My favorite status quo that Gen-Y is challenging is in the fatter pocket department. While bottom lines, quarterly reports and profits are important to Gen-Y startups and entrepreneurs, there is something brewing that is gaining more popularity in Gen-Y companies: changing the world. From proceeds based on profits to community involvement and helping each other grow, Gen-Y is fundamentally under the impression that the world will be a better place if we grow together. Helping our friends, neighbors and those in less fortunate situations create jobs and stimulate their economies can impact the world and help everyone grow their bottom line.

Companies like Kiva (on the cusp on Gen-Y) are using crowdsourcing technology to connect investors with business entrepreneurs (yes, young and old) in developing countries to get off and running. Kiva now finances loans in 48 countries and in June 2009 supplied over $4.6 million in loans.

Others, like GiveForward, a privately held social venture (i.e., not a non-profit) are focused on helping existing non-profits and organizations find funding and make donating a better experience. Co-founder Desiree Vargas says, “Generation Y has the opportunity to live their entire career spans expecting to work for companies that treat their employees well, give back to their communities, and create a product or service that brings value to the world.”

New Gen-Y business values are helping to make the entire world a better place to live and do business.

Gen-Y has a long way to go to reach the heights of the mega-conglomerates that occupy the current Fortune 500. But changes in technologies and communication have allowed young people to find needs and niches and provide solutions for the problems they face in ways that are very exciting for the growth of global business. Gen-Y is learning first hand that climbing existing corporate ladders does not mean building a better company and that technology will allow them to stay small yet powerful, informed, and in touch.

What status quo can we shatter next?

Imagine it. One day a year when people focus on giving. One day when people across the United States can join together to make a difference. One day, where every person, regardless of age or income level, can collectively have a huge impact. Whether people give money, time, resources, or random acts of kindness, it all helps.

This is GiveForward’s goal for National Give Day. GiveForward.org is a website that provides free personal fundraising pages so they can collect donations from friends and family all across the country towards their own great cause. For the next 10 months, we will be collecting signatures online and in person to try to get the Mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, to announce May 4th, 2010 as National Give Day. Please sign our petition. read more…

When doctors told Jessica Cowin she needed to raise $100,000 for a life saving kidney transplant, her younger sister, Amy used GiveForward to raise the money.  Amy started a fundraising page on GiveForward, sent it out to friends and family through email and Facebook and asked them to send it along to their contacts as well.  Within a week Amy had raised an amazing $21,000 with hundreds of donations from people all around the country ranging from $5 to as large as $5000.

During her fundraiser, Amy would give updates on her fundraising page about Jessica’s health and email friends and family encouraging them to continue donating. GiveForward worked for Amy because the platform was both easy to set up and easy for friends and family to donate safely and securely.

Ultimately, Amy’s amazing efforts helped raise over $32,000 on GiveForward in addition to tens of thousands of dollars donated offline.  Her efforts were covered by the Chicago Sun Times, CBS radio, and the Chicago Tribune, which went so far as to call GiveForward the “future of medical fundraising in the Internet Age.”
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On September 13th, 2009, GiveForward.org and 200 young professionals will run in the Chicago Half Marathon and 5k as part of GiveForward.org’s Run for a Reason, a fundraising competition and celebration of Chicago’s amazing smaller non-profit community.

Our goal is to help raise as much money for Chicago charities as possible while showing the Chicago community how important young philanthropists are to these organizations.  This year, 200 young professionals, volunteers, junior board members, and non-profit staff will compete for a grand prize that will go to the winning team’s organization. read more…

This summer, GiveForward has a dynamic new team of interns. Let’s get to know this awesome group of people who have been working their butts off to make GiveForward a success.

Guenter Stoeffelbauer- “Koenig of Communications” (Koenig means King in German.)

Guenter is our newest addition to the GiveForward team! From Vienna, Austria, Guenter has joined us in Chicago to be our miracle marketing and communications strategist. He is a volunteer paramedic for the Red Cross Austria, and his hobbies include music, music, and more music. He’s even turned his hobby into a profession. Guenter specializes in music event marketing, management, and consulting.  While also working for radio stations and other businesses, he works on various marketing strategies that will work best for them. Guenter is currently writing his master thesis in communication. At GiveForward,  he will mainly be working on developing our communication/marketing strategy, and helping to organize GiveForward events. (i.e. Run for a Reason!)

Sheila Barden- “President’s Right Hand, Vice President’s Left Hand”

From preparing meetings to returning phone calls, Sheila does a little bit of everything for GiveForward. As a  senior at Loyola-Chicago, she is studying Public relations and Advertising. She grew up in Gaylord, Michigan, where she says being raised in the family business developed her work ethic. She’s obsessed with Michigan State sports, and would definitely go to a sporting event over a concert. Her current favorites are the color pink, chicken gyros, the Food Network, and Uncle Fatty’s Bar. She finds her free time consumed by her new puppy, Roo, who has her running from training classes to walks to the doggy beach. After Roo, her next love is her husband. These high school sweethearts will be celebrating their one-year anniversary this September. (Congrats!) When she “grows up” she aspires to be a special events coordinator for large-scale events and corporations. But that’s nothing compared to her goal for this summer: to buy a two-pound burrito from Chipotle and consume it in one sitting.

