iPump, Inc.

Posts Tagged ‘donors’

Donors Need a Little Help, Too
iPump.org, Inc. Press Release:  August 16, 2007             .pdf Press Release

Thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of iPump a new network has been created that lets donors easily find places where they can donate specific diabetes supplies and that offers much-needed, free advertising to nonprofits.

iPump.org, Inc. (iPump), an all-volunteer run organization, has been assisting diabetic patients in need since 2006.  Last month, they found yet another way to help patients who struggle with the high cost of diabetes care by encouraging donations of diabetes supplies on a nation-wide scale.  In the past iPump focused exclusively on helping diabetics in need.  Now they are also helping donors.

When Lahle Wolfe, founder of iPump.org, Inc. did a “Google” search on “donate diabetes supplies” she was appalled with the query response. “A ton of spam and unrelated sites came up and at the top of a list was a for-profit website that offered to serve as an information exchange service for those who wanted to donate supplies and those who needed them,” said Wolfe. “This business owner has good intentions but does not screen donors or those asking for help to ascertain if they are legitimate – there are no safeguards to protect anyone.”  In fact, Wolfe states that one of the individuals listed on the site as “in need” had previously attempted to defraud iPump out of financial assistance and free diabetes supplies.”

Wolfe contacted the site’s owner several times asking if iPump could help get supplies to some of those in need listed on the site.  To date she has yet to be connected with a single person listed as “in need of.”  Despite it being illegal for non-licensed individuals to disburse prescription items (including syringes and insulin pump supplies) the site’s owner (who makes no claim of being a nonprofit or assistance organization) continues to offer to connect donors with those in need.

There are thousands of clinics and organizations that take donated supplies and responsibly distribute them to those in need but they were not coming up in simple searches. Wolfe worried that donors might not follow through on making donations if they could not quickly and easily find somewhere to send them. This gave her an idea.

Wolfe actively began pursuing other nonprofit medical assistance organizations and clinics that help diabetic patients. She found that none had advertised for donations of supplies because funding was needed to help patients.   Often, clinics simply have to rely on word-of-mouth referrals for in-kind medical donations.  Wolfe then created a list of organizations that take diabetes supply donations. “Every page on the iPump website now has a button for other places to donate to.”  Using her self-taught, SEO-savvy skills, organizations listed on iPump, once invisible to donors, now often appear as the top response when individual states are searched for “donate diabetes supplies.”

According to Wolfe, “iPump.org, Inc.’s mission is to help diabetic patients in need. We may lose out on some donations to our own organization by offering donors other options but creating this list is an indirect way of helping people on a much larger scale than we could accomplish alone. By making it easier for interested donors to find reputable places to donate their supplies to more people will follow through with donations. When more people donate, more people can be helped.”

Thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of iPump a new network has been created that lets donors easily find places where they can donate specific diabetes supplies and that offers much-needed, free advertising to nonprofits.  Wolfe’s belief is that, “We should make giving as easy and rewarding as possible for all concerned.  By recognizing and meeting the needs of donors — people who willingly sacrifice to meet our own needs — everyone benefits.”