Your thoughts on our recent Fundraising Campaign

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dave Moran on September 29, 2009 at 2:35am

Manny, when I first saw this I thought this is good, however we, my wife and I, have guidelines on any charitable org that we donate to. I went to community initiatives website to get their financial reports and found none, the document that was presented as an annual report was nothing more than an advertisement. Any org that chooses to not share their finance as well as those that have excessive 'costs' and return too small a percentage to the cause receive no donations.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on September 29, 2009 at 2:38am

Fair enough. We will make sure to let them know about that, although from this point on (since we now have our 501(c)(3) status, we will be able to do our own fundraising w/o going through Community Initiatives in order to offer a tax deduction on all donations).

We will do our best to have an annual report published by our December fundraising campaign.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Leticia on September 29, 2009 at 3:12am

I joned this community and the friendships i have formed one could never put a price on that. But the reading and learning about my disease have helped me make serious decisions about my health. I just want this community to continue to exist..If i was able to give more i guess i would worry about financial reports and such. But i was happy i could give alittle...God Bless You Guys You are doing a great job.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on September 29, 2009 at 9:36am

No worries, Leticia. Your support helping get the word out there, welcoming new members, etc. helps.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike Shaw on September 29, 2009 at 11:20am

Manny. I love this site. I have learned so much information here. I find it amazing that I have been a diagnosed Type 1 for almost five years, but there was so much I didn't really know. This site also helped a lot transitioning to a pump. I have been on other boards, but none compares to this one. The people are great, the advice is solid, and the opinions are normally heart felt.

I donated because I need to support this site and everything that it stands for. I wish I could give more, but we give a lot already to our church and other charities. Sometimes a site touches me so much, that I have to ensure it stays around. This is one of those sites. It is hard for me to explain. I didn't even know what the gifts were for donating. I was so surprised when you told me about me winning a shirt for donating. That was a nice extra, but not one I was expecting. Nothing like that motivated me. I have to believe in the cause. I was not worried about the financial part since the programs are new. I realized that was something that would come later. I looked at it more as a grass roots sort of thing.

Anyway, that is why I donated a little of my money.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on September 29, 2009 at 11:37am

Thanks so much, for your donation, your support and for explaining what made you donate.

Take care, Mike!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stacey :0)~ on September 29, 2009 at 3:35pm

I donated because I feel strongly about everything the DHF stands for! I have been diabetic since I was a child and if I had a place like this site to come to back then it would have helped me so much in so many ways! I found this site by accident and its been one of the best "accidents" I've ever encountered! :) Having others who understand what this is like day in and day out is really helpful! It's nice to hear others personal experiences with diabetes instead of just hearing from the medical community what you should and should not be doing all the time. I've learned a lot even in the short time I have been here even dealing with this for so long myself. I've met so many nice people too. Being here inspires me to try even harder managing my diabetes every day to stay in as tight of control as possible and to not give up. When I have a question or am curious about something regarding anything diabetes related I know I can search under old forum discussions to find answers or ask questions here myself. I feel I donated to something important and I would do it again! Thank you Manny and to everyone here! :) Keep up the good work!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on September 29, 2009 at 3:36pm

Thanks so much, Stacey! This helps and means a lot to us.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on September 29, 2009 at 10:29pm

We didn't donate, and I'm embarrassed about it. I think that one reason is that there didn't seem to be any sense of urgency in the appeal. You said you 'needed' to raise $15,000 by Sept 28, but you didn't say what would happen if you didn't. Your appeal was to my altruism rather than to my self-interest. You told me what you (that is, dhf) wanted to do, but you didn't tell me what it would do for me.

It's a little like public radio, it's here and I get it for free so what's the big deal? You weren't threatening to go away. They threaten to go away all the time, tell me what I will lose if they don't get their money and remind me of what I get by listening to them as compared to my alternatives.

In fact, you're still here.

Some front page, frank and heartfelt promos, like those from Dino, Judith and Lee Ann probably would have shaken my money loose.

When asking for money, you gotta get in people's face a little. Y'know, block the sidewalk for a second. Ask for the sale and like that.

Is it too late to make a donation?

Terry

Oh, and premiums. Gotta have premiums, even if it's only a wristband. A wristband would be cool.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gerri on September 29, 2009 at 10:41pm

I donated last year, but couldn't afford it this year. My apologies to everyone.

This is a truly amazing resource & it becomes even more amazing community as time goes on. I can't even imagine the time & effort Manny & the admin team devote.

Once I'm able to, I will be sending a contribution.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on September 30, 2009 at 11:19pm

Gerri,
You don't need to apologize... Really. Each of us helps in the community as we can. You are a very active member: one that participates in the Forum, welcoming new members, etc. and THAT is VERY valuable!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on September 30, 2009 at 11:16pm

Terry,
First of all, it's not too late to donate. You don't need to be embarrassed about it. :)

As for premiums, we thought there were plenty. If you go to the Donation page, you will see there are many different Thank You gifts depending on the donation level.

About your comment in terms of getting in people's face, we tried to do it to a certain degree by sending four different messages (one every week), trying to appeal to different types of members: people with type 1, people with type 2 and people with a loved one with diabetes. Clearly, not ALL types of members were covered, but we only had so much time in the campaign too (and so many resources to put together videos and weekly mailers too).

What happened? Are we still here? We sure are... but that doesn't mean there were no consequences to us not reaching the goal. Since we didn't reach the goal, there are things we won't be able to do for now... and things we won't be able to do at all. The community certainly will continue to be around (as long as we can afford it, of course) but our awareness programs will be affected and so will our ability to adequately support our local ambassadors.

But we really felt it was important to emphasize the possibilities as opposed to the potential consequences. Having read this, do you still feel it is important to appeal to the potential consequences too?

▶ Reply to This

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last