GiveForward

Normally on GiveForward we offer our readers tips on how to raise money online, however, one of our users gave us a good offline fundraising tip so we thought we’d pass it along.  GiveForward user Laura Wilson has let us know about another way to fundraise for medical expenses.  Laura Wilson and Chick-fil-A have partnered in order to raise money for Team Nicole.  How it works is, fliers are given to Team Nicole to distribute.  Then you take your flier to the local Chick-fil-A restaurant during a certain time period and 20% of the sales are donated to Team Nicole.   

There are many restaurants out there that are doing similar things for individuals and other non-profit organizations.  Panera Bread offers gift cards to be purchased at a discounted rate and then re-sold.  But if selling gift cards isn’t your thing, there are other options as well.
 
Chipotle, (a favorite spot of a certain second banana here at GiveForward) offers in-restaurant fundraisers similar to that of Chick-fil-A.  If you’re more into pizza than chicken and burritos, Cici’s Pizza will host your fundraiser at one of their restaurants and donate a portion of the proceeds to your cause.  My favorite option however is the FUN-Raiser offered by Sweet Tomatoes, one of the greatest places on earth.  They will donate 20% of the proceeds to your organization and provide you with fliers to pass out to friends and family.
 
Supplementing your online fundraising with hosting one of these events is a great way to get friends and family together for your cause.  It’s also a great way to kick start your online fundraiser and build confidence going forward with your fundraiser.

Sherri Dauskurdas of The Business Ledger (@BusinessLedger) recently featured GiveForward in their “Focus on Philanthropy” section.  Dauskurdas writes: “A new online service is making it simpler than ever to give and raise funds… Online fundraisers are set up and marketed through the Web site. The program offers options to handle everything from photos, videos, event calendars and updates, and even thank-you notes to donors. GiveForward  then sends a check directly to the beneficiary, minus 3 percent processing fees and the 2.6 percent credit card fees, with a letter outlining the efforts of the fundraiser.”
 
To view the entire article, please click here.
 
The Business Ledger is a newspaper serving suburban Chicago featuring local business news.

GiveForward is thankful to have the ability to help those in need.  However, one sweet lady took it upon herself to turn the tables and fundraise for us!  A few months ago, Kim Sutton-Rainey used GiveForward to fundraise for a friend of hers who is battling cancer.  She was so happy with the results and services we offered that she contacted co-founder Ethan Austin to see if we had any needs.

Through her discussion with Ethan, she learned that one of the most requested features from our users  is a fundraising widget that they could stick on their blogs or websites.  The widget would greatly increase our scope of outreach and make it even easier for our users to raise money for their loved one’s medical expenses.

What Kim did next blew us away and was completely humbling! After finding out our needs, Kim set up her own fundraising page here on GiveForward to raise money for us!  Kim, excited about the idea of the widget says “this will truly be the gift that keeps on giving!”  Through her fundraiser, she hopes to reach out to those that support our organization and want to further our mission of giving forward.  We are incredibly flattered and humbled by the initiative she took to help us out and would like to thank her by giving her a special shout-out for her efforts.

We think that Kim exhibits a selflessness that is vital for creating a better tomorrow, and for that we are knighting her with the honorary title of Fantastic Fundraising Friend of GiveForward!

If you’re curious about this amazing friend of ours, you can check out her full story and fundraising page here.

To all those in the Chicago tech startup community, our friends at Chi-Town Startups are hosting Startup48 on April 17th.

You can get all the deets at their website www.chitownstartups.org

What is Startup48?  Well, we’re glad you asked.  Here’s a quick summary…

“Over the 48 hours startup teams will go from idea to proof?of?concept and creation of a
demo. Startup ideas will be submitted prior to the weekend and teams will be organized
based on popularity of idea and experience needed to get the concept to market, sort of like
a startup team blind date. On Sunday, teams will present before a panel of guest judges.

read more…

Recently, co-founder and second banana Ethan Austin was interviewed by Pepsi Refresh Project (@Pepsi) about GiveForward’s increasing presence in the medical fundraising world.  In the interview, Ethan details how GiveForward has shifted from a general fundraising site to a site primarily dominated by medical fundraisers. 
 
To read the interview in its entirety, please visit the Pepsi Refresh Blog here.
 
The Pepsi Refresh Project seeks people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that have a positive impact on the community.

While GiveForward primarily is used to fundraise for medical expenses, there are other causes that our users seek to raise money for.  Recently Bobby and Sue Johnson came to us because they wanted to focus their efforts on raising money for poorly treated animals, specifically dogs. 

Bobby and Sue saw a severe disparity in the treatment of small and large dogs.  Sue noted in her email to us that “there are millions of dogs out there that go unclothed.  I don’t know what it is but it seems that every little pooch has something to wear, yet our German Shepard Rocky has to frolic in the park naked.”  The number of needy dogs out there is startling; a recent AP study determined that only 1 out of every 100 dogs has proper clothing. 

Like most Americans, Bobby and Sue are hard pressed for money in these stressful economic times.  They want to provide Rocky with the clothing he so desperately needs, yet their budget does not allow for it.  The popular dog boutiques cater primarily to small animals and are bizarrely expensive.  Bobby says “I know there’s other dogs out there suffering as bad as Rocky is.  Hell, I see ‘em walking down the street with their heads hung in disgust.”

The Johnsons decided that a fundraiser to help supply dogs with desperately needed clothes would be the way to help address this issue.  And so, they came to GiveForward and “Duds for Dogs” was launched. 

Sue notes that this is not only an issue of animal rights, but an issue of social rights as well.  “Why is it that little teacup doggies walk around with pink party dresses and poor Rocky can’t even find a t-shirt that fits him?  It’s just not right.  It’s like the rich people can clothe their little dogs but us struggling middle class can’t properly clothe our pups and so we look like negligent derelicts.  It’s just not fair.” 

The hope of the Johnsons is that every dog will be afforded the opportunity to have clean clothes to wear despite their class or breed.  If Duds for Dogs is as big a success as they anticipate, plans are in the works for Clothes for Cats and Suits for Squirrels. 

If you would like to support this vital cause, please visit their GiveForward page here.