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GiveSendGo Features

A Call to Pray: GiveSendGo's Prayer Messages Feature

Posted by ALEX SHIPLEY on Jul 7, 2021

Good afternoon! I'm Alex Shipley - GiveSendGo's new Director of Communications! Yesterday was my first day, so I spent most of my time exploring GiveSendGo's website and getting to know more about what makes this organization so special. I'm writing this post to share one of my favorite features on GiveSendGo! I really appreciate the ability to write prayer messages to someone running a campaign on the site and I'm sure most of you value this feature too (in fact, maybe that's why you chose GiveSendGo!). I think this feature is an excellent way to keep God at the center of our endeavors, especially the ones we claim are for His kingdom. Prayer is always the first step we should take before doing anything else and sometimes it's the only thing we can do, so I find this feature so vital and encouraging! Plus, there's nothing like the feeling of knowing someone, let alone dozens or even hundreds of people, are praying for you! Prayer is key to our faith. In fact, it's the vehicle in which we make our requests and supplications known to God, our Father (although he already knows our every need even before we ask). Paul says in Ephesians 6:19 to "pray at all times in the Spirit" and in 1 Thesselonians 5:16-18 he says, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". This feature, along with GiveSendGo's values, is what sets this organization apart as we are also called to be set apart from the world. So, I invite you to actively pray for those using this site (and even those who are donating to active campaigns), whether that's writing out a prayer message on someone's campaign or taking some time out of your day to actively pray for that person(s). God Bless, Alex Shipley

Givers

Army of Givers

Posted by GiveSendGo on Jun 1, 2021

Have you heard of our GiveSendGo Army of Givers? We want to recruit you! Commit once a month to give a donation of any size to any campaign on GiveSendGo. We will send you a Thank you package and invite you to our Giver Party this fall. You will not want to miss it! Sign up here: https://www.givesendgo.com/site/gsg-army

GiveSendGo News

GiveSendGo Is Not a Political Pawn. It's Time We Told Our Story.

Posted by Jacob Wells and Heather Wilson on Apr 8, 2021

GiveSendGo Is Not a Political Pawn. It's Time We Told Our Story. by Jacob Wells and Heather Wilson We have always believed in a higher purpose, and that belief drives us in nearly all we do. As committed Christians, we believe that purpose comes from God. Every decision we make, every task we complete, everything we build all serves God's higher purpose in ways we can only begin to comprehend. It was this conviction that led us to start our crowdfunding website GiveSendGo.com, and we say without hubris we've been blessed to see God work his purposes through our platform. In light of fraught events in our country's recent political life, our site has been drawn into the fallout from the horrific attack on the Capitol Building in Washington on January 6th. We feel the record needs to be set straight. First, we do not condone the use of violence for political gain, and we unequivocally condemn those who threatened the lives of our elected leaders and the police officers who were simply doing their jobs. Nor does our site exist solely for the accused rioters to raise legal funds for their defense. Contrary to what some have implied, GiveSendGo isn't only online to serve as a haven for accused insurrectionists. While it is true that GiveSendGo is being used by those who have been charged in the attack, those people are Constitutionally entitled to a defense whether we like it or not. More to the point, those campaigns are only a fraction of what our site is about. We believe God's purpose for our site was never to be a political pawn. As with all things, God's purpose is far greater. We started GiveSendGo with the belief that even though money is a necessity in this life, it does not fill the God-shaped hole people have. We wanted a platform that would offer people a place to fundraise for the things that are important to them, all the while sharing the Hope we know is found in Jesus. In the years since we founded the site, we've heard testimonials and success stories from thousands of ordinary people who were able to use our site to raise the funds they needed. These people have raised money for adoption, medical expenses, disaster relief, missionary-related efforts, and so many other endeavors that have made the world a better place. Since having just another "funding me" platform is not the ultimate goal, we wanted to add features that would set us apart. We made it a point to add a prayer feature to our website that allows generous givers the ability to offer prayer support to those on their journey. Even something as small as a prayer notification can sometimes make the difference between persisting and giving up. Not only do we allow others to offer prayer, GSG has a team of Prayer partners that will call each campaign owner and offer prayers for them right over the phone. We have collected countless stories from people who were touched that we would care so much about them and their campaigns. We felt called to start this site because we know this life can be hard, but above all we want to share the Good News that we do not have to go it alone. That was, and still is, our purpose. And we believe with all the conviction in the world that this purpose is greater than any short-term political agenda the Left or the Right wants to throw on us. We aren't saying all of this just to sell people on GiveSendGo.com. Our point is to make people understand that our platform is about bringing people together and making a difference, however small, in the lives of others. Jacob Wells and Heather Wilson are siblings and the cofounders of GiveSendGo.com.

