Alexandra's Donor Story: Giving Across Generations

Alexandra shared with us the wonderful story of how she decided to use TisBest Charity Gift Cards to teach her grandkids about giving.  She already sets a positive example for them with her own charitable efforts, but wanted to show them first-hand how great it feels to know you’re doing good for others.

"I was not raised in a family that thought about charity. We were so darn poor growing up, my parents struggled just to put food on the table.  But the older I get the more I realize how blessed I am. Not in material things… but in love and a sense of security because of that love.

"My grandchildren are blessed with a stable loving family and they never want for 'things.' How will they know that there are people in this world who haven’t, for whatever reason, been blessed in that same way?"

Alexandra found TisBest online and says she thinks the gift cards and easy-to-use online database are “brilliant.”  She and her daughter guided the kids through the TisBest website and helped them think through where their gift would go.

"I hope they will carefully look at the charities and see which ones help someone, somewhere, to get a little boost so they can help themselves. 

And here’s the thing. I know right now my grandkids could care less about researching and making an informed decision. But I am planting a seed. It took me a long time to learn the lesson of sharing and the miracle of emptying your cup so it can be filled again. I’m hoping they will learn that lesson a lot earlier.

When I am long gone, I want to think that they will be teaching their grandchildren the fine art of sharing their blessings. Selfishly, that thought brings me great comfort."

Thanks for reading,
The TisBest Team

www.tisbest.org

Giving corporate gifts? Read this amazing post from SkillStorm highlighting their 2009 TisBest Charity Gift Card program

The following is an excerpt from a SkillStorm.com blog post.


As You Begin to Think About Your Holiday Budget for 2010, Consider the Gift that Keeps on Giving

"'Gifts are a part of business culture, but meaningful gifts aren’t easy to find. That’s where the TisBest Charity Gift Card comes in. It’s a meaningful gift you can give to anybody, anytime.' – TisBest

Although the holiday season is several months away, it’s never too early to start considering your holiday budget. How about sharing the gift that keeps on giving – a Charity Gift Card from TisBest! There are many options out there when considering business gifts, but TisBest Gift Cards are unlike any other. Charity gift cards are gaining popularity in the corporate gift giving world. In fact, 40 percent of the charity gift card sales are to businesses who in turn give them to employees, clients, prospects, etc.

Last holiday season, we partnered with TisBest.org to donate $15,000 to charities chosen by our very own employees. To do this, we first sent a survey out to employees at our organization on whether they wanted to receive employee gifts and parties or instead donate monetary donations to charities across the country. When all was said and done, the decision was unanimous: employees elected to forego expensive holiday parties for the benefit of charity..."  Click here to continue reading.

A big "way to go" to the leadership and staff at SkillStorm for leading and fueling the giving movement!

-The TisBest Staff
www.tisbest.org

Seattle 2.0 Awards Pictures and Another Honor for TisBest!

The TisBest Team holding the Seattle 2.0 Award for "Best Nonprofit Startup."  The team from right to left: Lorraine Craft, Jim Branch, Jon Siegel, Erik Marks, Jim Phillips, and Chad Edwards

TisBest Founder, Erik Marks, giving a brief acceptance speech at the Seattle 2.0 Awards.  Over 400 people attended the 2nd annual gala honoring the top innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors in the Seattle Startup Community.

  

Jon Siegel talking about TisBest Charity Gift Cards with entrepreneur, Ron Wiener, at the Seattle 2.0 Award Reception.

  


TisBest Philanthropy received the “Best Non-Profit Start-Up” award at the Seattle 2.0 awards event on Wednesday, May 19. This is a great honor for TisBest, and wonderful recognition of our efforts to connect individuals and businesses to the causes and charities they feel passionate about.

Our founder, Erik Marks, has succeeded in combining technology with the goals of micro philanthropy, and created an entire new category – the charity gift card – in the process.  That the technology hotbed of Seattle recognized the work we do is especially gratifying.

Launched in November of 2007, TisBest truly is a start-up. And TisBest has gone through many (if not all) of the usual challenges faced by new technology ventures. Now a scant 2.5 years later, TisBest has raised over $1 million for charity and created a significant following of people who are looking for a way to give a meaningful gift without giving “more stuff.”

One of the reasons I’m so pleased to receive this award is that it validates my belief that the entire world of giving – of philanthropy – is going through a massive set of changes. Just a few months ago, tens of millions of dollars were raised for Haiti relief using text messaging. That new development has forever changed the way we’ll respond to future catastrophes. New organizations such as Jolkona Foundation (www.jolkona.org) are springing up, creating imaginative ways for donors to better see the results of their donations. And a new generation is recognizing that one needn’t be rich to be a philanthropist.

TisBest is thrilled to be a significant part of the world of philanthropy. At its most basic level, “philanthropy,” from the Greek, means “loving humankind.” In today’s world, that meaning has broadened to include loving our planet, the plants and animals that live on it, the air we breathe, and even the freedoms we so enjoy.

So thank you to the Seattle Community and our national community of supporters for recognizing TisBest Philanthropy. We think the best is yet to come. Our goal is to create more awareness and open new sources funding for worthy charities in the years to come, and to make gift-giving a more meaningful experience for giver and recipient alike.

