The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) found that dog owners alone will spend around $25,000 on veterinary care over over the course of a pet’s life. For cat lovers, routine visits to the vet costs an average of $880 a year. When pets require operations, those annual vet bills increase drastically, often sending their owners into debt.

That’s quite a lot of money in anyone’s book. Even if you’ve already got pet insurance, it isn’t uncommon to find yourself needing help with vet bills.

First, talk to your vet about options for reducing your bill. Some veterinary surgeries can help with payment plans to spread out your expenses. Your vet may also offer discounts if you pay in cash.

Many pet owners have used crowdfunding to raise money for their pet’s medical expenses. So keep up the fight for your fluffier counterparts and let these successful pet fundraisers inspire you to get them back to normal with minimal damage to your back pocket.

If you still need help with vet bills, here’s a list of 10 organisations dedicated to helping you financially through your pet’s recovery.

Where to go for payment help with vet bills

Organisations that help with vet bills

1. Pet Medical Crisis

Pet Medical Crisis (PMC) aims to keep pets and their owners together in Victoria. A registered charity, the organisation helps fund medical intervention for companion pets, where an inability to fund care would result in death.

2. Sunset Benevolent Fund

What started as a single act of benevolence has turned into of charity that supports sick or aging pets when their owners are financially unable to fund their veterinary fees.

3. GoFundMe

Consider using crowdfunding when you need help paying vet bills. GoFundMe is the world’s largest online fundraising platform because we believe in turning compassion into action. You can raise money to pay for your pet’s medical expenses without having to worry about a platform fee.

4. RSPCA Australia

The RSPCA offers competitive veterinary care plans and if you are unable to fund the care yourself, are in the best place to obtain a referral to financial and charitable support services who can better support your best friends’ needs.

5. University Of Queensland

The UQ School of Veterinary Science has a number of clinical trials looking into treatments for common diseases among dogs and other vets. Check out your local University’s veterinary college programs and current trials to see if you can volunteer your pet for a groundbreaking study (and therefore help with vet bills).

6. Perth Vet Bill Assistance

The organisation helps animal lovers and owners in Western Australia maintain the wellbeing of their pet, through provision of veterinary care and education.

7. Animal Diabetes Australia

It is important that those providing support for owners of diabetic dogs and cats are familiar with individual requirements of the pet. Animal Diabetes Australia covers tailored care, cost-effective treatment, and helps source solutions for those who receive a diabetes diagnosis for their pet and are worried about, or cannot cover, the cost.

8. Assistance Dogs Australia

If you own an assistance dog, or have adopted a retired assistance dog, then Assistance Dog Australia is able to help point you in the right direction when it comes to covering the cost of veterinary care.

9. Animal Welfare League Australia

AWLA provides support for compassion pets and their owners across the nation, providing shelter and adoption services for anyone who makes the heart-wrenching decision to find a new home for their pet due to unforeseen circumstances.

10. Safe Pets Safe Families

With the aim of helping victims of domestic violence who own a pet, Safe Pets Safe Families works with registered foster carers and boarding services to provide pets with a safe environment while their owners get back on their feet. This service gives peace of mind to victims of domestic violence who may be looking to leave an abusive relationship but cannot find a pet-friendly refuge facility.

At GoFundMe, we’re here to help

As well as turning to these generous organisations, we encourage you to consider using our crowdfunding platform. GoFundMe is the No.1 and most trusted fundraising platform in the world. We believe in turning compassion into action. Launch a fundraiser and let those who love your pet or have a soft post for pets lend a hand. For ideas on how to run a successful fundraiser, check out our ultimate pet fundraising guide.

Start a vet bill fundraiser

The post Do You Need Help With Vet Bills? 10 Sources of Help appeared first on GoFundMe (AU).

David Goggins, an American ultramarathon runner, was the brains behind the gruelling fitness challenge which involves running four miles (6.4 kms) every four hours for 48 hours. Anyone in the world can take part, with the only stipulation being that they must complete the challenge on the first weekend in March.

Many people have used the challenge as an opportunity to fundraise for their favourite charity or a cause close to their heart. Read on to find out everything you need to know about the 4x4x48 challenge.