Devotionals

It's Supernatural

Posted by Marnie W. on Mar 19, 2021

A young man told me a story tonite, he has been having a "hard time". He has been trying to follow the Lord ..but not really successfully....yet better than before (you know how that is) Anyways, he has not had transportation in a long while and has had no money to make it happen. Without transportation it is hard to keep a steady job, etc. etc. This past week he had looked into getting a small loan for a "beater" ~ something to get around in. He found something and went back to get the promised loan, only to find out it had fallen through. He was so upset and downtrodden. He tells me how he was in his room just railing at God. "What the heck Lord??" "How am I supposed to make this happen?" Again I surmise you know the lingo.. 3 hours later there's a knock at the door. A man stands there. He shares how God has told him to buy a truck for this young man. Now, mind you, not just any old truck but a NICE one with a new snowplow! He also explains how he argued with God about this command, saying "I think 'this kid' should have to work for his truck like we all have to." The Lord's reply was clear, "who got you your vehicle? Was it not I that provided for you?" The argument was finished and the man obeyed. He handed over the keys and title to the sobbing young man ~ who just COULD NOT BELIEVE ~ that God, his Heavenly Father~ would do such a thing for him. How cool is God???? Friend~ Its not when we have it all together. Not when our tithe is on time and our ducks are all in a row*. Our Father loves us ~ just cause!!! We are His children and He JUST LOVES US!! period! Do I hear an AMEN?!

Free Giver Mask

Posted by GiveSendGo on Mar 5, 2021

Hello! We will be picking 5 random people to receive a #Giver Mask. Just make a comment about what being a Giver means to you on this blog and we will be picking 5 random people and mailing them each 2 masks! (after all if you are a Giver you will want one to give away) Make sure to put a valid email as we will be contacting our winners to get an address to mail to. Please Share!

Fundraising Tips

How to say Thank You!

Posted by GiveSendGo on Mar 4, 2021

Crowdfunding or any type of fundraising can be a bit daunting. Asking friends and family, acquaintances and strangers to donate, no matter how good and noble the cause can feel somewhat uncomfortable. One secret we can share that we see from most successful campaigns is how the campaign owner/recipient responds to donations. They say Thank You. They let their givers know they appreciate the sacrifice and love behind the gift. There is a story in the Bible where Jesus gives a gift of healing 10 men that were outcast, suffering from their skin decaying on their body, 10 lepers. They called out to Jesus as he was passing by and Jesus stopped and spoke the word, and healed ALL TEN! Talk about life changing, From one minute to the next the walking dead, to the restored. But what happens after? Of the ten lepers Jesus healed, however, only one came back, and of all the lepers, he wouldn't be anybody who could be expected to do it: I had heard this story many times but never notices the one who came back was a Samaritan. Not a Jew but the enemy of the Jews. Yet in Luke it says: "And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned with a loud voice glorifying God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan." (Luke 17:14-16) When you are truly thankful, and your life's action reflects that gratitude, it moves the very heart of God. It also moves the hearts of donors. To help we put together a list of ways to say Thank You to your donors: 1. Use the Audio message feature on your campaign to record a verbal, personal thank you each time someone gives. ( you can find this on your campaign dashboard on a computer (not mobile device) ) 2. Send a Handwritten Note This is one of the coolest things you can receive in our digital media age. 3. Send a public shout out on social media Show your gratitude on Facebook, Twitter, or the platform your donors use most. A simple shout out on Facebook is a great way to shine a spotlight on your supporters and say thank you to donors. Learn how to write for different social media platforms to perfect your message. 4. Send a private message or personal email. In it, remember The donor is the hero. You are thanking them for their awesomeness. Make sure your thank you note is all about them. Not you and what you are doing. 5. Share updates letting everyone know if it wasn't for your donors ( you can name them specifically) you wouldn't be doing what you are doing. 6. Pay it forward. When your donor community has a cause they're fundraising for, reciprocate by offering your help. 7. Make sure you go through the recent donation section of your campaign page and "like" or 'love" each donation 8. Say thank you by phone call or in person. People love personal. When you see the person make sure you let them know how much you appreciate their gift. If you know you wont see then soon give a quick call. How ever you say thank you, just make sure it comes from the bottom of your heart with sincerity. Remember each donation given was a sacrifice made by someone.

