Team #GFGS Returns – Let’s Do Something Good Again!

Would anyone like to help me do something good again? Back in 2013 I launched ‘Good For Good’s Sake’. This came about after being overwhelmed by the level of compassion & activism displayed by those that engage in the online ‘atheist community’.

I strongly felt that if this shared camaraderie could be channelled in a charitable context, we could really help some people who needed it. As atheists we share only one thing for definite; absence of belief in gods. Our politics, cultural backgrounds and our world-views may differ. Some of you may think Michael Bay makes good films for instance. BUT. There’s one thing I feel we could all agree on: the only thing required to be good is the recognition that it is good for its own sake. We don’t do good for the promise of eternal life, or post-death reward. We don’t do good because it is a doctrinal imperative. We do good because we have empathy, and as conscious creatures, we have concerns for the well-being of our fellow primates across the globe.

With this in mind, Team #GFGS has raised a staggering £22773.03 for charitable causes so far. We’ve done this by ourselves, without media or corporate backing. Without promoting an ideology, or indoctrinating as a condition of our good deeds. A small group of people, in an even smaller pocket of the World Wide Web came together to achieve something that will make a positive difference to many people. That has to be good, right?

This brings me on to our third charitable drive. Are you up for the challenge? I’ve decided to choose Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Many of you will be familiar with what they do already. For those that aren’t, please see the below video and their website here.

MSF is an entirely Secular charity that delivers emergency medical aid on a global scale to those who need it the most, regardless of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. As with the last fund-raiser, this one will also end on Christmas Day 2014. Be a part of something important.  You can donate online by clicking ‘Sponsor Me’ below, or text ‘GFGS50 £5 (or any amount) to 70070. Spread the word where you can. Please keep an eye on my Twitter feed for updates. If you wish to hold an event for Team #GFGS to raise some money, please let me know!

Be good,

GS

Special thanks to @Wavish for the #GFGS logo

Team #GFGS raises £22,773.69 for charity in 2013

What a year!  Team Good for Good’s Sakes’ WaterAid fundraising finally came to an end on Christmas day, finishing on an astonishing £11,843.03, smashing our £11,000 target goal.

This also completely obliterated our previous £10,930.66 record for Red Nose Day earlier in the year.  This brings the total amount raised for charity by Team #GFGS in 2013 to an incredible £22,773.69.

This was achieved because a significant, but by no means huge, group of people decided that contributing to charitable causes was a worthy idea for its own sake, regardless of what you do or don’t believe about anything else. This was done without media, financial or corporate support of any kind.  That’s incredible, and I think everyone who played a part should be proud of themselves.

WaterAid is a fantastic organisation.  I need not waste your time explaining why access to clean water is such an imperative, so please visit them to see exactly how they will use the money to do good. From setting up sustainable water access in the poorest of places, to creating communities which are educated and trained in the skills required to maintain that infrastructure. Please consider choosing WaterAid should you be considering a charitable cause to fundraise for in the future.

I honestly didn’t think we could surpass our Red Nose Day efforts.  It’s such a pleasure and privilege to be continually surprised by the passion, intelligence, activism and good humour of those that engage with my Twitter feed.  Thank you.

A massive thank you to everyone that donated money and shared the fundraising page around. I’ve no doubt what we have achieved here together will help change lives for the better.  And why would we like to do that?  Because it’s a good thing to do.

I don’t really think about my Twitter shenanigans much further ahead than the present. This is due to understanding that my digital lifespan is also finite, with a limited shelf-life and therefore I don’t take it for granted that people will always be interested in what I have to say.  It’s for this reason that I am cautious about making plans for another charitable drive so soon, but if I’m still around in April and people are still interested I will consider setting up another cause for us to get our teeth into.  Up for the challenge?

Obviously, I understand the chances of reaching these heights again in 2014 are unlikely.  But I said that last time too.  And I’d be ecstatic to be wrong again.

Have a great New Year. Be Good

GS

Download Certificate (PDF)

Team GFGS WaterAid Fundraising

Image Created By @Wavish

Back in March I started Team Good For Good’s Sake (#GFGS).  The idea was to raise money for a good cause, simply because we agreed that doing good is worthy for its own sake.

The result was staggering.  Nearly £11,000 was raised. Thoroughly spanking the myth that one cannot be good without God firmly to the other side of mythsville.

It is for this reason I have started a new cause for us to support, this time WaterAid.  This is a great charity.  Please click to see just what it is they do, and how important it is.  Please click ‘Sponsor Me’ below to donate.

You can also donate via text by texting GFGS99 £5 (or any amount) to 70070.

I’m still constantly awed by the intelligence and compassion displayed by the people who interact with me on Twitter.  This kind of thing strikes me as special, and I’m fully aware that it cannot last forever.  Because of this, I think it’s great to use our shared camaraderie to do something worthwhile whilst we can.  Why?  Because we can.

Rather than having a short space of time to raise funds,  as was the case previously, I’ve decided this will be an on-going initiative, ending on Christmas Day.  I realise £10,390 is probably impossible to repeat or better, so I have set the starting limit to £500, but you’ve surprised me before!

I’ll provide any updates here and tweet them out accordingly.

What will we have achieved by Christmas day?

Thanks

GS

£10,930 Raised For Red Nose Day!

