Personalized music can make a world of difference for people struggling with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other cognitive and physical challenges.
Those who have been less talkative often become more verbal. Those who have been still often become more active. Those who have been sad and depressed often become more joyful
Many who have witnessed the power of personalized music ask us, “How can I help?”
Recycled iPods Bring Joy to Nursing Home Residents
Here’s one of the best and most tangible ways you can get involved: Run an iPod donation drive in your community. We’re always in need of gently used iPods to distribute to our Certified Music & Memory Care Facilities. We’ve trained elder care professionals how to implement our program in more than 60 facilities throughout the U.S. and Canada, with more coming on line every month.
You’ll find detailed information about running a successful drive in our free online guide, How to Run a Successful iPod Donation Drive. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Ask Family and Friends for Used iPods
There’s a good chance that you, members of your family or friends have unused iPods lying around at home. Ask the people closest to you, first. Those who know you will trust you the most and will be most likely to contribute. Nothing boosts success like success!
Promote Your iPod Drive as a Service Activity for Your Club or Organization
If you belong to a service organization, sorority or fraternity, religious youth group or other club, an iPod drive can be a great activity. You can even create a friendly competition with other chapters, if you’re part of a regional or national organization, to see who gathers the most iPods. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and other popular social networks to promote your event.
Ask for Donations as Well as iPods
Some people won’t want to part with their iPods, even if they don’t use them much now that they have smart phones. It’s always a good idea to give people the option to make a financial donation. A gift of $49 enables us to buy a new iPod Shuffle. We also welcome iTunes gift cards. It’s easy to contribute using our online donation form. And for those who give iPods, be sure to point them to our mailing instructions and downloadable mailing label.
Tie Your Donation Drive to a Local Concert or Other Event
If you collaborate with organizers of a previously scheduled event, like a concert or benefit dinner, you already have a built-in audience and publicity. This strategy works especially well on college campuses or in communities with popular public celebrations, street fairs or festivals.
Set Realistic Expectations
We’ve learned from experience that people feel sentimental about their iPods and want to be sure that they will actually go to good use. (They will, and we wipe clean each device and restore it to factory settings before we give it to one of our certified facilities.) For your first drive, you may only collect 10 iPods, even from a large group of potential donors. But that’s 10 more iPods that will improve the lives of 10 people in nursing homes!
Be sure to download our free guide, How to Run a Successful iPod Donation Drive, for details. You’ll learn about Music & Memory, talking points about the benefits of personalized music, how to make “The Ask,” publicity tips, and much more.
We look forward to hearing from you and helping you to succeed. We’re all in this together! To coordinate with our team or if you have questions, please contact us through our website.
And be sure to let us know more about your drive. We’ll be publicizing successes in our blog. Thanks for your help!
Founded in 2010, Music & Memory® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.
