Be one of the first ten people to respond to this month’s question to be entered in a drawing for the Omaha Steaks package!
Question: What year was Heritage founded?
Heritage is beginning our 50th year of service this month, and we could not be more grateful for the opportunity we have had to represent America’s finest charities through all these years! Since 1958, we have been blessed in many, many ways, so we want to do some giving back this year. There will be some special efforts to let our charity partners know how much we appreciate them coming your way, so be on the lookout for those!
In the last few years, the entire management team for Special Olympics Missouri has visited eight Summer Games to explore new ideas on how to make their own games even better. These travels have provided time to bond, debate, enjoy fellowship, and build a better future for the organization. We are glad they managed to find some time in this year’s tour to visit with their extended staff at Heritage and give them that motivational push they are known for!
The real stars at every Special Olympics event are the athletes. Those stars got a surprise at the Oklahoma Summer Games this year when they were visited by a different kind of star—country music legend Garth Brooks. The unannounced musical performance and time with the athletes helped make the games even more memorable for these athletes and their families.
Naomi Cupp, an Endowment Fund Board Member for Special Olympics Missouri, has been named the Don Faurot Sportsperson of the Year. This recognition came as a result of the great work she has done over the years for SOMO. Naomi and her husband, Jerry, have been champions for the Healthy Athletes program of Special Olympics for years, and it is wonderful to see her receive this honor.
Seven athletes from Special Olympics Southern California recently braved grueling conditions to conquer the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro. This trip marked a second chance for these seven athletes, who were turned back by a storm on their first attempt 16 years ago. Our own John Braune trained with that group 16 years ago, but failed to make the team! We are proud of the determination and spirit shown by these athletes who refused to let this challenge set them back!
A recent Charity Navigator report on special events fundraising found that while nearly half of all nonprofits use special events to raise money, very few of those events were more efficient than other fundraising tools. Choosing the right invitation list, publicity campaigns, attractions, and events are all part of making special events an efficient fundraising tool. Done well, special events can improve community awareness of your mission and add to your annual fund donors, but they need to be part of an integrated fundraising campaign to be truly effective.
The Hawaii Better Business Bureau recently honored Special Olympics Hawaii with its Torch Award (how appropriate!) for efficiency by a nonprofit organization. This award recognizes ethical practices and financial efficiency in nonprofit organizations. We are proud to congratulate the management, staff, and volunteers who made this award possible for such a deserving agency!
Last month, the US Postal Service increased rates on several types of mail. Most well-known is the first class rate hike from &0.39 to $0.41. Standard mail—which includes much nonprofit mail—also increased. However, buried in the rules are methods that mailers can use to bundle, sort, and otherwise process mail in a way to get better rates. Our Mail Services team has decades of experience with these systems, sending out over a million mail pieces each month. We are using these tools to deliver maximum postal discounts for our charity partners, and will continue to do so. Got mail? We do!