• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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Chasing the Money: Chase Community Giving Contest to Start Soon

Chase_Community_Giving.jpg
Opportunity Knocks! The Chase Contest for Non-profits Has Begun!


The Chase Giving Contest is back and with it the opportunity to get cash-starved ME/CFS non-profits some real cash. All it takes is your vote and spreading the word for the next two weeks (Sept 6-19th). This, in the world of non-profits is a remarkably easy (if nerve-wracking) way to make money…
Over the past two years Phoenix Rising has played a key role in getting Chase to pump over $170,000 into ME/CFS non-profits coffers and now we and eight other organizations are in the contest. The Top 200 vote getters this year will win from 10K to 250K.

Where We Are Now - Because you only have two votes we suggest that you focus them on organizations with a good chance of winning. In this blog we're going to focus on the top two vote-getters; Phoenix Rising and the Neuro Immune Disease Alliance or NIDA, an ME/CFS research funder. On the fourth day of the two week contest here's where the organizations that are strongly in the running are...
  • Neuro Immune Disease Alliance - #68 - $20K
  • Phoenix Rising An NEID Corporation - #96 - 20K
To Vote on Facebook

NOTE: The Chase FB site is overloaded at times, so if it behaves weirdly, please try again later!

If you do not have a Facebook Account - go to www.facebook.com and quickly create a page. Since you must ‘like’ Community Chase Giving first in order to vote go to Community Chase’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com. Each person has two votes (plus a possible bonus vote, see below).

If You Have a Facebook Account

1. Go to Phoenix Rising's page athttp://fb.chasegiving.com/charity/view/ein/27-3313361

(Or type NEID in the box "Search Charities".) "Phoenix Rising, an NEID corporation" will appear. Click “Vote”. If it asks you to "Allow" or "Allow App", click Yes. Then click the Like and Send buttons to spread the word about Phoenix Rising and the contest.

2. Then go to NIDA's page: http://fb.chasegiving.com/charity/view/ein/27-2861703

(Or type NIDA in the box “"Search charities".) "Neuro Immune Disease Alliance" will appear. Click "Vote". At the question "Allow" or "Allow App", click Yes. Then click the Like and Send buttons to spread the word about Phoenix Rising and the contest.

To Vote From Chase (all Chase customers)
Chase Bank and Facebook Users- can vote for the same organization twice...If you get a Bonus vote you can vote for an organization a third time.

The Bonus Vote

A Bonus Vote is an extra vote you can win and then use to vote for any organization you wish. In the grand tradition of Chase Giving the bonus vote is a complicated but getting Bonus votes could make a big difference...We're going to explain as simply as possible how to get an extra vote. If it's too much - forget about the Bonus vote strategy and just vote!

To Get a Bonus Vote

Sharing Content - To get a bonus vote Chase wants you to share an organization you like with a friend and then have them vote for that organization.
  • the person voting for the organization must click on your link and then vote without going to any other pages..
  • you only get one Bonus Vote..
How to Share An Organization

a) Go to Phoenix Rising's page athttp://fb.chasegiving.com/charity/view/ein/27-3313361 and then click the like button to put the organization on your Timeline. Then ask one of your Facebook Friends to click on it and vote...You'll then get a Bonus you can use to vote for Phoenix Rising or another organization, including ones you already voted for.

b) For Family and Friends - Clicking on the 'Send' button is a great way to get a string going with family and friends. Click the Send button will send the organization's profile to a person's Facebook page, their email address or to their twitter account.

For instance, I'm asking my brother, Cass, to vote for Phoenix Risng An NEID Organization and NIDA. I will get a bonus vote when my brother votes. He will ask his partner to vote for the two organizations; once his partner has done that Cass will get a vote. Then his partner will send a message to my sister, who will send the message to her husband to his son etc. As long as the string continues everyone gets 3 instead of 2 votes.

You can also try The Bonus Vote Exchange we created.

We've created a Bonus Vote Exchange on Phoenix Rising to try and facilitate this process. Check it out here... For more information on how to vote check out this Forum thread or contact me at Cort@phoenixrising.me

Phoenix Rising's Winnings

Phoenix Rising has several projects it could spend the winnings on. Check some of them our here:
  • Rate a Practitioner program - to help ME/CFS patients save time, money and improve their health by finding good doctors and avoiding bad ones
  • Community Rising program - to break up the isolation and connect people in their local communities, provide avenues for assistance, reviews of local clinics and physicians, etc.
  • Making the Forums More Accessible to the Visually Impaired - upgrading the Forums so that as many as possible can participate.
 
Word was received from OFFER that their paperwork was submitted on Aug. 30th. Enterovirus Foundation was hoping to get everything in order by Aug. 30th. So there should be two more in the running.
 
Cort, you forgot to mention that WPI won over 100 000$ in 2011, was it a voluntary omission, because it was a big one!

