ATP has begun preparation for the annual Giving Tuesday event to be held December 3, 2019. Founded in 2012 by a partnership between New York’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, Giving Tuesday is a national day of philanthropy celebrated around the world each Tuesday following Thanksgiving. Its primary sponsor is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
ATP first participated in Giving Tuesday in 2016, but with a different focus. ATP Development Director Luke Walrath, grateful for the continuing support shown to the organization, dubbed Giving Tuesday a day to thank donors for their support. That year, Walrath undertook to, in a 24 hour non-stop period, personally call every single ATP donor to say thank you for each and every contribution. In the late hours of the night and early morning hours when phone calls were less likely to be welcomed by recipients, Walrath read aloud musicals from curtain to curtain, using toy figures as the characters.
In 2017, Luke hit upon the idea of an online 24 hour thank you, using the late hours to call ATP alum actors and supporters around the country for online conversations.
Last year ATP initiated the First Giving Tuesday LiveStream from The Garage. Central to the event is the call-a-thon telephone table populated by board members making the thank you calls while local youngsters perform live on the Garage stage and video clips of previous ATP shows and supporters’ comments are shown on the screens. The objective is the same—to thank every ATP donor for their support of the organization.
This year’s LiveStream will take place at the Garage from 4-9. ATP patrons can drop by and watch the LiveStream—well—live. Online access will be via ATP’s website HERE via YouTube.