Friday, July 20, 2007

Give a little. Get a lot.

I am tired of asking people to part with their money. After six years as Executive Director of an incredibly worthy non-profit, beating down doors for donations, writing grants, and scraping up publicity, I don't want to tell you where, why, or how much to give. I am just reluctant.

However, I am not reluctant to shop. Especially online. I know I am not alone. Dear T has her debit card number memorized she uses it so much online. So asking my friends to sign up for iBakeSale doesn't seem like much.

For all of those Team Whymommy members who have emailed saying that they just wish they could do something, here it is. Go here, and sign up. When you shop online, go here first. There is somewhere that you shop, I promise.

Whymommy doesn't want us raising money on her behalf. I totally understand that, and respect it as well. There are so many good causes out there, that how can you really tell people where to send their hard earned cash? What is close to my heart may not be close to yours, and that is okay.

One thing I think most of us can agree upon though, is that there needs to be more awareness and more research for Inflammatory Breast Cancer. That is why I have signed up for iBakeSale
and will have 100% of my cash back rewards donated to Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation. They are "committed to finding the causes" of IBC, and I think that is so important. Wouldn't it be so much better if we could prevent IBC, thereby circumventing the need for a cure? Don't get me wrong, the cure is of utmost importance now, but I'm thinking long term here. Prevention. What if another never has to hear the words, "You have inflammatory breast cancer"?

Here is some of the nitty gritty. You sign up here. You choose which charities you would like to receive your donations. If the charity you like is not listed, you can add it. You choose what percentage of your cash back rewards goes to charity (and yes, I will be all judgey if you don't choose 100%, so don't tell me if you don't), list your shopping preferences, and you are done. It is that simple.

You don't have to choose the IBC Research Foundation. You don't have to choose only the IBC Research Foundation. It is up to you. The point it, here is an easy way you can do something. If you are going to shop online, then sign up and give back.

Bonus? If you select a 501(c)3 organization, which IBCRF is, then you can deduct your donation from your taxes as well. Win win.

You don't have to be a blogger to sign up for this. All you have to do is shop online. And I can't think of any of you that I know personally that don't shop online. So please sign up. Give to the IBC Research Foundation or to the charity or charities of your choice. It's so easy.

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This is part of a blog blast for Parent Bloggers Network today. They do some swell things in the blogging community. Besides, I wouldn't ask you to do something that I haven't done myself though, so you know I really think it's a good idea.

If you have trouble getting links to the stores, try clicking the "Nordstrom" button at the top of the page. As a side note, iBakeSale has an incredibly fast and nice support team who will email you back in about 2.5 seconds if you have any questions about their website.

I'm going to shop now.