Discovery Museum will hold its 14th Annual Bid for Kids Online Auction May 1-May 10, 2023. This important fundraiser provides critical support for our Open Door Connections program, which provides a range of ways for families to visit the Museum at no or low cost. This includes families with children on the autism spectrum, who are deaf/hard of hearing, or are blind/have low vision; $1/person admission for EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders; free admission for educators and military families; and free admission for all on select Friday evenings. Our 2022 auction raised more than $20,000, or the equivalent of 1,200 free admission passes for families who may not otherwise be able to afford a Museum visit. 

Ways the Museum has extended free and nearly free admission to our community:

· In 2022, 23% of our total audience visited for free or for just $1/person. This included:

• 8,900 EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders
• 2,400 active-duty military personnel and their families
• 3,100 people who registered for our Especially for Me events for children with disabilities
• 1,700 people who visited for free with a donated membership
• More than 1,000 people who attended a free Community Day in September held in honor of the Museum’s 40th anniversary 

· We also provided free and discounted School Field Trips and Traveling Science Workshops so that funding was not a barrier for learning hands-on math and science. Last year, 9,500 children and teachers visited with their schools through field trips and 45,000 students participated in one of our Traveling Science Workshop outreach programs. Of these totals, 7,000 students participated for free or low cost. 

· We offered 20 Free Friday Nights with over 5,800 visitors in attendance. Families for whom the usual Museum hours and/or cost of admission is a barrier to visitation were able to enjoy a fun evening of playing and exploring together without the burden of cost.

When you donate to the Bids for Kids Auction, your item and business name will be profiled in the online auction catalog with a link to your website. The auction is promoted to the Museum’s 60,000 registered emails, through a press release to 200+ media outlets, shared on the Museum’s various social media channels, and accessible to the 400,000+ bidders via our auction platform, Bidding for Good. It is our goal to thank you by providing as much visibility for your business as possible!

We hope you will give thought to lending us your support this year so that we may continue to ensure full access for all in our diverse community.

If you or your business is interested in donating an item for our auction catalog, please contact Lynn Protasowicki by April 21, 2023.

Thank you.