AHEPA Creates St. Nicholas WTC Donation Campaign

An AHEPA press release concerning the campaign can be read in full below.

On #GivingTuesday, Make Saint Nicholas National Shrine a Priority

AHEPA Unveils Saint Nicholas Donor Campaign Webpage

WASHINGTON, DC - Supreme President Phillip T. Frangos and Chairman of the Board Nicholas A. Karacostas, who chairs the AHEPA-Saint Nicholas National Shrine Fundraising Committee, are asking the public to make the campaign to build Saint Nicholas National Shrine at World Trade Center a priority on #GivingTuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. One way in which a person can give back is by donating to Saint Nicholas through the newly unveiled AHEPA webpage for the organization's campaign, www.ahepa.org/stnicholascampaign, they announced.

"We don't care how or through what charitable entity you make a donation to this worthy cause on Giving Tuesday; we just ask that you give," Supreme President Frangos said. "We hope that our webpage will help increase outreach to potential donors, contributing to our common goal of building Saint Nicholas National Shrine."

#GivingTuesday, www.givingtuesday.org, is a global day dedicated to giving back. According to the website, it's a day where "charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give."

About the AHEPA Saint Nicholas Campaign Webpage

AHEPA launched a webpage from itsahepa.org website specifically for the campaign to build Saint Nicholas National Shrine. The webpage,www.ahepa.org/stnicholascampaign, is meant to be the focus of a proactive social media campaign that will drive individuals to the webpage where they can learn more and take action. The campaign has a branding element that is meant to create and foster awareness of the fundraising drive.

"We wanted the webpage to accomplish a few communications objectives," Frangos said. "First, we wanted it to be interactive and visual, enticing visitors to become involved and motivated. Second, we aimed to provide visitors with the resources they would need to embark on a grassroots fundraising effort. Finally, we wanted to make it easy for folks to donate and to properly acknowledge our donors. I'm confident we accomplished these objectives."

AHEPA's Saint Nicholas Campaign webpage has the following features: an interactive Twitter feed that tracks #rebuildstnicholas tweets, a Google+ photo gallery, a video appeal, resources for campaign materials, the ability to donate online, and an archival section that recaps AHEPA's "Cut the Red Tape!" campaign and media highlights. In addition, a campaign thermometer and revolving donor acknowledgement panel will track how the progress of the development campaign.

Social media vehicles, Facebook and Twitter, as well as the Google+ photo gallery, will be used to celebrate campaign achievements and milestones, create awareness of the branding image/slogan, and encourage donations.

Frangos added, "For us to be successful with our campaign, we will have to appeal to audiences outside the AHEPA family and the greater community at-large, especially because the National Shrine is meant for everyone. We believe social media and the campaign webpage will help us to meet this challenge."

National Day of Action: December 7

Although AHEPA has been informally collecting donations for the campaign since its Supreme Convention in July, the organization officially will kick-off its two-year fundraising campaign with a National Day of Action on December 7, 2014. This date coincides with the Feast Day of Saint Nicholas, which is celebrated December 6.

"We are encouraging our districts and chapters throughout the AHEPA domain to organize fundraising events on December 7 for Saint Nicholas," Karacostas said. "We hope this coordinated 'bricks and mortar,' grassroots approach, coupled with the new online webpage and netroots outreach, will provide us with the springboard we need to effectively kick-start our two-year development campaign."