Jon Siegel, TisBest Executive Director
www.tisbest.org

Featured Charity: The Moyer Foundation

If you’ve followed Major League All-Star pitcher Jaime Moyer’s celebrated career, you know that he has been recognized as much for his work off the field as on.  In 2000, Jamie and his wife Karen established The Moyer Foundation.  Since then, the Foundation has raised more than $19 million to provide comfort and support to hundreds of programs that provide direct services and support to children enduring a time of profound physical, emotional, or financial distress. 

Their work strikes a very personal cord for me.  When my wife and her twin sister were 15 years old, they lost their dad to cancer.  Both described feeling isolated and lonely in the years following his death as they struggled to connect to kids their age that had experienced such a deep loss.

Stories like this led The Moyer Foundation to create Camp Erin, a bereavement camp for children and teens who have experienced the death of someone close to them.  I had tears in my eyes as I heard about the comfort and understanding Camp Erin participants find as they build friendships with other children who have gone through a similar season of loss.  You can see a few of these kids in this powerful 60 second video on the foundation’s YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CteEhsGsdmg

The weekend-long Camp Erin experiences are filled with traditional, fun, camp activities combined with grief education and emotional support -- facilitated by grief professionals and trained volunteers. These kids have the opportunity to address their feelings and memorialize their loved ones with other kids just like them.

Incredibly, Camp Erin is free to all campers.  The Moyer Foundation has established 36 of these camps in 23 states making it the largest network of bereavement camps in the United States.  Each Camp Erin is facilitated through a long term partnership with a local bereavement agency.  With the community’s support, The Moyer Foundation intends to raise funds to bring Camp Erin to as many as 60 cities nationwide.

Camp Erin is just one of several unique Moyer Foundation programs.  You can find more inspiring information and ways to support the organization by going to www.moyerfoundation.org.  We at TisBest congratulate The Moyer Foundation on 10 years of bringing comfort and support to children in distress.

Thanks for reading,
Chad Edwards – Charity and Community Relations Manager

Best Nonprofit Startup! We Need Your Vote!

TisBest Philanthropy is honored to be chosen as a finalist in the 2010 edition of the Seattle 2.0 Awards. TisBest was nominated in the Best Nonprofit Startup category. The winner is determined by votes cast, so I encourage you to go to the Seattle 2.0 site and vote for TisBest! The link is http://www.seattle20.com/awards/vote.aspx

According to Seattle 2.0’s website, “Technology startups have been the birthplace of some of the biggest changes in our way of life this century, from how we buy houses to how we manage our family photos, from how we entertain ourselves on the web to how we run our businesses.”

I’d add, “ . . . to how we give meaningful gifts and how we support important charitable causes.”

As technology continues to become an increasingly important part of our lives, it shouldn’t be a big surprise that technology is also playing an increasingly important role in the world of philanthropy. At TisBest, we see ourselves on the cutting edge of philanthropic giving and donor development.

Our vision is to introduce millions and millions of people to the joy of philanthropic giving – one gift at a time. We do it with the TisBest Charity Gift Card. If you’re reading this blog, it’s very likely that you’re a part of our vision!

We’re pleased and proud that one of the world’s centers of technological innovation – Seattle – recognizes the uniqueness and the value of what we’re doing. We’ll continue to create new ways to introduce people to the many worthy causes and tremendous organizations that exist to meet needs around the world.

Thank you for being a part of our success! (And remember to vote.)

Jon Siegel, Executive Director

The President’s Donations

President Obama’s announcement that he will donate his Nobel Prize money ($1.4 million) to 10 charities is terrific news. These are important charitable organizations which will use the money well.

We’re especially pleased that of the ten charities identified by the White House, five of them are part of the TisBest Philanthropy 250 charity list. Those are: Central Asia Institute, United Negro College Fund, American Indian College Fund, The Posse Foundation, and College Summit. 

That’s a pretty remarkable correlation, considering there are 1.2 million charitable organizations in the U.S.

To each of these organizations we say, “Congratulations!” You are very deserving.

Jon Siegel

Parade Magazine Survey: Americans giving generously despite recession.

A story in Sunday’s Parade Magazine titled, “Compassion Counts More Than Ever,” reports that even during this economic recession, Americans are giving generously to support the causes that are important to them. In addition, Americans in large numbers are donating their time to a wide variety of worthy causes.

It’s very encouraging to see that in difficult times – when it’s easy to focus on one’s own needs and difficulties –Americans are continuing to make sacrifices to meet great needs that exist in their own communities and around the world.

Parade asked 1,008 Americans what they’d do if given $100,000 to donate to charity. Of the 16 choices, the top five were:

1. Food and shelter for the needy
2. Research to cure disease
3. Disaster relief
4. Animal welfare
5. 5. Youth programs

These results correlate very closely to the charities selected by recipients of TisBest Charity Gift Cards.

Thank you for your continued support of TisBest Philanthropy, and the hundreds of charities we work with. This Mother’s Day, I encourage you to consider supplementing those flowers with a gift of charity. Your Mom will love you for it!

If you would like to learn more about the Parade survey, take a few moments to watch this interview with the editor of Parade and two volunteers that aired Monday on the The Morning Show on CBS:


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Thanks for reading,
Jon Siegel, TisBest E.D.