Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Fundraising Efforts: GoFundMe or YouCaring

Everyone experiences some sort of hardship from time to time. Be it a lost job, loss of a love one, a sick child, a broken down vehicle, or an illness. If you live long enough you will be plagued by one if not all of those things. However, if you are lucky, you will have a great support system to help you get through those difficult times, but what if you don’t? Then what? Personally, I’ve had some of those challenges myself, and for the most part I had to go it alone.

Recently I was made aware of a couple of resources on the Internet/on-line which allows people to create a fundraiser page to raise money to help offset some of the financial challenges associated with those hardships I mentioned earlier. One such resource is GoFundMe.  I first became aware of GoFundMe back in August when the transmission in my daughter’s vehicle gave out. Her brother, being the resourceful man he is, created a go fund me page for her to help raise the down payment she needed for a new vehicle.  

My daughter's motivation for getting a vehicle
I stumbled on it on her social media page. Once I clicked the link it took me to a secure website where I was able to use my credit card to make a donation. After making my donation I was able to share the link on my Facebook page. The only drawback I had was that it was limited to my friend list on Facebook. That and the email list I would later create to help spread the word. Wish there was a way to share it across the web with the general public to generate more funds. Hopefully my friends and family will share the link and help spread the word. So far it has been slow going but we are still hopeful it will generate the amount she needs to get a new vehicle. It is difficult for her to get around especially with the large family she has.


Janie Shoneye: Cancer Survivor
So in sharing the link to my daughter’s go fund me page, I inadvertently triggered an interest in the concept with a number of my friends. One friend in particular who is fighting cancer and at risk of losing her home asked if I would assist her in creating a go fund me page for her cause.  I agreed. In doing the research I discovered that GoFundMe takes a percentage of the funds raised. So I decided to see if I could find another fundraiser platform which forego that charge. I stumbled across YouCaring which claims there is no fees for their services. However, I also learned that donors are encouraged to make a donation to help offset the cost for processing.  

I decided to go with YouCaring for that very reason. After setting up the account I shared the link on my Facebook page as well as sent it to her Facebook friends via messenger. Again the drawback here is that it is limited to my social media audience. My hope is that my mentioning it here in my blog will generate more traffic to the links and increase the chances of increased donations which otherwise may not have been possible.



The truth is sometimes we need more than the assistance of our friends and family to get the help we so desperately need.  The help from strangers is just as necessary. It is my hope that as you read this you will explore the links and make a donation to either of these two worthy causes. If you do make a donation, please give from the heart and it will come back to you 100 folds. Give thanks and may God bless you richly for your kindness.  I’m Just Saying. I got issues – what about you?



https://www.gofundme.com/2aquxzms
https://www.youcaring.com/janie-shoneye-654117


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