Recently, GiveForward was featured on AOL on their Philanthropy Project page for the opportunity we provide donors to easily connect to a variety of causes. The article highlights some of the diverse projects that have been featured on GiveForward, such as raising money for college funds to what we primarily focus on, raising money for medical expenses. The author notes that the ease of giving and the opportunity to donate any amount of money is what sets GiveForward apart from other fundraising websites and organizations.

To read the article in its entirety, please visit AOL News Philanthropy Project.  

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GiveForward was featured in the June issue of Fitness magazine as a tool to use for fundraising in conjunction with running a race. Fitness suggests creating a “DIY fundraiser” by registering for a race and then logging onto GiveForward to create a fundraising page for a cause of your choice. Then, you can easily share the link with your friends and family. It’s a great way to give your race running a purpose!

Pick up a copy of the June issue and check us out yourselves!

GiveForward always seeks to keep up with what is going on in the medical fundraising and cancer world, so I was particularly excited when I found out Sandi Wisenberg would be reading from her new book here in Chicago.  Sandi started a blog, Cancer Bitch, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and recently, that blog has become a book, The Adventures of Cancer Bitch.

Through the selections Sandi read, I discovered she had a rather unique perspective on cancer, one I thought would be of interest to our GiveForward users.  Sandi, a professional writer and published author of Holocaust Girls: History, Memory, and Other Obsessions, chose to document her cancer journey in the form of a blog because she knew her experience would be a “big deal” and she wanted an outlet for her thoughts and feelings.

While she didn’t have specific readers of her blog in mind, she says that she hopes readers can “learn that they can take more control of the management of their disease, whatever it is, that they can get second opinions, [or] change doctors.”  A cancer diagnosis is overwhelming and it may seem counter-intuitive to seek a second opinion or ask for another doctor, but if you want to take control of your diagnosis, you must make your voice heard.  For example, Sandi details how she insisted an attending doctor do the surgery to install her port instead of an “apprentice.”

On a more global level, Sandi wants “readers to rethink common wisdom about breast cancer.”  She notes that people should be on alert for what she calls “pinkwashing,” and that “buying a magnetic pink ribbon for your car is not enough. People should think about where their cancer donations are going.”  Sandi talks about these issues, and others not commonly discussed, with honesty and unapologetic suspicion. 

In entries from her book such as “I Love Pink M&M’s,” Sandi is able to be hilariously engaging yet wary of the motives of popular cancer organizations.  In the opening lines of this section, she says: “I love pink M & Ms.  I eat them every day.  That’s all I eat.  If I eat enough of them my cancer will go away.  Won’t it?  Isn’t that what they promise?”

The Adventures of Cancer Bitch is witty, wise, and offers a fresh perspective on the cancer experience.  It is a book that questions our approach to cancer while at the same time detailing an intimate, personal experience.  Here are some closing words from Sandi that I think nicely sum up the tone of her book: “I want people to know that it’s OK to laugh when you’re ill.  And personally, I’m annoyed when people say that cancer was a gift or God’s will.  As author Shelley Lewis has said, if you think it’s a gift, don’t come to my birthday party.”

GiveForward loves awesome things like helping people raise money for medical expenses.  Something else we love?  Awesome bloggers!  There are so many fabulous bloggers out there in the medical and fundraising communities that it pains us to be able to only spotlight one this month.

But coincidentally, our awesome blogger, Jeanett from Life Rearranged, features a lot of other bloggers on her site.  Jeanett (@jeannettg) provides a space on her website for mothers like herself to guest blog and fundraise for charities of their choice.  By donating to a fundraiser, the user gets entered into a giveaway with the chance to win awesome items donated by Jeanett’s sponsors.  Jeanett has raised nearly $1500 within just 3 months of starting this platform for giving.   

Jeanett started her website after her son was diagnosed with a heart defect called Pulmonary Stenosis shortly after his birth.  At just under 2 years old, he had heart surgery, all while Jeanett was 33 weeks pregnant with twin girls!  Jeanett and her family survived the stress of the heart surgery, but a few weeks after giving birth to her daughters, it was discovered that one of them was experiencing neurological problems.  Currently, her daughter does not have a formal diagnosis, however doctors believe she might suffer from cerebral palsy. 

Jeanett says “our life is crazy with three kids within 25 months.  A life with specialists, a million appointments, therapy sessions, and medical bills is not what I ever dreamed of” but she is making the best of it and finding time to help others!  As the motto of her blog states: “Life doesn’t always go as planned.  Help others anyway.”

Users can donate to the specific charities through pages Jeanett sets up on GiveForward.

Congratulations Jeanett on being an awesome blogger!

Normally, on the GiveForward blog, we try to give our users useful fundraising tips to help them raise money for their medical bills. Well, today we are giving an anti-fundraising tip.