“Working for GiveForward has been amazing thus far. I learn about new charities everyday and have fun working in the office. It is heartwarming and makes me look at the world a little differently everyday,” said Sheila.

Erin Sherwood- “Social Media Maven”

Ever notice the GiveForward Twitter or Facebook accounts? That’s all Erin. Among other things, Erin is responsible for everything social media related with GiveForward, so you can thank her for the great Tweets and Facebook messages sent out. She was born in Florida and moved to Buffalo, NY, where she attended the State University of New York in Buffalo for her B.A in Communications. She then moved to Chicago to attend graduate school at Roosevelt University, and is on her way to obtaining her M.S in Integrated Marketing Communications. She hopes to one day move to Miami to work in a Sports & Entertainment Public Relations firm. Erin is a huge fan of shopping, spur of the moment vacations, and feasting on crab legs. (Mmm…)

“The experience thus far has been nothing short of exciting, between scavenger hunts through the city to setting up lemonade stands by the bike path. I enjoy getting to have hands on experience in helping to create a buzz around the organization while experimenting with new ideas to gain new fundraisers and donors. I enjoy the idea that everything we are doing here can easily be applied to any position I may hold in the future,” said Erin.

Erica Trzeciak- “Fundraising Guru”

Most GiveForward users know Erica. (or at least know she’s the girl who sends them all those nice emails) As our fundraising coach, Erica works to make sure users get the most out of their fundraising experience and guides them on the road to a successful project. Holding down as the only true Chicagolander currently on the GiveForward team, Erica grew up in La Grange, IL. She graduated this year from the University of Massachusetts with a B.A. in Psychology. Her current obsessions are the color green, her nine-month old nephew Lucas, football (Bear down!), gummi worms, gummi bears, and gummi peaches. (basically anything in gummi form) She watches travel shows religiously with hopes of one day visiting every continent, and maybe even every country, if her future finances allow it. She has an adorable pet bunny named Pancakes, who gets along well with her 14-year old black Labrador retriever, Trixie.

“I chose GiveForward because I wanted new perspective on giving back to the community.  I’ve done so much work with philanthropy, community service and fundraising on my own, that it’s nice to be helping on a large scale now.  Helping other people help the causes they care about so much is more rewarding than I could have ever imagined, ” said Erica.

Maya Walker- “Lord of the Fiesta”

From creating fliers to choosing table decorations, Maya is kept busy at GiveForward with our huge upcoming fundraising event, Run for a Reason. She’s planning the event, along with an awesome pre-race party. She grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (home of Krispy Kreme and Ben Folds!) and is a junior at Northwestern University in the Creative Writing program. She loves to spend her time sailing, cooking, and dancing, and she is currently in the process of learning how to parallel park. Some favorites include the movie “The Graduate” and Ben and Jerry’s Half-Baked Ice Cream. (clearly, we GiveForward interns have great taste in food.)

“So far, my experience with GiveForward has been an absolute blast! It’s been great working with the other interns and Ethan and Desiree, and I’m looking forward to connecting with some of the smaller non-profits around the city,” said Maya.

Ranjani- “PR/Marketing Extraordinaire”

That’s me! Well, if you’re reading this, you can see that my job entails anything Public Relations related…i.e. things like writing blogs and newsletters and preparing marketing strategies for GiveForward. I grew up in a huge family just outside of Houston, Texas (yes, I say y’all) and am now a sophomore at Northwestern University studying Broadcast Journalism, Political Science, and Religion. I hope to one day become an international news correspondent or documentarian. (i think that’s a word?) I’m a fan of random dance moves, quoting movies, the colors hot pink and bright green, mint chocolate chip ice cream, shoes (what girl doesn’t love shoes?), drawing and painting, theatre, and anything chocolate. Buy me a Three Musketeers bar and I will be your best friend.

My time at GiveForward has been amazing. I’m so glad I can put my skills to use and work for a company that’s redefining the idea of fundraising and giving. It’s been a great learning experience, and as you can see, the intern team, along with Ethan and Desiree, are absolutely wonderful to work with.

Now you know a little bit more about the people who have been working this summer to make GiveForward YOUR fundraising site.

Chuck Pappas is unlike most people you’ll ever meet. He’s created a miniature sanctuary of his own adopted turkeys, goats and chickens. He’s rescued pigs out of the flooding banks of Oakville, Iowa. He’s got the ability to craft anything out of salvaged lumber and hardware and turn it into a work of art…i.e. his coffee table. His friends describe his talent, strength and incredible compassion. But last March, Chuck Pappas was diagnosed with “Grade IV Glioblastoma Multiforme,” a form of brain cancer.

