65 dogs need your help!

1 What about payment processing?

We use PayPal for payment processing on GivingGrid.com. It's both safe and secure.

Everyone knows PayPal.
PayPal fees are 2.59% + $.49 per transaction. Certified 501c3 nonprofits can get a reduced rate of 1.99% + $.49 directly through PayPal. GivingGrid cannot help with that.
All donations go directly into your account, less PayPal fees.
Funds are typically available within 1-2 days.
Great for organizations based outside of the U.S. PayPal is available in most countries around the world, so fundraisers can be set-up almost anywhere and donations can be accepted from most countries (and their currencies) throughout the world. Currently, GivingGrids can be set-up using US Dollars, British Pounds, Euros, Canadian Dollars and Australian Dollars.

2 What are your fees?

Zero! GivingGrid doesn't charge you any fees!

With GivingGrid you only pay third party credit card processing fees directly to the payment processor. Those are roughly 2%, plus a small transaction fee, if you are a 501c3.

So how does GivingGrid pay for its operating expenses and keep the lights on?

We apply a unique method where the donor is given the option to add a small contribution for us, in addition to their donation. Think of it as a tip. If they think we're providing a valuable service, they give us a little something. If not, they have the option to lower it or make it zero and give us nothing. No matter what, the fundraiser never gets hit with a fee from us and GivingGrid assumes all the risk! Sound fair?

3 How do we get the money we raise?

Simple! The money you raise goes directly into your PayPal account. From there it's up to you. GivingGrid never touches the funds.

If you have any questions about getting the money you've already raised, please contact PayPal. Click the link below to contact them:

PayPal Support

4 How do I contact PayPal?

PayPal Support Page

5 What if our goal isn't met?

Of course it's always much better (and fun) when you hit or crush your goal, but you get the funds you raise either way. GivingGrid does not offer an "all or nothing" option.

6 After clicking Launch, why isn't my GivingGrid showing up?

It could be because you set a "Start Date" in the future. Go to your Settings and check the Start Date. Settings > Additional Settings > Set Start & End Dates. If that's the problem, just adjust it to today if you want it to show now. You should also make sure you not receiving any error messages, due to missing required fields or incorrect input.

If neither of these things are the problem, click contact us and we'll look into it ASAP and get back to you.

7 Do you allow personal fundraisers?

No, unfortunately we no longer allow personal fundraisers.

However, if you have fundraised with us in the past and want to run another campaign, please reach out to us. We may be able to make an exception...

8 Do we have to be a 501c3 nonprofit?

Yes. GivingGrid only allows certified nonprofit organizations to fundraise on its platform.

We no longer allow personal fundraisers. However, if you have fundraised with us in the past and want to run another campaign, please reach out to us. We may be able to make an exception...

9 How can I change the email address (user ID), password or name assigned to our account?

First, make sure you're logged in. Then click on your name in the upper right-hand corner of the screen on a PC or Mac and then click on "Account." If you're on a phone, click on the menu button and then click on "Account."

10 What if I don't know my password?

If you don't know your password, you'll need to reset it by clicking the "Login" button and then look for "Forgot your password?" Click the link.

11 Can we get help marketing our campaign?

There are some great marketing tools available to you, after you launch your campaign. First, a big pop-up with all kinds of options will come up automatically when you launch and if you're not quite ready, you can always go to "My Promo Page," which you will find in your settings for all launched campaigns. It's a big orange button.

12 Can I put our GivingGrid, Wall of Love or Urgent Help for Animals on our website?

Yes for Standard GivingGrids and Wall of Love, but not for Urgent Help! We don't offer it for Urgent Help, because the typical campaign is over in just a few days.

Make sure you're logged in and go to Settings > Additional Settings > Run on Your Website and follow the instructions. Everything is synced, so a donation made on your website updates everywhere else. One thing to note, if you don't allocate enough space, we'll automatically show a very cool widget. Details are in your settings.

13 Can I run my GivingGrid campaign on my Facebook page?

The short answer is no. You can't run your live GivingGrid campaign on Facebook (like you can on your website), but you can post the link to your campaign to your Facebook page. That will also display an image from your campaign and when someone clicks on the post, they'll be taken to your live campaign.

