Setting up a charity - anyone interested?

[BeYourOwnAgent]

Hi there everyone!

I'm in the starting phases of setting up a new charity, called Charity4Charity.

Bit of background; my mother (62), is currently in the end phases of her battle with brain cancer. She was diagnosed in November, and was admitted to a hospice 2 months later, and is basically in a vegetative state.

The work of the volunteers has made the process bearable; without them, it would have been an absolute nightmare.

There are plenty of charities out there who provide support to those who are battling terminal illnesses etc, but I can't really find anything which supports, acknowledges and rewards those who tirelessly, and selflessly provide their time and energy to help and support people like me who are going through these troubling times.

The purpose of the charity will be to let others identify those charity workers who are doing great things; I will feature them on the site, and then source "rewards" for these charity workers (hence the name, Charity4Charity).

If anyone is interested in getting involved, please drop me an email to [email protected]

I'm not specifically looking for financial support (I'm fortunate enough to have the surplus cash to set up the business and provide seed funds for the "rewards").

However, if anyone feels like the can provide help, advice, support, etc, then please get in touch, would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

 

[wylie]

I lost my mother to the same disease three years ago. I can understand what you are living through, and say with true feeling, that I am thinking of you.

 

[BeYourOwnAgent]

I lost my mother to the same disease three years ago. I can understand what you are living through, and say with true feeling, that I am thinking of you.

Thank you Wylie, and I am very sorry for your loss.

The hardest part is the disease takes the "person" away long before they pass.

Thanks again for your kind words and thoughts.

 

[Nemo30]

So sorry to hear.

I also lost my mum to cancer two years ago at age 61.

It's just a horrible horrible disease and agree that it takes a very special person to work in a hospice.

 

[investor2009]

I applaud your efforts to form a charity, bless you

 

[moyjos]

I too applaud you..

My only suggestion would be to hit the marketing roundabout. Send press releases out to all the media outlets.

If someone like Sunrise or Today pick it up you may get a lot of local businesses to come on board.

I am guessing you are after business support in the form of product or services to reward the carers? eg: pamper packs from local beauty salons, dinners at local eateries, nights at a hotel to get away etc? and cash from the public to be able to purchase similar things

Also make sure you PLASTER it all over facebook and don't forget to tell us all here so we can "share and like' the page.

Well done.

 

[Fifth]

I'm so sorry to hear about your mum.

I can understand your desire to cultivate something positive from this very awful experience and also to express your gratitude towards those who have assisted you/others like you.

To be honest, your charity model is slightly confusing and vague.

By 'charity workers' I assume you mean volunteers as you mentioned that volunteers have been invaluable to you during this dreadful time. By 'rewards', I assume you mean monetary payment.

My notion of a charity involves the recipients of charitable donations being 'in need'. Volunteers do indeed contribute an enormous amount to our society but they do so under the proviso that they are not paid, hence they are called volunteers. Volunteering can be stressful just as it can be rewarding, but I'm not sure that volunteering constitutes being 'in need'. For this reason I'm not sure that I could class your proposed model as a charity. Perhaps others will see it differently.

Another problem is the oversaturation of the charity 'industry'. I'm reluctant to use the word 'industry' to describe the world of charity but in many instances it's become just that. Every new charity diverts funds from an existing charity. People don't donate more when a new charity is created, the funds are merely diverted. It's extremely cost ineffective to have so many small, upstart charities. Every day new charities are created and though the intentions of the founders are often noble, it would be far more cost effective to have fewer and larger charities.

From the point of the donor, it would be also be helpful if charities could have transparent and easily understood missions and models and this can't be achieved when there are so, so many charities. Personally, I feel overwhelmed and ultimately put off by the amount of charities there are, especially when so many have cost ineffective, convoluted, vague or even misleading missions/business models. I know I'm not alone on this point. I think with too many charities holding their hands out, people are more inclined to develop apathy towards giving with charities essentially becoming fads.

My suggestion would be, if you want to 'give back', once enough time has passed and you're up to the task, do some volunteering yourself. Just as you have been helped, you can help others. No money needs to change hands.

I'm sorry if any of this sounds overly harsh and I am sincerely sorry for what you're currently going through. Best of luck for the future.

 

[INVSTOR]

I'm really sorry to hear about your mum, it's so painful to watch people suffer. I just found out a 14 year old boy who my daughter went to school with has a very rare form of brain cancer. (one other person in America has it) It must be such a full-on job for the parents. Another friend of mines 5 year old had a rare form of cancer in the plate above his brain. Because it wasn't a common form, eg, leukemia, she got a lot less support.

 

[luckyone]

Erik, I'm sorry to hear of your mum. That's terrible. But I don't understand what "rewards" you are after?

Surely after selling your business you have plenty of money to buy whatever "rewards" you desire?

And in all honesty, is what you're doing all that difficult? I mean she's in a hospice getting taken care of 24/7 by others. Yes you have to visit her, but surely that's not that hard?

Sorry to be harsh, just trying to see why people who aren't actually the carers would need to be rewarded.