World Give Day

WGD Partner: RocketHub

giveforward — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:45:24 +0000

We’re excited to introduce our first partner for World Give Day 2012!

RocketHub is a launchpad and community for independent artists and entrepreneurs.

The crowdfunding site offers an innovative way to raise money and tangible opportunities to take creative products and endeavors to next level. RocketHub is a destination for emerging artists and entrepreneurs, and those who wish to discover and support innovative work.

Here are some stories of users who have found success using RocketHub to launch their dreams:

James Portnow – Seattle-based game designer and co-creator of Extra Credits, a web series on pro-social game design. Extra Credits funded over $125,000 from 4,000 people and was featured at SXSW, on Gamasutra, and on the homepage of Reddit.

Aram Bajakian – NYC-based avant-garde guitar player raised $4,000 from fans and strangers to fund his album. Lou Reed heard Aram and chose him as his new guitarist, while Aram’s album is now released by John Zorn’s Tzadik record label.

Darko Lungulov – Serbia-based award winning filmmaker raised $9,000 from movie buffs for feature film project Here and There. The film won ”Best New York Narrative” at Tribeca Film Festival, and was featured in Variety, L.A. Times, and New York Times.

Big shoutout to RocketHub for coming on board to help support World Give Day!

Valentine’s Day Rebooted: Introducing Generosity Day

giveforward — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:53:27 +0000

We love the idea of revamping Valentine’s Day into Generosity Day!

Here are a few quick tips on how you can join in on the giving:

Leave an extra big tip to your server/taxi driver/barista, etc.
Make a donation to your favorite cause
Sign up to volunteer in your community
Smile at a stranger
Leave your friends/family a sweet note
Surprise someone with a big hug

How did you say “YES” and participate in Generosity Day?

Be sure to check out the Generosity Day site to see how others are celebrating Generosity Day.

World Give Day 2012

giveforward — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:38:29 +0000

World Give Day 2012 is only a few months away, which means it is time to start spreading the word!

This year’s World Give Day, celebrated on May 4th, is all about creating unexpected joy. Whether it is through giving someone a smile on the street, helping a friend move, volunteering at a local soup kitchen, or visiting a shelter to play with dogs, we are constantly touching the lives of people around us and creating unexpected joy. Our goal is to get more people to become actively involved in their community to raise awareness about their favorite cause.

We are currently looking for participants for this year’s blog series! Bloggers will respond to the statement: “Small gift, big impact: Tell us about a time when you saw a small act of giving create lots of unexpected joy.”

We are also working on holding hug flash mobs in various cities throughout the country and looking for organizations and volunteers to help us out.

We have lots in store for World Give Day 2012! Shoot us an email at worldgiveday@gmail.com if you are interested in participating!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @WorldGiveDay and check us out on Facebook and let us know what you’re doing to create unexpected joy.

Last year’s WGD was a huge success. We’re ready to make this years even better!

When Crowdfunding Collaborates

giveforward — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:17:14 +0000

Because every day should be World Give Day, we’re keeping the blog series going throughout the year. Big thanks to our friends at Social Edge and 33needs for putting this post together for us.

When Crowdfunding Collaborates

WGD is a day when the crowdfunding community collaborates; a day when a number of websites committed to micro-philanthropy and micro-investing band together to promote the spirit of giving.

Oh, when crowdfunding collaborates.

In the midst of the all the potential changes to crowdfunding law during the past three weeks, something inspiring (not that legal reform isn’t inspring!) was taking place: World Give Day 2011 (WGD). WGD is a day when the crowdfunding community collaborates; a day when a number of websites committed to micro-philanthropy and micro-investing band together to promote the spirit of giving.

WGD was started in 2010 by Ethan Austin and Desiree Wrigley, the founders of GiveForward, a crowdfunding platform to help people raise money for medical expenses. WGD 2011 featured sites that specialize in medical, educational, social entrepreneurship and non-profit crowdfunding. It’s a unique way to catalyze giving and volunteering through the power of the crowd, and we couldn’t be more excited about their work.

The crowdfunding sites that participated included GiveForward, (medical expenses) GiveGlobalGiving, (non-profits) CauseVox, (non-profits) IndieGoGo, (creative) Edulender, (education) 33needs, (social enterprise) and many more.

Both Ethan and Desiree saw the campaigns and resources dedicated to volunteering through the years, but not as much for giving. Their answer? Start something! Some early results from this year? WGD 2011 had almost 30 bloggers join their blog series about giving; the day raised lots of money for causes that matter, including a large corporate contribution; and, awesomely, GiveForward gave out literally hundreds of hugs. Check out their video.

