November 30 marks Giving Tuesday, since 2012 the nonprofit world’s biggest online fundraising day of the year, and Friends of Cooch’s Bridge, the new group dedicated to preserving state-owned Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site, plans to get in on the action.
“We hope to make this year’s Giving Tuesday one for the history books,” says Friends’ president Vince Watchorn.
“As our very first foray into active fundraising, we’re aiming to make a splash—and ask followers to be generous and help us preserve a remarkable Delaware treasure.”
The heritage-rich Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site, owned and operated by the state through the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, is home to the state’s only Revolutionary War battle and the Cooch family’s historic industrial milling complex. It has been peopled by diverse populations throughout history, including Paleo-Indian populations; the Delaware Lenape tribe; Colonial-era farmers and industrialists; and African-American laborers and tradespeople, both enslaved and free.
Friends of Cooch’s Bridge acts as the property’s advocacy group.
In addition to the Friends’ operating costs, funds to restore the site’s buildings are needed—at least $1.7 million—to ready the site for public visits. The Friends will use social media on Giving Tuesday to begin spreading the word.
“Watch your social stream for our memes on November 30,” Watchorn says. “Share them with your friends to help us go viral and, by all means, be sure to visit our website and donate whatever you can. Every gift counts.”
To jump-start the one-day fundraiser, the group will enlist over 100 current supporters, relying on them to post memes on their favorite social platforms throughout the day.
“Our pool of supporters is small, but growing every day,” Watchorn says. “We hope by midnight on Giving Tuesday that it’s grown into a roaring river.”
In 2020, nearly 35 million Americans gave online during Giving Tuesday. Nonprofits raised almost $2.5 billion in one day.
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