Gift A Play to Theatre Alberta for Christmas!

Visit our campaign webpage at theatrealberta.com/gift-a-play

Today is National Philanthropy Day and we are very excited to launch our 2013 fundraising campaign: Gift A Play to Theatre Alberta’s Library for Christmas.

Theatre Alberta’s Library is our most valuable resource. We have more than 18,500 titles in our collection, from plays and how-to guides to reference materials. Our 2013 "Wish List" contains 119 more titles to add to our shelves!

The Library's reach is province-wide as we mail titles to our members across Alberta (and beyond) free of charge. When you donate a book for the Theatre Alberta Library, you are giving a gift to the entire Albertan theatre community.

By focusing our 2013 campaign on our library, we hope to not only bolster one of the most comprehensive theatre collections in the country, but also to publicize this amazing service to our members and the wider provincial theatre community. We want people to talk about and utilize the Theatre Alberta Library as much as we want new books.

Last year, Theatre Alberta donors gave us 95% of the titles we wished for during our inaugural campaign. This year, our "Wish List" is worth a total of $1,550, and we hope that you can help us meet that goal.

So please, read on! Find out how you can get involved supporting Theatre Alberta's Library, and please share. Let the community know about this incredible theatre resource, right here in Alberta!

“Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Seasons Greetings Theatre Alberta! It was so nice to use my annual donation to Theatre Alberta to buy books for the library! Great idea."
~ Julie Sinclair (Gift A Play 2012 donor)

We Want Books!

Every year Theatre Alberta staff lock horns in fierce debate to try to whittle down a list of new library acquisitions based on member recommendations, new plays and new editions… but there are only so many wonderful titles we can buy. We need your help to fill the stacks of Canada’s largest independent, fully-circulating theatre library!

Buy a book for Theatre Alberta for Christmas: A different way to donate to Theatre Alberta but with direct impact to our organization’s most valuable resource. This is your library: this is a special way to support a service unique to your membership and your community.

“I wanted to make this book available as a resource to perhaps make a few days at work a bit easier for some of my favourite drama teachers."
~ Elizabeth Wilkie (Gift A Play 2012 donor)

How Does It Work?

We created a “Wish List” on Amazon.ca of titles that the Library would like to add to our collection but could not purchase on this year’s budget. It’s our Christmas list and we hope that our members and friends are in the gift-giving mood this holiday season! There are three different ways to help Theatre Alberta’s Library fill its shelves:

1. Gift us a book directly from Amazon.ca. Simply choose a title (or more) from our Amazon.ca ”Wish List” and give it to Theatre Alberta for Christmas! We have included a shipping address in our profile, so the books will be shipped directly to our Library in Edmonton (no need to worry about wrapping!). And, if the value of your order is more than $25, shipping is free! Once we receive your gift, Theatre Alberta will insert a donation sticker into your book that indicates it was gift from you! Your name will also be added to our “Nice List” on our campaign webpage.

Please note that purchases from Amazon.ca can only be made online – click here for more information about how to buy books from an Amazon.ca “Wish List.” (If you have never used Amazon.ca before, click here for step-by-step instructions for first-time users.)

2. Give Theatre Alberta an Amazon.ca Gift Certificate. If the title you wanted to give Theatre Alberta is already gone, or if none of the books match your price point, or even if you’d rather not pay for shipping fees, then we would love to receive an Amazon.ca gift certificate as much as a book. You can choose the amount you wish to give and email us the gift certificate directly. Theatre Alberta will pool all gift certificates together at the end of the campaign to make one grand purchase of titles in the new year. We will insert stickers into all books purchased by gift cards indicating they were purchased through this campaign. Your name will also be added to our “Nice List” on our campaign webpage.

3. Donate directly to Theatre Alberta. Every year, Theatre Alberta uses operating funding to purchase new acquisitions from a number of different publishers, including Playwrights Canada Press. Click here to donate directly to our organization and you’ll not only be supporting our Library but all the other programming, publications and resources we provide to the Alberta theatre community every year. Let us know that you are a Theatre Alberta Library patron and supporter, and we will list your name in our “Nice List” on our campaign webpage. You can also donate by phone toll free (outside of Edmonton) at 1-888-422-8160 or at 780-422-8162 (if you live in Edmonton).

“I pre-ordered Fronteras Americanas 2nd edition for you guys. I was reading through the Wish List out of curiosity and thought “Theatre Alberta doesn’t have Fronteras Americanas? They should!”
~ Becky Halliday (Gift A Play 2012 donor)

Tax Receipts

Theatre Alberta is a registered Canadian charity and is able to issue tax receipts for donations that are more than $20. If you give Theatre Alberta either books or gift certificates purchased from Amazon.ca, we can issue a tax receipt for the value of the book(s)/gift certificate(s) as long as the gift value is more than $20 not including tax and shipping fees.

To receive a tax receipt, you must email theatreab@theatrealberta.com a copy of your Amazon.ca receipt. Don’t worry: Amazon.ca will email you a receipt as soon as you make your purchase. Just click “Forward” and send to Theatre Alberta, and we will take care of the rest!

“This is actually a gift for my dad. I mean, it’s for you, but buying plays for you is my gift to my dad, Tom Davidson. Merry Christmas!”
~ Anna Davidson (Gift A Play 2012 donor)

Donation Message

If you wish to add a message to Theatre Alberta about your donation, please be sure to purchase using Amazon.ca’s Shopping Cart and placing your order via the order form (not using their 1-Click Purchase option). Check the box next to the line that reads “Add gift-wrap/note” in the blue box on the right side of the page. If you check the box, you’ll be given the opportunity to add a gift note, which Theatre Alberta will publish next to your name and donation on our “Nice List” on our campaign webpage. (Alternatively, you can always email us a donation message along with your receipt.)