14 How do I get at my donor data?

Make sure you're logged in, click the "Reports" button at the top of the screen and your donor data will appear. You can also download it as a .csv file by clicking the "Download Donor Data" button.

Here's an example:

15 How do I enter offline donations?

Offline donations can be made on all of our platforms. Make sure you're logged in and go to Settings > Additional Settings > Manage Offline Donations. We recommend that you do not enter any offline donations until you've had several online donations. That way potential donors won't be confused by the fact that you've raised money, but there aren't any squares taken.

Note: This feature allows you to increase the total amount raised on your campaign, but it does not record any information or input donor information, photos or messages into the squares on the grid.

Important: Once you enter an offline donation, it is not reversable and you cannot edit the amount, so be careful. Do not enter cents, only whole dollar amounts.

16 How do I change the fundraising goal?

For Standard GivingGrids
Make sure you're logged in and go to Settings > Fundraising Goal & Grid Type. Next to your goal above the preview grid, click the edit link. Change your goal in the pop-up and click submit.

For Wall of Love
If you have a goal (it's optional), just go to General Settings, change it and click save.

For Urgent Help
Go to General Settings, change it and click save.

Note: be careful how you use this function. Don't get in the habit of raising your goal, just because you're close to hitting it or have already passed it. That's great and people want to see you beat it big-time! If you keep raising it, donors will start to wonder why you even have a goal and lose interest. One increase would be the maximum we'd recommend. It's primarily there to lower your goal if you were a little too ambitious and set it too high.

For 1,2,3
You change your goal by changing the number of squares in General Settings. Once you get your first donation, you are locked in and can no longer change the goal.

17 What is the minimum donation amount?

The minimum is $5.

18 How can I add or change photos, videos or text on my campaign?

You can easily add, change or delete any of those things even after launching. Make sure you're logged in and click on "Settings" for the campaign you'd like to change. You'll see all the options.

19 How do I add squares?

For Standard GivingGrids, make sure you're logged in and go to Settings > Fundraising Goal & Grid Type. This is to do it manually. There's also an automatic feature (on Blank Squares) you can turn off or on in your settings. We recommend you leave it on and let it happen automatically when needed. Then you'll never run out of squares. Anytime 75% of your squares are taken, another ring of squares is added.

If your GivingGrid is a Blanks Squares grid, there's a big button near the top that says "Add More Squares." Click it and it will add another ring of squares.
If your GivingGrid is a Preset grid, you simply add a new ring from "Fundraising Goal & Grid Type" in your Settings. After your first donation, you can't add squares the same way. A new option appears near the bottom of the page, to add individual squares.

For Urgent Help campaigns, make sure you're logged in and go to Settings > Grid Settings and click the Add Squares button. This is to do it manually. There's also an automatic feature you can turn off or on in your settings. We recommend you leave it on and let it happen automatically when needed. Then you'll never run out of squares. Anytime 75% of your squares are taken, another ring of squares is added.

Please note: Once you receive your first donation, you can still add squares, but you cannot delete them.

For Wall of Love, it's all automatic, unless you turn it off in your settings. Anytime 75% of your squares are taken, another ring of squares is added.

You cannot add squares to a 1,2,3 campaign.

20 How do I set or change campaign start & end dates?

This feature is available on Standard GivingGrids, Wall of Love, Urgent Help and 1,2,3. Make sure you're logged in and go to Settings > Additional Settings > Set Start & End Dates.

This feature is not available with Blaze.

21 Why does a square show it's on hold?

Someone clicks on a square and gets this message:

"This square is currently on hold for another supporter for X MORE MINUTES. Please pick another square or if this is the square you've got to have, you can check back in a little bit. Maybe they won't take it before their time is up? You can also keep clicking this check again button. Maybe they'll cancel it before their time is up?"

GivingGrid works just like when you buy theatre or event tickets online with reserved seating. When someone clicks on a square we hold it for them for 15 minutes to complete the donation. If they don't complete their donation in 15 minutes or if they click on another square, that square becomes available again.

