Alternative Gift Fair Success Stories
Fairs range in size and breadth, with anywhere from 5 to 20 charitable organizations present to offer alternative gift options. The fairs were held in a variety of venues, from temples and churches to student and community centers, even restaurants and food co-ops. Despite their differences, each fair had one thing in common: they enabled people to come together in a community setting while avoiding the stress of malls and the focus on stuff.
Over the years, we’ve heard success stories from veteran and first-time organizers alike. Nancy Fitzer organized a fair in Greenville, SC, that attracted 175 shoppers and raised thousands of dollars for 14 charitable organizations including Meals on Wheels, Pendleton Place Children's Shelter, Wildlife Rehab of Greenville, Greenville Free Medical Clinic, and Center for Development in Central America. "It was an overwhelmingly positive experience for everyone involved: the organizers and volunteers, the nonprofit agencies, and the 'shoppers.' It was four hours of nonstop fun talking to friends, meeting new people, listening to wonderful music (we had a jazz quartet, an African drumming group, and an Appalachian folk/Celtic group), eating brownies and raising lots of money for great causes. People came and stayed and stayed."
Emelda Valadez, gift fair organizer in Waynesboro, PA, articulates it best when she says: "More than the money raised, our small community came away with a renewed appreciation of the holiday season."
Images from the Takoma Park, MD fair:
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Success stories from gift fair organizers:
"This is an idea whose time has come. I was so grateful that people actually showed up, yet they were grateful that we did this so that they could come! We diverted some 300 tangible gifts into 300 truly meaningful gifts." — Becky O'Brien, Boulder, CO
“It was a wonderful first experience. We were quite surprised and pleased by the positive response and encouraged by the total donations. We will definitely host a fair next year.” — Maureen Donahue Hardwick, MD (a first time organizer whose fair raised over $8000!)
“Boston's 2nd Annual Alternative Gift Fair was a great success. In five hours, we raised over $3,000 for twelve non-profit organizations. An alternative gift fair was the best gift I could give this December.” — Cindy Chang, MA
“Our church Alternative Gift Fair was host to 18 different non-profit groups. Three of the 18 groups had items for sale; whereas the remaining 15 groups were receiving donations for their causes. The 1st year that we hosted an AGF was 2003 and we received just over $14,000. This year more people realized what it was about and gave larger donations.”— Lori Bossman, VA
“I felt like we made it easy for good intentioned but busy people to give gifts with a conscience. Next year we hope to collaborate with other area churches.” — Cindy Frantz, OH
“It is one of the most fun things I do. Many people get so enthusiastic that they do all their Christmas shopping at our fair.” — Cherie Holman, WA
"The day was upbeat, positive and fun...We want to do it again!". — Nancy Knight, Califon, NJ
"Best of all, people who'd never heard of this...finally 'got it,' as they wandered around the Fair, with the Native American flutist playing; an organic farmer who's struggling to save his farm handed out free samples of the cheese; the Americorps volunteers shyly told their story (and earned about $250)..." — Mary Miller, Woodinville, WA