Normally users of GiveForward raise money for medical expenses.  However one user, Katie Waskevich, has started a fundraiser with the hopes of saving thousands of lives.  Katie’s vision is to raise enough money so that early TB testing can save lives.  Her fundraiser aims to raise $1000 for chemical testing needed to finalize a prototype. 

Katie has seen the need for this early tuberculosis testing in India and that area is her main focus.  She describes the struggles one has when realizing they are sick:

“the nearest clinic is 5 miles away… you get to the clinic… but the two nurses don’t feel comfortable diagnosing your symptoms, so they tell you to go to the regional clinic–a 2 hour bus ride away.  It’s late, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to journey to this clinic. 

You wake up early so that you can get to the regional clinic in time to see the doctor.  When you get there, after several hours of testing, the doctor believes that you have tuberculosis, but he can’t determine which strain.  You’re sent to a specialty clinic. 

You arrive at the specialty clinic and discover that you have a drug resistant strain of tuberculosis–they’ll do their best to treat you, but if you had sought medical help sooner your chances of survival would have been better.”

Katie believes that the lengthy process detailed above can be avoided if the proper diagnostic tools are provided to rural clinics.  If you wish to donate money to CitusMedical through Katie’s fundraiser, please visit her page here.

1.  Personalize your fundraising page as much as possible with a heartfelt description and lots of photos.  The fundraisers who do the best are the ones who really make an effort to tell their stories.  Explain to your donors what you are raising money for and why it is so important to you.  If your friends and family see that you are passionate about your fundraising efforts, they are more likely to give and give generously.  More tips on how to personalize.

2.  Promote Promote Promote! The more you promote your fundraising page the better it will do. Here are the best ways to promote

• Email everyone you know! Even if you haven’t spoken to them in years, you’ll be surprised at how many people will decide to donate when you ask.
• When you email your friends and family ask them to share your page with their friends and co-workers using the “Tell-a-friend” button on your page.
• Set up a Facebook group that includes a link to your GiveForward fundraising page.  If you have a Facebook account definitely set up a group.  This has been far and away one of the most successful strategies for our users.
• Add the URL from your fundraising page to your email signature
• Add the URL to your AIM, Gchat or Facebook status message

3.  Send email or facebook updates to your friends and family. One of the single most important tips to online fundraising is to be persistent.  While some people will donate the first time you ask them, the reality is that it will take at least 2-3 friendly reminders before the majority of your friends and family open up their wallets for you. Fundraisers who keep their donor base engaged with frequent updates tend to be the most successful. Read more here about how and when to send out email/Facebook updates.
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