7lcxG8) when asked to upload a video, a video will replace your photo.

Step Five
If the Tell Your Story content is not already inserted, please insert the text below. Feel free to cut, paste, and edit the content, as you like.

TELL YOUR STORY

Dear Family and Friends:

I have signed UP to raise funds for Universal Promise (a nonprofit that funds education in rural South Africa) during 401Gives, a rapid-fire period of fundraising starting at 6:00 AM on April 1st and ending at 6:00 PM on April 2nd.

This year, we are raising money to provide classroom essentials to improve students’ chances of passing each grade level, including

·       Art supplies, paper, pencils, and pens
·       Backpacks
·       Calculators
·       Desks and chairs for students and teachers
·       Eyeglasses and eye examinations for children-in-need
·       Library books
·       Overhead Internet projectors
·       School shoes
·       School uniforms
·       Textbooks
·       Whiteboards, markers, and erasers

So many of us take these items for granted, and we want to make them commonplace for thousands of children in more than 10 schools Universal Promise supports.

My goal is to raise $XXX so that Universal Promise may finish the funding for this important initiative.

I'd be grateful if you were to contribute to my fundraising cause. All donations matter to me.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

XXX

WHAT TO POST and WHEN

March 1, Saturday
Start to build your fundraising approach by signing up. Make a list of social media sites on which you will post and a list of people to whom you will reach out via social media, email, phone, and/or text. Consider family, friends, family friends, colleagues, volunteers, gala attendees, etc. Need help with your page? Text 401.855.8984 or email.

March 24, Monday
By this date, finish creating your fundraising page. Make your first outreach to your contacts and tell them what you’ll be doing as of Monday, April 1st. Consider copying and pasting the TELL YOUR STORY content as part of your outreach. Need help? Text 401.855.8984 or email.

March 30, Sunday and March 31st, Monday
Sometime during the day, copy and paste the following text on your social media sites, and email, phone, and/or text family and friends. INCLUDE YOUR PERSONAL FUNDRAISING PAGE LINK on all communication.

Hey, family and friends. The Universal Promise 401Gives online fundraising challenge I am participating in starts April 1st at 6:00 AM! My fundraising goal is $XXX, and this is the link (link here) to my fundraising page. Please be ready for my post on April 1st, because once 401Gives launches, we will be on a whirlwind-of-giving for 36 hours. We are raising money to to provide classroom essentials to improve students’ chances of passing each grade level, including

If you would like to give early, you may through Venmo: @unipromise. Look for the round UP logo of the child with this tagline: Justice. Civility. Hope. Thank you!

April 1, Tuesday
Early-morning
As of 6:00 AM, we are off and running in the Universal Promise 401Gives online fundraising challenge! Please help me raise funds to upgrade netball, soccer, and volleyball facilities for several hundred students in South Africa. The easiest ways to give are to click my link (link here) to my personal fundraising page or to donate via Venmo: @unipromise. Look for the round UP logo of the child with this tagline: Justice. Civility. Hope. Thank you!

Morning
Hi, all! As you may know, my fundraising goal for this online donation challenge is $XXX. So far I have raised $XXX. I hope you will help me hit my goal by clicking this link (link here) to my personal fundraising page or donating via Venmo: @unipromise. Look for the round UP logo of the child with this tagline: Justice. Civility. Hope. Thank you!

Afternoon
I am on again to update you on my fundraising progress for 401Gives. As of right now, I have raised $XXX to help Universal Promise upgrade sports facilities for a primary school in South Africa. I need you to help me hit my goal of $XXX. Just click this link (link here) to my personal fundraising page or donate via Venmo: @unipromise. Look for the round UP logo of the child with this tagline: Justice. Civility. Hope. Thank you!

Evening
We are nearing the end of the day, and so far I have raised a total of $XXX and have $XXX more to go. Please donate any amount to help me bring upgraded netball, soccer, and volleyball programs to students in South Africa. The event ends April 2nd at 6:00 PM, and time is running out. Please. Every dollar matters, and this project means too much to Universal Promise and its partner-school, so I hope you will choose to give, if you haven’t already.

Just click this link (link here) to my personal fundraising page or donate via Venmo: @unipromise. Look for the round UP logo of the child with this tagline: Justice. Civility. Hope. Thank you for making a difference.

April 2, Wednesday
Morning and Afternoon
[You may repeat the morning and afternoon messages under April 1, Tuesday.]

Anytime after April 5th, once the final totals have come in
401Gives 2024 is officially over, and we had so much fun! I love the friendly competition, all to benefit thousands of children-in-need in rural South Africa. This year Universal Promise raised a total of $XXX: the best year yet! The results speak for themselves. Year One we raised $400, Year Two we raised $6,000, Year Three we raised $12,000, Year Four we raised $24,000, and look what we did Year Five!

As you know, my initial fundraising goal was $XXX, and thanks to you, I raised $XXX. I am sincerely grateful you care about an organization and a mission that mean so much to me as well as children who are second-to-none.

Please think about joining our Universal Promise 401Gives team in 2026. The bigger the team, the greater the impact.

Thank you!