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..

read more…

The premise of this election is simple. There are no confusing ballots, no lines at the polls and no geographical boundaries. Anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, nationality and background can vote in this election. The ballot? Your light switch. The candidates? Earth vs. global warming. Turning off your lights equals a vote for Earth. Leave them on, and your checking yes to the ever-increasing problem of global warming. WWF is urging the world to VOTE EARTH this Saturday, March 28, from 8:30-9:30 p.m.

This year’s goal is to reach 1 billion votes. These votes will then be presented to influential world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. Check it out: Earth Hour 2009.

So, the question is, can you do something as simple as switching off your lights for just one hour?  It’s time we started taking action regarding the future of our planet. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action. And yes, every vote does make a difference.

I know I will be turning off my lights on Saturday. In fact, I’ve come up with several ideas for that dark hour:

1. Light every candle in your house or apartment and RELAX!
2. Use that fireplace for one of the last times this winter (Yes, Spring will be here soon!)
3. Gather some friends and play a game of hide and seek in the dark. Childish? Perhaps. Hysterically    funny and random? Definitely.

Now that I’m on a roll with the lists, here are a few every day reminders that can help our Earth:

1. Recycle. Obvious, I know. But it really is so important.
2. Turn off lights when you leave a room, even if i t is only for a few minutes.
3. Don’t leave the water running!
4. Unplug computer and phone chargers when you are not using them. You’ll save money on your electric bill, too!

Okay, you get my point. But seriously, be an agent for change and turn off those lights at 8:30p.m. this Saturday.  Use it as an excuse to do one of my following suggestions above. If those don’t interest you, why not take a few minutes to sit and reflect on all the wonderful things our planet has to offer and how fortunate we are to have the resources that we do.

Visit WWF’s Earth Hour website here for more information.

If you set a high fundraising goal for yourself, ($3500+) you are likely going to have to get some donations from people outside your immediate circle of friends and family.  The way to do this is to be extraordinary.

Why be extraordinary?  Well, because being ordinary just isn’t going to cut it these days. Sure, Grandma and Grandpa may donate to your campaign simply because they like you, but let’s face it, friends of friends, and strangers are only going to donate if you can knock their socks off by showing them how dedicated you are to your fundraising effort.

So what makes someone extraordinary?  Well, being extraordinary can mean anything. It can mean participating in a physical challenge like running a marathon, or rowing across Atlantic. Or it could mean creating a heartwarming video or great description for your fundraising page.  It could even mean doing something goofy like growing a mustache or shaving your head for charity.  Whatever you decide to do, the key is showing your donors that you are passionate about what you are doing and you are willing to do whatever it takes to raise money for your cause. read more…

Originally posted: March 20, 2009 by Judith Graham

Sisters raise $29,000 on the Internet for a kidney transplant

Amy Cowin, 22, wasn’t sure where to turn when her older sister, Jessica Cowin, 25, developed kidney failure and found out her insurance policy wouldn’t cover the cost of a transplant.

Then, one of her friends told her about a new Web site, Give Forward (www.giveforward.org), where people can create personal fundraising pages. The Chicago-based site debuted in mid-December.

Amy put up a page on the site and donations of $5 to $5,000 started pouring in, many of them anonymous. To date, she’s raised $29,000 toward her goal of $100,000.

This is the future of medical fundraising in the Internet age. Needy families may still hold bake sales and block parties to raise money for medical emergencies, but increasingly they’ll go online, appealing to the widest possible audience for help. read more…

Jessica Cowin, 25, of Northbrook, needs a kidney transplant. Not extraordinary, except that she got a new heart 10 years ago. Jessica’s sister, Amy, has managed her medical care for years. Also not extraordinary, except the tenacious mother hen is only 22.

“Under hospital privacy policies, you can only have one other contact. For Jessica, it’s me,” Amy said.

Managing her only sibling’s care includes serving as kidney donor and raising $24,000 in just over a week — through an Internet plea — after being told Jessica had to qualify for Medicaid before Northwestern Memorial Hospital would do the procedure. read more…

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…

One good way to boost your fundraising totals is to get your story into the press.

Here’s how:

Prepare a short email with background information on why you are fundraising and make sure to include the link to your GiveForward personal fundraising page, as well as your contact information.

Once you’ve prepared the email, call up your local newspaper, radio or TV station and tell them you are fundraising for a good cause and that you would appreciate if they could help you out.

Tell them your story on the phone and then ask if you can send them a little more info in an email so they can pass it along to the appropriate editors.  

Usually, this is all it takes.  If you ask nicely, most local newspapers will do a story on your fundraising efforts. read more…

This story was originally posted on March 5th, 2009 in the CenterTalk Blog by Raman Chadha, the Executive Director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul University.

1 Week. $21,000*. That’s how long it has taken to raise that much money. In one week, a fundraising effort catalyzed, mobilized, and evangelized by social media has already generated over $21,000 in cash donations. All with no cost.

If you have doubted the power of social media and social networking, I humbly ask you to stop doubting. If you have wondered “what good does it do?”, stop wondering. If you’ve asserted that “it’s just a fad”, stop asserting. This story will hopefully change your entire perspective.

