b-day invite question

[omelette]

My son is turning 5 next month and we are going to have his first "friend's" birthday party.  He's really into siberian tigers right now so we asked him if he'd like to ask his friends to bring 2 twoonies to donate to help save the tigers as opposed to getting gifts.  He's on board with the idea.  So my question is how to word it on the invite.

I was thinking of keeping it simple - In lieu of a gift please bring 2 twoonies to donate to the World Wildlife Fund. 

I guess I feel awkward asking them to bring money (even though it's less then they'd likely spend on a gift). Also, should I give more details as to what my son is wanting to donate the money to?

[MegEliz]

I think that sounds liek a great idea and i think anyparenst would rather doate than get a gift for a child if that is what he wishes. I woudl explain his passion for the tigers and his desire to perserve their place in teh world

[MegEliz]

BTW I know i have typos in the above but it won't let me backtrack and edit for some reason? :)

[DariusMom]

What about announcing a "Tiger themed" birthday? Get tiger invitations (or make them!). Then, if parents ask about gifts, you can always say that he'd like to donate to the world wildlife fund to help save the tigers, but you're not dictating to them what they have to do on the invitation itself. If your DS gets lots of tiger stuff, he can always sell it at a yard sale and donate the proceeds to the WWF.

I mean, i can't imagine that anyone would mind donating to such a cause (I know I wouldn't!). This topic arouses lots of debate whenever it pops up, but I, personally, don't feel comfortable mentioning gits at all on invitations, much less dictating a charity to which people should donate, even an uncontroversial one like the World Wildlife Fund.

[Shaki]

I think it's fine to do the in lieu of gifts thing on the invite. I'm always grateful for clear info if the party is deviating from the assumed norm of bringing a gift.

We go to a lot of bday parties and it can be difficult to figure out how to handle the gifts thing if the parents don't want gifts but aren't clear about it. If the parents tell individual people please no gifts, but don't say so on the invite then you can be in the position of not bringing a gift, only to arrive to see  a gift table piled with gifts from all the other people who were not told no gifts, which is a horrible feeling. So basically I think if you are not simply accepting gifts but are having some kind of gift rule (no gifts, donations whatever) it is kinder to the guest to let them know on the invite.  Not being up front about it causes awkwardness for the guest.

But what the heck it are twoonies?

[K1329]

I mean, i can't imagine that anyone would mind donating to such a cause (I know I wouldn't!). This topic arouses lots of debate whenever it pops up, but I, personally, don't feel comfortable mentioning gits at all on invitations, much less dictating a charity to which people should donate, even an uncontroversial one like the World Wildlife Fund.

I agree with this. I also don't feel comfortable with mentioning gifts, much less requesting a certain gift/donation, on invitations. If I were to, I have seen one phrase I liked. "Presents are not necessary, your presence is our present." You could go on to say "but if you want to give a gift, please give a donation in X's name to..." Personally, though, I wouldn't mention it at all.

I'm also curious... a twoonie?

[~Amy~]

Originally Posted by K1329 

I'm also curious... a twoonie?

A Canadian $2 coin.

I personally would be fine with your request, OP.  I really dislike gift-buying, especially if I don't know the recipient really well.  I like being told *exactly* what to buy/give (I LOVE gift registries!...LOL), but I know that some people don't care for this.  It's hard to know what is best in these situations.

[omelette]

Ahh, yes, we're in Canada.  And a twoonie is $2.

I think I might go with the in lieu of gift... on the invite.  There will be 7 families, 4 of which I know very well.  I love the idea of my son being more interested in tigers then gifts and would much rather make a donation to the WWF then have him receive a bunch of gifts that we don't need.  And I think if it's what he would like too then I will just find a way to word it appropriately (or what I feel is appropriate I guess) on the invite.

Thanks for your input.