GiveForward

Co-Founder Desiree Vargas was recently interviewed by Metro Green Business about the success of GiveForward, and since that interview we are excited to announce that we have raised just over $1.3 million dollars!

In the article, Desiree talks about how she decided to start GiveForward and discusses how our first success story positively affected our site.  She also talks about the evolution of our site becoming primarily focused on medical fundraising. 

MetroGREEN+Business (@MetroGreenBiz) is a comprehensive information website for green and sustainable business and real estate throughout the metro New York area.

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GiveForward happily announces another medical fundraising success story!  This time, Lori Hope, a cancer survivor herself, started a fundraising page for her friend Ann-Ellice and raised over $10,000! 

With well over 25 years of experience as a communications professional, Lori Hope is a leading authority on cancer support and the author of “Help Me Live: 20 Things People With Cancer Want You to Know.”  Her book has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and on NBC’s Today Show among other places.  In addition to her book, Lori writes a blog and speaks publically about cancer and how to support and communicate with cancer patients. 

We are incredibly excited that Lori featured GiveForward recently on her blog.  In her post, she chronicles her journey in helping her friend Ann-Ellice by setting up a GiveForward page.  Ann-Ellice is a dear friend to Lori, one who helped her during her own battle with cancer by cooking for her and completing other helpful tasks.  When Ann-Ellice confided to Lori that she was having some financial problems after losing her job in the recession, Lori asked if it would be okay if she set up a GiveForward fundraising page for Ann-Ellice.  After some hesitation, Ann-Ellice finally agreed.  Lori details the outpouring of support, whether monetary or emotional, given to her friend Ann-Ellice.

“My life has been largely about supporting people with cancer for the past seven years,” says Lori, adding that she is “thrilled” to learn about GiveForward, as another tool of support.

To read the entire post, please click here. 

For more about Lori Hope, please visit her blog.  For information on her book, please click here.

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.

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.

There’s little we love more than helping people fundraise for medical expenses, but if I had to choose a close second favorite, hearing people’s success stories would definitely be it! 

Recently, Kim R. told us about her positive experience with GiveForward and I’m honored to share it with you guys. 
 
Kim came to GiveForward to help raise money for her friend Chris’s medical expenses.  She credits a lot of her success to the fundraising tips and tricks that we offer to our users: “Once my page for my friend Chris was posted, Ethan sent me a very nice e-mail of encouragement. He offered my friend some very valuable resources, gave us fundraising tips and put our page as a featured fundraiser. It was most definitely the personal touch.”
 
Kim also told us of the multiple ways in which people reached out to help: “Some people donated online at GiveForward, some paid utility bills directly and others sent cash and checks. We were all so struck by the generosity. It is so touching when utter strangers reach out and give to someone they don’t know.” 
 
Kim admits that had she not discovered GiveForward, she does not know where she would have started in her attempts to help her friend.  She stresses that GiveForward “legitimatized” her fundraiser, that it was easy to spread the word about it through email and on sites such as Facebook, and that taking credit card donations furthered the ways in which she could help her friend.
 
We are so glad that Kim had a positive experience and was able to help her friend Chris.  Hopefully there will be many more of these stories to come, and we can’t wait to hear them!

Please enjoy some of the nice things GiveForward users have said about us lately—we’re so happy to have helped these fundraisers work towards their goals!

“Thank you so, so much! I don’t know what I would have done without you guys and your website.”
-Amy Cowin raised $31,000 for her sister’s kidney transplant

Thanks so much for the opportunity to use your site. It helped tremendously! Between the Fundraiser and GiveForward, I reached my goal.
-Beth Dahlke Kiens raised $3900 for a brain surgery to prevent paralysis

“Thanks to Giveforward.org we were able to surpass our goal and raise over $3,000 that Liana’s family can use towards her chemotherapy treatments. Thank you so much for providing this tremendous service! It made it so easy to raise money for a great cause.”
-Katherine Deurloo raised $3300 for her neighbors daughter battling leukemia

“You guys are wonderful. It’s people like YOU who are making the dreams come true for people like me! or at least enabling us to make our own dreams come true.”
-Michelle Brovitz has raised [ongoing] $10,000 to purchase medical equipment for her Multiple Sclerosis treatment

“You guys have been marvelous…Can’t even tell you what a wonderful job you have done with the site and the whole Give Forward mission. I’m impressed with all you guys do……Much love and gratitude.”
-Brandi Fischer has raised $22,000 to help pay for her friend’s liver transplant

“It’s been a crazy day, I never in my wildest dreams thought that things would move as quickly as they did. I am shocked, and entirely humbled by the generosity of the community that I am beyond fortunate enough to be part of…I know I said it already… but let me say it again : THANK YOU! Big up’s to you and your team.”
-Jeff Mueller raised $15989 in a single day to help his friend pay for his cancer treatments.

