Here are a few examples:Ī survivor of domestic violence shared that she’s beginning to trust men again because of the men who are part of her Neighbor Team.Ī newly-employed single mother shared with her Neighbor Team that her children’s school had cancelled their bussing without explanation. We have also witnessed stories of Neighbors supporting each other in diverse ways. That includes attending their weekly Neighbor Team meeting on Zoom attending workshops on topics like financial health, childcare, starting a business, immigration, and housing participating in game nights attending monthly town hall meetings and having one-on-ones with GatherFor staff or other Neighbors.ĩ2% indicate the topics / discussions / workshops we engage in are valuable to them. The remaining third appreciate their relationships with their Neighbor Teams, and are still getting to know them.Ĩ8% of Neighbors feel good about the 2-3 hours / week they’re spending on GatherFor. Here’s what we’ve learned so far:Ħ7% of our Neighbors feel like their Neighbor Team truly has their back. In this time, we have hosted monthly town halls to receive input from Neighbors on our effectiveness and strategic direction and sent out surveys to check how well our approach is working. In our pilot phase, we’ve been operating the model of organizing and resourcing Neighbor Teams since late October 2020.
What if instead we let Neighbors know, “We have your back, if you’re also willing to support your community as well”? By inviting Neighbors to be part of a community of mutual support, our “selection process” is less about making them prove they’re poor and more about affirming their gifts can be used to support their community, who will also support them through their time of need. This is often dehumanizing and creates a sense of shame for our Neighbors. If you’re poor in the United States, many government and non-profit programs require you to demonstrate how poor you are. We then have a phone call with them to better understand their situation, explain our program, and determine if they would like to participate. After they are referred to GatherFor, they complete a short, written application explaining some of the challenges they’re facing. This silent auction was vital for our survival, and GiveButter flat out screwed us.While our initial recruiting came from flyers in the Neighborhood and promotional efforts from our trusted partner, the Brownsville Partnership, Neighbors generally find out about GatherFor through word of mouth from existing participants. We are an extremely small nonprofit organization doing all we can to keep on our feet and keep our organization afloat. Getting your "service fee" fee returned with an additional $69 is sad compensation.
What could I tell them except that GiveButter screwed up.On top of that, I can't tell you how much time I have spent scrambling to recover with our guests and donors during a time when I should have been focused on thanking folks for their generosity. Generally, the idea with a silent auction is that people are able to give, not get a deal. The organizations that generously donated these items were appalled, and we were deeply embarrassed. A river rafting package valued at $265 ended up going for only half of its value. We had a $725 piece of artwork that went for $250 due to the inability of people at our event to bid live. Total System Failure - We lost money thanks to GiveButter!Īs a small nonprofit struggling to stay on our feet, we lost hundreds of dollars in potential donations-along with experiencing deep embarrassment at our event-due to GiveButter's admitted mobile platform glitch where our guests were not able to bid live at our event.
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