Pay it forward scheme

Hi everyone,

I am planning on offering a pay it forward scheme for my cuddle practice and I would appreciate any ideas and feedback you may have - pros, clients and enthusiasts opinions all welcomed!

I am primarily doing this because I speak to so many people who would like a session but they are not in the financial position to pay for one. My other reason is that many clients like to tip me or give me gifts and I think it would be more beneficial if they could contribute to somebody getting a cuddle instead.

So far I have thought of the following:
1) putting a page on my website whereby people can pay a couple of pounds or pay for half a session (£35) and I would then match that.
2) having a portable card machine set up in my cuddle room so that if people wanted to 'tip me' at the end of a session that they can actually pay towards another person's session.

I also need to think about how a person 'qualifies' to have a free session, perhaps they need to be receiving some sort of UK benefit but then I'd hate to ask for such personal information or invade their privacy.

What I need the most help with however is what I can do to reassure donors that their monetary gift isn't just going straight into my pocket and is in fact being used to give someone a gift of a professional cuddle. Perhaps the recipient could write a little anonymous thank you note and this gets put on my website and gets emailed to everyone that donated?

As you can see I am in the initial stages of planning so all ideas and feedback would be incredibly helpful!

Thank you 🤗

Sheena123

I wish I could help. But I will say that that’s very sweet of you 🥰🥰

xandriarain

it would be quite difficult to avoid con artists without asking for some documentation of income or hardship.

CuddleDuncan

Very much in favour.

Here's a thought. Create a password protected page on the website. The page displays every donation (anonymously) and every session (even more anonymously). For example, donations and disbursements could be collated by week or month. The only way to get the password to the page is to be a donor. That way the people who are paying for the scheme can see what happens to the money.

You could use a separate account and post the statements, suitably anonymised. For example, you don't really want to publish the exact date of sessions because that could lead to compromise of anonymity.

At the start I wouldn't worry too much as long as it's all properly documented. However, if it's a success there may be a requirement to register with the Charities Commission.

If it's a success you could expand it to other professionals. Some people might be better at inspiring donations, others at doing the sessions.

@xandriarain is right. In my experience the people who don't actually have money, mostly don't talk about it. Those who talk a lot about lack of funds, usually have enough.

The problem with asking people for evidence of benefits is not so much that in itself, but the fact that there are a lot of people in low paid jobs, or part time work, who are no better off than those on benefits. There are also more people than you think who refuse benefits on principle, although they would be unlikely to accept low-cost sessions either.

History teaches us that low-cost is much more effective than free. In other words, the person who has the session should always pay something, even if it's only a fiver. The principle of payment is important.

The most powerful sessions I've had were only an hour. Longer is nicer, sure, but isn't necessary.

Bella_Sera

It seems strange to ask one client to pay for another prospective clients hypothetical session. Why not just raise your prices slightly and then donate your time or, as @CuddleDuncan describes, advertise a discount for folks in a group you’re interested in supporting?

xandriarain

@CuddleDuncan I agree about making the sessions low cost rather than free. People don't put a lot of value on free. Many therapists offer a sliding scale. And as for documentation, I was thinking more along the lines of pay stubs, bank statements in the case of being low income or a death certificate, police reports, medical documentation, etc in the event of hardship.

CuddleWho

This is a really nice idea in a way but also to be frank a little self-serving, although I’m sure you didn’t mean it that way. If I want to be generous I will either give to someone I know, or I will give to a real charitable organization that can make a difference. Paying you to go cuddle someone else is not remotely something I would consider.