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How to get through 4x4x48

The 4x4x48 challenge is a gruelling physical endurance test for anyone who decides to attempt it, but the best part is that it is virtual and non competitive. This means that you can complete the challenge at your own pace.

If running isn’t an option, this year Goggins is challenging you to find something to do for the equivalent amount of time that it would take to run four miles in that time block. If you’re a hiker, swimmer, cyclist, gym goer or weight lifter, as long as you’re moving and working out, it counts.

David Goggins himself advises on Instagram that non runners should modify their challenge by doing something else like walking or jogging for 45-60 minutes of each four hour leg.

If you do decide to take on the full challenge, you will be covering a huge distance, so many people do some form of training before the actual event.

Here are some tips for how to get through the challenge on the day.

Create a virtual race playlist

Music is a great motivator, so selecting some of your favourite songs to listen to during your virtual race might be the difference between pushing you forward at a challenging point and losing momentum. Create a special motivational playlist for your 4x4x48 challenge to get inspired.

Make it fun

While a virtual challenge may not have the supportive crowds, sound systems and water stations that characterise a typical race, it doesn’t mean you should shirk on pomp and ceremony. Bring your mates along for the ride, ask them to join a leg with you, or at least cheer you on at the start and finish lines.

Stay hydrated

It’s vital you stay hydrated during your challenge. Ensure you factor in water breaks to keep your body operating at peak performance – and don’t forget to stretch after completing to help your body recover.

How to fundraise for 4x4x48

The challenge was originally created to encourage people to raise funds for charity. Goggins encouraged participants to pick a charity or a cause that was close to their hearts and start fundraising. There are many ways to successfully raise money. 

Find the right cause for you

If you’re not sure about which charity or cause you want to support, start with some general interests, such as helping animals, children, or communities in need. The number of causes out there is almost endless and organisations of all sizes may need your help. 

Let people know that you are fundraising

Once you have decided on your charity the best way to raise funds is to let as many people as possible know about it. What better way to do this then to post on your social media networks. Use Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp to reach out to your friends and family and ask for their support.

Launch a crowdfunder

Once people know that you are fundraising they are going to need somewhere to donate to. Launching a GoFundMe online is a great way to collect donations.  You can create a fundraiser in a matter of minutes after signing up. 

Here are some key tips to remember when crowdfunding online:

Remember to personalise your campaign

Once you have signed up you can personalise your fundraiser by adding a picture and a description about your fundraiser explaining who or what it is for. This gives you a good opportunity to make it fun. 

Set a goal

Setting a fundraiser goal is a good way of giving people something to aim for. If you haven’t decided yet, set a rough goal, you can always adjust it later.

How to get your money to your charity

You can select your chosen charity from a drop down menu when you set up your campaign. Once you have selected a charity all the money raised will automatically be sent to that charity as part of your charity collections . It is a good idea to say in your description why you have chosen to raise funds for your chosen charity and what it means to you, either as an individual or a company.

Start your 4x4x48 fundraiser today

So what are you waiting for? Why not start your 4x4x48 crowdfunder on GoFundMe today?

It couldn’t be easier to set up a fundraiser, share the link on your social media platforms and start racking up donations from supporters.

Our experts are on hand to offer 24-hour help and advice and you can use our mobile app to check in on your fundraising progress on the move.

Start a GoFundMe today

The post Everything You Need to Know About the 4x4x48 Challenge appeared first on GoFundMe (AU).

From comparing the associated fees, to customer support and security, we want your crowdfunding experience to be as simple and effective as possible – whether fundraising for a charity or a personal cause – and for vital funds to get to the people that need them most.

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Comparing GoFundMe vs JustGiving

Whether you’re considering GoFundMe vs JustGiving to raise money for a community initiative, an emergency, your school, charitable endeavours, or something else, there’s sure to be an online platform that’s right for you. We looked at 21 of the top crowdfunding sites in more detail to see what they offer.

With so many different fundraising platforms available, it can be tricky to know which the best option is. GoFundMe and JustGiving are both digital crowdfunding platforms, but what each platform can offer donors and fundraisers is slightly different. Let’s compare GoFundMe vs JustGiving two to see which one is most suitable for your fundraiser.

GoFundMe fees

GoFundMe wants to make it easy for you to raise more funds for the causes you care about, which is why, unlike other sites, we offer 0% platform fees for personal and charitable fundraisers in Australia. You don’t have to hit your target to withdraw the funds like most platforms.