To help out with his medical expenses, Chuck’s friends have decided to walk (or bike) from the Taking Action For Animals Conference in DC to the Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down in Watkins Glen, NY this July. They set up the “300 Miles for Chuck” project through GiveForward, and are doing great with fundraising! So far, friends and family from all over have raised close to 34% of the $25,000 goal.

We’re so happy that GiveForward is enabling fundraising for causes like Chuck’s, and hope everyone in the community can be inspired by stories like his. With a supportive community, Chuck Pappas is on his way to enduring the expensive road to recovery. Our thoughts go out to Chuck and his family, and good luck to all participating in his 300-mile walk.

Make those 6 a.m. runs count for something this season. With GiveForward you can raise money for any cause that you care about by participating in Run for a Reason. We’re so excited to be a part of the Chicago Half Marathon and 5K on September 13th, and have set our goal for this Run for a Reason to have 200 runners participate.

Why not get involved? Runners get to choose a cause they care about, and use the site to fundraise towards their goals. You get the satisfaction of raising money, finishing a 5K or half marathon, AND a kick-ass GiveForward t-shirt. (Who could resist that?) Also runners are invited to attend the official GiveForward Run for a Reason party to celebrate with raffles, food, and lots of alcohol.

If you know anyone training for a race this season who might want to participate and make their run more meaningful, be sure to tell them about GiveForward’s Run for a Reason! To get started join our group page at giveforward.org/runforareason or if you know of any Chicago nonprofits that want to start their own fundraising team tell them to email us or visit giveforward.org/groups.html

This week we’re launching the new GiveForward site. (Get excited!) Among all of the changes on the new version of the site, we’re especially thrilled about starting our “Group Pages.” These pages will make it easier for nonprofit organizations, school clubs, and other institutions to fundraise for their cause and have a permanent place here at GiveForward.

How do they work? It’s simple. Groups can set up a page on GiveForward so that any individual can start their own fundraiser to specifically benefit their cause…i.e. marathon runners can choose which GiveForward group to start a project in, and any money raised would go directly to the non-profit of their choice. Even fraternity/sorority members could utilize group pages to easily fundraise directly to their philanthropy.

The purpose of GiveForward groups is to help both institutions and fundraisers. Established institutions have a permanent page, where they can send supporters to start projects for their cause. Fundraisers have one place where they can choose a group they care about, and easily start a project to directly benefit them.

This week we have a special fundraising tip of the week.  We asked one of our users, Amy Cowin, who raised $30,000 on GiveForward for her sister’s kidney transplant to write about her experience and share with everyone how she did it.  Here’s what she had to say:

On April 2, 2009, I donated my left kidney to my one and only sister to save her life. Jessica was in renal failure, also known as kidney failure and needed a transplant. Upon completion of testing, Jessica was cleared for surgery and listed on the transplant list. In hopes that I would be a match to donate one of my kidneys, the hospital did some testing on me. Most of the testing was done, when the hospital called Jessica to let her know that the transplant process was going to be stopped. This meant that until Jessica received Medicaid, which could take at least three months to get or until we could pay for the transplant up front there would be no kidney transplant any time soon. Upon hearing this discouraging news, I jumped into action to start raising some money for the transplant.

Not knowing exactly what to do or where to go to get started raising money, I turned to Facebook. I wrote a somewhat frantic message to a small group of close friends and confidants, specifically chosen based on their various capabilities, knowledge and connections to different facets of the business world. Original message sent on Facebook:

Subject: “NEED HELP ASAP”

“Hi,
I’m sure most of you know that Jessica needs a kidney transplant and she will be taking one of mine. Unfortunately we have had some major problems with insurance and have hit another bump in the road. I need to figure out how to raise some money asap. If any of you know how to do this through Facebook or know of someone who knows how to do this let me know. The insurance will only cover $30,000 and the whole transplant will cost over $100,000. The rest we will have to pay out of pocket, which we definitely do not have. The hospital will not move forward if they don’t think we can pay for the transplant. She cannot wait another 3 months for a kidney.
PLEASE let me know!
Thanks so much,
Amy”

Within three hours I had responses from my friends, some were how they wanted to help me, times we could meet up to figure out ideas and websites to look at, including the one I chose to host my fundraiser, www.giveforward.org. The GiveForward website had everything I needed to start fundraising almost immediately. I spent three intense hours on Give Forward to make sure I had all of the information that the website required, such as a description of why I was fundraising, pictures, where the money would be going, a timeline, and much more. This process helped me strategize, organize and get excited about fundraising; because fundraising is a daunting task, especially for medical purposes.

I wanted to raise up to $100,000 in less than 90 days. In three hours of having the fundraiser published online, I had over $5,000 in donations. I didn’t raise the $100K like I set out to do, but I did raise $30,000 in less than 30 Days. Here are a few of the strategies that helped me raise $30K in 30 Days.

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