GiveForward

There is only one day a year dedicated to the loving mothers that care for us so selflessly, when in reality, they spend much more time being caregivers than we give them credit for.  Estimates of the percentage of family or informal caregivers who are women range from 59% to 75%, and the average caregiver is age 46, female, married and working outside the home earning an annual income of $35,000, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance.

Because moms are known to put the needs of others in front of their own, it is understandable that they have trouble asking for help when they are the one who needs care and support.  In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, we are highlighting fundraisers that are supporting their mothers going through a medical crisis.  For these three moms, the overwhelming financial and emotional support that their loved ones have shown on their GiveForward page will be better than any card or candy:

The children of Marilyn Gross (AKA Lady M)  have all come together to raise $5,500 so far for her battle against a rare form of kidney cancer. Her pre-surgery mantra: “I Believe I will kick ass. I Know I will kick ass. I Will kick ass!”

Betty Goldberg‘s son, Christopher, says “I’m simply a desperate son trying to help his mom live her last days in relative peace.” He has raised almost $10,500 for at-home dialysis treatments for her to be closer to her family.

While Brenda Flowers is bravely fighting breast cancer AND caring for her 86 year old mother, her 4 children and 11 grandchildren have secretly raised over $8,000, and plan to surprise her on Mother’s Day with the news of the fundraiser.

If you know a mother/caregiver who is in need of some emotional and financial help, consider starting a GiveForward page for them to let the love and support last for more than just one day. Consider honoring your own mom by making a donation to one of these deserving mothers or any other project on GiveForward in her name.

If you haven’t heard us blogging, tweeting or Facebooking about it yet, May 4th is World Give Day! This is the one day dedicated to giving to the causes you care about most and inspiring that generosity to continue.  And you have the perfect way to get involved! Ask your friends and family to participate in World Give Day by donating to your fundraiser and helping spread the word by promoting your page as a part of World Give Day!

As World Give Day approaches, we have issued a challenge to all active fundraisers on GiveForward– record a video for your fundraising efforts and you could win $250 for your fundraising efforts! It’s very simple, and anyone can win, as long as you have an active fundraiser that is open through WGD, May 4th, 2012.  Read all the details here…

Good news! We are expanding the team of fundraising coaches that get to work with and help wonderful users like you everyday!  Do you know someone in the Chicago, IL area who would be interested in being the next GiveForward Fundraising Coach? Or do you live in Chicagoland and want to be the first user turned staff member? Check it out and see if you have what it takes, or share this opportunity with someone you know who thrives on giving warm fuzzies and hugs! We’ll give you a big virtual high five if you do

This week, February 13-19, is Random Acts of Kindness week! Created by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, which inspires people to practice kindness and to “pass it on” to others.  This is the perfect opportunity to send a quick message to your donors, supporters, friends & family letting them know they can still take part in this week by showing their support for your fundraiser. Whether it’s sending words of encouragement to a beneficiary by leaving a “hug” on the fundraising page or sending the link to the page out to their personal network, any small random act of kindness goes a long way

Sam Eaton is one of a kind, in every sense of the word, as he has a rare 16th chromosomal genetic abnormality that has no other documented cases. As a result of his condition, he suffers from hypotonia, static encephalopathy, severe speech apraxia, and bilateral skew foot; and he wants to just have “happy feet”.

His friends and family created Sam’s Happy Feet on GiveForward to raise funds for his orthopedic surgery to make his feet happy again, and free of the casts that he is forced to wear.  Without the surgery, he was looking at a lifetime of worsening pain and risking the ability to walk. In addition to the care he has been receiving since birth for his feet, he receives regular speech, occupational and physical therapy.  But that doesn’t stop him from being a carefree, loving, and contagiously happy little boy.

The outpouring of love and support that the community has shown for Sam has given the Eaton family the hope and financial freedom to make sure Sam has “no mo’ boo boo feet”, as he says. Please take a moment to look at the wonderful words of encouragement (and adorable pictures) on their fundraising page and send some virtual hugs their way.

When the home of Ron Wallace was burning down the day before Thanksgiving, he never thought he would be visited by another fire victim who would provide him with hope to help him get through this tragedy.

But at that moment, Tara, who lost her own home to a fire in January 2011, happened to be driving  by Ron’s home.  She happened to be in the right place at the right time and stopped to give Ron a tote of essentials to help him take care of himself and alleviate the stress of losing his home.

The tote that Tara gave to Ron actually came from Tara’s Totes, a site she created after losing her own home to a fire. Now Tara is dedicated to creating totes of essentials to help people like Ron.

Before the fire, Ron was unable to afford to make necessary repairs to his house to qualify for insurance, so rebuilding is going to be much harder than typical families who are in the same unfortunate situation.

Tara felt that there was more she could do to help out Ron, so she looked to GiveForward.com to create a fundraising page as a place where others in the community can contribute to Ron’s expenses.  Ron’s Fire Fund has created a way for members of their Wisconsin community to show their financial support as Ron rebuilds his home, and their emotional support as Ron mourns the loss of his canine companion, Klutz, who unfortunately did not survive the tragic fire.

Take a moment to check out their page and send some support their way.

To allow staff members time to celebrate the holidays and visit with family, the GiveForward offices will be closed from Friday December 23rd 5:00 PM until Monday January 2nd 9:00 AM.  Fundraising coaches will be periodically checking emails for urgent inquiries, so feel free to email us with any questions at info@giveforward.com. If you are awaiting payment for your closed fundraiser, we will still be sending payments even though we are not in the office, so be sure to check your email for confirmation when payment has been sent. Happy Holidays!

This holiday season, we’re inviting all the members of the GiveForward community to Adopt a Fundraiser! As an organizer of a fundraiser, you can sign up to have your fundraiser adopted by someone you may not know who just wants to help out with your fundraising efforts.  By taking part, you will have lots of holiday cheer coming your way from a fellow GiveForward user! Happy holidays, indeed!

Have you seen some of the GiveForward pages that have an “Updates” tab at the top of their fundraiser? As an organizer, this is your way to keep all your friends, family & donors informed; it will also keep them interested in the fundraising efforts in hopes that they will continue to spread the word about your page. Want to know how to make one?

- To make an Update, log into your user account where it says “Welcome back, [your name]“.

- Scroll down to the blue bar that contains the title of your fundraiser, and underneath that you should see a list of functions and features for helping you manage your fundraiser.

-The 6th choice down is “Create & Edit Updates”. If you click that, it will take you to the updates page where you can title your update, upload a picture, and create your update.

- Make sure to check the box that emails the update automatically to all your supporters!