The Alberta Museums Association's Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) works towards incorporating community engagement into the programs & services of the AMA and the general practices of the Alberta museum community. CEI supports museums by demonstrating the importance of community collaborations as a viable path toward sustainability. This blog provides tools & resources to support museums in creating & maintaining meaningful connections with communities.
What is Giving Tuesday? It is a global movement for giving and
volunteering, a day that calls for charities, individuals, and companies to
rally for a cause which “unites communities by sharing our capacity to care for
and empower one another.” The eighth annual Giving Tuesday is December 1, 2020.
Before you start planning activities, it
makes sense to ask a key question: what outcome do you hope to achieve by
participating in Giving Tuesday? This will help guide both your strategy and the
resources you will invest. Take into consideration a number of factors,
including:
What else is happening in your organization right now?
What else is happening in your community for Giving Tuesday?
Do you have a presence on social media that will help drive donations to your cause?
Is this part of your annual campaign?
Is this a strategy you can leverage to attain your goals?
Those are a few starting points for your reflection
or discussion about whether this day warrants your focus and energy.
Tuesday, December 1st is known as Giving Tuesday and is the
opening day of the giving season; a time to celebrate and encourage activities
that support charities and non-profits. This Giving Tuesday, we wanted to
highlight some of the great work Alberta museums are doing in their communities, and to
encourage support for these institutions through the Robert R. Janes Award for
Social Responsibility. We spent the day in Red Deergetting
to know the 2015 recipient of the Robert R. Janes Award for Social
Responsibility: the KerryWood Nature Centre and Historic Fort Normandeau.
A little background before we get into our adventures: The Robert R. Janes Award for Social Responsibilitysupports and furthers the work of museums that are solving community issues and promoting health and well-being through programs that affect real social and environmental change. Recipients are awarded $3000 to put towards investigating why their programs are so successful and modelling these successes for other museums in Alberta through a one-day workshop. As the third recipient of the Janes Award, Kerry Wood Nature Centre and Historic Fort Normandeau will host a workshop in the spring of 2016 to share their experiences with other museum professionals.
“Imagine a day dedicated to giving back … around the world,
across Canada and in your own community! Just as Black Friday kicks off the
holiday shopping season, Giving Tuesday is the opening day of the giving
season.” givingtuesday.ca
This year, while museums across Alberta work with their
communities to create programs that give back and promote social and
environmental awareness, the Alberta Museums Association (AMA) will be participating
in Giving Tuesday to raise awareness and support for the Robert
R. Janes Award for Social Responsibility. The Robert R. Janes Award for
Social Responsibility is an annual award that recognizes, supports, and
furthers the work of museums that are solving community issues and promoting
health and well-being. The Award was made possible through an initial donation
from Dr. Janes, who continues to provide funding to the Award, and relies on additional community funding to continue directly supporting
museums that are true contributors to the social, cultural, and educational
fabric of Alberta. Award recipients are museums that do things differently and demonstrate
leadership by building museums as true community spaces that affect our
environmental and social landscapes.
Recipients of the Robert R. Janes Award for Social
Responsibility receive $3,000 to investigate their drivers for success, scale
up their activities, and host a workshop designed to model their lessons and
successes for other institutions. The 2014 recipient, Fort Calgary, used the
funds to examine the impact of their community garden on their neighbours in
the inner city and demonstrate how the garden encourages stronger relationships
with their community. Funds were also used to host a one-day workshop that explored
what community engagement and social responsibility mean to the Fort and to their
long standing partner, Suncor Energy Foundation.
The 2015 recipient, Historic Fort Normandeau and the Kerry
Wood Nature Centre in Red Deer, will host a workshop in the spring of 2016 to
share their environmental sustainability and socially responsible work. As part
of the AMA’s
Giving Tuesday initiative, AMA staff will spend Tuesday, December 1, 2015
at the Centre lending a hand with this work and learning how it is integrated
into the day to day life of the Centre. Follow the AMA @AlbertaMuseums and through the
#GivingTuesdayCA and #MuseumsEngage hashtags as we explore the Centre’s
important work, and the impact it has on the Red Deer community.