22 Can I put our nonprofit or company website address on our GivingGrid of Wall of Love?

Yes you can and we encourage it! It adds credibility to your campaign. You do that in Settings > Organization Information.

We recommend only linking to your homepage.

23 Can I delete a specific campaign?

You can delete any GivingGrid or Wall of Love (WOL) in your account that has not had any donations. Simply go to your dashboard and click the "delete" button for the campaign you'd like to remove. To get to your dashboard, make sure you’re logged in and click your name (the drop-down menu) in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Unless there are special circumstances, you cannot delete campaigns that have had donations. Once someone donates to a campaign, we're obligated to leave it available, so they can view or share their donation. If you believe there are special circumstances, please contact us.

You can also simply stop your campaign from accepting donations by changing the end date for the campaign. Make sure you're logged in and go to the campaign. Then go to Settings> Additional Settings > Set Start & End Dates. You'd then want to enter an end date of yesterday and click save.

24 Can I remove my account?

To remove your account, please contact us. Unless there are special circumstances, we cannot delete accounts that are connected to GivingGrids that have had donations. Once someone donates to a campaign, we're obligated to leave that GivingGrid available, so they can view or share their donation. Therefore, the account also needs to be left intact.

25 Can I use the same URL/website address I've used on other campaigns?

Unfortunately, no. Each campaign must have a unique website address.

26 Why has my account been suspended?

While we do not share specific information as to why an account has been suspended, it could be for many reasons, including but not limited to:

Originating from a country not currently supported by GivingGrid.
Not a nonprofit organization.
Created a personal campaign.
Suspected fraud.
The nature of a campaign (i.e., offensive, abusive, making false claims, inappropriate for GivingGrid, etc.).
Violates our "Terms of Use."

27 What's the difference between a Standard GivingGrid and a Wall of Love

The simple difference between the two is that with a Standard GivingGrid the donor can upload a photo with their donation and with Wall of Love they post a heart and a message with their donation. No photo. Some campaigns work great with photos and other are better without, so you have both options.

We don't recommend Wall of Love for animal campaigns, because people love uploading photos of their fur kids.

28 Can I get unlimited support?

GivingGrid is a free service and our entire income comes from optional tips provided by donors. We do our very best to provide speedy customer support to everyone, but we do have limits. While we rarely reach these limits, we cannot continue to provide support to users who have an excessive amount of customer service requests or are abusive or disrespectful of GivingGrid support personnel.

We hope you understand.

29 How can I send updates to our donors?

Keeping your donors up-to-date is super important! How would you feel if you donated money to a cause and never heard from them again? With GivingGrids and Wall of Love, you’re not only raising money, you’re expanding your supporter base. Stay in touch with these guys and do several “updates to donors” throughout your campaign and even after it ends. 30% of donors either donate a second time (as you near your goal) or refer people. That’s huge!

To prepare and send an update to donors, go to Settings > Send emails & updates > Keep your donors in the loop. You have some great editing capability, so you can add photos, links, bold text, etc. Make sure you click the Preview button to see what it will look like before you send the notification. If you want to send it right away, click the Send Update button, but we recommend previewing it first. If you’re not quite ready to send, make sure you click save at the top or bottom of the page. It will be there when you come back.

30 Can I tell people they don't have to tip GivingGrid?

We hope you don't want to do that...

During the donation process we make it very clear to the donor that these tips are optional. That being said, these tips are our only source of income. We rely on them to keep the lights on and provide you and your donors with the support you need.

If you still feel the need to write something in your campaign that in any way suggests to donors that they don’t need to tip us or not to tip us, we won’t stop you and we’ll still allow you to use our service. However, we will not be able to provide you or your donors with any support and there will be no exceptions. We hope you understand.

31 Can I ask people on our campaign to go donate directly on our website or another fundraising site?

Yes and no. You are welcome to include a mailing address in case someone wants to mail you a check. There are still some people who don't want to donate online. What we don't allow is the direct solicitation encouraging people to donate online elsewhere. In other words, what you can't do is put a link to your website (or others) donation page (including Venmo or other payment services) on your campaign and ask people to go there and donate. It's confusing and why would you want to do that anyway?

