"Quality" or "Direct"

We  changed the brand statement of GIVIT for the new national launch (coming soon!!) from GIVIT "Quality Giving Network" to "Direct Giving Network"  to emphasise the one to one aspect of our portal BUT some events during the flood crises have caused me to have  a moment of remorse about this change.

I am hearing reports that some of the flood donations being made are really of very poor quality - a few examples:

• Two bags of clothes posted  to Brisbane from Sydney (at some cost I would think) had to be thrown out due to stains and bad wear and tear (but they has been washed and ironed at least)
• Vacuums without the nozzles  (and out of date machine- so no spare parts readily available)
• Used underwear and pillows  (those readers who have read how I came to start GIVIT will know how I feel about underwear  donations )
• Unsafe or just plain filfthy items

No one, no matter how desperate, should be expected to happily accept used underwear, and who really needs a pillowcase you can actually see through ?   Some people aren't donating, they are dumping!  Arrggh.
It also means lots of wasted time and effort on the behalf of charities and volunteers who have to sort thru this stuff.

We think quality donations means items you would happily give your family , best friends and loved ones. How do you think quality donations should be defined ?  Should I be changing the wording from direct back to quality ? Let me know what you think.

I am going to address this in the  wording on the new website today and get a bit strict with our donators in 2011 !

JW

More surprises!

Well I did not expect this!!  The Premier and the Red Cross are channeling all item donations through GIVIT.  I wish I had enough time this last week to blog - as it has been frantic, fascinating and sad.

Queensland is devastated.  There is no doubt about that.  People are donating cash but when they see the stories about what people have left (nothing) they want to give all they can.  I know that feeling.  People have given all they have to donate in response to this disaster.  Young mothers, refugees and many people who have nothing themselves are giving valuable items and money.

As I want to make giving a targeting direct event I have noticed some issues.  People from all over Australia have been collecting goods for our Queensland victims, but have not had any method of delivering these items and presume there is drop off points in every city in Australia.. there is not.  They are collecting clothes mostly, and it is something that we have far too much of now. 

Some surprises include the amount of PR companies that are calling me on "behalf of their clients" who want to know the situation.  "The situation" is a good question because it is different for every suburb and every street.  Some people are still in flood waters,some are going to relief centres, some don't have any clothes, some need cleaning equipment, some need electricity, some need a builder so they can lock their homes and then some need a new fridge or bed.  It really depends on the area, the weather and the amount of volunteers in the area. 

I have worked the hardest in my life to ensure the urgent items are getting to where they need to go outside of Brisbane and I have had Therese working in Brisbane to ensure the relief centres know we exist.  It is hard to cover all camps, but we are only set up to help Brisbane and so all of my work has to be manually done.

Our new website is due out in a week.  THANK GOD! We will do what we are doing very effectively! 
My next issue is delivery.  How are we going to get these items without a van?  I think it is time for GIVIT to get one.. but I always just wanted to be a portal!!!!

Flooded with donations

I am finding it difficult to get in contact with community leaders in the flooded areas.  I have found one.. ONE!   The campaign was successful - getting what we required for Bundaberg in 24 hours!  Again.. surprised.

I have decided to empower one gorgeous volunteer as a requester (a charity).  She has told us that head-lice is a  very big problem up north right now.  One of our frequent donators said that Frontline knocks them dead - and is very cheap.. don't think I will be asking for that though!

Did I mention that givers in Brisbane are phenomenal.  One of our volunteers got three items off the list (bought by her husband) for Christmas.  Items on the GIVIT List are Christmas presents.  How cool is that!

These floods are so devastating I feel that this will be my focus for the next 6 months.

Cheeky!

Oh dear - my first issue with donors! Well, not true, there has been a few items that charities have not taken due to quality but I have always seen that as part of the awareness campaign of this "quality" giving network.

Apparently.. donors/donators are forcing charities to take items other than the ones that they requested.  I never saw this coming!! 

There are a number of issues with this..  People are using them as rubbish removalists which is frankly a bit rude!  Remembering impoverished people have very little space and most charities do not have warehouses to store donations - being one of the big reasons they love GIVIT! I might talk to my volunteer/friend  (aka: smarty that help me with legal jargon) about changing the participation policy to ensure this doesn't happen.  Also so we don't get complaints from the donators complaining that the charity was ungrateful!

GIVIT's first Christmas

I think this month we have donated over 8,000 items.. YES!  There are hampers galore being received by worthy recipients this week.. I feel so good to be involved.  Hopefully we will have lots of photos come through this week.

GIVIT is spreading like a (good) wild fire!  I can see it is going to be popular nationally! I have had growing pains for the last 10 months - so I am used to it.

I have witness SO MUCH good giving this month I am unsure where to start and finish - but a new one for the books is-   Jonathan from Blow (Montpelier Rd) gave ($150!) hair vouchers to his customers who gave to GIVITs campaign to make hampers for homeless teens!  We made up 60 amazing bags with great hair products and great donations from Wright Property (our major benefactor)..

So now people are giving to people who are giving!  Just phenomenal.

Donations virtually flying everywhere!

I am going to write about Dave on the GIVIT List - he is wonderful.  In fact, I wish I would ask him to write it!  He made us cry again today! Third time for me.. Krya who manages the GIVIT list is blown away! As Kyra said to Dave "..I hope your family is very proud of what you have done, and the number of people that you will have assisted.  I think if more people took a small leaf out of your book, we'd have a lot less people in need."  Yes.. good gracious YES!  I will certainly think about ways to help people "do a Dave" next Christmas.

I have had two phone calls (yesterday) with the charity workers (from Micah and Quihn) who were co-ordinating two of our Christmas campaigns.  The donations have been so gratefully received.  They are going to send us more photos (!) but this is what GIVIT people have donated so far to Quihn! This is half of it!  There are many more toys..

We rarely get to see the items being donated that I studied it for about 10 minutes! That is all wonderful food and toys and toiletries.  I know the three major donors (Jenny, Lyn and Naomi) must feel terrific about their contribution.  There are over 1000 items there.

The children who are homeless are going to receive their toys tomorrow!  WE GET PHOTOS!  YES WE DO!! It is so rare to get photos! The Micah team are in love with GIVIT, and they will release photos to us next week.  They received more than enough toys for the 115 homeless and at risk children.
And, this is from Belle..  it is all going on this week!

First of all, THANK YOU so much on behalf of staff and the women and kids at IWSS (a center for abused immigrant women) for all the support you (and the rest of the Givit team including donors) have provided for us. It has been an amazing year and we have truly been very fortunate in having such a great relationship with a wonderful sister organisation!!!

Just as a feedback for you guys (and your donors), we have received a total of $1,275 value of food cards which we distributed at our End of Year Celebration last week, and have actually started distributing as soon as we received them in the mail (as we have women in crisis come into our office). We were so overwhelmed by the community response and I think we were all blown away by the humble generosity and kindness people have shown. So, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! We cannot thank you enough, not only for the food cards, but also for the ongoing in-kind support we’ve received through your website.

I am witnessing a giving phenomenon!

Bob_needs_a_bed.org?

Here is Anna - our lovely admin@givit.org.au volunteer - she is a molecular scientist - who wants to contribute.  She is the "Charity liaison officer".  Sounds fancy but she authenticates all our charities, excluding the new organisation "Bob Needs A Bed" and other weird charities people create to try to request goods.