Celebration Giving

Are you celebrating your wedding, a big birthday or anniversary? Mark your special day in a meaningful way by incorporating support for the LGBTI equality movement.

Although much progress has been made around LGBTI rights and equality, the work isn’t over. There’s much more to do before LGBTI people can enjoy full equality and freedom. Making a lasting impact on your special day and ensure we can continue to do more for and with the LGBTI movement.

Weddings and civil partnerships

Your wedding day is a unique moment to support the LGBTI equality movement and help guarantee that the work continues to bring about social and legal change for LGBTI people in every country in Europe and Central Asia. For many same-same couples tying the knot it’s important to honour the work of LGBTI activists that have led to achievements such as inclusive partnership laws and equal marriage, but also recognise that there is much work still to be done before LGBTI people can enjoy full equality and freedom.

Make a lasting impact on your special day by asking for donations to ILGA-Europe in lieu of wedding gifts, or by making a donation on behalf of your guests in lieu of wedding favours. You and your guests will be part of our journey towards a world where each and every LGBTI person is valued and accepted as they are and is free to love who they choose.  

How to raise funds at your wedding or civil partnership:

• You can choose to donate instead of giving wedding favours to your guests. Make the donation on our website, which accepts several payment methods, and remember to include a note that the donation is to mark your special day. Reach out to us to order table cards for each guest explaining that a donation has been made on their behalf towards ILGA-Europe’s work for LGBTI equality.
• You can choose to ask your guests to donate to ILGA-Europe’s work for LGBTI equality instead of gifts. You can collect the money yourself and pay in the total to us after your special day. Alternatively, you can create your own customised giving page where your guests can make their contributions. Simply click here to set up your page. You can upload your own picture and include your own message, and messages from your donors will be displayed on the page. You can also set up and customise a giving page on Facebook by clicking this link.

Birthdays

Make an impact on your birthday by raising funds for LGBTI equality. Invite your friends and family to donate instead of getting you a gift, and help ensure we can continue to do more for and with the LGBTI movement.

The easiest way to raise funds is to set up your own customised birthday fundraising page on Facebook or Donorbox.  You’ll be able to set your target amount if you choose and upload your own cover photo (we have plenty to choose from). Your friends are more likely to donate if you make the story personal to you, so include a message about why you care about LGBTI equality and why raising money for this cause is so important. Once you have your page set up, don’t be shy to invite your friends to contribute. A personal approach always works best, so consider sending a message or email to friends, colleagues and family asking them to help you reach your fundraising goal.  Keep up the buzz by posting regular updates on your page. We’ve created some images to help you keep the donations coming in, which you can download here.

You can set up a customised fundraising page also for anniversaries or any other celebrations.

Celebrating in Memory

You may want to remember a friend or loved one who was LGBTI, who was deeply committed to the cause of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people, who gave of their time as an activist to change things for the good, who suffered because of the oppression of LGBTI people, or who may have simply been able to live their life to the fullest, celebrating and expressing themselves for who they were.

One way to celebrate this person’s life is to make a donation to ILGA-Europe in their name on a significant anniversary, by clicking the dedication button on our donation form. It could be an idea to do this this every year on that anniversary, so that their legacy and memory lives on.