Transaction fees of 2.2% + $0.30 apply. Certified Australian charity campaigns incur a 1.9% + $0.30 fees and will all donors will be issued a tax-deductible receipt.

JustGiving fees

JustGiving charges a 4.5% platform fee in Australia across both personal and charity fundraisers.

Charities also incur transaction fees of 1.75% + $0.30 fees.

This means that a $10 donation becomes $8.97, a total of more than 10% taken from the amount raised for your chosen charity.

Withdrawing funds

GoFundMe: Access your money quickly

With GoFundMe, you can set up withdrawals right away and once verified, donations appear within 2-5 days.

GoFundMe offers both charity and personal fundraising options, so if you want to fundraise for a cause you care about that isn’t represented by a registered Australian charity, the GoFundMe Trust and Safety team can work with you to make a personal cause withdrawal plan.

Money raised for registered charity fundraisers go directly to the charity. You can set up a charity fundraiser in minutes. The funds are sent directly to the charity, meaning no need to withdraw. There is 0% platform fee for charity fundraisers on GoFundMe in Australia.

This is particularly important in crisis moments. In January 2020, GoFundMe delivered over $31 million to the people affected by the Black Summer bushfires, across thousands of personal and charity fundraisers nationally, in the days that followed the emergency.

GoFundMe organisers can also invite someone else to withdraw the funds as the beneficiary so that they can directly access the donations.

JustGiving: No personal option

Customers using the JustGiving fundraising platform in Australia can currently only fundraise for a registered charity using the 4.5% platform fee model. There is no option to fundraise for a personal cause or create a grassroots movement for a cause in your local community.

GoFundMe: A global community

GoFundMe boasts a huge giving community of more than 120 million donors from around the world. This makes us the largest social fundraising platform in the world. We’ve raised over $14 billion (and counting) for essential causes, evidencing the level of trust users have in our service.

GoFundMe: No deadlines

GoFundMe organisers don’t have to worry about falling short of their target because, unlike many similar platforms, there are no deadlines, limits or penalties for fundraisers staying live. Fundraisers remain online until you turn off donations or remove them. If you choose to, you can leave your fundraiser active indefinitely and continue accepting donations even after reaching your goal.

JustGiving: Expiry dates

All JustGiving pages have an expiry date. This means that if you want to extend your deadline, users are required to log into their account and manually change this.

At GoFundMe, we understand that people have busy lives. We want to make fundraising as simple as possible for our users, which is why we don’t expect our users to spend their valuable time manually adjusting the timeframe in which they can fundraise. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to crowdfund for the causes you care about.

Support and advice

GoFundMe’s hardworking team of Customer Care agents are on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means that whenever and however you choose to manage your account, we’ll be right here when you need us.

Our user-friendly GoFundMe mobile app also lets you launch and manage your crowdfunding page on the go, and the GoFundMe blog offers plenty of fundraising tips and fundraising ideas.

How we are protecting donors and organisers

The GoFundMe Guarantee

GoFundMe is the safest crowdfunding platform thanks to the GoFundMe Guarantee – the first and only donation protection guarantee in the crowdfunding industry and a welcome JustGiving alternative that offers reassurance to users. For beneficiaries, this means that if an organiser fails to deliver funds, we will donate the difference. Equally, in the rare instance that GoFundMe discovers that funds have been misused, we will refund a donor’s contribution.

Our Trust and Safety team, who comprise a third of our staff, is dedicated to keeping customers financially safe. GoFundMe uses advanced payment encryption technology, with donations stored securely until you request a withdrawal via electronic bank transfer directly into your bank account. Security specialists monitor the site around the clock to make sure that funds go to the intended recipients. When considering GoFundMe vs JustGiving, with GoFundMe our team will make sure that nobody loses out.

JustGiving: No protection

JustGiving does not offer a fraud protection guarantee. In their Terms of Service, the platform states that it “shall have no liability to donors whatsoever for any use or misuse of donations made to the JustGiving Crowdfunding page. The JustGiving Crowdfunding page may state that page owners will use donations only for specific purposes, but JustGiving cannot guarantee that they will use them for such purpose.”

