Share the Tools Fundraiser Giveaway! $10,000 Goal

Denver Tool Library is a 501c3 non-profit. Your contributions are tax-deductible.

The Denver Tool Library is trying to raise $10,000 by the end of 2025, so we’re having a big giveaway y’all!

Donate a suggested $10 or more from now until the end of the year and you’ll automatically be entered into our Share the Tools Fund Giveaway. For every $100 you donate, you’ll get 4 entries. On January 6th, we’ll pull a random entries from our lucky cement mixer. Three winners will get a DTL Mega Pack, which includes…

  • 🛠️ One Year Of Tool Lending

  • 💡 $200 In Class Bucks

  • 🪵 A 10 Hour Open Shop Punch Card

  • 👚 DTL Shirt, Mug, and Sticker

Cheater’s Tip: Double your entries by making a recurring monthly donation via Colorado Gives before Dec 9th and your first donation will be matched 100% (details).

For giveaway fine print, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Donate

What is the Share The Tools Fund?

People need tools to keep their homes comfortable, functional, and safe. Organizations need tools for community workdays, facility upkeep, and other mission-driven activities. Our Share the Tools Fund gets tools in the hands of the people & organizations who need them most.

How It Works

Every dollar you donate gets added into a fund. This money pays for the tools, space, and staff needed to ensure that underrepresented individuals and financially restricted organizations have access to our programs. 

Your contributions directly support:

  • Expanding our capacity to offer Financial Assistance to individuals and community partners

  • Nurturing partnerships with values-aligned organizations and ensuring diverse voices shape DTL's growth

  • Adding the most in-demand tools to our community collection to best meet member needs

  • Repairing and maintaining the 6,000+ tools that keep Denver DIY-ing

Impact

Since Share the Tools Fund’s inception in 2023, we’ve been able to give big discounts on memberships, classes, and open shop hours to hundreds of people in our community.

  • People Given 25%-50% Off our Programs: 343

  • Orgs Given 50%-100% Off our Programs: 38

  • Estimated Total Savings: $32,875

The Share the Tools Fund allows us to support dozens of organizations and community projects, helping to:

  • Build 29 school garden plots for East Middle School.

  • Repair fences at the Department of Housing Stability.

  • Build infrastructure for food delivery for Denver Food Rescue.

  • Build Safe Outdoor Spaces for people experiencing homelessness, via Radian and the Colorado Village Collaborative.

  • Build weatherproof shelters for Denver Community Fridges.

  • Provide free memberships and classes to fundraise for dozens of organizations, including DUG, DCPA, Bikes Together, DU’s CAPE program, SustainEd Farms, Denver Slow Food, Extreme Community Makeover, WeeCycle, and more.

  • Nurture partnerships and member discounts with local like-minded businesses like Perks Deconstruction, ReStore, ReCreative, Austin Hardwoods, Woodcraft, Rockler, and the Denver Public Library.

Donate

THANK YOU from the WHOLE DTL COMMUNITY!💙🛠️💛

Giveaway Fine Print: No purchase necessary. If your entry numbers are pulled multiple times, you can only win once. If you are already a tool library member with us, you can use your free annual membership toward your next renewal. Prizes you win are transferrable and you can give them away to friends and family. Giveaway prizes do not expire. To enter for free, mail a postcard with your contact info to the Denver Tool Library before 12/31.

November's Repair Fair Recap!

Holy smokes - Repair Fair on November 15th was SO much fun! Give the photos a scroll to see for yourself.

A ton of y'all showed up with your clothes, bicycles, appliances, jewelry, furniture and more. Many thanks to all of you who gave your beloved stuff a second life, and many thanks to our super handy volunteer fixers who kept that beloved stuff out of the landfill. 

Impact

  • 81 attendees brought their beloved but broken items.

  • 21 fixer and support volunteers generously shared their time and skills.

  • About 87 items out of 118 items were fixed and given a second life. That’s a 74% fix rate!

  • 98lbs of electronics recycled

  • Once again, lots of hot dawgs & cookies served!

Some of the Fixes

  • 1940s Toaster

  • Mechanical egg beater

  • A stuffed animal

  • Music box

  • Adult trike

  • Coleman kerosene Lantern

  • Chrome and leather chair

  • 5-in-1 Record CD tape player

  • Robot Vacuum

STORIES WE HEARD

“…my small side table got fixed. This was my grandma’s table that was dear to me, and it was so great that it was able to be fixed. The person helping me helped me understand the process and tools being used."

"I had a necklace with a lot of sentimental value fixed. It was broken for years, and now I'm wearing it today! I could have taken it to a jeweler... but I just kept forgetting. Having something that is community-oriented, free, and scheduled finally got me to get this necklace fixed—so glad you all did this fair!"

