Our Youngest Donors Go Digital

Today’s young philanthropists are not setting up lemonade stands and car washes. They’re taking to the Internet on crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, CrowdRise, and Fundly – and they’re raising real money for the causes they care about. In the last month, CV has been the recipient of two crowdfunding campaigns, and we thought you would like to hear about them.

Sarah Bienstock, a 19-year-old whose father is a trustee and whose mother is a volunteer, started a fundraiser as part of running the St. Louis Half Marathon. She set up a page on GoFundMe.com (which was “so simple”), sent an email to her friends and family, and the donations starting rolling in.

“It seemed like every time I checked my email I’d see that I’d gotten more donations. I was not anticipating that at all!” she said. Her first goal was to raise $500; when that was surpassed, she increased it to $750, then $1,000, and then $2,500. She ultimately raised $2,215.

Jordan Manfredi had been so touched by a neighbor’s charitable project that she decided to start one for her 18-month-old daughter, Lily. “Since Lily’s middle name is Love, I figured we should give back on Valentine’s Day.” She also created a fundraising page on GoFundMe, calling it “Lil Love Goes a Long Way.” The campaign garnered $606 in donations for CV.

“I wanted to start a tradition that Lily can be proud of. We plan to do it every year,” Jordan said.

While we’re excited by the trend of online fundraising, we don’t want to forget the traditional. Hannah Engram, a first-grade Brownie (and daughter of trustee Wes Engram), asked her cookie customers to purchase boxes for the kids at CV. She netted 120 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and $27! Her donation was one of the most popular with our teens.

Whether through crowdfunding or knocking on doors, these fundraising campaigns brought not only dollars but also new friends to The Children’s Village. Thank you to Sarah, Lily, Hannah, and their parents. As Sarah said, crowdfunding is easy. If you or your children would like to start a campaign, try one of the sites mentioned, or call us. We’ll be glad to help.

Next: “I call the kids my children, period.”
Summer 2016 Newsletter