Devotionals

Judas, closer than we think

Posted by Heather on Mar 1, 2021

I have been reading a Lent devotional with my church. The devotional is walking us through Jesus' last days on earth. We've all heard the story how Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, for 30 pieces of silver. Having heard this story thousands of times in my life I've always cast Judas as the greedy, money hungry, villain who cared more about money than his relationship with Jesus. I assumed he was overall just greedy. After reading this devotional it made me stop and think a bit. Judas had been following the Lord, he heard Jesus talking, he also knew about the Messiah and probably was so excited to be a part of the Messiahs troupe. I am sure he thought he was going to be on the winning side. He probably, like most of the disciples, didn't really understand everything Jesus said and did, but growing up he was taught the Messiah would overthrow Rome and make life better for the Jews. So when he was called by Jesus, he was probably excited to be on the winning side of things. And look.... Jesus is developing a following. He is healing people. People are flocking to hear Him speaking. People are enamored and Judas gets to be in the "in-crowd"! He is one of the few getting in the boat to go to the other side with Jesus. The one handing out the bread and fish that had multiplied. He gets to travel, talk with, and be part of Jesus' inner circle. It feels good. To be the important one. Recognized and esteemed. Life is good. Then it's not. Jesus starts talking weird. Things about death and persecution. Things that don't sound very "Winning Team" like . He even tells all his disciples they will betray him. I now imagine Judas second guessing his choice. Does he want to be lumped in with all these people who will be labeled crazy? If Jesus dies then what? None of them can do miracles. If Jesus dies, he will just be left with a mess to clean up. Known as one of the disciples, he will probably be persecuted, ridiculed and banned from both fellow Jews and the Romans. This is not what he signed up for. I started thinking it probably wasn't all about money. It was about fear, fear of the unknown. And where does fear come from? Fear comes from not trusting that God has it under control. I have to confess, I have been very judgemental of Judas, thinking it was all about money and how shallow of a person would trade the Messiah for money. I am now starting to think Judas was probably more motivated in fear, and now I can relate. Being a Christian in the United States of America used to be the "thing to be". Everyone went to church. Everyone had a Bible. But what is happening today? We get criticized for saying men are men and women are women. We are hated for following what the Bible teaches. We can't believe a baby in a womb is a real life without being outed as a hater. You can't stand up for people's rights and give them grace for bad choices in their lives, without being called bigots and racists. The tide has turned. Life was good And now its not. Its not going to get better in the way we want. (Sorry to be the bearer of bad news) Just like the disciples lives didn't get better -and when I say better I mean easier. It got much much harder. But more rewarding. As the disciples spoke truth in love, and didn't back down, God showed up and used them to do incredible things. He wants to do the same with our lives. I am just afraid that much of the church has been just going through the motions, wanting to be on the "winning side" when it didn't call for a sacrifice. We might not ever say we would betray Jesus for any amount of money. But what about betraying Jesus out of fear. Fear, that we might not be accepted. Fear, that life doesn't look like we thought. Fear, that it is going to be hard. Fear we might be on the wrong side. Fear we will be labeled. The Bible tells us how it ended for Judas. It also shows that Jesus' death was not the end of the story. The USA moving farther away from Biblical truths is not the end of the story either. Do not find yourself stuck in the middle of the story, thinking it is the end, reacting on feelings and fear. Remember we know the truth. We know how it is going to end. We know who is going to win. I want live knowing that I can trust the Lord no matter how hard life gets, that this world is not the end of life, just the beginning. "Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord". 2 Cor 5:8

Fundraising Tips

So many options, so little time!

