Tips on raising money for a good cause

imported
#1 
									Ok so I'm getting ready to thru-hike the AT in March. I'm doing it in honor of my good friend Jerome J Potter who died in Iraq with me back in 2007. Not only was he an outstanding example of a young man but he came from nothing. dirt poor, and I've been informed that his grave that is in Washington State is still unmarked. His family can not afford it. I'm finally getting out of the military in the next few weeks and I'd like to do my good buddy right. Anyone know how to go about making a donation collection?

									_Cody Ricks_
#2 
									I hiked the AT with my friend who raised over $15,000 for ALS research.  He took pledges per mile but never handled any money himself.  He had donors send money directly to ALS and all he did was remind them after the hike.  He paid all his own expenses that way.

He got free cards printed (I think there’s a link on this site for them) for advertising, and did an email campaign with friends and associates to get pledges. He picked up a few pledges along the way. At around $6 per mile for ALS, it made the hike seem more worthwhile for both of us. Every step was a “ka-ching” for a good cause.

Good luck in your endeavor.

									_Garlic_
#3 
									To be honest, I'm always skeptical of people saying they are hiking for a good cause and fund raising activities like walks and bikes in general.

I always wonder how much money is going to really reach the final cause and how much is being absorbed by the fund-raising organizers, “administrators”, etc…

The best option would be to do as Garlic says, make sure you’re not handling the money yourself. If people feel like you are some how enriching yourself or funding your personal expenses through this effort they will not want any part of it.

									_jalan_
#4 
									Yah, well I'm actually doing something for a family here. Thanks for the human insight. Everytime you donate to a charity that's on your mind. I'd appreciate the thought of skepticism not being q topic  when I'm actually trying to help a good friends family. If you don't think its a good idea, then just keep it to yourself. I've wore this guys hero bracelet thru three deployments now and I'm just trying to do something that needs to be done. Thanks alot

									_Cody Ricks_
#5 
									Cody,

I don’t think jalan was being hyper critical of you or anything; just stating the obvious. Anytime somebody donates money to a cause/purpose that person has every right to question how the money is used and see some transparency.

If you really were in it to “help a family” you could get a job and work for the 5 or 6 months you’d be on trail and donate some/all of your income directly to them. That’s one way to take care of their financial needs. Is that not an option? If not, you need to explain why if you’re gonna get people to fork over cash directly to you. Just saying, not trying to be critical but you need total transparency if you’re gonna get some donations.

Best of luck.

									_Skepticism_
#6 
									Cody, Sorry for the loss of your friend. I just did a quick search on opening a donation fund bank account in your friends name or the purpose of the account (not sure how the bank would want to do it). Depending on the bank you go to and services they offer but you can set it up so people can donate dirrectly to that account instead of you, by wire transfer / paypal for example. Basically you would want to set it up so the deposits can be done by all options available, making it easier for people to send money to that account.

Then if you plan on doing a thru-hike, start a trail journal stating the cause of the hike asking for donations. A penny or nickle per mile would be probably be acceptable to most people. That way people would think you would actually have to finish to make donation total high enough to pay for the gravemarker. Keeping and updating your journal daily or as allowed but cell phone signal would be a must and those that read the journals on here know that most people are able to update TJ’s just about everyday so stating you haven’t posted in 2 weeks cause you wasn’t able to would not be an excuse.

This may sound like a lot of work (and it is) for your cause but it also shows your serious about it.

Also, just a question. Having served in the military myself, didn’t the family get the military death benefit? When I served it was 100k, and that was 20years ago.

									_Tony_
#7 
									Hi Cody,

It will not be necessary to purchase a headstone to mark the grave of your fallen friend.

Have a quick look at:
Veteran’s Administration
to find all you need to make a request for one provided at no charge, by the veteran’s admin.

“When burial is in a private cemetery, VA Form 40-1330, Application for Standard Government Headstone or Marker must be submitted by the next of kin or a representative, such as funeral director, cemetery official or Veterans counselor, along with Veterans military discharge documents, to request a Government-provided headstone or marker.”

It would be appropriate to contact a cemetery represenative to see if they will handle this headstone request, and if they will waive any fees associated with the setting of the stone.

Alternately, check with the funeral home. Seems to me they should have handled this request when the arrangements for burial were made.

If setting fees are charged, I would check with a local veteran’s organization to see if they would be able to provide that payment.

You may be interested to know, a memorial has been made for your friend at: Find A Grave

Find A Grave is a great place to honor our deceased family, friends and heros, without cost or obligation. You can add your own tribute, and even have information added to his bio, if you would like.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me.

You may still want to honor your friend with your walk, and raise funds if the family has a need. Just no reason to pay for a stone, when one is provided at no charge.

Cheers,
essay

									_essay_
#8 
									Wow, thanks alot for that, I truely had no idea. The problem that we've encountered is that Jerome had made his primary beneficiary his sister who pretty much cut and run with whatever money the government forked over. Problem child pretty much. With that information tho, i can get his mother to apply for the headstone. thanks for that. Nobody in the military is actually informed that the VA would pay for it, hah. I'd still like to help out the family tho in this recession. Atleast just to try my luck at it. I have a very large connection with military oriented families who i believe would make it worth the Potter families memory.

Thanks for the info on the bank account Tony, I’m definately going to do it that way.

I was just really surprised that people here thought I was gonan walk down the trail and jingle a can for direct cash. hah, I’m not a dirtbag people. and no I’m not gonna get a job for the 5-6 months I’d be on the trail. This is my relax period of just getting out of the military, I’m trying to go on vacation and make it something worthwhile for someone else. Job? lol I seriously just got shot at for 6 years straight in Iraq and Afghanistan, we weren’t paper pushers, we were infantry. lol

Thanks for all the help everyone. you really helped me out.

									_Cody Ricks_
#9 
									Somebody was walking, I think for an enlisted military family village...? Perhaps somebody here remembers who, but she wanted a pledge of one cent a mile (a bit over $21 total for a Thru) You might contact her.  I remember that it was a woman in 2010.  I also don't think the pledges went directly to her.  Perhaps this would be of help to you, too.

Sorry to be so vague…:tongue Good Luck

									_Lady Di_
#10 
									Lady Di, that was HDMama you are thinking of.  She was raising money for widows of fallen soldiers and I think she did a pretty good job of it.

									_Uncas_