My aunt, Carol Dahlke, makes really awesome coffee in the middle of nowhere (or everywhere, depending how you look at it – see for yourself on a map).  She roasts it, brews it, loves it.  She also lets us sell it to benefit CauseShare fundraisers. Its real good and if you are ever on the quiet Southeast shore of Connecticut, swing by the little town of Lyme, CT and ask them to point you to Ashlawn Farm.  It’s a place to gather with friends, and make more friends.

Carol started a fundraiser two weeks ago for her friends Darren and Karen who run a non-profit and who just built a new school in Nicaragua.  The school needed some more funds for supplies, uniforms, and some basics.  Carol wanted to raise $500 to help out.  She couldn’t do it by herself but she didn’t know if she’d have time to raise that much money because her friends Karen and Darren we’re leaving for Nicaragua in just a couple weeks.   She couldn’t have guessed how awesome the community around Ashlawn Farm really is.

Today, 2 weeks later, Carol has raised over $1,700 online and offline for Cup for Education, who will now use that money to get students the things they need to have productive days in class.  We think this is amazing, not because its a lot of money (its a real lot of money) but because it was raised by so many contributions from more than 50 generous people who got together, spread the word online and off, and gave.

We want to say thank you to Carol for her awesome coffee, and for starting this awesome fundraiser, its difficult to start things.  To all the amazing friends who usually come together around a cup of coffee on the farm, who came together online to do something great - thank you so much.  You demonstrate to the world the power of community.

Side Note: Since the fundraiser for Cup for Education reached its goal, Carol is now part of a fundraising team looking to provide very important vitamins and micronutrients to mothers and children in the developing world with a different organization.  I think she’s gone activist and won’t be stopped- and we love it! Check her out.

Awesome people are just around the corner. Last week, we got to meet Nick Ravlin.

Over the past week, Nick might have worked for a private equity fund by day, but by night, he assumed the role of a passionate fundraiser, raising money for a friend of a friend of a friend that he didn’t even know personally – a man named Tom who is battling kidney cancer. Nick was the top fundraiser, going above and beyond on CauseShare for the week, raising more money than anyone. In our book, these things make Nick Ravlin AN AWESOME PERSON.

We got the chance to talk to Nick and ask about his cause and his awesome fundraising ability -

CS: “Nick, can you tell us why you chose this cause and what it means to you?”

NR: “I knew it was something that meant a lot to some close friends, and I wanted to really help them out. I have been looking to get involved in fundraising for some time now, and this cause was something I can really relate to.

CS: “What did you do to raise money for this cause?  What specifically were your fundraising tactics?”

NR: “I was really able to take advantage of the social media integration on CauseShare.com. The method I found most effective was sending an email to friends and family. In a few cases, I even picked up the phone and called up my friends. But back to the email, I feel like the best way to execute the email strategy is to ensure that you are delivering the right message to your separate social circles. Say I had a listserv that I email with on a regular basis, like school friends or work colleagues. I sent separate emails to both groups, knowing that my message would be most powerful if it was tailored to each group. While the messages may have differed a bit, there was something that I felt was important that I did in each email message. And that was to tell them that I had a personal stake in this cause, like “This is something I am supporting and taking personal responsibility for.” I feel like that really helped them understand how important this cause was to me.

CS: “What was the most exciting or most fun moment of your fundraising campaign as whole?”

NR: “The initial donations. The first 2 or 3 donations after reaching out to my connections. It was very exciting to how effective my communication was, as well as the CauseShare tool.

CS: “What is the best advice you can give to other fundraisers on CauseShare.com?”

NR: “Two pieces of advice. First, make sure you are organized in your approach to your network. A mass emailing is not going to accomplish what a more personalized, tailored group of emails is going to. Second, be as personal as possible. Personalization was key in achieving action from my donors. You’ll find a phone call can be very beneficial.”

CS: “Last question. If you could have one wish to make any one thing happen tomorrow that would change the world for the better, what would it be?