“Thank you so very much again for taking the time to contact me, and for founding GiveForward so that people like us could have an easy way to raise money for our loved ones medical expenses.”
-Sarah Griffin raised $7000 for her uncle’s stroke recovery fund

“I would recommend this website to anyone who needs to do a fundraising event and take advantage of their tips/suggestions to make it successful. If I ever have to do another fund raiser, I would not hesitate to use GiveForward site again—they are wonderful!”
-Carmen B. raised $1700 to help her nephew pay for his kidney dialysis treatment.

“Your site, GiveForward, is great. It is professional and extremely easy for people to navigate. If there is anything I can do to help you promote the site or a letter expressing my satisfaction with your site, please let me know. Once again, thanks for your help and support. Don’t forget, if there is anything I can do to help you in your efforts to promote Give Forward, please do not hesitate to contact me.”
-William Loncar ‘s daughter, Shaughna raised $12,770 for his lung cancer treatments.

“Thank you so much for your amazing work, again. You guys are great. I am so happy with the fundraiser results and I know Jeremy and Noah will be so grateful. Sometimes, words just are not enough, I guess “thank you” will do for now, but this fundraiser and the training have given me a focus during a really hard time. For that I am forever grateful. I hope to stop by the next time we are in Chicago, I would love to meet you guys.”
-Meghan Kaplan raised $4100 training for a triathlon in honor of her friend who was battling gastric cancer and passed away during Meghan’s training.

“Thanks to you and the rest of the Give Forward team for providing this service. It made our fundraising efforts much easier.”
-Kellie Sadens, raised $2,330 for her sister-in-law battling Lymphoma

Read more testimonials and success stories from our blog here!

In previous posts on the GiveForward Fundraising blog, I’ve mentioned the importance of getting off to a good start with your personal fundrasing page.  The reason you want to get off to a good start is because people usually play follow the leader.  In other words, most people will come to your fundraising page, check out how much previous donors gave and then give a similar amount.  So if you start with a bunch of $100 or $200 donations you’ll do a lot better than if your first few donations are for $5 or $10.  As I’ve mentioned before, one way to get off to a good start is ask your 5 closest friends and family to donate a specific amount (say $100) to get the ball rolling.

However, another great way is to simply lead by example.  If you put some skin the game by making the first donation for a significant amount, others are going to follow your lead.  Think about it.  What better way is there to show people how sincere you are about your cause than by leading with your actions!

Here’s an easy tip to help connect with your donors –  tell them how their donation is going to be used.  For example, if you are fundraising for a non-profit that deals with AIDS  in Africa, let them know that a $25 donation will purchase medicine for a child for three months,  a $100 donation will purchase medicine for a year and a $250 donation will purchase medicine for a child for two-and-a-half years.

Letting your donors know that their donations are going to a specific purchase, will make them feel more connected to your fundraiser because it more tangible and will make them want to give more generously. It will also help establish a suggested donation amount so they know the minimum amount they should be donating..

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This story was originally posted on YouthNoise Play City—a community dedicated to changing the world through sports and play.

What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day this year?  Have you ever thought about shaving your head bald?  If not, keep reading and maybe you’ll change your mind.

I recently learned about a non-profit organization called the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which raises money for kids’ cancers (which by the way is the #1 disease killer of U.S. children). It’s a pretty cool organization and they’ve come up with a really fun way to raise money for a great cause.

Each year around St. Patrick’s Day, thousands of school kids (and adults alike) across the country promise to shave their heads bald in exchange for donations from friends and family.

The basic question is “how much would you pay to see me shave my head bald?”  And the answer is “a lot”.

The St. Baldrick’s concept started ten years ago as a challenge between three friends and has now grown into one the largest fundraising events in the country.  Since inception, 72,000 people (including 5,200 women and girls) have had their heads shaved to raise over $51 million for children’s cancer research. read more…