Category Archives: Events

Pro-tip: YOU are the secret to Bowl-a-thon success!

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Hi, Bowl-a-Thoners!

Want to know something weird about charitable giving? People are actually more likely to give money to a single individual, rather than an abstract group. Luckily, your donors aren’t only giving to an awesome cause. They’re also giving to an awesome individual: YOU. What’s a fun and easy way to remind them of this? Personalize your Bowl-a-Thon page! (It’s sort of like decorating your locker in junior high school, if you went to a junior high school where your locker unleashed magical powers to fund abortion in New York.)

Here are some starters to help inspire your page’s amazingness:

▪  Step 1: Get some inspiration from NNAF’s “Bowl-a-thon Page of the Week” blog series (last week’s winner here!) or by simply clicking around the Bowl-a-thon homepage and perusing the pages of other teams/bowlers.

▪  Step 2: Find some imagery and text to use on your page! Some examples:

▪  A selfie of you with a sign saying why you support abortion funds (check out Lauren Rankin’s “I Fund Abortions” Tumblr for examples!)
▪  A series of animated GIFs telling a compelling AND hilarious story (may we suggest giphy.com as a good GIF search engine?)
▪  Custom memes via memegenerator.net
▪  Photos of you and your teammates making funny faces
▪  Personal stories about why you support NYAAF, abortion funding, or bowling.

▪  Step 3: Put it all together! Simply log in to the Bowl-a-thon site, select Edit Your Page from the menu on the left, and then select Customize Your Page. Here, you can post your memes and GIFs, manage your photos, change your fundraising goals, and edit your mission statement.

▪  If you need more help, you can contact the NNAF here, or just send us an e-mail directly. We’re happy to answer your questions, provide inspiration, and help you make your page the best ever!

▪  Step 4: Collaborate! Once you have your page ready to go, you can do other cool stuff, like…..

▪  Nominate your page (or your friend’s page, or your mom’s page) for NNAF’s Page of the Week
▪  Encourage others by commenting on the pages that you love
▪  Re-post your page on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, the community board at your coffee shop, your dog’s forehead, etc.

Again, the most important thing is to make your page a reflection of YOU. Many of the pledges that you’ll receive will be from those who already know and love you, but who may not know why you care so deeply about this work. Let your page be your opportunity to tell them.

As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions. Happy funding!

Many thanks,
Julia Jones and the NYAAF Team

 

Our Top 3 Bowl-a-thon Fundraising Tips!

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Hey There, Bowlers! We know what you’re thinking – you’ve set up your team, you’ve got a fun team name, and you’re raising money – but you’re wondering what else you can do to surpass your goal. Well, we’ve got you covered with some great fundraising tips, and our Top Three Ways to Raise!

First things first, make sure you’ve snazzed up your page! Your donors aren’t only giving to an awesome cause. They’re also giving to an awesome individual: YOU. What’s a fun and easy way to remind them of this? Personalize your Bowl-a-Thon page with touching stories, selfies, memes, GIFs and more!

You’ll also want to make sure that you take a look at our list of great fundraising tips! From your first point of contact right down to the thank yous for all those donations, our guide has everything from the best way to reach out to getting into a fundraising rhythm. Check out our step-by-step on ‘How to be an Awesome Bowl-a-thon Fundraiser’!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Top Three Ways to Raise!

  1. Organize an event! The possibilities are endless! Have a bar night, throw a house party, have a bake sale, or even host a stoop sale (weather permitting!). Think you have what it takes to organize a successful fundraising event, but need a little help connecting with the right folks to make it happen? Great! Send us an email to info[at]nyaaf[dot]org (subject line: “Events”) with your idea, and we’ll get in touch to help.
  2. Offer perks/rewards for donations! No time to throw an event? Consider offering perks à la Kickstarter for donations! Have a large social media following? Consider posting a tweet or blog publicizing your donors’ project! Have stellar cooking or baking skills? Make a meal or treat for select donors! The possibilities are endless and everyone has something awesome to offer.
  3. Use your talents! Are you a musician or an artist? Do you have amazing cooking/writing/social media/organizing/styling skills? Consider using your particular talents to offer your donors a free song, piece of art, consultation, or workshop. It’s a way to show your passion while incentivizing potential donors, all while having fun!

NOTE: Don’t forget to log your cash donations on your Bowl-a-thon page! Make sure that any checks are made out to ‘New York Abortion Access Fund’, instead of NYAAF. We want you and your team to get credit for all your hard work!

As we get ever-closer to the best Bowl-a-thon EVER, we want to thank you for being awesome Bowl-a-thoners! As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions.

Happy funding!

