YouCaring.com Acquires GiveForward.com to Create World’s Largest Portal for Crowdfunding Critical Personal, Medical Expenses and Charitable Causes

Combined the two leading donation-based crowdfunding sites have raised over $750 million and have created the world’s largest free donation crowdfunding site

By Robert Hoskins

San Francisco, California  – YouCaring announced that it has acquired GiveForward. GiveForward has been a pioneer in crowdfunding medical expenses for individuals and has helped people raise nearly $200 million. Combined with YouCaring, which has helped people around the world raise over $550 million for critical personal, medical, and charitable causes, this acquisition will expand YouCaring’s fundraising and donor reach.

Combined the two leading donation-based Crowdfunding Sites have raised over $750 Million and have created the world’s largest free donation crowdfunding site

For the GiveForward community, YouCaring offers an optimized on-site experience, robust marketing tools for fundraisers, real-time customer support, and the ability to reach a donor pool of six million. GiveForward users can expect increased campaign performance and an expanded customer support system to meet their fundraising goals.

Unlike other crowdfunding sites, YouCaring does not charge fundraisers a fee to raise money on the platform and relies on voluntary donations from donors to fund their operations. As a Certified B Corporation®, YouCaring is committed to advancing social good and adheres to strict standards for consumer advocacy.

“We’re excited to welcome GiveForward users to the YouCaring community. GiveForward has been a leader in medical crowdfunding for nearly a decade,” said Dan Saper, YouCaring’s CEO. “With health care costs continuing to rise for consumers, building a platform that can help relieve that stress is critically important to us. The GiveForward brand and what it stands for couldn’t be more aligned with who we are and what we do here at YouCaring.”

Desiree Vargas Wrigley, a co-founder of GiveForward, added, “We started GiveForward to help change the way people care about each other. We’re happy to see that vision expanded to the tremendous global community of supporters YouCaring has built.”

YouCaring focuses on Compassionate Crowdfunding™ and believes that no one should have to face hardship alone. Their community of worldwide donors is more than six million strong, and to date, have raised over $550 million. The company does not charge platform fees to fundraise, and like its fundraisers, relies on donations from generous supporters to finance its operation.

GiveForward has been a leader in medical crowdfunding. Since inception in 2008, GiveForward has raised nearly $200 million for people in need, and has empowered 270,000 people to raise money for their causes.

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.

On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to supporting donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

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Austin Startup Launches Product Marketplace and Crowdfunding Platform to Connect Brands, Charities and Consumers

121Giving was built by the two “philanthropeurs” to help charities find products they need to fulfill their missions, match those needs with supplier brands eager to help causes, and get consumers involved to help fund the product-oriented campaigns

 By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – For donors and consumer givers who want to know that the money they donate to charity is making a tangible impact and serving real needs, Austin-based startup 121Giving.com launched a new product marketplace and crowdfunding platform that enables donors to know where their giving is going every time they support a nonprofit through the site.

121Giving.com Shows Consumers Where Their Donations are Going

Developed by Liz Deering and Mark Courtney, experienced entrepreneurs who have funneled their business-technology passions and nonprofit expertise into a business model that makes philanthropy a successful and transparent online venture, 121Giving was built by the two “philanthropeurs” to help charities find products they need to fulfill their missions, match those needs with supplier brands eager to help causes, and get consumers involved to help fund the product-oriented campaigns.

“We launched 121Giving because we wanted to improve the way that nonprofits, consumers and charity-minded companies can all work together for the collective good,” said Deering, co-founder and chief operating officer, who previously worked for technology companies and Goodwill Industries of Austin before launching the company with Courtney. “We wanted to make the entire giving process more efficient and transparent, both to solve the inefficiencies and costs that nonprofits often face with traditional product procurement and to address consumer skepticism about how their donations are being used.”

Many recent studies have shown that consumers want more details from the companies they patronize about their support of nonprofits and causes and the results of their donations and contributions. In fact, 88% of consumers in North America want companies to inform them about their support of social and environmental causes (Cone Communications, 2013), and 69% of Millennials say they are most likely to donate to a nonprofit that inspires them (Cone Inc., AMP Agency).

“Our online marketplace and crowdfunding platform brings everything to the forefront in a way that delivers measurable results for everyone involved,” says Courtney, a social innovator and enterprise technology expert who is responsible for 121Giving’s technology, platform and business strategy. “Nonprofits get the products they need, donors can see the impact of their giving, companies can make a profit while being good corporate citizens, and communities benefit from campaigns that tackle issues, solve problems and change lives all around them.”

Feeding the Need, Matching Brands and Donors
Through 121Giving, nonprofits can publish their specific needs for products by developing crowdfunding campaigns, consumers can donate money to buy those products and track the campaign’s progress and success, while companies can show they care by making their products available at prices that nonprofits can afford. The unique nonprofit-donor-brand ecosystem delivers the visibility nonprofits need, the crowdsourcing power of donors, and a steady supply chain for merchants to sell products at discounts to charities and still make a profit.

For brands interested in selling their products to nonprofits at 121Giving, visit the site’s “Corporate Brand Partners” section.

After a soft launch at SXSW in Austin this week, 121Giving is already hosting four crowdfunding campaigns that support Central Texas nonprofits. Ongoing and future campaigns will cover a range of products that nonprofits urgently need, including office, medical, cleaning and educational supplies; clothing; computers; furniture; food and hygiene products; electronics; home goods, non-perishable goods and more.

The current campaigns include:

• Front Steps, an agency that provides services to the homeless, raising money for 250 move-in kits for clients moving from the streets to transitional or permanent housing
• Color Cancer, a nonprofit serving people with cancer, raising money for cases of high-protein Ensure for 125 people with cancer
• Project Transitions, an agency for people with HIV/AIDS, raising money for medical, cleaning and comfort supplies for the 30-plus individuals cared for yearly at Doug’s House, the only Central Texas hospice facility for those with HIV/AIDS.
• Rebuilding Together Austin, an agency dedicated to safe, healthy homes for low-income residents, raising money for home repair tools and volunteer supplies to help 30 families.

“The nonprofit market deserves a no-cost solution that enables them to engage online donors easily in helping them purchase the products they need,” said Courtney. “We’re giving nonprofits access to a single online resource where they can source bulk products consistently and affordably, helping them spend less time on product acquisition and more on the missions they serve so passionately.”

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