Ways to Give
Northern Clay Center is a non-profit arts organization that serves the community
through:
- Education for adults and children
- Studios and grants for ceramic artists
- Retail and exhibition galleries
- Outreach off-site education (reaching over 10,000 K-12 students and elders age 55+ each
year)
We have a track record of reliable and accessible programming are skilled and
experienced in maximizing the impact of your gift.
But don’t take our word for it, check out our 4 star profile on Charity Navigator.
Make a Donation
At NCC, we believe art builds strong people and communities. With your support, NCC will continue to lead in ceramic art and serve as a warm, creative hub for artists, learners, and educators. We will bring this vibrant space to those who need it most.
Through outreach programs like ClayToGo and ART@HAND, we deliver ceramic experiences to schools, libraries, senior living facilities, memory care units, under-resourced neighborhoods, and summer camps. Our Vital Aging / ART@HAND programs help people 55+ boost cognition, fine motor skills, memory, and connection. At the same time, school and community residencies empower young people with mentorship and hands-on clay making.
Your gift provides clay, tools, teaching artists, transportation, and the flexibility to adapt to diverse settings, from classrooms to memory care units, so that everyone, regardless of age or resources, can experience the power of making with clay.
Below are a few examples of the impact a monthly contribution would make:
$5 a month: Can provide clay, tools, and glazes for a classroom workshop, giving a child their first experience with ceramics in school or at a community center.
$10 a month: Can provide supplies for an ART@HAND session in a memory care or adult day program, bringing joy, connection, and improved well-being to older adults.
$20 a month: Can provide scholarship funding to bring a child from an under-resourced community to NCC for camp or classes.
$50 a month: Can help fund stipends to artists so they can provide give young learners meaningful, hands-on exposure to the ceramic arts.
$100 a month: Can support ClayToGo outreach in neighborhoods where access to arts education is limited, ensuring clay reaches those who might otherwise be left out.
$500 a month: Can underwrite a semester-long partnership with a memory care center or under-resourced school, creating sustained impact through ongoing classes, workshops, and exhibitions of student work.
Please note: we use the giving platform, DonorBox, to process our donations and your bank statements will reflect this.
Matching Gifts
Many employers offer a matching gift program that allows you to increase your giving to your favorite organization. This can double or even triple your gift to NCC, giving you the increased benefits and visibility that comes with your new level of giving.
Inquire with your company's human resources department to see if your gift to NCC qualifies for a matching gift, or check this list of Minnesota companies that have matching gift programs from the Dakota County Historical Society.
Give to the Max Day
In 2023 alone, Give to the Max Day (GTMD) raised $34.2 million for 6,615 nonprofits and schools, making it an extremely important day for fundraising in Minnesota.
One special feature of GMTD is the prize pool. Every 15 minutes one gift is drawn and the organization that was the recipient of that gift, receives a bonus “Golden Ticket” of $500 or $1,000!
This year, NCC calls on you to help us win a Golden Ticket by splitting your gift to us into multiple donations, thus gaining us more entries into the prize pool. You gotta play the game to win☺
Visit the link to our GTMD page to donate and please consider bookmarking and sharing with a friend.
ReCollect
The ReCollect sale at Northern Clay Center raises revenue for NCC’s artist services program. ReCollect is a secondary market sale showcasing select objects (both older and more contemporary) from various private and personal collections. 100% of proceeds from these sales support a variety of opportunities for emerging artists, including the Early Career Artist Residencies, which now annually provide two artists with a fully-subsidized studio space and a modest firing/materials stipend.
Qualified Charitable Distributions
A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is a gift of your retirement assets from your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), pension, or other tax-deferred plan and is an excellent way to support NCC for years to come.
Your pensions, retirement plans, or other financial accounts can be a practical way to help NCC and can even save you at tax time.
Typically, retirement plan balances are subject to both income and estate taxes. But because NCC is a nonprofit organization, we won't pay income tax on the distribution, nor will the gift be subject to estate tax.
Your retirement assets may be transferred to NCC by completing a beneficiary designation form provided by your plan custodian.
In-kind Donations
During events like American Pottery Festival we rely on a host of in-kind donations of goods from firewood and fizzy water to apples and almonds to pull off a successful event.
Want to contribute? Get in touch with us at nccinfo@northernclaycenter.org to see how you can help!