This is outside my comfort zone, but you do what you gotta for your family, right?
OK.
**
The Problem Needing Solving**: So, my wife has aphasia[sup]1[/sup], and has had it since her stroke in March 2012. She’s been getting some therapy for it - couple of times a week, 45 minutes at a time, until benefits run out for my cheapo health insurance. Then we apply for more benefits and after a month we get 6 more sessions. It’s not helping as much as it could.
The Goal: Northwestern University’s Speech and Language Clinic offers a 4 week program - 4 days a week, 6 hours a day for $8500. That’s actually pretty reasonable as intensive aphasia therapy camps go. For us, however (as I would imagine for a lot of families dealing strokes - lots of bills, no income from the person who suffered the stroke, etc), it’s unattainable.
The Request: Has anybody put together a grass-roots fundraiser? What do you do? Was it successful? How did you get the word out? Is something in the neighborhood of $8500 feasible?
Thanks for any info at all.
[sup]1[/sup] For those too lazy to read the linked page, it means her ability to speak is severely compromised. She understands speech, but usually can’t get her mouth to make the sounds in her head.
I’ve done plenty of fundraisers, but no grassroots events. But the first thing you need to do is contact both the clinic as well as your insurance to see if there are any reductions, scholarships or grants avaiable.
I’ve done fund raising for a living for the past 35 years. I’ve put on hundreds of events. (I hate fund raising events and now confine myself to grant proposal writing only.) Any event you do will likely raise a pittance compared to what you need. Garage sales, concerts, runs, car washes… all labor-intensive, expensive, and bad ideas. They’re not bad ideas if you see them as publicity to call attention to your need, maybe in conjunction with a story in your local paper. But *strictly *for raising money? Bad idea.
Suggest you explore online fundraising. For a person-to-person need like this, I think you would have more success telling your story to a huge audience and counting on the numbers. I believe $8,500 is totally doable in this way.
If/when I see your story online with your wife’s picture, your kids, dogs, etc., some info about the therapy and what a difference it will make in her/your lives, I will absolutely send you $100. You can receive money through Pay Pal.
Google around and see what you can find. Good luck.
$8500 sounds tough for a local fund-raising event, but ThemaLou is right that it’s entirely do-able online. Talk to the mods, maybe you can start here.
I have more experience straight-up asking people for money than putting events together. And I know nobody likes asking for money and everyone loves events, but maybe you should consider that possibility because putting on an event costs money. That said, here are some general points: try to think of events that are easy and appeal to a bunch of people, that could be connected to your wife in some way, and which don’t cost too much. And think about whatever social groups the two of you may be part of - church groups, knitting circles, motorcycle gangs, whatever the two of you are involved with. Try to reach out to and include as many of those groups as you can.
People usually don’t like asking for money, EXCEPT when they’re really passionate about the need/cause and really care. And that passion is what makes people want to give to you. All the ducks are in a row here.
Here’s the secret to fund raising: people want meaning in their lives. By telling people about something you really care about, you are inviting them to attach themselves to the meaning that YOU get from the cause. Don’t take the approach that we need this money (it will be obvious that you do, and frankly anybody can identify with high medical bills-- except possibly Republican Congressmen). What will that money DO? What impact will it have on you, your wife, your kids…tell a story about your lives before the stroke, after the stroke, how this therapy will bring back the talking, singing, laughing, etc., that has been missing.
Start a Facebook page on this project-- I’m not on Facebook, but I guess this is the kind of thing you find there, right?
I’m wondering if there’s something like Kickstarter, but for fund raising for this kind of cause.
If you want some help with the verbiage, PM me. My late H had many, many health problems, and I’ve also written for a lot of medical organizations.
A colleague of mine was diagnosed with liver cancer. Using this website his friends and family were able to raise $15K in two months. This young man in particular has a very wide circle of friends, and, through social networks, could attract a lot of attention. Like ThelmaLou says, tell a good story, personalize it, ask the mods and post it here.
If you have to register as a charity or not if you’re doing fundraising for something like this, what fundraiser types are legal (raffles, for instance) for a private person, what happens with taxes, that kind of thing. Better to make sure of that now and not have trouble later.
If you’re up front about what the money will be used for, and you tell people their contribution will not be tax deductible, I don’t see that there would be any problem. IANAL but I hang out in this field a lot.
The recipients of the money will owe taxes on it like any other income.
The IRS form is 501c3. I don’t think this would be necessary for a one-time fundraiser, but it wouldn’t hurt to apply for one to create an ongoing charity.
I would look to see if there are already any groups doing charity work in your area for aphasia.
Let them know your plans and perhaps they could help.
I used to work in the fundraising department of a large non-profit. One of the inherent problems is cost versus benefits. Many events brought in a lot of money, but by the time all of the costs were covered (rent, catering, entertainment, etc.) the profit margin could be slim to none.
In your case, I would make lots of calls to find free or cheap alternatives:
Call around to find a location - free or cheap.
Call around to find food/drink - free or cheap.
Call around to find some entertainment - free or cheap.
Get the word out - flyers, social media, local news (TV and radio and newspapers).
Get as many people involved as possible to help with set up and the actual event and publicity, etc.
Be sure to give yourself ample lead time - these things take longer than you might think to organize.
And I am sorry to say this, but it might be a good idea to have a video with you and your wife asking people to come to this event. When people see and can hear the recipient of the fundraiser, they are far, far more inclined to show up or at least send a donation. It might seem an invasion of privacy, but people need to see a real urgency and feel they are doing something that matters. I would imagine a filmed, short request from your wife to please stop by and attend would make a huge difference in turnout and the amount raised.
I wish you the very best of luck in your fundraising efforts, and best wishes for further benefits of therapeutic treatments!
Is this true? My understanding is that you as the recipient would not owe taxes, but the giver might, to the extent that the contributions exceed the gift tax limits in the US.
These will not be family gifts, they will be gifts from strangers and thus will be viewed as income by the IRS. Income taxes will apply. Certain charities may be granted status under IRS code 501c3 that both makes the charity exempt from income taxes and allows givers to claim their gifts as charitable donations, helping to encourage such gifts. However, 501c3 status is not frivolously or easily granted.
IANAL or a tax expert of any sort, but in my reading of the Wikipedia article on gift taxes I don’t see a distinction between gifts to one’s family and gifts to strangers.
(Note though, the article mentions one type of gift that’s not taxable. “Tuition or medical expenses one pays directly to a medical or educational institution for someone. Donor must pay the expense directly. If donor writes a check to donee and donee then pays the expense, the gift may be subject to tax.” So you could ask people to send the checks directly to the clinic.)
Sorry, I was away. I netted around $8,000 at one an $4,000 at another, it all came down to prizes offered during the Silent Auction. You can raise A LOT, but it’s a ton of work.
I should also add, these are common where I live, so they tend to sell well.
