Corporate Relations & Engagement

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – May 10, 2010 –

Members and supporters of parent-teacher associations, community athletic organizations like Little Leagues, and churches and other registered nonprofits have found an easy way to raise thousands of dollars for their organizations with the help of Verizon.

Verizon offers nonprofits in the state an opportunity to participate in the Verizon Velocity Program, which provides eligible groups with contributions when their members or supporters purchase certain Verizon services: Verizon FiOS TV, Verizon FiOS Internet, Verizon High Speed Internet, Verizon Freedom Calling and Verizon Long Distancehome phone services, or DIRECTV Service through Verizon.

The Verizon Velocity program is providing support to dozens of grassroots groups such as PTAs at Frank C. Leal Elementary School in Cerritos, Vejar Elementary in Pomona, St. Linus School in Norwalk, Mark Twain Elementary in Long Beach and Kimberly Elementary in Redlands, and the Greater Works Church in Temecula. Last year, through the program, Verizon provided nearly $15,000 in funding to Southern California nonprofits.

You don't need to sign up for a U.N. mission, deliver medical aid to a developing country or renounce your possessions to improve the planet. By enjoying a vacation with a charity-minded tour operator, you're already helping humanity. Many such companies give back to the far-flung destinations their leisure clients visit.

Take Boston-based Grand Circle Corp., which typically sends more than 100,000 travelers, mostly 50 and older, on trips each year. Since 1992, its nonprofit arm, Grand Circle Foundation, has donated or pledged $47 million to educational and humanitarian efforts around the world, a significant part financed by tour proceeds, said spokeswoman Priscilla O'Reilly.

In the session "Three Bears — How to Plan a Mid-Level Program That Is Just Right for Your Organization," at the DMA 2010 Washington Nonprofit Conference, speakers Jann Schultz, director of donor relations at Operation Smile; Susan Paine, director of direct marketing at the Human Rights Campaign; and Cathy Finney, associate vice president at MINDset direct, offered the following keys to success when planning a mid-level giving program.

Lynn Edmonds, president, L.W. Robbins Associates
Loyal donors are being conservative but holding on. Since the spring, we have seen a slight increase in giving in some audiences but not all. And in certain cases, we have been able to reactivate lapsed donors by decreasing the gift asks.