Pick the right fundraising platform for your cause

When it comes to GoFundMe vs. JustGiving, we believe that GoFundMe offers the best support and protection for our users, at a competitive price. Looking to fundraise? For low transaction fees, 24/7 support and, most importantly, the GoFundMe Guarantee, consider crowdfunding with GoFundMe.

Start a GoFundMe

The post GoFundMe vs JustGiving: Which Site Should You Use? appeared first on GoFundMe (AU).

Start a mental health fundraiser

Important mental health statistics to know

• Black Dog Institute reports that 54% of Australians with a mental illness do not access treatment.
• Delayed access to treatment and an accurate diagnosis in Australia worsens patient outcomes.
• Over 75% of mental health problems in Australia start before the age of 25, according to Beyond Blue research.
• One in seven young people aged 14-17 experience a mental health condition in a given year.
• Suicide is the leading cause of death in Australia for those aged between 15 and 44.

Seven mental health fundraising ideas to make a real impact

1. Mental health fundraising

Be an advocate for those in need by crowdfunding for a cause you’re passionate about. Whether you’d like to start raising money for mental health charities or personally fundraise to help a loved one with medical expenses, GoFundMe makes it easy for you to give back in a meaningful way through fundraising that is free. Aren’t sure how to fundraise for mental health? Read about our top fundraising tips to get started. 

2. Expand your knowledge

Increasing your knowledge about a topic is an important step toward spreading more understanding around it. If you’d like to become an advocate for equal health care for mental health, take the time to learn about the different mental illnesses, treatments, and when it’s time to ask for help. That way, as you share your story and your knowledge with others, they may share their mental health journeys with you.

3. Start a conversation

The stigma attached to mental health makes it a difficult conversation to start. To overcome that stigma, create an environment where open discussion is welcome. Try talking to someone about mental health by sharing your own story and experiences. Being vulnerable about your journey may help your friend or loved feel more comfortable sharing what they’re going through. Learn more about how you can form a care plan and form a team around you to help start the conversation.

4. Craft care packages

You can encourage sound mental health by promoting self-care. One way to accomplish this is to organisse and send care packages filled with feel-good items. While people should always seek out the help of a medical professional, things like coloring books and calming tea can be a comfort to someone living with anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. It’s always meaningful to show someone you care with a kind gesture.

5. Share your story

Showing vulnerabilities is a challenge for everyone, but the impact it can have on others is profound. Comedian and Netflix star Maria Bamford’s fundraiser for stigma-free mental health tells her story of having bipolar disorder and raises funds for the National Alliance on Mental Illness at the same time. Not only did she share her story, but she raised money for others in similar situations to get help they need but can’t afford.

6. Go social

Take the initiative to create a hashtag that reflects some aspect of mental health. You can encourage people to start a conversation online by asking your friends to use the hashtag with their online networks. You can also try to encourage thoughtful and constructive conversation around mental health with your hashtag. For example, you could share tips on how you work through a particularly tough anxiety attack so that you can help others in their own experiences.

7. Host a community-wide fundraising event

Get your local community involved by organizing a fundraising event to help raise money for mental health. You can make the event educational by designing games that inform those attending of different mental illnesses and how to be a better friend to someone living with a mental illness. Make sure you promote your event on different social media channels to get the word out.

Mental health fundraising can help spread joy and positivity

Help address the stigma around mental health head-on by promoting education and minimizing misconceptions about mental illnesses. Sign up for a GoFundMe and start making fundraising for mental health today. 

Start a fundraiser

Additional resources:

• Tips to Take Care of Your Mental Health During the Coronavirus
• How to Raise Money In Eight Easy Steps
• The best Ways To Raise Money For Charity

The post Mental Health Fundraising Ideas That Make a Real Impact appeared first on GoFundMe (AU).

COVID has left charities “under significant stress” and in need of your support – whether helping those on the frontline of mental health services, protecting native wildlife, or rebuilding communities after natural disasters

Brave the shave and give back to our much-loved charities at a time when they really need our help.

Set up your fundraiser today

Should I brave the shave?

The World’s Greatest Shave is an initiative run by the Leukemia Foundation in Australia every year and encourages you to get sponsored to shave, cut or dye your hair a different colour. All funds raised will help put an end to leukemia and blood cancer.Outside of this initiative Aussies are braving the shave year round. Taking it into their own hands to choose their cause, and take on the big chop as a commitment to their favourite cause. 

