Thank you for using FirstGiving to set up your donation site. Firstgiving.com is a secure website that will allow you to create and customize your own fundraising website! Through Firstgiving you can email your page to friends, family and colleagues, who donate by credit or debit card in an easy, secure online transaction. You can also view donations as they are made, and send electronic thank-you emails.

Please print out a copy of these directions, or open the link below in a new browser so that you may follow along as you set up the site.

Directions to setting up a FirstGiving Donation site:

1. Go to www.firstgiving.com
2. In the field marked "find a non-profit", type in Beardsley Zoo and click Go.
3. On the next page, click on the words "Connecticut Zoological Society, Inc." - this will open a new page where you can create your own site.
4. Click on the "Create a Fundraising Page" link
5. Click on the "Sponsor the Zoo for my Birthday" link if this is for a birthday site, otherwise, at the bottom of the page is a drop down menu for other types of pages.
6. Enter your email address and click on the button for "I'm new to this site". Click "continue".
7. Fill in the account details information and click "Continue".
8. To add your team name, fill in the information in the "Add a team" section and click "Add". The next page will show you your    new website name, and you can change it as needed.  Click "create your page".
9. Click on "Edit your page" to add a customized photo and message to your recipients. You can change the text in the personal message area as well as in the message that goes to your recipients (located at the bottom of the page).
10. Your donation website is now live!  To send a message to your friends, simply cut and paste your new website address into an email and send it out to your friends!  You can also email your friends directly through the firstgiving website by clicking on the link at the top for "Your account", click on the "your fundraising pages" link, and follow the directions to email your friends.  They will be able to donate directly through the site via credit card, and you will be able to track the donations as they come in! If your recipients' companies have a matching gift program, they may be able to further their donation to the Zoo (they need to check with their Human Resources department). 

Thank you very much for using firstgiving.com for your donations to Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo.  Please let us know if you have any questions or problems using the site by calling Lori Mott at (203) 332-4243 or via email at lmott@beardsleyzoo.org.

Please note that there is a 7.5% service fee deducted from each donation, which helps to cover the costs of ensuring your donations are transmitted safely and securely to the Zoo.