3 ms·

Ask HN: Success Using the Internet for Charity?

2 points by smallegan 15y ago

Disclaimer: This may be slightly off topic but I feel like HN has the right audience to answer my question. I broke my specific story away from the actual question because some people might not care and I am looking for any and all good answers. Story: My brother is fighting a rare autoimmune disease known as CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy). He hasn't responded very well to the traditional treatments however there is an adult stem cell treatment/therapy that has a very high success rate. The only problem is that since it is not approved by the FDA yet there is a good chance that the insurance company isn't going to cover the treatment which costs around 125k. (Sad because they are currently dishing out about 35-40k a month in treatments for him right now). Question: Has anyone had any success in using the internet as a way to collect charitable donations and if so what is the most effective way to do this? We have a gofundme account that we are using to collect pre and post treatment funds: http://www.gofundme.com/corysmallegan Also we have done and are currently doing local fundraiser stuff but 125k is not going to come easy. I am open to any and all ideas and appreciate any thought you give to this. Thanks in advance! -Ryan

pawn 15y ago
Extra Life started not too long ago as an online fundraising event and raised 1 million this year alone. I'd say it's rather successful. The trick is to get other people raising money and spreading the word. It can't just be the internet, people will need to branch out for you. I think a good way to do that is ask people to do something that they do already, with a twist. Like play videogames, but for 24 hours - for the children. Running marathons appeal to runners. Copying either of these ideas is perfectly ok, or you can come up with something similar.