4 ways you can get involved

Getting involved with this fundraising event is easy, whether you plan to brave the shave yourself or support someone else.

1. Brave the shave yourself

Simply pick a date to shave your head, set up a charity fundraiser on GoFundMe, post your fundraiser  across your social platforms and let the donations roll in!

Take the time to tell your story. What cause are you choosing to support? Why did you decide to brace the shave? Maybe you have personal experience of cancer or want to support a friend or family member with the disease. Perhaps you had been toying with the idea of shaving your head and have finally decided to take the plunge for charity.

Make sure you share before, during and after photos with your donors by updating your GoFundMe page. Better still, film the big shave or do a facebook or Instagram live so that everybody can tune in, support, and donate, in real time.

The great thing about the GoFundMe charity fundraising feature is that we send every penny of your funds directly to your chosen cause. This means less faffing about with logistics and more time to focus on raising as much money as possible for a hugely worthy cause.

Be sure to tell your employer about your fundraising efforts as many workplaces run supportive matching schemes that double your donations.

2. Donate your hair

Before you shave your head, be sure to check out Hair With Heart from Variety – the children’s charity- a great initiative that makes real hair wigs for children and young adults who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or an illness.

The Hair With Heart initiative is always looking for hair donations but there are guidelines for what they can and can’t accept, so take a look before you donate your hair.

If shaving your head feels like a step too far, you can chop off your locks and still do good

3. Promote a pal’s page

Got a friend who is going to brave the shave? Give their fundraiser a boost by clicking the big ‘share’ button that makes it easy to post the link on Facebook, Twitter and more. Encourage everybody you know to donate to your friend’s cause.

Did you know that every time a GoFundMe fundaiser is shared online, an average of $79 is raised? Sharing really is caring!

4. Donate to other fundraisers

Not up for shaving your own head but keen to donate to someone else’s fundraiser? You can find others who are braving the shave by using the discovery tool on GoFundMe.

These examples of successful fundraisers might even inspire you to commit to the chop today.

Beard and head

Dave Hudson went the extra mile, not only shaving his head but also his much-loved beard to raise funds for the Brain Cancer Foundation. What a champ!

MATES WITH DONATION RATES

Grab a few buddies and bring them along on your journey like Josh, Jacob and Ben. Together they raised over $2,700 for the Australian Childhood Foundation.

Not the eyebrows!

Taking it up a notch in a bid to get more donations, Mitchell encouraged generosity by promising to go all in and even shave his eyebrows if he hit the big $5,000 milestone. He’s yet to get there, but has already raised over $1,600 for The Movember Foundation.

Brave the shave for good today!

It takes minutes to set up a GoFundMe fundraiser. There are no hidden fees and our trusted GoFundMe Guarantee keeps your money safe.

Our experts are here to help you day and night and there are tons of fundraising tips on our blog.

Set up your fundraiser today

The post Your Ultimate Guide to Brave the Shave appeared first on GoFundMe (AU).

More and more Australians are celebrating special occasions, such as birthdays or even anniversaries, by fundraising for something that matters to them. Instead of getting gifts, they are asking friends and family to make a donation. It’s a win-win – everyone involved is doing some good. You can join this trend and help some of the many good causes out there that need your support.

On GoFundMe, we often see Australians tap into special occasions to give their crowdfunding efforts an extra push.

A successful birthday fundraiser

Erica Flament started a GoFundMe fundraising page for her friend’s daughter Maddie who was battling Leukaemia. Erica raised over $10,000 – and $1,500 of that was raised in the space of just one day: Maddie’s birthday. This is how she did it:

For Maddie’s sixth birthday, Erica asked friends and family to each donate $6 to help Maddie beat cancer. She sent out a request on Facebook, asking friends to donate and share. News of the birthday fundraiser spread and more than 85 people donated. A lot of the donations were for the suggested $6, but the majority were for $16, $26, $56 – and even $106!

