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About Us

About Us

Spend one night outside to help fight homelessness, addiction, human trafficking, & abuse.

We invite you to join a Movement of people that stand behind the mission of Giving Hope Retreat, New Orleans Mission, & LynHaven Retreat to provide love and hope to the hurting & homeless in our community. Many are choosing to sleep outside for one night which will raise critical funds and awareness that will play a major role in making sure that men, women, and children have a safe place to stay every night.

 

The event will take place on April 3rd, 2020, at Giving Hope Retreat, 31294 US-190, Lacombe, LA 70445 from 7 pm – 8 am.

  1. A Staggering Number of People are Homeless Each Night

    A total of 552,830 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2018. As of today, the numbers have not decreased… We have a big problem and together we can fix it.

  2. Approximately 65 percent of the homeless population is found in homeless shelters

    Homelessness almost always involves people facing desperate situations and extreme hardship. They must make choices among very limited options, often in the context of extreme duress, substance abuse disorders, untreated mental illness, or unintended consequences from well-intentioned policies.

  3. 200,000 people are unsheltered

    Each night in America 200,000 people are found sleeping unsheltered on our streets in places not intended for human habitation, such as sidewalks, parks, cars, or abandoned buildings.

Get Started

Get Started

What is peer-to-peer fundraising?

Peer-to-peer fundraising (also known as “Friends asking Friends”) is a method of fundraising that motivates supporters to fundraise on behalf of a cause, as opposed to an organization asking for donations directly. In this case, you are asking your peers to contribute to a cause you care about.

How will you and your peers support the cause?

Giving Hope Retreat, New Orleans Mission, & LynHaven Retreat can’t end homelessness without partners like yourself. We need champions, messengers, and storytellers to help us move our mission forward. Peer-to-peer fundraising is a great way to reach new networks of people and gain new donors. You are now a part of our organization’s narrative and your outreach on our behalf will bring new attention to our mission to rescue men & women from their pain, help them recover, and reengage back to the life they were destined for.

How do I get started?

Stare down your fundraising goal – try raising $250 towards your goal in one week!
Day 1: Sponsor yourself for $30
Day 2: Ask three family members for $10
Day 3: Ask five friends to donate $10
Day 4: Ask four co-workers to sponsor you for $5 (don’t forget to also ask your company if they have a matching gifts program). “Co-workers” can be interchanged with volunteers or other leaders if you are involved in an association.
Day 5: E-mail 10 personal contacts and ask for a $5 donation
Day 6: Ask 10 people in your social network for a $5 donation. Social networks include Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. If social media isn’t your thing, try texting your contacts and asking them to contribute.
Day 7: Ask one business you frequent for $20

Can I use an online platform to promote this?

Yes you can. When you go to our registration page there is a place to setup and promote all in one place. Please click Register to visit our page. You then select create my own fundraising button and you’ll be on your way to becoming a fundraising guru.

Can I use an online platform to promote this?

Making your “asks” is the most time consuming part of fundraising, so we recommend starting with your Group 1 contacts. You can practice on them since they are your most captive audience and they’ll give you some starting gifts to get you going. Then move to Group 2 (after some donations have come in from Group 1 and use the best material that generated a response from Group 1. Lastly, your messaging to Group 3 can build on what you sent to Group 2, and what seemed to resonate with most people.

You can call people, or ask them in person. You can write a letter by hand, send an email, or post on social media, or you can try all of these approaches depending on how you usually communicate with your contacts.

With these steps, in just one week you will be well on your way to achieving your fundraising goal!

Click here to download your information packet.

We are volunteers. We are advocates.

TIPS

TIPS

Who to ask, how to ask, and how often?

We know that fundraising can be challenging, especially considering the ambitious goals we ask Homeless for a Night participants to achieve. If you break the work of fundraising into manageable tasks, it’s easier than you think. Every successful fundraising campaign we’ve worked with begins with the same two steps – and you can too. Here are the steps:

  1. Divide your contacts into groups and customize your messages
  2. Ask each group directly for what you want

Step 1: Divide your contacts into groups and customize your messages

Group 1: The circle of people closest to you in the world
Group 2: Friends, family, and colleagues whom you see often and with whom you share common values
Group 3: Everyone else on your contact list with whom you can share the Homeless for a Night event.

Step 2: Ask each group directly for what you want

Making your “asks” is the most time consuming part of fundraising, so we recommend starting with your Group 1 contacts. You can practice on them since they are your most captive audience and they’ll give you some starting gifts to get you going. Then move to Group 2 (after some donations have come in from Group 1 and use the best material that generated a response from Group 1. Lastly, your messaging to Group 3 can build on what you sent to Group 2, and what seemed to resonate with most people.

You can call people, or ask them in person. You can write a letter by hand, send an email, or post on social media, or you can try all of these approaches depending on how you usually communicate with your contacts.

We are Changemakers. Now you can be too.

FAQs

FAQs

Question: How do I save time by cutting and pasting text while also trying to make my appeals personal?

Answer: Use an email template (see the ‘Suggested Wording’ section of the Homeless for a Night Packet, page 5, for content you can cut and paste) that includes the information you want to share with the different people you are contacting. Address each person or group by name, and make the opening line personal to them. You can keep the majority of the email the same, but if you can include some specific, unique details for different people or groups, your requests will be more successful.

A personalized message from you will open people’s eyes. By sleeping out, you are showing your friends that you care enough to do something out of your comfort zone to help end homelessness, human trafficking, mental illness, & addiction.

Question: How do I explain where their money goes?

Answer: The funds raised by Homeless for a Night participants will be appropriated to helping as the donor directs. The areas include: human trafficking, homelessness, addiction, mental illness, & physical abuse.

Question: When and how do I appropriately thank people for their gifts?

Answer: We will take care of thanking the people that support you! When you turn in your pledge forms, we will save this information and at the end of the event, we will thank them for supporting you, and also help collect any pledges of support that have not been collected.

Question: What if someone ignores my requests for support?

Answer: Ask again! If someone doesn’t respond the first time, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are not interested in helping. Life moves quickly and sometimes a reminder email (“hey buddy, the Homeless for a Night is in a few days”) is all it takes.

Contact Us

Contact Us

Email

kirk@neworleansmission.org

Call

504-523-2116

Location

Giving Hope Retreat 31294 US-190, Lacombe, LA 70445