If you still feel the need to include links or write something in your campaign that in any way suggests to donors that they can go elsewhere to donate, we won’t stop you and we’ll still allow you to use our service. However, we will not be able to provide you or your donors with any support and there will be no exceptions. We hope you understand.

32 Do you allow organizations outside of the U.S. and Canada to start a fundraiser?

Yes we do, but not all countries at this time. We also allow GivingGrids to be set-up using Pounds, Euros, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars and New Zealand dollars via PayPal. Simply choose the currency you want in your payment processing settings during set-up.

33 Are GivingGrids available in currencies other than US Dollars?

Yes, GivingGrids can also be set-up using British Pounds, Euros, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars and New Zealand dollars. through PayPal, assuming we offer our service in your country. Simply choose the currency you want in your payment processing settings during set-up.

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“The only humanity left in me is because of these homeless dogs that nobody loves on the streets. Because of them, I feel alive despite the pain. Because of them, I go through life helping as many as I can.”
— Chella, President & Founder

Dogs like Lofe have been waiting for an opportunity like this for years.

Lofe's story is like many on the island, his entire life he belonged to a “family” who could care less if he lived or died. They left him outside to fend for himself everyday. Lofe never knew where his next meal was coming from or if the hurricanes would wash him away. He meant nothing to them, but he was fortunate, because he meant everything to Chella.

7 months later Lofe is almost unrecognizable and he'll be on the plane, ready for a forever home in the US.

Bethany’s story isn’t far off from Lofe's. The only difference is that Bethany's family actually drove her to a clinic and demanded the doctor to euthanize her, simply because they did not want her alive anymore. When Chella offered to take Bethany, the family agreed but warned Chella that if they ever saw Bethany again they would toss her body onto a highway. Bethany is a survivor and she is boarding that plane on the 11th of September. Evil did not win this time.

Honorato lived 10 lonely years on the streets of the Bahamas. He was a stray on the island and lived his entire life unclaimed. Chella rescued him and vowed that the remainder of his life would be filled with love.

In April YOU answered our call for help. Honorato alongside 74 other dogs traveled to the United States. Honorato is thriving in New York City. He loves taking long walks and greeting everyone he meets. Because of you, he is right where he was always meant to be.

Honorato is one of the lucky ones. All of the dogs boarding the plane on the 11th of September are the lucky ones. They will get out. We will find a way to raise the funds to get them off the island.

The number 65 does not only represent the amount of dogs who will board the plane for a new life, it also represents the 65 open spaces for other dogs on the island. The other lonely souls who are waiting for their chance to be saved. These are the voiceless dogs of Nassau, Bahamas.

Be a part of their journey today. We need you - They need you.

Updates

9/16/21 8:27am

Update

A beautiful message from Chella and another reason why these airlifts are wonderful and so important!

Last Saturday was a bitter sweet mixed emotions... Watching the plane take off with 65 of my babies to the States I was all sad letting my babies go... In another part of the world, my old child Perry went home to live with his new family. My dream to see him in his happy home became a reality!

My heart is full of joy! His mom Zoe Daelman Chlanda, spoils him! 15 years of his life he suffered on the streets of Nassau, Bahamas and I thought nobody but me would ever love him because of his mange, he's toothless, old and all... I am so glad I was wrong!

Thank you Second Chance Rescue for taking him under your wings and choosing the right home for him! A million thanks to his family, that only saw the beauty in him, promising to love him till the last day of his life and beyond! Bless you my darling boy. Your earned this loving home! Be happy!

These airlifts save lives!!

Warmest regards,
Pawtcake Refuge
9/15/21 8:27am

Update

Want to have an even better day? Watch this video and see what you helped make happen! Try not to smile...

Click here to watch the video.

Stay tuned for more great stuff over the next several days!

Warmest regards,
Pawtcake Refuge
9/12/21 12:12pm

Update

Thank you again for rallying and supporting our airlift to get these 65 precious babies to the USA, where they will get the care they need and find their forever homes! You are amazing!!

