Giving Tuesday: Celebrating the support of our audiences
This year on Giving Tuesday, we’d like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have supported us through this unprecedented time
This time nine months ago, in March 2020, we were forced to make the difficult decision to close our doors for the foreseeable future.
Shortly after announcing our Summer 2020 season, we were faced with the uncertainty of whether we would be able to welcome our dedicated audiences back to our theatres in the coming months, or indeed for the rest of the year.
We were gearing up to open our Globe Theatre for our Summer 2020 season before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic forced us to close our doors. Photographer: Tristram Kenton.
We generate 95% of our income from theatre tickets and other on-site activities. Due to the pandemic, we have been losing nearly £2 million a month, and even in light of the wonderful news that we will be receiving the maximum grant available as part of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, our future has never been more uncertain.
The enthusiasm, encouragement and support we have received from our audiences is astonishing. Thousands of ticket bookers have allowed us to retain their bookings as donations or convert them into Gift Vouchers and we have welcomed wonderful new Members to the Globe family. Our audiences have written to their MPs, taken to social media, and even hosted their own community fundraisers to support our cause, raising over £20k during the first national lockdown alone.
Our 2018 production of Hamlet streamed on YouTube, completely free to watch, and was available for two weeks, gaining over 600,000 views.
Your support has kept us going through our most challenging year since we sought to build the Globe Theatre itself. Our summer programme of YouTube Premieres of past productions have received over 2 million views from all over the world (hello to all 130 countries who tuned in and a huge welcome to our 100,000 new YouTube subscribers!). We’ve shared two new seasons of our podcast series, Such Stuff, with new episodes for Christmas on their way very shortly! And we have announced and shared two digital festivals, Shakespeare and Race and Shakespeare and Fear, which you have so incredibly supported by buying tickets and keeping us afloat.
This Giving Tuesday – an international day of giving following Black Friday, in which people are invited to recognise the work of their favourite charities – we want to take this opportunity to say the biggest of thank yous.
This December, there are many ways you can support Shakespeare’s Globe during our time of need, many of which don’t require you to spend a penny.
1. Support us when you do your Christmas shopping
For a limited time, you can get a 10% discount on your first online purchase from our Globe Shop by using the promo code SMILE10. Become a Member, and this discount increases to 20%. For the dedicated Shakespearean or the Globe newcomer alike in your life, take a look in our shop for the perfect gift.
For the dedicated Shakespearean or the Globe newcomer alike in your life, take a look in our shop for the perfect gift.
Prefer to shop via Amazon? Carry-out your online shopping via AmazonSmile (rather than your usual Amazon.co.uk), and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your product to us. The prices and products are the same but you get to help charities at the same time. Win-win.
eBay, Argos, Waitrose – You can support us by shopping with hundreds of different companies online by visiting Give As You Live. This Christmas, it has never been easier to help us continue to make Shakespeare accessible to all!
2. Become a Member
Our Friends and Patrons unlock the benefits that no one else can access. Priority Booking for all of our productions, 20% discount in the Globe Shop, 10% discount in the Swan Bar and Restaurant, issues of Globe magazine throughout the year and access to our virtual Members’ Room. Join us as a Member today, or purchase a Membership as a gift, to take one-step closer to your favourite theatre, and access behind-the-scenes content.
Gift vouchers are valid until 31 October 2021 giving the recipient plenty of time to take their pick of our activities. Photographer: Helen Murray.
3. Treat thyself or a friend to a Gift Voucher
You can buy gift voucher for yourself that can be redeemed with us, either immediately against a membership or you can save it for when we reopen, to use on tickets for an event, performance or tour. Our gift vouchers also make wonderful (and convenient) presents for others at this time when we’re social distancing – all admin is handled electronically and your recipient has something to look forward to once large venues reopen.
4. Watch a performance online
Throughout 2020, millions of people around the globe have watched productions from our very own Globe, for free, on our YouTube channel, including our Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production of Romeo and Juliet, available until February 2021. If you enjoyed the production, you can donate within YouTube itself – just look out for the blue ‘Donate’ button displayed next to the stream. Select an amount, hit continue, and YouTube even covers all the transaction fees.
There are so many more Globe productions to enjoy online. Globe Player, our video-on-demand platform, provides hundreds of videos spanning our thirty-year history to rent or download, and you can also send them to others as a gift.
This Christmas, we welcome back an old favourite, Christmas at the (Snow) Globe, in a new festive film format. Sandi Toksvig and her merry gang lead the joyful heart-warming fun online from 21 December.
You can join us in the Globe Theatre from wherever you are in the world by watching one of our many productions online. Photographer: Tristram Kenton.
5. Make a donation
Donating is the fastest, most effective way of ensuring that we receive the funds we need to survive and thrive for the future.
By donating online, you are ensuring that our four-decade legacy, built upon the tireless dedication of our volunteers and donors, is still there for future generations of theatregoers to enjoy.
You can also donate by text. To donate £20, £10 or £5, text GLOBE20, GLOBE10 or GLOBE5 to 70460.
You may also have noticed the new ‘Donate’ button appear at the top of our Facebook page. Again, Facebook covers fees and don’t forget your Gift Aid declaration.
What’s more, you can donate straight to us through your PayPal account. Funds, along with eligible Gift Aid, goes directly to any charity selected and PayPal will take care of all transaction fees, which is good for those who may be donating from overseas.
We are still finding ways to stay hopeful, thanks to your donations, purchases and general support. Photographer: Marc Brenner.
6. Let us claim Gift Aid.
You may have already made a donation to us this year. If this is the case, then we ‘can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks; and ever thanks’ (Twelfth Night).
However, we can claim a further 25% on top of your donation at no extra cost to you by receiving a Gift Aid Declaration. If you are a UK taxpayer and have made a donation in 2020, please do get in touch in order to provide us with a declaration.