Why an anti-fundraising tip? Because when you, a friend or a loved one is facing huge medical bills, the reality is that fundraising is only half the equation. The other half of the equation is reducing your medical bills so you will not have to raise as much money — in other words, anti-fundraising. For example, if your medical bills total around $200,000 and you need to raise that much money on GiveForward, it can be a rather daunting task. But, if you can lower those bills to around $100,000 or even $75,000, your goal becomes much more attainable. We’ve seen a family raise over $85,000 for medical bills on GiveForward before, so we know it can definitely be done!

Previously I have mentioned patient advocate, Kairol Rosenthal, author of Everything Changes: The Insiders Guide to Cancer in Your 20s and 30s, and her awesome expertise in the often confusing world of cancer. On her blog, Kairol shares tips on how to go about getting your medical bills reduced.  The first two tips include:

“1.  Have a positive attitude. Your odds are good: 50% of people who ask for reduced costs get them, plus your chances might be higher using these savvy strategies.

2.  Talk to the right person, face-to-face: Your doc, your doc’s or hospital’s office, business, or billing manager.  Don’t do it by phone or letter.”

Please visit Kairol’s blog for the rest of the tips.

As Kairol Rosenthal explains, haggling is no longer left to the savvy flea market customer.  While employing the eight tips will take time, effort, and as Kairol puts it, “chutzpah,” that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try.  Consider it another step in reaching the medical bill trifecta– reducing costs, raising money, and ridding yourself of the bills once and for all!

To read more from Kairol, please visit her blog.

GiveForward is pleased to announce the addition of a new cancer resource partner, Beckstrand Cancer Foundation!

Beckstrand Cancer Foundation (@Beckstrand) serves patients who are in the midst of cancer treatment and struggling to cope with day-to-day critical survival needs. The programs provide direct financial assistance, patient advocacy, supportive counseling, community resources, and life planning. By making crucial payments, intervening with debtors and advocating on the behalf of patients, the Foundation ensures that each patient’s focus remains on treatment and recovery – rather than how to keep a roof over their heads or food on the table – and encourages families to stay hopeful, supportive and together.

Visit Beckstrand Cancer Foundation to learn more about the great work that they do!

Friends and family who are fundraising for their friend David Hartsock hope to raise $50,000 on GiveForward to cover his medical costs.  You may have heard about David Hartsock, who in my opinion, is the most courageous skydiver ever and a true hero.

Almost a year ago, David went on a tandem skydive jump with a student.  Their parachutes malfunctioned as they were plummeting towards the earth.  David manipulated their positioning mid-fall so that when they landed, David would cushion his students fall so she could live.  The student lived, as did David, but he is now paralyzed.  He requires constant care and the fundraiser seeks to cover the costs of some of that care.  

The outpouring of support for David has been incredible: the amount of money raised, (in just under a month!) totals over $26,000!

To view the heartwarming and amazing story of David, please go to CBS News.

To donate to David’s fundraiser, please visit his GiveForward page.

GiveForward was recently profiled on Mashable for our efforts in making connections with the fundraising users on our site. Co-founder and Second Banana Ethan Austin explains how these users become, as Mashable says, “super-users.”  Meaning, the personal connections we make with our users benefits not only them, but us as well.  Ethan says that by showing our users that “we are listening, and that we care” we are able to “inject humanity into the conversation and win over a customer.” read more…

GiveForward is excited to announce Minty Python as the winner of the first ever Giveasaurus Challenge, in partnership with World Give Day! The fundraiser was for Araminta “Minty” Python, a little girl discovered to have a brain tumor within weeks of being born. Before she even turned eight weeks old, she had endured four head surgeries in just eleven days. Minty went through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, but an MRI recently revealed that her tumors are still present. Now Minty must take multiple oral medications a day in the hopes that they will attack the tumors.

Fortunately, Minty has a lot of friends that care about her. A “Minty Python Benefit” was held on May 1st in Brooklyn. Minty’s mother has worked as a crew-member on many movies, including the Sex and the City movies, and because of that, attendees of the benefit included the Sex and the City stars as well as other celebrities. There was even a special “Minty Python” cocktail being served up by celebrity bartenders! The benefit for Minty raised $18,000 during the Giveasaurus Challenge, and over $20,000 in total. And as the winners of the Giveasaurus Challenge, GiveForward donated an additional $1,000 to their fundraiser! read more…

Co-founder and Second Banana Ethan Austin was recently on Making a Difference Radio discussing new fundraising methods, such as online donations, that reinforce the idea of people giving to people. Ethan joined Barbara Talisman (@BTalisman) of Talisman Associates, Inc., a consulting firm working with non-profit organizations, and Kristina Carlson (@kristinacarlson) of Ketchum, an organization that works to help non-profits fundraise. Kristina noted that GiveForward is unique in that is allows people to give to someone immediately–”friends don’t have to wait for a nonprofit letter asking for support.”

To listen to the entire podcast, please visit Barbara Talisman’s blog.