They're all in the US now and we're dealing with the logistics of getting each of them to where they need to go... We will definitely share photos and video of The 65 after their arrival, but in the meantime we thought you might enjoy seeing the process of getting them into their "ride" and of Chella and her crew saying goodbye. The pups look very excited about their new lives. Enjoy!

Unfortunately, we haven't reached our goal yet, but thanks to you and lots of other wonderful people, we still did really great and won't have to tap too much into our emergency funds, so thank you again for that...

Stay tuned for more great stuff over the next several days!

Warmest regards,
Pawtcake Refuge
9/11/21 6:30am

Update

It's happening!!

Love,
Chella & Pawtcake Refuge
9/10/21 2:26pm

Update

Tomorrow is a big day for the 65 babies who are leaving the refuge to start a new life in the United States.

It’s a bitter sweet day for us. They will leave the Bahamas, but they will live in our hearts forever. This special day has been made possible by your generous support. They owe their lives to you.

Earlier today we received a call regarding a little puppy whose entire litter passed away. At 7 weeks puppy Daniel was alone on the streets. We were able to rescue him and get him seen by a vet. You see, in situations like these, we dip into our emergency fund to help sick and injured animals on the street.

Unfortunately, as of this moment, we’re still about $13,000 short of our goal for the airlift and we could really use some more help. We kindly ask that you please continue to share the campaign, right up to the last minute. We do not want to have to dip into our emergency funds… We would like to reserve them for medical expenses to help puppies like Daniel.

Thank you so much for helping.

Love,
Chella & Pawtcake Refuge
9/7/21 9:29am

Update

This little baby is Fiorire. Her name means blossoming. She will be on the flight to the US.

Today I found her. This baby happens to be related to 11 puppies I found in a mountain of trash a few days ago. Every single little dot on her entire body that looks like dirt are actually ticks. She had them by the thousands!

I was told that from a large litter of babies, she is the only survivor. Each day the family found a dead puppy in their yard. Believe it or not, they nicknamed her “last man.”

I brought her to the refuge, after the 2 clinics I drove her to were closed. Her tummy is full of parasites, her ears are as pale as paper and her sad eyes are covered in green discharge. I have already tested her for Parvo, and thank God she is negative. I have no idea what killed her siblings.

Last night we had a horrible storm and I let my refuge dogs sleep in my bedroom, because the continuous lightning was so frightening. I cannot imagine what this baby went through outside in that yard all alone.

Please watch this short video from when we rescued her.

Fiorire is too broken for a puppy of her age. Such sadness comes from within… If God allows it, I will get her on that plane and I will see her blossom to be the beautiful flower that she is supposed to be.

Fiorire is just one of the 65 dogs that will be on the plane to the US. It’s their only chance to survive and prosper in a loving home, but we still need your help. We’re only at about 56% of the money we need to pay for this live saving airlift. I know you've already helped a lot, but please share this campaign with anyone you think might want to help too. That’s how we can make it.

Can you be her fairy Godmother/Godfather?

Love,
Chella & Pawtcake Refuge
8/26/21 7:33am

Update

Each year hundreds of dogs come into Pawtcake Refuge (Chella’s land) and find sanctuary, love and care. Chella and Pawtcake is there only lifeline on this island.

Without the help of donors like you, we could not survive. Your gift is immeasurable. As you know, in less than 3 weeks, 65 beautiful souls will board an airplane for their journey to the United States and as a result, 65 kennels will open up to save more deserving souls on the island.

We have made it to 20% of our goal to complete this urgent airlift and we could not have made if this far without your generous support, but we still have a long way to go.

Please enjoy this short video of our furry friends sending you a very special thank you message. All of these doggies and more will be on the plane headed to the US for care and eventually finding their forever homes. They get by with a little help from their friends…

Watch the Video

Please help us reach our goal by sharing our campaign with others you think might want to help too. We’d truly appreciate it!

Big hugs,
Chella and Pawtcake Refuge

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We urgently need your help!

65 dogs need your help!

$70,000

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