An Awesome Alternative to Fundraising

(This post was sponsored by FlipGive. All opinions are my own.)

Fundraising?! Yikes! When I hear that word I usually backdown to anything I thought I was volunteering for because I really dread asking people for money. I have friends who are so good at it and actually like it, but it’s never been my thing. How about you?

So when I recently got asked to join a sponsored campaign for FlipGive, an app that makes group fundraising easier, my ears perked up. With FlipGive, you earn cash (for your team or charity) on things you already buy – from shopping, dining out, or booking hotels and activities. Brands on FlipGive (like Target, Starbucks, and so many more) pay a commission whenever you shop with them via the FlipGive app or website, and FlipGive shares that commission with your team/charity. Buying things that I’d already buy anyways beats a car wash or bake sale any day.

As a room rep for both of the boys elementary school classes and an active fundraiser at my kids’ preschool, I’m always looking for fundraising ideas to share. (I just don’t always like to be the one in charge of fundraising.) Plus, when I found out I’d be joining two other California mompreneurs, AKA the Surf Cowboys (I’ll explain the name in a bit.) to raise money for Unravel Pediatric Cancer, a nonprofit organization working to spread knowledge about the grim realities of pediatric cancer and the devastating impact from the lack of funding, I was even more interested. Wait until you hear how easy FlipGive makes fundraising.

How FlipGive works:

You download the FlipGive app or go to their website and create an account through email, Facebook, or even TeamSnap. You either create a new team or enter the team name or code you want to join. (If you’d like to try it out and join my current team and donate to Unravel Pediatric Cancer, you enter in code 525MMJ.) The app will show you what stores and restaurants near you participate. Popular brands like Target, Walmart, Old Navy, Starbucks, Expedia, and Hotels.com participate, so trust me, there are tons of brands on board that you already shop at. You can even buy gift cards and earn money back for your team/charity. I’m already thinking this will be a great place to purchase birthday, holiday and teacher gifts. According to FlipGive, teams have earned over 20 million dollars using their app. You can login to see your current fundraising success LIVE, and you don’t have to bother family or friends to buy stuff. That said, if that’s your jam there is a section of the app where you can ask for donations or better yet, just ask them to join your team and buy the stuff they’d usually buy!

You can even download FlipGive Max to your computer, a Cash Reminder add-on that notifies you when you can earn cash at participating websites. Once downloaded, it sits quietly on your browser and alerts you of potential earnings from participating brands so that you can earn cash for your team.

JOIN MY TEAM!

If you want to give FlipGive a try and support pediatric cancer research, join my team, the Surf Cowboys! The Surf Cowboys is a little jab at our opposing team based in Texas. My team, Lizz Porter, Carly Anderson, and me all live in California (hence “Surf”) and our competitors, Colby Shipwash, Staci Salazar, and Chet Garner all reign in Texas (i.e. the “Cowboys”). I’d love your support in beating the Texans!

Or if you think you’d prefer to start your own team, you can just code 525MMJ to join and try out the group fundraising app! The best way to see if you like the app is to just try it out, and when you do with the Surf Cowboys, you’ll help donate to pediatric cancer awareness and research.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions. If I can’t answer them myself, I’ll reach out to FlipGive on your behalf and find out. Here’s to easier and less stressful fundraising!