One of the more difficult things to do with the 12for12k Challenge is to choose which charities we’ll be supporting in 2009. There are so many wonderful and deserving that narrowing it down to just twelve is far from easy. I know we’re going to miss a few and disappoint others and I’m truly sorry for any that don’t see our help next year – I can honestly say that it wasn’t easy to seclude you from the list. Hopefully the ones we do choose are ones that resonate with everyone.
With that in mind, I’m delighted to be able to announce the charity that the 12for12k Challenge will be supporting in January 2009 – War Child.
DONATE HERE.
War Child is an award-winning charity which provides opportunities and long term solutions for war-affected children, focusing on education, strengthening children’s rights, reducing poverty and fostering self reliance. War Child works in partnership with local people and organizations to build sustainable programming that empowers children and their communities. War Child currently provides support to communities in Afghanistan, Sudan (Darfur), Uganda, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Georgia.
War Child also generates awareness, support and action for children’s rights everywhere and has domestic outreach programs in schools and among youth across north America. I think we can all agree that this is a fantastic charity to start our challenge off with and one that needs our help. Any donations we raise in January will see much-needed aid go to Darfur as well as elsewhere.
So, now that the first charity has been chosen, what’s next?
- There is a dedicated 12for12k Challenge fund-raising page at War Child. You can visit it by clicking on the banner above or via the DONATE HERE links.
- All donations are applicable for a tax receipt, which you will receive via email after your donation has been processed.
- At the moment, it’s credit card only – I’m looking into Paypal options if anyone prefers this.
- Feel free to share the link with friends, family and work colleagues – our aim is to have 1200 people donate $10 each, but the more we have involved the more the chosen charities will benefit.
2009 promises to be a challenging year for many people worldwide – for some, it could be a matter of life and death. War Child offers hope and inspiration to many, and I hope you join us at the 12for12k Challenge in helping them meet their goals.
DONATE HERE.
And we’re off!
Way to go Danny – here’s hoping for a REALLY great 2009 for 12for 12k and the charities it supports.
Paypal would be preferable, at least for me. It’s best to have that additional donation option anyway.
I’m enjoying watching this evolve and am interested to see how we’ll make the donations and see tax deductions.
@ Kari. I’m working with James Topham at War Child to try and work in a Paypal option via the donation page, to make it simpler. Hopefully will have some news soon.
@ Joe. Hi Joe – when you go to the donation page and click “Donate”, you will then be able to enter your personal details for the tax receipt. You can also choose whether or not your name is displayed as a sponsor or not and if you wish to be on the mailing list or not. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the support, guys, here’s hoping the first challenge is a success!
Danny,
What a great choice for the first charity for the 12for12k challenge!
- Doc
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Danny, the pledge form is a little wonky.
1. I just went to pledge and got stuck at “Province.”
Let folks know that the workaround is –> you have to select your country first (even though country is three questions later). Then the province field will show the 50 states.
2. Pledges are made in Canadian dollars. FWIW, I think that means that US donors will get hit with exchange fees (I know my credit cards assess them). Not to mention I don’t stay current on exchange rates.
3. The tax deduction form was fine. This is the “thank you” message I got.
An electronic tax receipt will be sent to the email you provided.
(If you do not see it in your inbox please check your ‘spam or junk’ folder. If you do not see it in your inbox please check your ‘spam or junk’ folder. If the message does appear in this folder then please add message@e2rm.com to your address book to ensure that you receive all future emails in your Inbox)
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This is great news, our first charity for the challenge! Thanks Dan and thanks to all creative muscle and talent working behind the scenes to make this a reality. I’m excited and looking forward to the kick-off!
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Danny,
You’ve done an important thing here. I’m looking forward to the next 11 announcements. I know this is lots of work, but it makes a difference to so many. I thank you for your efforts.
Beth
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I really like the idea of helping children that have been affected by war. I’m sure all the charities you’ve chosen will be causes that touch my heart. I look forward to not only donating by to continue to help spread the word about this movement throughout the year.
Have you thought about an option to give that allows people to donate a set amount that can be evenly distributed to all 12 charities? I’m not sure if that just creates more work than its worth, but was thinking that some might like that option.
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@ Kimberly. I was thinking of offering that option, and it may be something I re-look at if people prefer it. If I recall, the main reason for not doing it to start with was simply administrative – however, if it’s requested by enough and it’s feasible to do, I’ll certainly look at it.
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Great first choice! War Child is helping my fellow Sri Lankans after the tsunami and with the long-standing civil war.
This looks good to me. Is PayPal coming soon? I think I would wait to post something to my list and to one of my blogs until the payPal option is avaialable…unless that will take too long.
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Hi David,
Hoping to have PayPal up and running this week, tech guy at War Child is working on implementing it to the site.
Danny, I’d like Kimberly’s option to be available as well. . one donation evenly spread across all 12 charities. I’d also like paypal and NOT to pay fees since I’m American.
Now, to the good stuff. This is an amazing way to spread cheer and do good across the world, using social media. Thank you so much for setting it up and getting so many folks involved. I can’t wait to get back to school from the holidays and show it to my students and get THEM involved!
I appreciate what you’ve set up and will be retweeting it to share the word!
Paula
Hi Danny,
Good choice of first charity.
All trhe best!
/Johan
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Hey there Paula,
Thanks for your support, appreciate it! I will definitely look into a one-off option – as soon as I have something I'll be sure to make an announcement. Also, the "fees" should balance out (hopefully!) as the charities are chosen. Obviously the first one is Canadian-based but the remainder of 2009 will see charities from all over the world – so I hope that will help on that side.
This is a great charity, War is horrible. Children are the true victims..for the rest of their lives they will remember what happens to them. I applaud your efforts
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