We cannot pretend that it didn't happen. I am very glad they won and they won because of all of us that voted for them.
 
If I'm remembering correctly, PANDORA won $20,000 in 2010. In 2011, in the contest for larger org's, The CFIDS Assn. won $25,000 and the WPI won $25,000 (plus $40,000 for finishing high on the leader board). In 2011, in the contest for smaller org's with operating expenses under $1,000,000, IACFS/ME, the CFS Knowledge Center, and Massachusetts CFIDS and FM each won $25,000. So in Chase we have won $185,000, I think. (WPI also won $100,000 in Vivint in 2011.)
 
OMG - you're right Kati...Completely involuntary. I'm glad they won as well....:) I'll get that in there. I stopped by the WPI last year and talked with Vincent Lombardi...I think we'll hear some good stuff from them in the future...
 
Cort, I think it's a great idea to match up people for the bonus votes.

I think we should try to gt everyone to vote for two orgs in order to try to get more money for them, unless that's a hopeless goal.

My two cents is that i am willing to vote for PR, but I'd really like the money to go to a charitable or advocacy project of PRs or be forwarded on to good research rather than give to you, Cort. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but it's just a matter of priorities of where I'd like our very limited funds to go considering the great number of very important unfunded things we need to do as a community.

btw, it's the Wisconsin ME/CFS association, not "chronic fatigue" and it's rocky mountain CFS/ME assn.
 
Cort, I think it's a great idea to match up people for the bonus votes.

I think we should try to gt everyone to vote for two orgs in order to try to get more money for them, unless that's a hopeless goal.

My two cents is that i am willing to vote for PR, but I'd really like the money to go to a charitable or advocacy project of PRs or be forwarded on to good research rather than give to you, Cort. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but it's just a matter of priorities of where I'd like our very limited funds to go considering the great number of very important unfunded things we need to do as a community.

btw, it's the Wisconsin ME/CFS association, not "chronic fatigue" and it's rocky mountain CFS/ME assn.
 
If I'm remembering correctly, PANDORA won $20,000 in 2010. In 2011, in the contest for larger org's, The CFIDS Assn. won $25,000 and the WPI won $25,000 (plus $40,000 for finishing high on the leader board). In 2011, in the contest for smaller org's with operating expenses under $1,000,000, IACFS/ME, the CFS Knowledge Center, and Massachusetts CFIDS and FM each won $25,000. So in Chase we have won $185,000, I think. (WPI also won $100,000 in Vivint in 2011.)
Thanks FrenchTulip and Kati - I forgot about both the CAA and the WPI :). That's alot of $ pumped into the ME/CFS Community.
 
Cort, I think it's a great idea to match up people for the bonus votes.

I think we should try to gt everyone to vote for two orgs in order to try to get more money for them, unless that's a hopeless goal.

My two cents is that i am willing to vote for PR, but I'd really like the money to go to a charitable or advocacy project of PRs or be forwarded on to good research rather than give to you, Cort. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but it's just a matter of priorities of where I'd like our very limited funds to go considering the great number of very important unfunded things we need to do as a community.

btw, it's the Wisconsin ME/CFS association, not "chronic fatigue" and it's rocky mountain CFS/ME assn.
I appreciate your support of Phoenix Rising and its projects, Justin. If we do win the Contest my vote is for most of it go to our Projects. Not only are those best for the Community but I have always thought that completing these projects is the key to building Phoenix Rising as an organization that can support itself (and myself :))

That's why my salary is $600 a month. I am exploring other options but that cannot continue given my eroding financial situation..Either I will have to find another job to make up the difference or I'll have to get a bit more from PR. That's something for the Board of Directors to decide. My vote is for most of the winnings, should they happen, to go to the projects and my guess is that they feel the same.

(Those organizations are titled the way they are because that's the way they appear in the Chase contest.)
 
Cort, thanks for the reminder that some ME/CFS organizations may have names rather different in the Chase contest than we are used to seeing them. This caused me problems during nomination and later when I checked back to see if I could tell if orgs had submitted info to Chase. Sometimes I had to read five or six pages of search results to find the organization I was looking for. If we don't present voters with the names as the names appear at Chase, people may get frustrated and not bother to vote or vote for some charity other than the one they wanted to support.
 
I understand how people would want money to go for research projects since that is ultimately "our way out" of this illness. I do think though that raising money for PR has it's merits for us, members. I know for myself that PR is giving me much needed support which I can't find anywhere else. I have been searching for a support group in my area to no avail. I appreciate all the work that goes into making this the best website/forum for ME/CFS.

Cort, no one today can survive on $600 a month. That is below the poverty line.

In Jewish law, we are taught to first give charity to family than friends then the neighborhood and only after that to the world at large. As a member of PR, I feel like it's my family and my first vote would go to PR. It doesn't mean of course that I don't support other efforts towards our goals. I just think that we owe PR a vote of thanks.
 
