Making a decision to give to a charity is complicated. For any donor, it is a decision personal by nature. How much should I give? Where should the money go? How will it be used? Is it enough to make a difference?
While every charitable organization is extremely grateful for a gift of any size, it seems that the largest gifts may receive the most attention at times. It isn’t that these gifts aren’t deserving of gratitude and appreciation – for any donor, foundation or corporation – a gift is a sacrifice and a lasting decision. However, many times due to the size of larger gifts, smaller gifts are not recognized for the sheer impact they have within an organization. Ten gifts of $10 equals $100 and so on.
At Joslyn Art Museum, every gift counts. The Museum itself was a gift to the city of Omaha for all to use and enjoy. And as we are now reaching one year of free admission, we celebrate gifts of all sizes that are allowing anyone in our community to be able to enjoy our space, programming, and art.
Tomorrow is Omaha Gives! – a day hosted by the Omaha Community Foundation to celebrate community wide giving and aimed at smaller giving – gifts of $10 or more – a dollar amount that may be more easily attainable to many in our community. This isn’t to say that giving $10 isn’t a sacrifice, because it is. No matter the size of gift, for anyone, a gift is a decision to not use the funds towards something else. However, the gift should result in appreciation, joy and happiness for the donor. The donor hopefully feels excited about what they have just supported and why their gift is making an impact.
I hope that you will consider making a gift to Joslyn Art Museum on Wednesday, May 21st during Omaha Gives! I also hope that for every donor who makes the decision to support our work in the community, they feel a sense of pride and joy in return for the gift. Here at the Museum, a gift of $10 will cover the cost of art supplies for one child participating in Saturday Surprise, a free art-making session open to the entire community and offered twice a month. A gift of $25 will purchase classroom supplies such as paper, paint and brushes for the thousands of students who visit the museum as a part of their school curriculum. These gifts are what help to make the Museum and our programming accessible to everyone in the community. They help to create a true experience for each visitor – one that we are excited and appreciative to offer.
Hillary Nather-Detisch, Director of Development