It’s not uncommon for people to gift others with money on a birthday, or a graduation, at a wedding, etc.., but what about when people really need it? What about when people are in times of personal crisis? Statistics show that 60% of all bankruptcies are a result of medical costs with most people unable to pay for emergency medical care even with the help of insurance. GiveForward, a fundraising website, was created to help individuals cope with a medical emergency with the financial and emotional support of family and friends.
GiveForward is a fundraising website which allows its users to create secure, fundraising webpages to raise money for emergency situations. The majority of fundraising pages are created to cover medical costs with 60% of beneficiaries fighting cancer. According to Ariana Vargas, Development Associate with GiveForward, the organization seeks to empower the friends and family of a loved one going through an illness to provide both emotional and financial support through a fundraising webpage. “It can be hard to know what to do or say when a loved one faces a medical emergency. GiveForward wants to help answer the question, ‘what can I do?’”
GiveForward provides support in addition to the fundraising tool available on the website to make the financial impact for the beneficiary more effective. Personal fundraising coaches are assigned to each individual in order to make the process as easy as possible considering all the stress the beneficiary is already under. Fundraising coaches help beneficiaries in a number of ways including, providing them with email templates to send out to family and friends when asking for donations as well as checking up with them throughout the process to give them tips and guidance for reaching their fundraising goals.
Several cancer patients have used GiveForward to raise money for fertility preservation procedures and Ariana is one of the members at GiveForward who helps them raise the funds they need in the short timeframe they have. She states that many cancer patients needing fertility preservation have discussed this with close family and friends so asking a family member to kick off the fundraiser with a substantial amount, really can set the tone for high donations. Like anything else though, “what you put into it is what you’ll get out of it,” so if you spend the time to personalize your fundraiser to those you are asking to contribute, you’re more likely to reach your goal.
This Sunday, August 7th, you can find the GiveForward fundraising team at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk finish line at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL. They’ll be wearing gray t-shirts with a pink elephant encouraging people to start talking about the elephant in the room and erase the stigma behind asking for help. For more information or to see examples of fundraisers, including those for fertility preservation procedures, please visit www.GiveForward.com.