Heather and Julia
NYAAF Bowl-a-thon Planning Committee

Let’s BOWL!

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Hello amazing supporters! The NYAAF Bowl-a-Thon Fundraiser is back and better than ever!

Whether you want to help a great cause, support an existing team, or you’re eager to show off those bowling skills, find out more about the Bowl-a-thon here.

The Bowl-a-thon is what allows NYAAF to continue our vital work. It’s the event that keeps NYAAF’s services available to those who need it most. That’s why we need your help!

This year, we’re aiming to break Bowl-a-thon records & raise an amazing $100,000! Will you help us achieve that goal?

We’ve compiled this handy list of FAQs, but if you have additional questions feel free to reach out to us, so we can get you bowling! Click the jump to read more.

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Join us for NYAAF’s 6th Annual Bowl-a-thon!

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Sunday, April 26, 2015
1:30 – 4:00 PM
Bowlmor Chelsea Piers (Pier 60)
23rd Street & West Side Highway, NY, NY

unnamed-2At last year’s Bowl-a-thon, we raised more than $80,000. Thanks to the support of more than 240 New Yorkers, we were the #1 abortion access Bowl-a-thon in the country!

We need your help in making the 2015 Bowl-a-thon an even bigger success! This year’s Bowl-a-thon is on Sunday, April 26, 2015 at Bowlmor Chelsea Piers, Pier 60/23rd & West Side Hwy, New York, NY.

We’ve set the bar high this year, and our goal for the 2015 bowl-a-thon is $100,000! We need you, your best friend, your great-Aunt, and the person next to you at the office to join in! This year, each individual bowler will need to raise a minimum of $100. We promise: you can do it! We will provide tons of support, tips, fundraising ideas, and motivating emails to help you get there. We can do this together!

Interested in bowling but don’t have a full team? We welcome individual bowlers and small teams. Contact Sarah Rosenthal at Sarah.Bowl@nyaaf.org to get connected or partnered with other bowlers.

We can’t wait to fundraise and bowl with you! Support NYAAF and meet other reproductive rights and bowling enthusiasts as we strike down barriers to abortion access!

Help us make NYAAF’s 2015 Bowl-a-thon a success:

  • Register your team on the NYAAF Bowl-a-thon page. Can’t attend? Then consider donating to support an existing team or individual.
  • Tweet to let your friends know that you’re excited for this year’s Bowl-a-thon by clicking here or using #NYAAFbowl15!
  • Spread the word! Share the link to NYAAF’s Bowl-a-thon page (http://bowlathon.blueskysweet.com/fundpage.asp?BranchID=97)!

Many thanks,
The NYAAF Bowl-a-thon Planning Committee

Our 3rd Annual Celebrate Access Awards: a smashing success!!

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Our 3rd Annual Celebrate Access Awards party was a huge success, thanks to you!!! We were able to raise over $29,000! Soooo close to our $30K goal! (Want to help us reach that goal?! Donate here, whoo!)

This year’s honorees were MSNBC’s The Melissa Harris-Perry Show, the Entitlement Counselors of Planned Parenthood of New York City, and longtime NYAAF supporter and advocate Barbara Kass. We were so pleased to celebrate the hard work of our honorees and to celebrate abortion access in New York with so many of our supporters.

See some photos of the event below! For the rest, check out our album on Facebook!

See below the slides from our e-journal, which was projected as a slide show during the event. Thank you again to all of our wonderful sponsors!

 

NYAAF’s Third Annual Celebrate Access Awards!

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This year’s honorees are MSNBC’s The Melissa Harris-Perry Show, the Entitlement Counselors of Planned Parenthood of New York City, and longtime NYAAF supporter and advocate Barbara Kass! Purchase a ticket for the event and read details below:

What: NYAAF’s 3rd Annual Celebrate Access Awards
When: October 16, 2014, 6:30 PM
Where: 225 West 83rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, NYC

Ticket prices:
Supporter: $100, one ticket
Silver Level Sponsorship: $250, including one event ticket and a half page message in event e-journal
Gold Level Sponsorship: $500, including 2 event tickets, a half page message in event e-journal, recognition in materials, website, and annual report
Platinum Level Sponsorship: $1000, including 2 event tickets, a full screen message in event e-journal, recognition during the program and marketing materials, website, and annual report

Click here to purchase a ticket for the event!

Punk Rock Karaoke is baaaaack!

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Come sing (or scream!) your heart out for a cause! NYAAF is so excited and pleased to be the beneficiary for Punk Rock Karaoke Northeast! The proceeds from this event will go directly to help folks seeking abortion care in New York, who would otherwise be unable to cover the cost of their abortion.

When: Saturday, August 2, 2014 at 8:00pm
Where: Pine Box Rock Shop,12 Grattan St, Brooklyn, NY
Price: $10 suggested donation
Please spread the word! This event was a BLAST last summer and we look forward to having even more fun this year!
About Punk Rock Karaoke:
Punk Rock Karaoke is a DIY, fund-raising event that benefits a different community group at each event. Like Punk Rock Karaoke on facebook to stay up to date on future events!
Featuring songs from:
Against Me!, Bikini Kill, Black Flag, Bratmobile, Buzzcocks, Choking Victim, The Clash, Circle Jerks, Crass, Dead Kennedys, Descendents, Devo, Flogging Molly, Fugazi, Gogol Bordello, Gorilla Biscuits, Jawbreaker, Joy Division, Minor Threat, The Misfits, NOFX, Operation Ivy, Pixies, The Pogues, Ramones, Rancid, Screeching Weasel, Sex Pistols, Sleater-Kinney, The Smiths, The Specials, Stiff Little Fingers, Wire, X, X-Ray Spex + More!!!

Please join NYAAF for a screening of the “year’s most revolutionary film…”

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“Obvious Child is the abortion movie we’ve been waiting for. Take all your friends, especially the ones who aren’t so sure how they feel about abortion, to see Obvious Child. It will not only help demystify abortion but give concrete examples of how to make someone who’s having one feel loved and supported. Plus, it’s really, really funny.”
                                                                  –  former NYAAF board member Steph Herold

In Obvious Child, “a twenty-something comedienne’s unplanned pregnancy forces her to confront the realities of independent womanhood for the first time.” But more than that, Obvious Child is a movie that, for many, will be “a landmark moment in cultural history.” It asks the question, “what if abortion is a story’s happy ending?”

Please join NYAAF as we present a benefit screening of Obvious Child. 
A portion of your ticket purchase will benefit NYAAF.
When: Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 7:05 PM
Where: Angelika Film Center
18 West Houston Street, NYC
Price: $20 (click here to purchase tickets)
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the star Jenny Slate, writer/director Gillian Robespierre, and producer Elisabeth Holm.

This Bowl-a-thon is gonna rule. (Seriously.)

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Hello, bowlers! See that picture up there? That’s the sweet venue where the Bowl-a-thon is taking place in less than 3 weeks! Food, drinks, bowling, abortion funding… what more could you want?

On a more serious note, we put a lot of effort into making sure this year’s Bowl-a-thon is the BEST ONE YET… and thus we present some important things you should know:

  • PRIZES!!! Yes, indeed. We have some awesome prizes in store for 3 categories: Top Fundraising Team, Rookie of the Year, and Best Costumes. People go all out for the Bowl-a-thon & we want to honor your efforts. Plus, we want to see who can top last year’s robot squad team ensemble (ABORITON 3000 activate!)
  • NEW VENUE!!! We booked this new Bowlmor location specifically because it’s all on one floor and therefore more conducive to socializing and generally having a great time! At its core, the Bowl-a-thon is a celebration and we want that to come across. The Bowl-a-thon is also longer than it has been in past years because what’s the fun in rushing to bowl? We’re here to enjoy ourselves!
  • SPEAKING OF FUN!!! What’s more fun that having some drinks & eating food? Not much (besides bowling) and there will be plenty of all of that at the Bowl-a-thon! Also, for the first time ever, we’ve booked a DJ to provide some sweet tunes while you bowl. We heavily encourage you to get your dance on, but be careful – those bowling shoes can be slippery!
  • WE’RE KICKING BUTT!!! That’s right. Not only are we OUTPACING last year’s fundraising but we are WAY ahead as far as number of bowlers registered! This says a couple things to us: people are recognizing the importance of supporting abortion funds and they’re willing to do what they can to help – and we couldn’t be happier about that. As we shared with you, we are pledging more than ever before and it is fundraising events like the Bowl-a-thon that make our work possible. Thank you!
Bowling in NYC is freakin’ expensive! Because of our bigger, better venue, we’re spending a bit more this year. Each bowler costs us $50 (vs. last year’s $40). So please try to raise more than $50 so we don’t lose money! 🙂
Huge congrats to Jenna J. of team “Spare Me!” Jenna’s fundraising efforts last week won her a $100 credit + private shopping party at Bhoomki, a fabulous boutique in Brooklyn that specializes in environmentally & socially responsible brands! Awesome job, Jenna!
Be the best bowler you can be! If you’ve hit your fundraising goal, raise it! If you’ve been meaning to ask that one friend for a donation, go for it! If you know someone who needs to register, remind them to! We have only 20 registration spots left! Let’s do this!