Non-Profit Toolkit
Benefits of Participation:
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Build community unity through involvement in a national kindness movement
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Forming new friendships with partners & volunteers for future opportunities to collaborate
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Have an immediate impact on people’s lives and spread positivity, unity throughout a region
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Enhanced brand benefits among members, potential members across USA and beyond
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Improved teamwork among employees and members separated during pandemic
FAQ
- United Way
Girl Scouts -
- Boy Scouts
City Leadership Development groups -
- Local governments
Environmental, civic and health organizations -
- Foundations
What organizations are already supporting the Pay It Forward 9/11 Mission?
Want to register your civic or nonprofit organization as a committed participant on our global map?
Head to our link HERE to register
It's free! If you have multiple locations you want to add, then be sure to fill out separate forms for each address your people will be spreading the kindness at on September 10th or 11th, 2021.
YES!
With our "11 Days of Kindess and Unity" everyone has an opportunity to participate in the days leading up to the main event on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. When volunteers do a good deed have them tell the recipient “Sunday is Pay it Forward 9/11 Day, a national day of service and remembrance. I invite you to pay it forward and do three good deeds that day.”
Since the 20th anniversary of 9/11 falls on Sunday can we still participate?
What information should we share with our members?
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Share our news release (or an edited version) on your e-mail newsletter.
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Share social media posts from @payitforward911 on your own Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn or YouTube pages.
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Send an email to staff and members September 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and then send an email reminder on September 9th or 10th.
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Share our 1-minute video from YouTube via social media, website or email.
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Download and share our fact sheet online or print and post in your workplace.
AN APPROACH FOR NON-PROFITS
1. Communicate to staff the upcoming Random Acts of Kindness event and divide staff into teams of two.
2. Consider purchasing a box of Pay it Forward Share cards (business card size). Buy three per employee. See Payitforward911.org
3. On September 10, each team is given a $100 bill (and Share cards if applicable) and told to decide between each other on how best to spend the money. Be sure to go to the bank a day or so in advance. Purchasing and distributing gift cards is also a good option. Have an executive distribute the money or gift cards to participants so they see the importance and accountability of Pay it Forward 9/11. Hint: Consider pairing up employees who don’t know each other very well and watch what happens after they complete this service work together.
4. Close the office for 2-4 hours in the morning to give the teams time to work together to perform three good deeds to strangers or provide aid to charities, schools or other organizations.
5. That same afternoon, bring everyone together (in a conference room or video conference call) to spend one hour sharing stories of how each team spent their money. This is always everyone’s favorite part of this effort, as they hear many heart-warming stories of how random acts of kindness helped not only the recipient, but also the givers. Hint: Keep a few boxes of tissues handy for wiping tears of joy.
6. Check with your accountant on how best to record these expenses. Since receipts won’t be available from individual recipients, it’s best to record a written list of how each team spent their money and use this as documentation for a staff development expense.
Non-Profits
An approach for organization for Non-Profit Offices:
For many years, small businesses and nonprofits used this approach to participate.
ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR NON-PROFITS
Non-Profits
Here are additional tips and activities that your non-profit organization can engage in to continue to spread the kindness around your community.
1. Reach out to the other non-profits in your area to organize a mass collaboration of volunteers to help emphasize the impact that everyone can have on their community.
2. Turn the event into a competition within your organization to see who can do the most random acts of kindness within the day. Be sure they record each activity that they do and submit it to document our goal of 20,000 good deeds.
3. Ask local businesses to see if they would be willing to sponsor your volunteer’s time or donate resources that your volunteers can give out to strangers.
4. Create a booth that provides free services or resources to anyone in need on 9/11 and beforehand spread the word via marketing and word of mouth.
5. If a volunteer can’t personally help on the remembrance day, then encourage them to dedicate time beforehand reaching out to businesses, schools, politicians, and more to spread awareness of the Pay It Forward campaign.
6. Contact local news outlets and organizations to create a promotion with your organization and volunteers to highlight everyone’s ability and opportunity to honor the lives lost on 9/11.
7. Connect with your local government to see which areas in your community and city are in the most need. Performing the acts of kindness in these areas can help alleviate some of their burden.
8. If possible, take some time to record video with some of the acts of kindness that your organization performs and the reactions that people have. This can help motivate and remind your team in the future of the importance of helping other people who are struggling when things get tough.
9. Remember that performing your organization’s normal function during 9/11 is also a good deed! Encourage people that were not planning on doing anything on that day to volunteer to help.
10. Leading up to and on the day of 9/11, help our social media efforts by sharing Pay It Forward posts and emails on any online platforms that you use. The more people aware of our cause the better!