We’re ready for next year. So today, go online or go outside, and make a donation or volunteer your time in recognition of the power of the crowd and WGD.

Do Good, Live Well

giveforward — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:08:12 +0000

The giving spirit was spreading like wildfire yesterday and we had so many people join our blog series with truly inspiring posts. One such post was written by our friend over at Do Good, Live Well. Take a look…

Happy World Give Day

By matthewbfarver

Today is… World Give Day

On Monday, I enjoyed a speech by the guy who started World Give Day. His name is Ethan Austin and he’s also the founder of GiveForward.com, a website that offers free fundraising pages for friends and family members of loved ones who are facing medical crises. What a great idea. Ethan mentioned how bizarre it is that as a society, we are quick to send a check or a gift when it’s someone’s birthday, or anniversary, or graduation. But what do we do when a crisis hits? No one really knows exactly how to help. Our intentions are always noble, but there’s no good system for sending support when it REALLY matters, right!?

Well, GiveForward fixes that. Ethan wants anyone who is facing a serious illness to be able to benefit from the generosity of friends, family members, coworkers, even strangers. So he created a hub for managing donations that can make a huge difference for someone facing a medical challenge.

www.giveforward.com

So today, in honor of Ethan and World Give Day, I am giving $25 to Kamron Mains, a young boy on GiveForward fighting brain cancer in Florida. Today is for Kamron!

Will you consider joining me for World Give Day? You don’t have to give money. You can give ANYTHING! Here are three ideas…

GIVE AN ANGEL !! Join my Angel Endeavor. Give someone who is fighting cancer a friend, mentor, and support system by registering a cancer survivor as an Imerman Angel.

Keep reading!!

The Power of Giving

giveforward — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:00:32 +0000

A fabulous post by our friend Desiree Adaway. Big thanks to our friend and fellow philanthropist!

The Power Of Giving

by DESIREE ADAWAY on MAY 4, 2011

Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do.
Khalil Gibran

Times are difficult for so many people. Huge unemployment, record breaking gas prices and a general sense of unease have made many of us fearful. We just are not sure what the future will bring.

We thought that by 2011 things would have gotten better and for many of us things have. Yet that nervousness of the bottom dropping out still plagues us…..it still lingers.

I have at times over the past year felt hesitant to give, donate or share. It shames me to write that, but it is the truth. At times I have felt that fear. That feeling of lack-the false sense that if I hold on tightly to what I have things will be ok, if not better.

It was so not true.

Conventional wisdom tells me to hold on tight, holding my coins tightly in my hand and to ignore the pain and suffering of others. Spiritual wisdom tells me to give freely and even to give more especially when I feel that I cannot. This wisdom tells me to dig deeper and connect with those in need. It tells me help in all ways I can—emotionally, financially and spiritually.

Click here to keep reading…

The Giving Doesn’t End…

giveforward — Thu, 05 May 2011 13:45:27 +0000

World Give Day is over for yet another year, but the giving doesn’t end just because it is May 5th (c’mon it is Cinco de Mayo, give someone a margarita!). In fact, we still have a few awesome World Give Day blog posts rolling in for our blogging series. This post is one the hug-crazy staff at GiveForward particularly likes. A big thank you to Nikita Mitchell from Journeyful Life for putting this gem together.

Free Hugs on World Give Day (and Every Other Day)

For a long time the Free Hugs Campaign video has been one of my favorite YouTube videos. This is probably no surprise to those of you who know me. I’ve been known to endorse hugging as a legitimate solution to many-a-problem, for both local issues (aka fights in my house) and global issues (group hugs are powerful stuff). Former coworkers have even nominated me for non-existent Chief Hugging Officer positions. Clearly this is something I’m proud of…

Hugging is one of those things that everyone doesn’t love. It can be awkward and confusing to do with new people, it can be uncomfortable with those you don’t know intimately, and it can leave the scent of someone’s cheap cologne lingering on your clothes all day. I get it. Really, I do.

However on the flip side, it could literally be the one thing that makes your day. I’ve been there, and I’m sure many of you have too. Similar to a smile, an unexpected hug from someone can remind you of the kindness and compassion in the world.

Today I was reminded of how much I enjoy the act of receiving hugs, so I’ve decided to make it my act of giving for World Give Day, a day organized to encourage people to give – whether it’s by making a donation, through their time, or even a simple hug.

I mean, really. What could be more perfect? Everyday I’m surrounded by individuals who are willing to give without hesitation. Whether it’s their time that they’re giving to nonprofits as volunteers or whether it’s their money that they’re giving to individuals like me who are fundraising for a cause. The love is always being spread through my community.