Posted by GiveSendGo on Feb 16, 2021

So, you started a crowdfunding campaign. You went through the 3 steps of building your campaign and connecting it to our processor and now have begun to share it. Did you know you now have a whole dashboard for your campaign that offers options and extras that help you share,customize and track your campaign? First login to your GSG dashboard and hover over your campaign. Click on 'Campaign Dashboard' to go to that campaigns dashboard. Once there, you should see a menu of all the different options available to you. Lets go over them: You should first see your Weekly reports displayed on the dashboard. How many donors, amount raised, etc. This is what is shown when the Analytics tab is clicked on. Above the Analytics tab on the left hand side you can click view campaign to go to your actual campaign url, and above that is your name and an enabled/disable button that you can toggle back and forth to enable and disable your campaign. Underneath the Analytics tab is the Audio message. You can record a 60 second audio message from any desktop or laptop computer (mobile devices do not have this option to record, but they can listen to a recording) This audio message will show on your campaign page under the header image with a little play button. You can change this message as often as you would like to give people a personal message or update when they visit your campaign. Its an unique feature to GiveSendGo and can make your campaign connect to even more people. Be creative in using this as people will be drawn back to your campaign if they know it has been updated. Next we have the Recipient Details tab. Under this tab you will see who was set up as the recipient of the campaign and whether they have connected successfully to our processor. You can also login to the processor from this page if you want to check your balances and payout schedules etc. At the bottom of this page you will see a place for a secure upload of verification documents. This is not needed often. Only upload a document if you have been in communication with someone from the GSG team they have discussed needing you to upload additional verification. The Campaign Edit tab will allow you to edit all the steps you went through when creating your campaign. Your goal amount, your campaign title, header image/ video, campaign story. This tab will open up and will look just like what you saw during set up. The Comments tab will show all the comments people have made on your campaign. The encouraging words, prayers and more. We have filters on comments to keep out bad language etc, but please let us know if any ever get by the filter. Only people who have given to your campaign can write a comment. It is not just for public commentary. The Coupon code tab is something we are still developing as we are working with processors to try to negotiate lower rates so we can offer those to you or your organization. You should really stop by the Custom Thank you tab to edit your thank you that gets sent out to every donor. A generic thank you email goes out unless you customize the Thank You email in this tab. The Donation list tab is self explanatory as it give you a list of all the donations that have been given to your campaign. Donation Reports is a little different as it gives you the option to view the reports for both donations you have made ( as long as you used your same email address) and it will show received donations and then in the third tab it will give the option to Download reports. There is also a place here to download the email address of the people who have clicked the pray now button and submitted a prayer for your campaign. Donation settings lets you customize what shows on your campaign page under recent donations. You can make all your Givers name show as anonymous if you would like, You can turn on/off allowing people the ability to comment when making a donation and the option to just show Giver names and not the donation amounts given. Default is that anonymous is off, comments are on , and donation amounts are shown. You can choose to set an End Date on your campaign on the next tab. That will remove the Give Now button and disable your campaign when that date comes to pass. If you want to add more images to your header so it becomes a scrolling header, you would add and remove images under the Gallery Images Tab. Mailing Address allows you to collect mailing addresses of your Givers. This is set as default to off as people want to give as little information about themselves online . You do not want to discourage givers if they do not want to add a mailing address. But we also understand that you may need to collect addresses so you do have the option of requesting your givers to fill out their address after giving the donation. (We do make it optional even if you request it.) Offline Donation is a place to put any donations you have received that has not been processed through your campaign. Maybe someone gave you a check for $200 and you want to make sure it shows in your campaign total. Fill out the Offline Donation tab and it will show on the campaign page. You can fill as many or as few details. If you put an email address the Giver will get a thank you and a receipt for their gift. Private Settings is usually counter intuitive to how crowdfunding works as usually you want every one to find your campaign, but we realize occasionally there may be a private fundraiser that you only want to share with certain people and not the world . You can then turn this on and only people with the link will be able to find the campaign. It wont be seen in searches etc on GSG. You can turn off the ability for people to send you prayer messages. Just click Prayer Messages and toggle allowing prayer messages on or off. Add Prayer Requests to your campaign page to let people know specific things they can be praying for. They will show in the prayer request box underneath your campaign story. When your campaign has ended or you have reached your goal, visit the Success Story tab to share a testimony of what you were raising fund for and how your fund raising went. We love to hear the stories of how God used you! The Teams tab is not yet fully functional, but we are working to figure out the best way to allow you to fundraise as a team! The Updates tab allows you to post updates and share them with your friends and followers. Post often to allow Givers to continue to be a part of your story. Click Widgets to get a snippet of code to embed on your website or blog to share your campaign there. And last but not least, we have the delete tab, just in case you need to delete your campaign for any reason. Like I said, we have so many features and options. Now stop just reading about them and go check them out! Happy Fundraising! Shine Brightly!