But Erica isn’t alone, meet other inspiring Aussies launching birthday fundraisers:

1. Little Calen celebrated his very special birthday (on a leap year) by fundraising for a well loved local nurse, Linny, to help with her battle against brain cancer.
2. After their son Aiden passed away from Rhabdomyosarcoma, his family launched a fundraiser in his memory to celebrate his 21st birthday. All donations were sent to RedKite, the team of childhood cancer specialists who helped their family tremendously whilst Aiden was sick.
3. Willow dedicated her 13th birthday to raise $700 for Foodbank. “I’m turning 13 soon, and instead of birthday presents I’m raising money to benefit Foodbank Australia Limited“. Well done, Willow!

In addition to special dates in your own life, you can also tie your fundraiser into public dates such as global generosity movement Giving Tuesday.

Tips for your special event or birthday fundraiser

Choose your cause

First, decide who you want to support. You might want to fundraise for someone you know who is in need at the moment, an issue or cause you care about, or a registered charity. Once you have decided on the person, cause or charity you want to help, you will be even more inspired to make a difference.

Set a deadline for your birthday fundraiser

For any fundraiser, it is key to set a deadline for when you would like to achieve your goal. A deadline creates a sense of urgency and make donors respond more quickly. You can choose your birthday as the deadline, or if you’re running a fundraiser connected to an existing national awareness campaign, such as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, think about making that date your deadline.

Tell your story

Birthdays and other special dates create a natural storytelling opportunity to explain why it’s important to you to raise funds for that specific cause. Your fundraiser story needs to answer questions such as who, what, where, when, why and how. What will the funds be used for? What’s your connection to the cause? How will the donations help you or others? When it comes to fundraising, the why is particularly important; i.e. why does the recipient need this donation?

For more tips on how to tell your crowdfunding story to raise funds, see our posts: Great Ideas for Naming your Online Fundraiser, How Images Can Lead to Fundraiser Success, and Why Videos Are Powerful Tools for Fundraising.

Use social media to spread the word

Share your birthday fundraiser on your social media channels to raise awareness and donations among friends, family, colleagues and your different networks.

For birthday fundraising ideas using Facebook, check out this Facebook Fundraising Tips To Drive Donations guide.

Host an offline fundraising event such as a birthday party

Fundraising events serve several purposes, they help you raise money for your cause, get people together for a common goal and raise awareness about your cause in unique ways. There’s a wealth of different fundraising event ideas you could choose from, such as:

• A birthday party: Now, if you don’t want to deviate from the birthday theme too much, you could host a birthday party and have QR codes linked to your fundraiser. Make sure to communicate to friends and family that you’d like a donation in lieu of presents before the event. The same applies if it’s a baby shower, anniversary, Christmas party etc.
• Host a sports day: Hosting a sports day and asking people for a small donation to enter is a great way to raise funds – and an extremely fun one too. Why not get a team of friends and family together to get competitive in honour of the celebration.
• Morning tea: If you wanted to host an offline fundraising event, a really easy way forward is to host a morning tea. You could even do this on the day of your birthday or special occasion. Bake or buy sweet treats and ask for a small donation to your fundraiser in return.
• Fitness challenges: This one is a little bit different, but why not run a fundraiser around a fitness challenge? It doesn’t need to be an organised event; you can commit to running 10k or doing yoga every day for the month of your birthday, for example, and ask people to sponsor you. This could also be easily done in a fundraising team!
• Arts and crafts: If you’ve got a bit of an artistic streak or just want to explore that side of you, why not host an arts and crafts day for friends and family? There are plenty of ideas to choose from – it could be painting or making pots out of clay, learning to knit or sewing.

If you’re inspired to host a fundraising event, we’ve got a post on Top 10 Fundraising Event Ideas.

Make the most of GoFundMe’s resources

We’ve put together a comprehensive set of fundraising tips, success stories and lots of other free and helpful resources, such as: Viral Fundraising, Free Online Fundraising Tools That Will Help You Raise More and Using Social Media to Promote Your Fundraiser.

Let’s start a birthday fundraiser!

The beauty of fundraisers is the act of people coming together to reach a common goal. What better way to bring people together than on a birthday or another special occasion? With the ideas we’ve outlined here and the resources we’ve provided, your birthday crowdfunding fundraiser should be extra special! Get the party started by starting your fundraiser.

Start your birthday fundraiser

The post Celebrate Your Birthday with a Fundraiser appeared first on GoFundMe (AU).