This holiday season, without a doubt, you will be asked to make donations – toys for kids, food for families, supplies for schools and more. The world of charitable asks is saturated; so much so that you can be presented with all of these giving options when checking out at the grocery store. You, too, will be asking credit union members to donate to their local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

So how could anyone possibly support all of these worthy causes? And how can charities stand out among the 1.5 million charities in the United States alone (according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics)?

I believe the answer lies in smarter stories – telling potential donors exactly what their donation provides and how that impact is personally relevant to them. We need to shift our charitable asks from transactional to more relational partnerships. It's how we can show authenticity in our efforts, and hopefully create lifelong credit union members and donors.

The best place to start is with how we ask members to support their local CMN Hospitals. Which question would prompt you to give a donation?

A. We're supporting our local children's hospital this holiday. Would you like to give a donation to your Children's Miracle Network Hospital?

B. Our local children's hospital needs help providing care for sick and injured kids – kids like my neighbor who has a rare disease and requires special treatments. Would you like to donate to give kids like Sam every chance to get better?

The personal nature of B is clearly more inspiring. These are the stories – the personal connections – that will generate more support. Sharing more details about Miracle Kids helps potential donors understand why hospitals rely on community donations to care for kids.

In Costco stores this year, you could purchase boxes of General Mills' cereal to support your local CMN Hospital. This opportunity was identified on each box with the iconic Miracle Balloon and a photo of a Miracle Kid and his story. It was immediately apparent how donations were being used to help kids like him. Employees knew his story and it also was shared in the customer magazine.

This holiday season, reference Miracle Kids such as family members or neighbors, whom they know, and how they are helped by donations. If employees do not have personal stories, consider adopting a Miracle Kid at your credit union. Encourage everyone to learn the child's story. Display his or her photo at your location and invite the child's family to events to meet your community. Every request for donations should reference how that child is helped by those funds.

Another component to turning charitable asks into relational partnerships is engaging your community – finding meaningful ways to connect with your members and encouraging them to join your donation program.

Last year, many of you participated in CU Direct's special contest, in which the general public was invited to vote for the CMN Hospital of their choice, with the winning hospital receiving a $20,000 donation from CU Direct. The community response was outstanding: There were 375,000 votes cast, thousands reached via social media and many media interviews about the promotion.

In fact, there was so much buzz that CU Direct raised its incentive, awarding $20,000 to two hospitals, plus a $5,000 consolation prize to each of four additional hospitals. In the end, six hospitals benefited financially from the campaign and members took pride in knowing they helped to secure additional funding for their local children's hospitals. It's these campaigns that help members associate CU Direct with CMN Hospitals and demonstrate the impact and the authenticity of this partnership.

So, this season, when you're asking a member to support your local children's hospital, tell a smarter story about a kid who directly benefits from donations.

Clark Sweat is chief corporate partnerships officer for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. He can be reached at 801-214-7417 or [email protected].