Support the Museum
If you participate in the United Way Donor Choice Program, please designate Please Touch Museum’s Portable Play Program: #1134. Our Portable Play Program (formerly Community Partners Program) is a community outreach program that brings a taste of the museum to classrooms and social service agencies by facilitating playful, interactive, exhibit-based workshops.
With your help, we can continue to enrich the lives of children through the power of play!
Support Please Touch Museum by shopping at Bloomingdales!
Bloomingdales is hosting The Shopping Benefit on Thursday, October 29th. Purchase a ticket to receive one of the following:
15% off almost every purchase
20% off when you spend $300 or more
Tickets are $10 and all proceeds from tickets bought through Please Touch Museum benefit our award-winning programs and exhibits. Bloomingdales will contribute an additional bonus for every ticket turned into Bloomingdales on the day of the event.
For more information, call Jamie Hughes, Development Specialist, at (215) 581-3175 or jhughes@pleasetouchmuseum.org.
Make your Mark
Learn how you can Make your Mark on Please Touch Museum.
Whether it’s enjoying Poet’s Corner in our Program Room, Musical Storytelling in Hamilton Hall or seeing an original theater production in Please Touch Playhouse, there is always a new educational opportunity awaiting every child who visits Please Touch Museum. In addition to our exhibit-related programming, our new quarters allow us a unique chance to offer insight on an often overlooked period of Philadelphia’s history, the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, as well as be in a position at the forefront of child life history and interpretation.
We are one of few children’s museums in the country that is a collecting institution, and our collection of over 12,500 objects includes toys, games, and puzzles. Our collections are used both in exhibits and as part of our educational programming to guide play, engender creativity and cultivate the imagination. A visit to Memorial Hall provides a journey children and families can take together to explore one of the last remaining vestiges of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, a fascinating part of our nation’s history.
To ensure that we can continue to resonate as a strong voice telling the story of the Centennial and expand our collections to encompass all aspects of childhood culture, we count on support from individuals like you. If you do choose to contribute, here are some examples of the direct impact of your gift:
- A gift of $500 will allow for the acquisition of vintage toys for Please Touch Museum’s collection including a 1938 View Master, a 1915 Raggedy Ann and a 1929 Duncan Yo-Yo.
- A gift of $250 will sustain research, content development and acquisition of original materials related to the 1876 Centennial Exhibition.
- A gift of $100 will support our Collections Intern Program to allow for cataloging of Please Touch Museum’s extensive archives.
- A gift of $50 will enable a family in need to experience all Please Touch Museum has to offer by receiving free admission through our Children’s Fund.
Your fully tax-deductible gift, in any amount, makes a difference for our region’s children and families who rely on the unique and playful learning experiences available at Please Touch Museum. A visit to our museum is often the first step in introducing children to the 350+ cultural institutions our city has to offer and can ignite the imagination and exploration necessary to create generations of life-long learners. We appreciate gifts of all sizes, thank you for considering becoming a supporter of Please Touch Museum!
For more information, please contact the Development Department at (215) 581-3175.
Yes! I would like to make a gift to Please Touch Museum
If you would prefer to make a pledge or make a gift by check, please download a gift/pledge form (PDF) and mail it in with payment to:
Attn: Development Department
Please Touch Museum
Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park
4231 Avenue of the Republic
Philadelphia, PA 19131
If you would like to give a gift of stock, please contact:
- Stephanie Lim Capello
- (215) 581-3164
Please Touch Museum is a non-profit organization. A copy of the official registration and financial information can be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.
Support the Museum
For 32 years Please Touch Museum, The Children's Museum of Philadelphia, has been enriching the lives of children by creating learning opportunities through play. Our programs both in the museum and out in the community serve over 200,000 children and adults annually.
There are two ways you can support Please Touch Museum: make a gift to our ongoing programming at Memorial Hall or help us complete our $88 million capital campaign. All gifts to the capital campaign will go to meet our $5 million Dorrance H. Hamilton Challenge (see below). Either way, your generous tax-deductible contribution will enable us to continue our award winning exhibits and programs or complete our capital campaign.
Your annual gift can make the following possible:
- Free School Admission program enables Philadelphia School District students in pre-K through 1st and 2nd grade to enjoy all our museum has to offer, free of charge: $15 per child
- Children’s Fund enables children from disadvantaged communities to have the opportunity to visit and experience the Museum free-of-charge: $60 for a family of four.
- Community Partners Program, an outreach intitativve that provides interactive family play sessions, parenting workshops and museum visits for family from underserved neighborhoods in Philadelphia: $130 per family
- Cultural Explorers Program, these multi-cultural curriculum kits help children see that all people have the same basic needs – food, clothing, housing, family and friends – while learning that the difference in language, arts, landscape and cuisine are what make the world such an interesting place: $250 for 2 1/2 hours
- Teacher Training and Staff Development, the ABC’s of Literacy – understanding the importance of developing early literacy skills of young children, Science All Around Us® highlighting science and math concepts and Toddler Behavior, which teaches us how to handle tantrums, biting and other disruptive behaviors in a positive manner: $450 per each three-hour series
The Dorrance H. Hamilton Challenge
Please Touch Museum® has been given a rare and wonderful opportunity to help finish our historic capital campaign to renovate Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park for our new museum. Philanthropist Dorrance H. Hamilton has pledged a gift of $5 million toward our $88 million campaign if we can raise an additional $10 million. Raising this additional $15 million will help finish our campaign and serve as a testament to our community's generous support of children and families. All new and increased gifts rom individuals, corporations, foundations and government sources will count toward this challenge, no matter the amount.
Mrs. Hamilton's belief in our mission and her endorsement of our campaign are a true inspiration to all of us. Please consider a new or additional gift to help us meet the Dorrance H. Hamilton Challenge. You're welcome to make your gift in the form of a pledge, payable over time.
Naming opportunities are still available, ranging from $250 to $2 million. For more information about these opportunities, please contact Mary Heider, at 215-581-3163 or mheider@pleasetouchmuseum.org.
Education Improvement Tax Credit Program
As a friend of Please Touch Museum®, you might be interested to learn about a mutually beneficial opportunity for your company and the museum. Please Touch Museum is listed as an Educational Improvement Organization under the Education Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) of the Department of Community and Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The EITC allows businesses like yours to reduce your state tax liability – equal to 75% of your contribution to Please Touch Museum. To learn more about how you can participate in this program, please go to http://www.newpa.com/programDetail.aspx?id=62 or contact Tracey Soulges, Director of Government Funding and Major Gifts, at 215-581-3166.
All EITC dollars that are contributed to the museum go to support our innovative education program for inner city youth, ACES (Achievement through Community Service, Education and Skill Building).
More ways to support Please Touch Museum
Use GoodSearch.com for your Internet searches and support Please Touch Museum! Visit www.goodsearch.com, a search engine powered by Yahoo!, and type "Please Touch Museum" into the "I support" box and click on "verify." Every time you search the web using Goodsearch.com, Please Touch will receive a donation.