Hi everyone,

Thanks for reading this post even though it isn’t business related.  This post is about my Birthday – and about supporting one of my favourite charities, Qmunity!

I was contemplating what I could differently on July 25th to celebrate my42nd birthday  - I know, I don’t look a day over 29! - and I was at a loss.  In the past, I’ve thrown big birthday bashes, cruised English Bay, and stretched the celebration over multiple weeks having private, intimate dinners with all my closest friends.

For 2011, I wanted something more… meaningful.  Starting in January of this year, I  devoted myself to one charity for the year, giving them 100%  of my volunteer support: www.qmunity.ca.  So, I thought, “Why not combine two of my passions Social Media and Giving Back?” This is where you come in…

Starting today, I’m asking my phenomenal social media connections on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to take a moment to consider the following:

1. Have we engaged one another on any of the social media platforms I’m on?
2. Have I tweeted or posted something which was useful or helpful to you?
3. Have you attended an event I produced which you enjoyed?
4. Have I done any pro bono work for you or a charity/business with which you are involved?
5. Do you just plain like me?

If you answer yes to any of the above, then I would be honoured if you clicked HERE to donate $1 to Qmunity in my name. I don’t expect anything more than a $1. Of course, you are welcome to give more, but all I ask is for $1.  Any gift over $20 receives a tax receipt. My hope is to raise $1500 with your support. Donate now!

This unique birthday idea is made possible thanks to my amazing friends at Global Currents.  If you want to know more about Global Currents and how they are changing the world, please call me as I’ve got a special offer for you if you’d like to explore your own online fundraising.

Thanks again for all your support and for making this the most meaningful birthday, yet!

Thanks again to all who came out to show their support and of course a huge thank you to all my suppliers and sponsors. Lonsdale Rentals Mobiry Seven 25 Design & Typography House of Q Michi Sushi Road 13 Mozart Bakery & Cafe Hot Wax Mobile Music & Tattoos For Now

The rest of the great photos taken by Cole & Jakob from Nordica Photography can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/amuseconsulting/

Presents

Here’s a unique, fun, easy to implement and inexpensive event for your office this season. Whether your office is 5 or 5o people.

Mission: Relive holiday stress and inject a fun atmosphere in the office during the jam packed holiday season.

Idea: Host a holiday present wrapping party in your office with proceeds going to your favourite charity.

Execution:

1. set aside a 2 hour extended lunch for all staff on a work day during the month of December before Xmas.
2. encourage all to participate by making it a pot luck, and inviting them to bring their favourite holiday music to share. Christmas, Hanukkah all welcome.
3. set up a gift wrapping station with gift wraps, tape, bows, ribbons and name tags all courtesy of you their employer.
4. invite your staff to bring their presents in for wrapping and encourage them to make a donation of food, or a loonie per present with proceeds going to the Vancovuer Food Bank.
5. to add an extra twist managers can be the ones responsible for all the wrapping while the rest of your staff get to enjoy themselves and share holiday experiences with each other. This is a great team building tip

Result: A festive office environment that helps give back to those less fortunate + helps your staff to reduce their holiday stress .

What do you think? Wouldn’t you like all your present wrapping done in an afternoon?

Canuck Place

One of the staff team building events I was tasked with was a holiday party where I was charged with energizing the team, connect them to the community at large and ramp up the holiday spirit. I’m happy to say we did it and here’s how.

1. We set aside $20 per staff from the budget for a charitable donation.
2. Reviewing the company’s brand and staff demographics we selected Canuck Place as the featured charity.
3. Contacted Canuck Place fund-raising office and researched areas of need within the organization.
4. Canuck Place created a wish list of toys and items that would enhance the stay of families receiving support at the hospice.
5. Taking the wish list provided we researched prices online and created teams that would cover the cost of each item. For example a toy costing $50 would have 3 staff assigned to it. Team size varied from 1 person up to 5 and included all 48 employees and management.
6. With teams numbers and gifts made into raffle strips 1`manager + 1 employee put all raffle slips into a “hat” and one week prior to the party walked around the office and had every person pull a ticket.
7. Staff then had one week to find their team members, pool their $ resources, source the gift and purchase it.
8. At the start of the party (drinks and appies in the office) we set up a gift wrapping station and invited all teams to wrap their presents.
9. All staff was transported to Canuck Place where they presented their gifts and were invited to treat on homemade cookies and hot chocolate. Canuck Place has amazing holidays light displays so staff were welcome to tour the outside grounds + got to hear a small story about the work and families supported by CP.
10. Inspired by the amazing team at Canuck Place we loaded the staff back into the bus and continued on to the restaurant where they partied on in true holiday style.

So in short a great experience for the employees to work together and give back to a well deserving charity. Employees understood that management cared about them and created an experience that thanked them for the past years work. All in all a huge hit!

Amuse Consulting has created a unique gift that benefits a charity or non-profit long after the gift is given. The gift of Strategic Event Visioning consultation (value $150.00, free) will help charities plan and produce events that raise awareness, funds and engagement.

Events can take up huge staffing resources as well as pull from the same sponsor and donor base. With your gift Amuse Consulting can help your favourite charity to decrease stress and increase its event success all thanks to your generosity.

The Strategic Event Visioning consultation is a hands on two-hour session where we work with the organization to help revitalize, energize and most importantly create efficiencies to help maximize the benefits for all involved.

Here’s how to give this gift:
1. Think of your favourite charity that holds events and could use a 2-hour Strategic Event Visioning consultation from Amuse.
2. Contact their decision maker, and inform them of your gift. Let them know Amuse will be in touch to schedule an appointment that is convenient for them.
3. Email the contact information of the charity to Amuse for scheduling & consultation.
4. Send Amuse Consulting payment for the $150 – no wait! As our way of giving back all Strategic Event Visioning consultations booked in the month of Dec 2009 will have the $150.00 consultation fee waived. Your gift to your favorite charity or non-profit is absolutely free.

So take 5 minutes and give a gift to your favourite charity or not-for-profit that will be measured beyond the dollars and cents.