"My favorite wireless lamp! It fell off of a table... I use it all the time and didn’t want to throw it away so it could end up in a landfill with a battery inside. Drew and Jesse took it apart, figured out what was wrong, and got it working in about 10-15 mins. I was amazed!"

“I have an LED sign that says 'Feel Good' in my store... Recently, a customer broke the wire and I was devastated... but the Repair Fair saved it!! I can encourage people to feel good once again!""

"My favorite jacket had a pocket that I was having trouble repairing... the people at the library helped me replace it. They were fantastic. I plan on replacing the other pocket in this jacket on my own and I feel confident doing that now."

More Than Just Fixin’ Things

These events are about more than simply fixing stuff - they aim to challenge consumer throwaway culture and encourage resourcefulness and reuse. They help share practical skills and build confidence so our neighbors can take on their own projects. We hope that Repair Fairs show that a community can come together to fix, build, and create the things they need.

What's Next? Get Involved!

Weren’t able to make our first event? Still have some broken stuff you don’t want to part with? Want to volunteer to help people fix and build things?

Thanks so much all - we’re stoked to see you at the next one!

Share The Tools Community Quotes

Did y'all know a percentage of all your tool library, class, open workshop hours, and gift bucks purchases go toward helping folks and orgs afford tools?

As a non-profit, a chunk of our total revenue, gold memberships, and your donations hangout at a big pool party called the Share the Tools Fund which gets distributed via financial assistance, and these quotes are from recipients.

Want to throw some extra bucks into the pool party? We have a rolling fundraiser through the 2025 that you can donate to now.

Thanks for helping your community!

Volunteer at the DTL!

Want to get tools in the hands of people who need them, feel that primal sense of accomplishment, AND meet cool people? Volunteer with the Denver Tool Library!

There’s a bunch of different ways you can lend your time including organizing, being a regular core volunteer, helping out at events like our Repair Fairs (this Saturday, btw), and more! Learn all about it at denvertoollibrary.org/volunteer where you can also sign up for a volunteer orientation.

Questions? Reach out to our volunteer coordinator Amanda who has been doing an AMAZING job rallying people: Amanda@denvertoollibrary.org

Thanks all!

Volunteer with Us

New Tools You Can Borrow!

🚨 Pretty New Tools Alert!🚨

We just got some new tools that you can borrow, including:

⚙️Grizzly Track Saw

⚙️Two Makita Angle Grinders

⚙️Bosch Orbital Sander

⚙️Ryobi Portable Orbital Sander

Thanks to your support via donations and membership fees, we’re able to regularly add high-quality tools like these to our inventory. Get these nice shiny new tools plus 6,000+ more with your Denver Tool Library Membership (only $150/year!).

Get a Membership

Updates! Handmade Holiday Class Gift Guide

Updates on our Handmade Holiday Gift Classes - they’re filling quick! Not listed are all the gifty classes that have already sold out (believe me, I tried to include them - it’s total chaos).

Don’t wait until last minute and get stuck picking out some Amazon junk just to find out that you already bought your dad fancy nuts three years before (true story). Instead, We’ve compiled a list of classes where you create a piece of art made with 100% genuine love that you can give to someone on your holiday list. Best of all, it’s sort of a selfish gift because while they get whatever you make, you get the skills to build another during our Open Workshop Hours.

Classes, Dates & LINKS

First Skill Share! Weds, Nov 12th at 6pm

Join us next Wednesday, November 12th from 6p-7:30p for our first-ever DTL Skill Share! We'll have a few tool librarians and members sharing about their recent projects, ranging from van buildouts to electronics repairs. There will be plenty of time for questions and mingling, so come learn a new skill, get inspired, and meet some rad people!

Skill Shares are free events where anyone is welcome to meet and mingle with fellow members and tool librarians and learn more about what projects they are working on. Each event features a few short presentations from community members sharing their projects, lessons learned, and inspiration, followed by time to chat and connect over N/A beverages. No tool experience required!

Learn more & Register for Free

We're Accepting Food Donations

The Denver Tool Library is accepting food donations for the Athmar Recreation Center in District 7. You can drop off food in the black bin located in the front office anytime during our regular open hours or when you come in for your class.

Priority Donation Items:

✅ Snacks, ready to eat items (dried fruit, nuts, protein bars, instant ramen, popcorn etc.)

✅ Canned items (beans, veggies, fruit, tuna, etc.)

✅ Shelf-stable items like pasta, rice, flour or nut butter

✅ Infant food, formula, and diapers

✅ Unopened hygiene products

✅ Household items (i.e. cleaning supplies)

✅ Reusable bags

The following items cannot be accepted:

❌ Perishable items such as eggs, dairy products, fresh/frozen meat

❌ Prepared meals

❌ Opened packages of food

❌ Clothing

Thanks all!