As my recent and relentless Twitter campaigning may have indicated to those kind enough to check my timeline, Friday the 15^th of March marked the 25th anniversary of the Red Nose Day event.

Rest assured, this now concludes my shameless harassment and bribery of the Twitterverse for charitable donations.  Well, at least for this year.  Or unless I find myself out of paid work.

Since creating my silly little Twitter account (let there be tweet! And It took me less than 6 days), I’ve always been incredibly impressed, surprised and flattered by the frequency with which people engage with what I have to say, and how passionately they do so.

From how they contribute to the general discussion, to how they show support for various initiatives (from the Golden Twits, to the Shorty Awards, petitions etc).  The good will, wit and informed comments make it incredibly rewarding.  I’ve laughed and learned. A lot.

It occurred to me that this potent comradeship, good will and initiative could be put to great use if its attention was focussed on a charitable cause.

The excitement I experienced by this thought inspired me to set up the team page ‘Good For Good’s Sake” on our behalf.  The ethos being that all we needed to agree on was:

1. The Red Nose Day Cause is a good one.
2. Contributing to this cause would be a good thing to do.
3. Being good is worthy for its own sake.

It seems we did agree, as by the end of the evening (March 15^th ), we had reached a staggering £10,930.  This placed us at number 7 on the overall ‘Leaderboard Legends’ when the event had concluded.  This leader board includes every single team in the UK who were raising funds for the event.

A few days after the event we were bumped up to 6^th place. This resulted due to the merger of two corporate teams.  I don’t care. I’ll take it nonetheless. 6^th place everyone!

I fully expect us, of course to drop down, or even off this board in the coming days/weeks as other teams collect their remaining, or pledged funds, but that’s not important.

To be there at all, right up to and on the day of the event is an incredible achievement, one which I’m still a little overwhelmed by.  One that anyone who contributed should be proud of.

This is even more astonishing when you consider we had zero corporate backing or media attention of any kind, unlike many of the top fundraisers.  The funds we raised are a result of one thing, and one thing only: our willingness to do something good for its own sake.  We were simply a group of like-minded individuals with Twitter accounts who decided to do something good.

We had people from all over the planet give up their cash for the cause, and the rapidly increasing total gave no indication of slowing down, from the moment I naively set the starting target at £250, to when the unthinkable happened: smashing through the 10k mark.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed.  This amount, I’ve no doubt will help improve lives for the better.  And what could be better than that?  Please take the time to have a look here at some of the great work that will be done as a result of your kindness.

You’ve done a wonderful thing and I’m proud to be able to share a little corner of the internet with you.

My non-eternal thanks,

GS

UPDATE (Certificate Download)

In the months following our epic March 2013 Red Nose Day fundraiser, I have been in communication with the wonderful RND team with the hope of getting us a certificate so that I may make it available as a thank you to everyone who has contributed.  This is a huge achievement, one which I doubt I’ll ever be part of again.  I think it will be nice to own a reminder of what a small group of people can achieve when they agree something is a worthy cause.  Click download below.  Please also click here to support our latest charitable fundraiser and be part of the next Team #GFGS achievement.

Download Certificate (PDF)

Donate To Godless Spellchecker’s Blog

Good For Good’s Sake – Red Nose Day – *UPDATED 04/03/2013

*Please skip to the bottom for progress updates

 

Red Nose Day (also known as Comic Relief) is a biennial UK charity event which aims to raise funds for a range of worthy causes in the Uk and Africa. See here for details on the incredible work they do.  Their efforts usually culminate in a live TV event on March 15th which informs the viewers of the total amount raised and how that money will be spent.

The main idea of the organisation is to utilise fun and entertainment as motivation for raising money.  On the evening many sketches are showcased and familiar faces make an appearance.

See below this wonderful sketch to give you a flavour of the general idea.

I’ve created the group “Good for Good’s Sake” here.  Its intention is hopefully self-explanatory.  You are able to donate via debit/credit card or PayPal by clicking “Sponsor Us”.

Non-UK Residents

Those of you without a UK address and postcode may struggle to donate.  Incidentally, Buckingham Palace is a UK address, and the postcode is  SW1A 1AA🙂

Join The Team

Alternatively, would you like to join the “Good For Good’s Sake Team” and organise your own fund-raising activity?

This can be anything from selling cakes at work, to getting people to sponsor you to do something “wacky” for the day.  Simply click on “Join Team”.  From here you will be able to set up your own profile and donations page. Your own fundraising profile will be displayed as a member of the #GFGS Team, and your total donations will also contribute towards the #GFGS team page total.

Anything you can do to raise funds will be fantastic.  I’ll share pictures, stories etc relating to any fundraising you have done here on my blog and via Twitter.

This isn’t an opportunity to divide or make an anti-religious message, but to combine our efforts to do something good simply because we can.

I often find “charity” is a card played when debating the advantages of religious belief.  It is often assumed those without religion are lacking in generosity and empathy.  This is simply not true.

Since creating my Twitter account I’ve been overwhelmed by the general active attitudes of those kind enough to engage with my tweets and feel this would be a fantastic opportunity to put this to good use.

Hopefully we can achieve something we can all be proud of.

I made the #GFGS team page active this morning (Thurs 28th Feb) with a target amount of £250.  Less than 24 hours later we’ve already passed £1000.  This is simply incredible. What will the total be when March 15th arrives?

GS

UPDATES:

04/03/2013: