Guide to Host a Diaper Drive         www.NashvilleDiaperConnection.org @nashdiapers nashdiapers [email protected]

THANK YOU! You are helping babies and families in our community in a real and lasting way! Providing a baby with clean diapers creates an immediate, positive impact in the life of that individual infant and the life of that family. The Nashville Diaper Connection believes we can create, through actions large and small, collective and individual, a community in which families have all they need to thrive. Thank you for helping to build that community. This Toolkit suggests procedures and steps used by other successful Diaper Drives. It is only meant to be a guideline to help you; not a set of strict rules! The ONLY rule is to collect diapers for babies. Please use any of the materials from our website that will help you (nashvillediaperconnection.org). There are posters, our brochure, a presentation, and tips for youth fundraisers on-line. There is also an Excel file you can use to track the diapers you collect so you can easily share your success with those who contributed. Know that we’re here to help! If there’s anything we can do to make your diaper drive more successful, please let us know ([email protected]). We look forward to getting the diapers you collect to the families who desperately need them!

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Nashville Diaper Connection

Guide to Host a Diaper Drive 3 Simple Steps You will find that a having diaper drive is one of the most satisfying contributions you can make to your community. You’ve already got the guide and it boils down to three simple steps: 1. Contact Us. We can help. •

[email protected]

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www.NashvilleDiaperConnection.org

2. Pick a place and time. •

Sample Places: place of worship, workplace, school, community center

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Times: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, every day! whatever works for you!

3. Spread the word. •

What’s the best way to reach your givers? Emails, posters, flyers, bulletin announcements…

Really, that’s all you need to do. From our experience, once you start telling the story to people in your organization, the diapers will start coming in. But we’re sure you want to optimize everything for your drive so we are providing some more specific tips here. And we love to hear suggestions, corrections, opinions – via the website at www.NashvilleDiaperConnection.org or email us at [email protected]. We want to know what worked best for you!

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Specifics & Lessons Learned The following is a collection of SUGGESTIONS, not rules. We have learned these things along the way to make this easier, but the biggest thing we have learned is you know your organization. Do what works for your group! Your biggest goal is to collect lots of diapers for babies in need. Have fun. Make it memorable.

Contact Us, We Can Help Before you hold your event, get in touch with the Nashville Diaper Connection to let us know when you plan on holding a diaper drive. We can tell you if there are any specific sizes we are especially in need of at that time and answer any questions you may have. We can also help you publicize your drive and we are always available to answer any questions. Complete the registration form on our website NashvilleDiaperConnection.org or email us at [email protected].

Use the Toolkit Everything’s available on NashvilleDiapersConnection.org. •

this document: Guide to Host a Diaper Drive (PDF)

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Brochure (PDF)

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Presentation (PDF & PPT)

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School & Youth Diaper Drive Ideas (PDF)

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Posters (8½ x 11 and 11 x 17) (Word & PDF) – print in color or B&W

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Donation Cards (PDF)

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Tally Sheet (XLS & PDF)

Pick a Place and Time Location, Location, Location! Think BIG. Could you host it at your workplace? Your child’s school? Your place of worship? Is there a well loved local business that might be interested in hosting a diaper drive with you? Places to Host a Drive Select a location that is easily accessible to many people. • • • • • • • •

Place of work Faith based organization School Preschool/Daycare Club Neighborhood Civic group Friends and family events (In lieu of gifts or favors for weddings, birthdays, and baby showers ask for diapers for the Nashville Diaper Connection.)

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Times and Occasions for Your Drive • • •

Plan on holding your diaper drive for at least a week, and maybe as long as three weeks, so people have enough time to donate. Does it make sense to tie your drive to a specific holiday or happening? Is there an already planned event in your community that you can partner with — for instance, a school fair you can be a part of? A community festival? A used book sale at your library? A local performance? Be sure to tell guests that in lieu of diapers they can give a cash donation, which allows us to buy diapers.

Don’ t Do It Alone • •

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Teams and committees have more fun, and it will be helpful if you have someone to toss ideas around with. Ask for help. Offer team members incentives for helping with the drive. Invite the Nashville Diaper Connection to come and talk to your group about how your drive will impact the community. Provide diaper discount coupons to everyone (available online regularly).

Set Goals Goals help rally and focus your organization. • •

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Post a chart or thermometer to track your progress. There is a thermometer on our web site you are welcome to use. Set a challenge such as 100 diapers per employee/person (a one week supply for infants). (This can usually be accomplished with just one large box of diapers per person.) Create multi-day donation surprise goals such as awarding or recognizing individuals that give 1 package of diapers every day. Set a poundage goal.

Provide Incentives Everyone – young & old – likes to win a prize! But the same incentives for adults may not work for kids (and vice versa). Suggestions for child and youth groups are included in our Diaper Drives with Kids section on our website (NashvilleDiaperConnection.org) and there is a print version you can download from the site. • • • • • •

Department, group and team competitions. Maybe a pizza party for the winner. Let the loosing team coordinate next year’s drive. The team that brings in the most of one selected size diapers wins a secret prize. Give out trophies. Offer ice cream or cupcake days for winning team members. Offer free incentives like free entrance, or free memberships.

Set a Theme and Create a Diaper Drop Off Area •

Use a creative themes like: o Diaper Safari-hunting for diapers and use jungle decorations

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o Diaper’s Rock and Roll and use music decorations o Disco for Diapers and use 70s disco decorations o Diaper Roundup and use western decorations o Diaper Luau and use luau decorations o Winter Diaperland and use holiday decorations o New Year’s Baby and use New Year decorations o Baby Shower theme with classic decorations o Stuff the Truck – decorate a company vehicle as the collection area Use a playpen to collect diapers. Wrap collection boxes in themed wrapping paper. Build a structure using your collected packages: a house, a car, a baby buggy, a wall. Hang poster and signs that lead people to your collection area.

Involve Your Competition or Partners • • • • •

Challenge your business competition to a diaper drive competition. Challenge neighboring businesses/nonprofits or other groups to a competition. Build collective goals for a larger drive. Host challenge events where you update your clients and the public on your drive competition. Introduce your industry trade association to the Nashville Diaper Connection.

Spread the Word There are tons of free ways to advertise: Use the social networking world —send emails, post your drive on Facebook and Twitter, ask your friends to share it with their friends. Are there local bloggers who can help spread the word? What about school newsletters? Be sure to include the dates you are collecting diapers and the location. And remember, one of the best ways to advertise is still word of mouth. Talk about the drive to anyone and everyone, and ask others to do the same. • • • • • • • • • • •

Host a kick-off event to advertise your drive and your goals. Posters, quizzes, flyers, Challenge givers with a Diaper Quiz that can be shared with drive participants. Email daily facts about the Nashville Diaper Connection. Post Diaper Connection facts around your building including the break room, bathrooms, and inside company vehicles. Advertise on your website or newsletter Place flyers and posters around your building. Add a reminder about your drive to your email signature. Put it on your letterhead for one month every year (this way you can make an annual commitment). Put a yard sign out in front of your business or home. Create a social media site for your drive like Facebook or Blogspot and link to NashvilleDiaperConnection.org.

Share Your Progress •

Take pictures of your collection area and post them on your website or blog to show off your progress. Share your photos with Nashville Diaper Connection, too.

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• • • •

Have team members do a daily count and announce over your intercom system or email your progress. Use a thermometer poster to track your progress and post in a prominent area. Add a diaper drive section to your website or blog where you track your progress. Update your social media sites with your progress.

Collect the Diapers & Donations • • • •

Collection amounts: No limits! A baby requires 6-10 diapers a day or 180-300 a month. All baby sizes are needed. (Adult diapers are beyond the scope of this project and should be donated to local nursing homes or hospitals.) Open packages of diapers are acceptable. (Typically donated when a baby out grew them.) Donations are tax deductible. Donated diapers and cash contributions will receive a letter acknowledging the gift is compliant with IRS requirements.

Collection Points • • • • • • •

Collection points should be in very public areas so more people will notice them. Use a playpen to collect diapers. Wrap collection boxes in themed wrapping paper. Build a structure using your collected packages: a house, a car, a baby buggy, a wall. Be sure to label the box (see the drop box flyer in the kit or create your own). Tally the total using the spreadsheet provided and share the results to keep people Get in touch with the Nashville Diaper Connection so we can coordinate the diaper drop off or pick up.

Encourage and Gather Financial Contributions During Your Diaper Drive • •

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Have your company make a donation for each new account opened during the drive, or for each unit of sales, etc. Gain a matching contribution if your company has this program. We can easily estimate the dollar value of the diapers your company collects. If your company wishes to do a corporate match, we are happy to buy the diapers for you. Place a cash/change contribution jar in the break room. Those pennies and dimes add up fast.

Ride the Success (Encourage Next Time Syndrome) • • • • • • • •

Send thank you notes to all of those that participated. Award special contributors. Thank your team for helping conduct the drive. Schedule your next drive. Count the diapers and brag about your results! Call or email to arrange to get your diapers to the Nashville Diaper Connection. Fill out and submit the Diaper Drive Evaluation Form (available online). Provide a list of drive winners and their contact information to the Nashville Diaper Connection. Individuals will be added to email newsletter/blog.

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Adopt the Nashville Diaper Connection as your Charity of Choice. It will make your next drive more successful if everyone is all in. Loan the Nashville Diaper Connection your skills. Volunteers are welcome and encouraged.

FAQs If you are planning on giving a presentation to your board or other stakeholders, you are welcome to download the presentation we put together to help you explain the program. And here’s a list of frequently asked questions we have encountered:

What is the diaper need in Nashville? •

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According to a 2007 study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation more than 1 in 8 preschool children live in dire poverty (annual after tax income of less than one-half of the federal poverty line). According to the 2000 Census this would mean over 4,500 children in Nashville. This study does not factor in the far larger population of working poor.

Why Diapers? •

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Families that are not able to afford an adequate supply of clean diapers often must leave their babies in a single diaper all day, which can result in diaper rash and other detrimental health issues. The pain and anxiety that a parent or caregiver feels at not being able to meet their children’s most basic needs adds stress and tension to the already difficult task of parenting. Babies exposed to stressful environments for long periods of time are affected negatively both emotionally and physically. Excessive crying, often the result of diaper rash or discomfort, is the number one cause of child abuse. Nonprofits working with families and individuals consistently list diapers as an ongoing and high priority need. Despite this need, government subsidies do not cover the cost of diapers or other hygienic supplies.

What happens after we collect the diapers? •

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Nashville Diaper Connection will pick up the diapers from donation points such as places of worship and community centers, or picked up from homes or businesses in the Nashville area. Diapers will then deliver diapers to local community programs for distribution directly to families in need. Nashville Diaper Connection does not distribute to the families. We concentrate on starting diaper drives and let our distribution partners figure out which deserving families are in need at any time. Currently we work with the following distribution partners: o Catholic Charities o East Nashville Cooperative Ministry o Jewish Family Services o St. Luke’s Community House

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Storage exists to stock diapers. St. Luke’s has also committed storage for larger quantities.

Why not cloth? •

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Most apartment and commercial Laundromats prohibit washing cloth diapers. Many of the recipients depend on public transportation and the acceptability of transporting dirty diapers to be washed is questionable. Most licensed childcare providers require disposable diapers.

Aren’ t disposable diapers bad for the environment? •

While not good for the environment, numerous studies question whether cotton diaper manufacturing and laundry are any less of an impact. Re-usable diapers are not realistic for the families we are trying to assist.

Aren’ t there government programs for this? •

No. Food Stamps and WIC do not include diapers.

What about formula? •

Formula is a vital need but is not part of our efforts because it can be purchased with SNAP (Food Stamps) and WIC.

Isn’ t there a diaper bank in Nashville now? •

No.

Nashville Diaper Connection Contact •

[email protected]

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