Devotionals

Plan of Salvation

Posted by GiveSendGo on Jan 28, 2021

Did you know that God loves you and wants so much to have a relationship with Him. The Bible shows us the plan God put in place for our Salvation. If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 Realize that you are a sinner. The Bible says: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. Understand that the payment for sin is death. The Bible says: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23. Believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. The Bible says: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8. Repent of your sins; accept Jesus as your Savior, and ask Him to come into your life. The Bible says: If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 What are you waiting for? It's a free gift that is given to each of us, even though we do not deserve it. Email us to let us know if you have any questions or if you would like us to answer any questions or if you decided to accept Jesus as your Lord, Savior and Best Friend, we would love to know. GSG@GiveSendGo.com

GiveSendGo News

What the Tweet?

Posted by GiveSendGo on Jan 27, 2021

Here is our final post on Twitter as we moved away from the platform that has become a one sided breeding ground for hate speech. "Thank you to our past processors WePay, Stripe and PayPal for helping us get started with GiveSendGo. Its been great. Even more thankful for alternate processors for the future! #Freedom #ShareHope #GodLovesEveryone #Everyoneneedshope" We just wanted to let people know that we were no longer using the processing platforms we had been using. Critics were relentlessly attacking these payment processors in their anger, after not being able to get GiveSendGo to bend to their mob mentality. There have now been over 100 comments on that last twitter post. So we decided we would share our thoughts on some of those comments here on our blog: So here we go... "I'll be contacting Stripe, PayPal and WePay directly about @GiveSendGo's association with Ali, a wanted person in connection with the Capitol Hill events of last week. Im sure PayPal isn't about to continue to stand with sedition, insurrection and aiding and abetting." That is fine. As our initial post states they are our 'past' processors. We have been working diligently to move to third party hosting and our own processing. Platforms that won't dictate who we can or can't allow on our site. "These people raise money for Proud Boys and similar hate groups." This is a misconception. GiveSendGo does not raise money for anyone. People create campaigns to raise money from their friends, family and social circles. Also the people who label groups like the Proud boys as a hate group also labels any conservative Christian group as hate groups. Great organizations that believe in the sanctity of life and the definition of marriage. So we do not go by the labels of some random website. We imagine soon enough Christianity as a whole will be labeled a hate group for sharing there is only one way to Heaven. Through Jesus. "If memory serves organizations that fund terrorism, foreign or domestic can have all their assets seized" That is probably correct. But we do not fund terrorism. We cooperate with local and federal law agencies to make sure we are compliant with the law. "The real question is why is @Paypal supporting a site that is funding white domestic terrorism." Again according to the post you are replying to, we no longer use PayPal. We didn't like their censorship so we dropped them. "GiveSendGo is condoning funding death, murder and terrorism in the United States while using the Lord's in vain while profiteering from the decay of democracy. It's not any of us you'll have to answer to in the end, though." Now this one is crazy. We do not condone funding death and I would love to see your proof on campaigns raising money for funding death. Its easy to just say things with no backing. That's pretty much how reporters do it now a days. Just say something enough and it becomes "truth" so why would we expect anything less from the followers. Interesting that no one minds that our country fights to fund death by abortion. There was over 3million abortions world wide this year!!! If those deaths don't make you angry then that is the problem. We know we do not have to answer to the angry mob, just to God and that is why we do what we do. We are prepared to answer to God for our platform. We actually talk to Him daily about it. "You're helping to fund terrorism-and you don't need two spaces after periods anymore." We are thankful for the grammar help. Even though no one has funded any sort of terrorism on GiveSendGo. Who, that was arrested at the capitol, used GiveSendGo to go and do destruction? Yes a few are raising money for legal fees now, because of their bad choices. But that is something totally different. "You fund terrorists who murder Americans, including a policeman. The people they attacked (and will be attacking) are also other Christians as well. So your "Christian" organization is an embedded terrorist cell. You are America's ISIS" Please send over anyone that murdered a policeman that funded anything on GiveSendGo. Please also send over documentation on how the policeman died ( if you actually care to do the research and see what his family says) Our Final statement: We are Christians that believe that taking sides in politics is not the answer. The answer is found in Jesus. We will continue to share that hope with everyone that comes on our platform. Right, Left, Good, bad, religious, non religious. We know that if we were going to base who could fundraise on the "goodness" of a person, then no one would be able to fundraise on GiveSendGo, or GoFundMe or anywhere as the Bible clearly states "There is none righteous, no not one" It is only by the Grace of God that any of us can have the free Gift of salvation.