#SkiptheFlowers

As Mother’s Day approaches, you may be thinking about how you can make your mom feel special. Whether it’s sending her a nice card, buying her a thoughtful gift, or bringing her pretty flowers on Mother’s Day, you want to make sure she knows how much you love her.

United Way of the Bay Area (San Francisco, CA) is providing an alternative to the traditional gifts given on Mother’s Day this year. They are inviting people in their community to #SkiptheFlowers and honor their mother by supporting hardworking moms in the Bay Area community.

Through Facebook and Twitter, United Way of the Bay Area is reaching out to their community members and inviting them to show the mothers in their life how much they care:

These Facebook posts and tweets link people back to United Way of the Bay Area’s Web site, where you can #SkiptheFlowers and honor your mother on the “Mother’s Day Honor Wall” and select your e-card, message, and donation.

What I love about this Web page is that it not only allows you to personalize your card/message to your mom, but it also tells you how your donation will help struggling mothers in the Bay Area. Whether you donate $25 in honor of your mother, which will provide dinner and child care so a mom can attend a financial literacy class, or you donate $2,500, which will send 10 moms to a comprehensive 7-week course on supporting their children’s long-term academic success, you know your gift will make an impact on other mothers in the community.

This is a great example of offering an alternative method of giving for donors and community members. Whether or not someone gives during the workplace campaign, this is another opportunity for people to donate and make an impact in their community.

Consider offering a similar alternative giving opportunity at your United Way and communicate the impact of donors’ contributions, just as United Way of the Bay Area is doing. You will spread the word about what your United Way is doing and how you are making an impact, while receiving donations and reaching more people in your community.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful moms reading this blog post (that’s you, Mom!),