Justgiving's blog

We're off up north

Yo.

Molly and I are departing tomorrow for the annual hospice fundraiser shindig, which this year is in her home city of Newcastle. Yes this does mean we'll be out of the office, but Tom and Jonathan will be dutifully managing our absence; you can reach Tom on 020 7549 2218 and Jon on 020 7549 2237.

However, this doesn't mean we're not on email, because we have a funky wireless telephonic communicator that keeps us in the loop. A bit like on Star Trek.

I'm sure we'll have a great time, since last year's event was impeccably organised by Ciaran at the Foyle Hospice in Northern Ireland, and a good time was had by all. This year, St. Oswald's hospice are hosting the event, you can check out their fundraisers here.

We'll be back next week with photos.

- Simon

Get a Justgiving logo of your very own....

Hey, in case you haven't noticed yet we've got a hip new logo (at last). And we want to share it with you. If you're fundraising with Justgiving or one of our fab charity clients, why not grab our new logo for your print and web marketing materials?

We've put together a page of every possible logo permutation, which you can find here.

- Elizabeth

Your photo on the Justgiving homepage

Do you want to gain extra exposure for your fundraising effort? How about having your photo featured in the fundraisers' gallery on the Justgiving home page! (just like Katie here.)

All you need to do is to email us your photo plus the short web address of your fundraising page to photos@justgiving.com. We’re looking for great photos of you fundraising, whether that means running, cycling, or even having your head shaved! Photos of you fundraising on your own or as part of a team are equally welcomed. If you are fundraising in memory or in honour of someone else please be sure to send us a photo of yourself, rather than the person you are fundraising on behalf of.

Also, please make sure that you've got a few donations on your fundraising page before sending us your photo-- remember, we're using your pages as examples of how online fundraising works!

Not every photo we receive will be posted on the homepage but if your image is chosen we will let you know promptly. Your photo will stay up on the Justgiving.com homepage for approximately 1-2 months, in rotation with other photos. (just keep on refreshing the homepage!)

If you do not hear from us within five working days of sending us your photo please assume that your submission was not successful on that occasion. We are sorry not to be able to respond individually to every request. Justgiving selects photos at its absolute discretion.

- Elizabeth

So Fresh, So Clean

You all have no idea how pleased we are to see the back of our old logo.

Liz is now the 'logo police' so if anyone spots the old logo lurking on a fundraising page somewhere or in some other dingy corner of the site then drop us a line.

A big thanks to our CTO Dom, who flicked the virtual switch at stupid o'clock this morning, and to Liz who did the bulk of the work. Thanks to all our user testers too and to everyone that likes our new look! Let us know what you think! This is just the beginning folks...

- Simon

The ultimate mothers' day gift

Looking for a meaningful gift for your mum on March 26th?  You could make a big difference to mothers in Africa with a donation of £15 to help Maternity Worldwide sponsor a safe birth. In return for helping to save a mother’s life Maternity Worldwide will then send a personalised certificate of sponsorship direct to your mum.

Maternity Worldwide says: Every minute of every day, a woman dies from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries. In Ethiopia 1 in 7 women die in pregnancy or childbirth compared to 1 in 19,000 in the UK. The impacts of maternal mortality are wide-reaching. The family, the community and the economy are affected. An estimated 1 million young children die shortly after the death of their mothers.

Astonishing, isn't it?

You can make your mothers' day gift by clicking here.

- Elizabeth

Oh Dear...

"Hey Mol,

Quick question, I’m trying to do this five portions a day thing.  I was wondering, do grapes count?  I was looking at them in Sainsbury yesterday, and they are a lot smaller than oranges or apples.

Senior Developer at Justgiving

Jason Horton"

- Molly

Something scary is happening...

Something very odd - and more than a little worrying is happening here at Justgiving.

Having been out of the office for a week (yes, I'm the part-timer around here) I return to find Molly swimming for the third day in a row, and eating salad for lunch.

Swiftly followed by Tom who returns from the gym and promptly has a large bowl of salad himself.

- Caroline

Charlie's marathon

Can you imagine being deaf and blind? And now can you imagine being deaf and blind and running an entire 26.2 miles?

Believe it or not, one of our fundraisers, Charlie Turrell, is doing just that.

Corageous Charlie and his personal trainer Gavin Culverhouse are gearing up to run the Prague International Marathon on the 14th of May for the Wiltshire Blind Association. It's a long slog for the two of them but Gavin assures us that Charlie is a 'tough cookie'.  You can sponsor Charlie and Gavin here:
www.justgiving.com/deafblindmarathon

Good luck guys!

- Elizabeth

Fundraiser of the month, March 2006

Our Fundraiser of the Month for March is Lynn Ashton.

Despite having not been able to breathe on her own for five years, Lynn will take part in one of sport's toughest challenges when she competes in the Flora London Marathon on April 23rd, while on oxygen. She will be walking the course for five days accompanied by a nurse.

Read her story here. Visit her page and sponsor her here.

If you want to nominate someone as a future Fundraiser of the Month, please drop us an email at community@justgiving.com or post details in our forum.

Good luck Lynn, from everyone here at JG Towers!