Raising some monies / boo cancer

ihmmy

So this year, both my grandmother and a cousin I am close to have been diagnosed with cancer (different kinds). My grandma is recovering from her surgery and thankfully doesn't need chemo by the looks of things, but my cousin just had her surgery this week and it's spread, will need chemo, etc.

This makes me really want to start a campaign to try and have people donate money to the Canadian Cancer Society (what with me being in Canuckia, and since it was two different types of cancer...). I had been thinking of trying to start something up a la facebook for my friends and family, to have them agree/pledge to donate 5-10% of what they spend on xmas gifts to the CCS as well this year. While this means each person won't be donating a buttload of money, if I get a couple dozen people to agree I figure we can raise a few hundred dollars across the lot of us.

But I want to make sure this doesn't sound like a dumb idea. Or half cocked. I want it to be something we can do yearly to raise some extra money. I would *love* for it to be something that takes off and becomes bigger than just me and my group of acquaintances. I have some concerns as to whether or not xmas is the best time because people are already worried about their cashflow, and it seems like more and more people are asking for donations to charities as their xmas gift these days. On the other hand, I really like the idea of having people think about how much they spend on xmas, and giving a percentage of that to a worthwhile charity as well.

I guess.. I need help on if this is worth trying to set up on my own, if it seems like a good concept, if tying it in with xmas time is reasonable, if y'all have any suggestions around something like this, etc. Any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.

godmode

First off, my sympathies to you and your family while you get through this obviously difficult time.
Second, I don't think it's a dumb idea at all. Your best best is to keep it an informal thing (Facebook isn't a bad idea), as I don't think you'll see an outpouring of generosity towards your family from complete strangers. As an added tool, it sounds like you're looking for something similar to ChipIn to help you collect money, which works off of social platforms already and streamlines donations and collections. I would also be certain to emphasize to your prospective donators that the whole process would be transparent, so no one suspects you're just going to take their money and go blow it on your own things (Not that you would, but you don't want to even leave room for that suspicion. It will save you from possible drama down the road).

Edit: And to address the question of when, I think the holiday season is just fine. People are typically more giving around now, as it is.

And also, good luck, and best wishes!

AtomBomb

It sounds like a good idea to me. My wife was diagnosed with cancer in May, she just started radiation this week (order for us is: surgery>chemo>radiation>chemo). If your grandmother and cousin are agreeable to it, you might want to let people know that they'd prefer donations to cards and flowers. We got a lot of those. The thought is nice, but it's not really useful. Well, the cards that play Christian Rock hits have their uses. Even though my wife and I are atheists we've gotten 4 or 5 of those. They're really useful for hiding in your car and rigging them to play randomly :P

There's not much that's good about a cancer diagnosis, but it does help to put things into perspective. Xmas gifts are great and all, but the good you can do with that money (and the feelings you get from donating) are probably better.