Last Wednesday, one of my students approached me before class with the story that a recent DePaul University alumnus, Jessica Cowin, needed a kidney transplant. Jessica’s sister, Amy, had volunteered to donate one of her own kidneys but the surgery bill would amount to $100,000. Of that amount, Jessica’s insurance would only cover $30,000, leaving an incredible sum of money to be paid by a young woman and her family.

So Amy did what any loving family member would do, and should do – she reached out to her network and asked for help. She sent a Facebook message to fellow DePaul students and alumni sharing Jessica’s story. She appealed to them to help out in any way they could. My student was one of those who received that message.

Later in the day, Amy set up a donation page to “Help Jess” at www.giveforward.org/helpjess (BTW, GiveForward.org is a Chicago-based social venture).

She then created a Facebook page and invited, I imagine, all her friends to visit that page, learn more about Jessica’s situation, and make a donation. Within a few hours, I had already received a couple more messages from DePaul students pleading for people to Help Jess.

So on Thursday, I visited the Help Jess page and made a donation. I was surprised to see that over $8,000 in donations were already made…in less than 24 hours. The amounts ranged from $10 to $5,000. It was amazing.

Then I started seeing messages on Twitter. Then I got more emails, Facebook messages, and Twitter replies and direct messages. I was watching the power of social media in real time and for a real benefit.

* * *

I made a donation because I know Jessica fairly well.

She was president of our Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization chapter, for which I am the faculty advisor. She launched a business with her sister, Amy, and worked with the Coleman Center to get it off the ground (to this day, I’m proud that we were also their first customer). She convinced her parents that their business could use some help, and so they, too, became a client of the Coleman Center.

Jessica would regularly stop into our office, with a smile on her face, chatting and networking with our staff, clients, and fellow students. You could find her studying in the lounge area outside our office on a daily basis. We all got to know her very well.

Yet never once did Jessica mention her health issues, which included a heart transplant (yes, you read that right) at the age of 16.

In the middle of all that interaction, consulting help, conversation, and mere physical presence, Jessica never took it upon herself to draw that kind of attention. Her humility and modesty is an example for all of us, young and old.

* * *

But today, she needs the attention, and the power of social media has given it to her. Family, friends, and complete strangers have come together to save a life. But we haven’t come together in a physical way. We didn’t attend a fundraiser or have someone approach us at our homes or offices. These “fads” called social networking and social media brought us all together.

They brought us together to make a difference in a span of time that is mind-boggling. And I’m asking you to continue this amazing effort, and to Help Jess.

Please visit www.giveforward.org/helpjess and help in any way you possibly can. Almost $50,000 is still needed to Help Jess.

A donation of any size will help us move towards the certainty that a young person’s life can be saved. And after making that donation, tell your friends, family, and complete strangers to do the same. Use your voice, use your email, use your iPhone, use your Facebook, and use your Twitter.

Together, we can not only Help Jess, but we can Save Jess.

www.giveforward.org/helpjess

* editor’s note. Since this article was originally published Amy and Jessica’s fundraising total has reached $25,626

The article below was written today about a fundraiser on GiveForward.org.

How much is a life worth?

I recently came across the story of Jessica Cowin when a friend linked to it in an email to me. Jessica was born with a heart condition that required several surgeries, a pacemaker at a young age, and eventually a heart transplant at age 16.

In the years sine the heart transplant, Jessica has been doing well, but almost 10 years later, the drugs she takes to prevent rejection of the transplanted heart have destroyed her kidneys. The good news is that her sister is a match and can donate a life-saving kidney to her.

The problem is that there is a high cost to the transplant surgery. Jessica’s insurance doesn’t cover much. Her health insurance will cover up to $30,000 of the cost of a transplant, but the surgery is expected to cost over $100,000, plus $30,000 in related treatments. In order to get the surgery, Jessica needs to pay for it in full up front. The surgical team will not proceed with the transplant until they are paid.
The business of health insurance is an ugly one. Common sense says that insurance policies can’t possibly cover every condition or treatment, and there must be limits in place otherwise insurance companies couldn’t stay in business. I understand the limits of Jessica’s coverage.

I also understand the transplant team’s policy of not doing surgery until they’re paid. Doctors and hospitals are expensive. There are machines to be paid for, employees to be compensated, and malpractice insurance to be purchased. Who can blame the medical team for want to have their costs covered?

Yet it must seem so unfair to a 25 year-old who has just graduated from college. She made it through a heart transplant with flying colors, but now her life is in jeopardy because she can’t get the kidney that is waiting for her.

Jessica’s family has established a page on GiveForward.org to collect donations. If they can raise the money, Jessica can have the surgery. I love the idea of the website, offering an easy way for people to donate money to worthy causes. Money is tight for a lot of people these days, but just imagine if everyone who read this story were to donate $5 or $10 to the cause? Take a look at Jessica’s story. It may touch your heart the way it did mine.

Woman Raises Surgery Money, To Donate Kidney To Sister

Steve Miller Reporting
(WBBM) - Thanks, perhaps, to the power of the Internet – and a sister’s love – a 25-year-old Chicago area woman is getting a kidney transplant sooner rather than later.

No stranger to hospitals is 25-year-old Jessica Cowin.

She had a heart transplant ten years ago. And now she needs a kidney transplant.

Her 22-year-old sister Amy volunteered to donate one of hers. But Amy says Northwestern Memorial Hospital would not perform the surgery because Jessica’s insurance for transplants had been maxed out ten years ago. read more…