NR: “To have three more wishes.”

At CauseShare we help people raise money for “good causes of every shape and size.” It says this on the top of our homepage.  We have a simple definition of a cause:

Idea + Action

The causes we want to work with have good IDEAS on how to serve their
community. The causes we want to work with take ACTION that is smart
and simple. These ingredients come from people in many places,

a group of parents at a school,

or a single person,

Good Causes come in every shape and size, but behind them all, is Good
People. We serve the people, not the organization, school, and community group. The organization is just an idea without the people. The school is just walls without the people. The community group is nothing without the people. We serve the people who make these things wonderful, who bring them to life, and make them real.

CauseShare helps people with good ideas, who are ready to take action, raise money. You can learn CauseShare more about us and what we do at www.causeshare.com.

Dancing is hard.  It’s not the dancing part that makes it so, it’s everything before that.  Seeing someone you think is awesome, going up to them, asking.

Fundraising is hard, but it’s not the “fund” part of the equation that makes it so.

Even in times as tough as these, opening a wallet isn’t that hard of a thing to do.  It’s everything that comes before that: the trust, the belief, the decision. If you think you have a making it easy to open wallet problem, take a few minutes and pay $0 dollars to cover that base at PayPal and see if that does anything to inspire more trust, belief, and decisions.

It’s the “raising” part of fundraising that is the excruciatingly hard… and extraordinarily rewarding.  It’s the part where you get off the wall and ask the pretty person in center of the gym to dance.  It’s the part where you tell them what you believe, what you do that proves it, and why you want them to go with you. It’s the raising part where you have to lay yourself bare.

When they say yes, that’s magical stuff.  When you find someone who believes and wants to go with you, that marks a time to celebrate. CauseShare is a place to celebrate.  Simply, it gives the person a way to give, but more importantly, a way to participate in what you are doing to shape the world.  People aren’t looking for easier ways to open their wallet; they are looking for more powerful ways to shape the world.

When it comes to funding your world shaping action, what side of the equation have you been focusing on: making the easy part less noticeable, or making the hard part more powerful?

Inspire people to join you.  We believe in you, your actions speak for themselves.

Now, here’s the best dance scene in movie history:

This last week CauseShare had the opportunity to do exactly what it was designed to do. The first social fundraiser on CauseShare was launched on behalf of the Connecticut Sports Foundation Against Cancer (CSFAC), a not for profit organization committed to a vital cause throughout Connecticut.

For 23 years the Connecticut Sports Foundation Against Cancer has been focused on a singular mission: supporting families struggling financially while battling cancer. To raise more money to support more families in their battle, this organization is reaching out  and bringing people together online with a fundraiser on CauseShare.com.

At the heart of this movement is John Ellis. John, a friend whose career as a ball player with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers is only outshined by his spirit started this organization after his battle and victory over Hodgkin’s disease. Grateful for beating cancer, he made a promise to his creator that he would commit the rest of his life to helping people who are not only facing a cancer diagnosis, but also the devastating financial effects the diagnosis can bring.

We are honored that the Connecticut Sports Foundation has launched an online fundraiser with CauseShare to bring together and extend their family. Their philosophy of community and charity are at the heart of what CauseShare does. On Friday, February 12th over 1200 supporters gathered at Mohegan Sun for the CSFAC Annual Dinner.  The CSFAC has invited all the attendees and all the people who care about what they do to join them on CauseShare.  We think this is a wonderful way to engage a community and utilize CauseShare — giving generous people a way to go further and share their passion for the cause that is important to them!

If you are hearing about CauseShare for the first time, we invite you to take a look at our homepage and learn how we can help you raise money in a new way, much like CSFAC is doing. There is a short video on the CauseShare homepage which will show you the basics of the program. You can also visit Don Zimmer’s page for CSFAC to see a great example of what CauseShare is doing to help great people go further for a great cause.

Thanks for reading, and happy fundraising.