I understand how people would want money to go for research projects since that is ultimately "our way out" of this illness. I do think though that raising money for PR has it's merits for us, members. I know for myself that PR is giving me much needed support which I can't find anywhere else. I have been searching for a support group in my area to no avail. I appreciate all the work that goes into making this the best website/forum for ME/CFS.

Cort, no one today can survive on $600 a month. That is below the poverty line.

In Jewish law, we are taught to first give charity to family than friends then the neighborhood and only after that to the world at large. As a member of PR, I feel like it's my family and my first vote would go to PR. It doesn't mean of course that I don't support other efforts towards our goals. I just think that we owe PR a vote of thanks.

Thanks Nielk, Thankfully my family provides much needed support :) ..Check out the Community Rising project - its designed to empower people in their local communities - to get people in touch with each other - and empower support groups...
 
Cort, thanks for the reminder that some ME/CFS organizations may have names rather different in the Chase contest than we are used to seeing them. This caused me problems during nomination and later when I checked back to see if I could tell if orgs had submitted info to Chase. Sometimes I had to read five or six pages of search results to find the organization I was looking for. If we don't present voters with the names as the names appear at Chase, people may get frustrated and not bother to vote or vote for some charity other than the one they wanted to support.
This is one of the more frustrating parts of Chase and we'll reiterate this as we go along...you must type in the organizations name exactly at it appears in Chase for it to work...They do not have a particularly good search engine.
 
Having to decide on a voting strategy is painful! I think there are 8 fabulous ME/CFS org's that have completed their profile pages. (Others may be competing, too.) I would feel a lot better about it if the competing org's decided amongst themselves on a strategy. I know that is very, very difficult. Plan B is a poll, which is being considered in the ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group (a closed group so the general public cannot do an Internet search - Those on Facebook, if they are not already Fundraising members, may ask to join.) The poll is being considered for tomorrow, Sept. 4th. If there are other ideas to help choose a strategy, please let us know. We need to be getting whatever is decided out to voters around the world. Thanks.
 
Having to decide on a voting strategy is painful! I think there are 8 fabulous ME/CFS org's that have completed their profile pages. (Others may be competing, too.) I would feel a lot better about it if the competing org's decided amongst themselves on a strategy. I know that is very, very difficult. Plan B is a poll, which is being considered in the ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group (a closed group so the general public cannot do an Internet search - Those on Facebook, if they are not already Fundraising members, may ask to join.) The poll is being considered for tomorrow, Sept. 4th. If there are other ideas to help choose a strategy, please let us know. We need to be getting whatever is decided out to voters around the world. Thanks.
I believe these eight have completed their profile pages: Phoenix Rising, Rocky Mountain, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Enterovirus Foundation, NIDA, OFFER, & HHV-6 Foundation.
 
We will be putting projects out from the different orgs on blogs; that may be the best way to go. I don't think its likely that anyone is going to give up a shot for the others...
 
Having to decide on a voting strategy is painful! I think there are 8 fabulous ME/CFS org's that have completed their profile pages. (Others may be competing, too.) I would feel a lot better about it if the competing org's decided amongst themselves on a strategy. I know that is very, very difficult. Plan B is a poll, which is being considered in the ME (ME/CFS) Fundraising Group (a closed group so the general public cannot do an Internet search - Those on Facebook, if they are not already Fundraising members, may ask to join.) The poll is being considered for tomorrow, Sept. 4th. If there are other ideas to help choose a strategy, please let us know. We need to be getting whatever is decided out to voters around the world. Thanks.
Thanks for the info, frenchtulip.
 
Cort, I think it's a great idea to match up people for the bonus votes.

I think we should try to gt everyone to vote for two orgs in order to try to get more money for them, unless that's a hopeless goal.

My two cents is that i am willing to vote for PR, but I'd really like the money to go to a charitable or advocacy project of PRs or be forwarded on to good research rather than give to you, Cort. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but it's just a matter of priorities of where I'd like our very limited funds to go considering the great number of very important unfunded things we need to do as a community.

btw, it's the Wisconsin ME/CFS association, not "chronic fatigue" and it's rocky mountain CFS/ME assn.
I appreciate your support of Phoenix Rising and its projects, Justin. If we do win the Contest my vote is for most of it go to our Projects. Not only are those best for the Community but I have always thought that completing these projects is the key to building Phoenix Rising as an organization that can support itself (and myself :))

That's why my salary is $600 a month. I am exploring other options but that cannot continue given my eroding financial situation..Either I will have to find another job to make up the difference or I'll have to get a bit more from PR. That's something for the Board of Directors to decide. My vote is for most of the winnings, should they happen, to go to the projects and my guess is that they feel the same.

(Those organizations are titled the way they are because that's the way they appear in the Chase contest.)
Thanks for the reply, Cort. We can all appreciate how hard it is to live on such limited resources and you certainly put a lot of effort into PR.