Keep reading! (and check out the awesome video)

Compass X Strategy

giveforward — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:56:04 +0000

Our friends over at Compass X Strategy put together this awesome post about why they make giving a part of their company motto.

Compass X Strategy

I loved Saturday mornings when I was a kid. My sister and I were devoted to Schoolhouse Rock (Interjection!) and The Superfriends. In general, I never considered my self a superhero fan, but there was something about the Superfriends. Mostly, I was in awe of the transformational powers of the Wonder Twins. “Wonder Twin powers, activate! Form of…” Watching them use their powers to do or be something different was mesmerizing. I didn’t realize it then, but what I have come to realize is that they were actually quite deep. They acted with purpose. They stated their intentions aloud (“Activate, form of….”). They committed to it.

So, in Wonder Twin fashion…. “Business, activate! Form of….good citizen.” I like it. Now, how to make that happen. Obviously, it must start by doing good work. Whatever it is you do, do it well. Make your customers, patrons, or clients deliriously happy. Deliver a positive return on their investment. Make their lives and their businesses better. Is that enough? Can business also be a force for good? Some will say that if the purpose of a business is to make money, that spending more to be force for good to the planet and community doesn’t make financial sense. But here’s the thing. It does. Studies show that companies that take care of all their stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers, the community, and the planet) actually do a better job of delivering returns to their shareholders than those that just focus on the bottom line. If you are interested in learning more, check out the book Firms of Endearment.

In that spirit – here is the idea (Big shout out to BCause Media for being the catalyst on this). Companies should give. Give the time and skills of their individuals. Give donations to organizations and causes in the community. Make them relevant to your company’s mission and your employees passion. But give. To spur some ideas, here is what we do at Compass X Strategy. We donate 20% of our time to pro-bono work to worthy causes and awesome start-ups. And we donate 2% of every project’s corporate consulting fees to charity. Where the money goes is up to our clients. What will your company do?

Make Jayna, Zan (and their Space Monkey Gleek) proud. Happy World Give Day!

FirstGiving

giveforward — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:49:28 +0000

Our World Give Day partners, FirstGiving, wrote a great post about how to join the conversation and give.

FirstGiving

Today, on World Give Day, we’re joining a community of great folks blogging about what it takes to make a difference. Here are the facts: it takes some effort, but you don’t have to be superhuman.

In fact, a whole bunch of bloggers and friends of FirstGiving have been weighing in on the idea that “small scale donors are the backbone of philanthropy.” We’ve all heard that “every little bit counts,” but this statement is bold. The backbone? Really?

Yes! is the resounding consensus from our fans on Facebook. And our experience bears this out – for almost a decade, people have raised millions of dollars for causes they care about on FirstGiving by asking family and friends to give in small denominations – $50, $100, $25, sometimes even just $1. The success of these passionate people speaks for itself.

Continue reading here.

Donation Made to Salvation Army in Honor of World Give Day

giveforward — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:44:10 +0000

Capital Gold Group Donates to The Salvation Army Relief Fund for Victims of Southeastern Tornadoes

LOS ANGELES, May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — In support of World Give Day and a continued commitment to giving to those in need, Capital Gold Group, Inc. has announced that a corporate donation has been made to support the much needed efforts of The Salvation Army Tornado Relief Fund for the victims of the deadly tornado outbreak which ravaged much of the Southeastern United States.

Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia were struck by as many as 312 tornadoes during the 24-hour period between 8:00 a.m. April 27 and 8:00 a.m. April 28, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The confirmed dead totals 340 with thousands of others injured and left homeless by the devastating twisters. Residents of Alabama were hit the hardest with over 246 killed in the state alone. President Barack Obama visited Alabama on April 29, signing a disaster declaration for Alabama, along with Mississippi and Georgia. Expert analysis by NOAA Research and the National Weather Service of the fatality information from the twisters indicated that April 27, 2011, was the single deadliest day for tornadoes since March 18, 1925.

Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) has deployed teams across the Southeast to provide support to storm survivors in the affected areas, as well as mobile feeding units including catering trucks, mobile kitchens, and a 20,000 meal per day full service field kitchen. A donation to The Salvation Army Tornado Relief Fund helps to provide the immediate relief and emergency services to victims affected by the twisters. Initial funds contributed to The Salvation Army Tornado Relief Fund by Capital Gold Group, Inc. and others will help get necessary services and supplies such as clean water, food, blankets, and medicine to the survivors of these destructive tornadoes.

Donations can be made at the website, http://disaster.salvationarmyusa.org, or to donate $10 text the word “GIVE” to80888. Capital Gold Group is urging other socially responsible individuals and corporations to support the relief effort for the victims of this overwhelming tragedy.