Our February fundraiser, Nibbles & Sips, may be behind us, but it’s not too soon to be thinking about ways you can support this event—as well as other IFCS programs—during the coming year. In our most recent blog entry, we featured a Nibbles & Sips Table Captain and Corporate sponsor; these event supporters make substantial financial donations to IFCS. In this post, we’d like to focus on the numerous ways that smaller—albeit essential—donations contribute to making our annual fundraising gala a success. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to support IFCS and Nibbles & Sips that won’t break the bank or require attending the event in person!
Donate Gift Cards
An often overlooked donation is gift cards. We love gift cards here at IFCS! Gift cards have 2 primary uses: Enrichment Program use and Nibbles & Sips.
IFCS has three primary enrichment programs: Ready, Set, School! backpack distribution, Fresh Thanks holiday food boxes, and Helping Hands for the Holidays gift distribution. While greatly needed programs, sometimes physical items aren’t always enough to make ends meet. Maybe the receiving child needs new shoes, or a family needs a fresh meat product at their holiday meal. Items not received during these special distributions can be purchased with $25 grocery store gift cards. Donated gift cards allow us to provide a little extra during back-to-school and holiday seasons.
In addition to enrichment programs, a gift card is an easy way to increase the value of an auction basket or Mystery Balloon Pop prize at Nibbles & Sips. Gift cards go a long way to increase the amount spent during the silent auction, and helps encourage guests to purchase Mystery Balloon Pops.
Next time you visit your favorite grocer or restaurant, consider visiting the gift card rack and purchasing a $25 gift card. Gift cards can be dropped off or mailed directly to IFCS.
Donate Gift Certificates
Do you have a service provider you frequent, such as a nail tech, barber, or massage therapist? Consider asking for a gift certificate donation to support Nibbles & Sips! This donation has dual benefit. One: Your service provider has the opportunity to learn about IFCS’ life-changing services, and Two: they may even gain a new client when someone wins their gift certificate. Gift certificates can be dropped off or mailed directly to IFCS. In some cases, IFCS staff may be available to coordinate pickup.
Donate an Auction Item from our Amazon Wishlist
Whether you’re on a budget or are unable to attend Nibbles & Sips on any given year, our Amazon Wishlist hosts a variety of items for different budgets. Each item purchased will come together to create a great silent auction basket for guests to start bidding wars over. The best part? Items ship directly to IFCS, so you don’t have to coordinate drop off! Shop this list year-round to help keep IFCS’ shelves stocked with essentials, and watch early in the year for a separate wish list to help build valuable auction packages for Nibbles & Sips!
Share Your Expertise or Contribute a Unique Item from Your Side Hustle
Maybe you own a business or have a specialized skill. We are always looking for new, quality donors to share their craft by turning it into an auction item. Maybe you create and sell pottery on the side or are a freelance photographer. Nibbles & Sips is a great place to share your skills and maybe gain a new customer!
Could your skills benefit IFCS in other ways? We are grateful to have had many projects donated, such as promotional videos, murals, and various construction projects.
Talk to Todd about your ideas!
Donate a Bottle of Alcohol
The Sips is half of Nibbles & Sips. As such, we love to add bottles of wine and liquor to our auction baskets to create a festive at-home experience for the lucky winner. Next time you visit your favorite liquor store, consider picking up an extra bottle to donate! Alcohol can be dropped off at IFCS.
Become an IFCS Compassion Partner
Compassion Partners are a reliable income source to IFCS. For as little as $5 a month ($60 annually), Compassion Partners allow IFCS to increase impact and work toward sustainable and meaningful change during challenging times. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, 50% of food assistance funding came from individual, corporate, and community organization donations. Nearly 7% of that came from our monthly donors. Compassion Partners also receive special invitation to IFCS fundraising and volunteer events.
Volunteer
Perhaps the most valuable way to contribute to Nibbles & Sips—and IFCS as a whole—while living on a tight budget, is by giving of your time. Events like Nibbles & Sips wouldn’t be possible without gracious volunteers donating their time to ensure everything runs smoothly. An added bonus? Volunteers can attend for free!
In addition to special events, IFCS also offers weekly volunteer opportunities in our No-Cost Food Market.
Meet Kim Lundquist, who has volunteered at Nibbles & Sips with her husband and friends for 9 years.
“I love Nibbles & Sips because everyone is so receptive to the reason for the event,” Kim said. “Everyone gets really excited knowing money is going to a good cause. It’s easy to feed off that energy.”
Over the years, Kim— with her friends and family—have helped create a smooth event for IFCS through their volunteering. From vendor set up to walking guests to their tables, selling Heads or Tails opportunities, and most recently assisting Bolder Events (the service company that manages all the event attendees’ transactions) in handing out bidder paddles. In addition to volunteering in 2025, Kim also designed a silent auction basket and solicited gift certificates from service providers she frequents.
“It’s a way for my husband and me to be involved because he’s still working,” Kim said. “The last three years we’ve had a job we could do together, and work in tandem, which is fun.”
After her volunteer shift is done, Kim enjoys watching the program, and seeing everyone’s generosity during the paddle raise and live auction.
“It’s such a worthy cause,” Kim said. “Everybody gets into it. I look forward to it every single year.”
Contributions of All Sizes Make Nibbles & Sips a Success
As you can see, there are many ways to provide a valuable contribution to Nibbles & Sips and to IFCS more generally. Whether you’re a loyal attendee unable to join this time or a supporter with a limited budget, every contribution plays a vital role in making our fundraising gala a success. Thank you everyone!
All donations and event contributions can be dropped off or delivered to:
IFCS ATTN: Todd McPherson
3370 S Irving St
Englewood, CO 80110
