Our mission statement:
Our mission is to bring more money to more charities, more often.
Our aim is to make charitable-giving fast, fun, easy and convenient by putting it right where it belongs, at your fingertips. One of the first things you may think of when you receive a party invitation is, 'What should I bring as a gift?'. Inlieuofagift.com accepts credit cards and Paypal, so as soon as you receive one of our electronic invitations, you can make a donation to the charity of the party host’s choice with the “Donate Now” button attached to each invitation.
We all know that having a name on the church envelope inspires people to give more than they would otherwise and so in order to work with human nature and not against it, the donors’ names are all posted on the party site. The total amount raised (but not the individual amounts) is posted above the list of donors. This provides the element of accountablility that other options lack.
People want to help and they want to support charities but they’re busy. It is our goal to make it fast, easy, convenient and fun in order to inspire more giving.
Additionally, one of the primary goals of this site is to help raise a generation of young people who give to charity. Only one guest per childrens' party receives a "Donate Now" button on the invitation. Children are thereby easing into charity by giving up only one gift per party. Making charitable-giving painless in the beginnig, will hopefully make it a lifelong habit for a new generation of children.
About us:
inLIEUofaGIFT.com was begun in October 2006. At that time, my three children were getting older and didn't need my constant attention, my husband's career was winding down, and I felt it was time for me to get back to work.
I prayed for meaningful direction toward a career that would help people. One day, I happened to see an article that said that Americans spend $60 million annually on costumes for their pets. Now, don't get me wrong, our family has two dogs, and I love animals, but the fact that Americans spend that amount of money on essentially unnecessary items for their pets bothered me. I had an overwhelming feeling that we could and should do better.
A few days later, I read an article that reported that overall, Americans give less to charities than do the people of any other nation. I was surprised; I've always thought of Americans as especially generous.
I went to bed that night thinking about all the money Americans spend on pets costumes while so many children, here and around the world, wear cast-offs. Somehow, it just didn't make sense.
I woke up at 3:00 a.m. with a mission: Find a way to make it fun and easy for people to make charitable donations to worthwhile organizations. inLIEUofaGIFT.com was born!
The journey from conception to launch has been awe-inspiring and humbling. Absolutely everyone involved has made a 110% effort. Dozens of people have contributed valuable ideas, leads, and encouragement. There have been ups and downs along the way, but above all, the development of inLIEUofaGIFT.com has been a labor of love.
I hope you enjoy the inLIEUofaGIFT.com experience, and welcome comments and criticism about our website. And, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for using inLIEUofaGIFT.com!
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