Planning a wedding is stressful. Questions around who to invite, what to eat, where to take pictures, what kind of music to play—the list goes on and on. But when Lucie and Geoff started planning their big day, at least one element was a no-brainer.
A fundraiser for GiveWell would serve as their wedding registry.
“I think we were pretty aligned since the beginning that we didn’t want to get gifts,” says Lucie. With successful careers and after living together for several years, the couple didn’t feel the need for a traditional wedding registry with household items. Offering a fundraiser instead allowed guests to contribute whatever felt reasonable to them, avoiding the social and financial pressures of buying a registry item.
Lucie and Geoff’s wedding was held in the Czech Republic with a blend of Czech and American guests, and the two cultures celebrate weddings differently—weddings in the US often involve gifts for the couple, while wedding guests in the Czech Republic often bring envelopes of cash instead. “It just seemed better for everyone to have a unified outlet.”
“The fundraiser page was super easy to set up, and the support for various payment options was a big positive,” says Lucie. With guests contributing from different countries, it was important that the fundraising platform offered an option to donate via bank without taking a cut. “When we were first deciding to do this, I did feel a little overwhelmed with choices—there’s a handful of different fundraising websites out there, and I didn’t really know if one was better than the other,” says Geoff. After speaking with a GiveWell Philanthropy Associate and learning that GiveWell recommends Every.org, Lucie and Geoff felt confident in their decision.
Lucie and Geoff designated their fundraiser for GiveWell’s All Grants Fund and personalized their page with a cover photo and a blurb explaining why they chose to support GiveWell. “We were a little indecisive at the beginning because you need to set a target for your fundraiser, but we didn’t have a goal in mind,” says Lucie. “We chose the smart-target option, which increases the fundraiser target ever so slightly each time someone makes a donation, and that worked well.”
Lucie and Geoff’s registry fundraiser raised over $24,000 for GiveWell’s All Grants Fund. “We found that pre-seeding the fundraiser with a little donation from ourselves helped break the ice and get more folks rolling in—donating to something that is at $0 can feel a bit scary,” says Lucie. “We also sent a post-wedding, photo-sharing email that included a little ‘P.S. Here’s our fundraiser’ reminder, and that pretty clearly generated a second wave of donations.”
Lucie and Geoff’s wedding was full of thoughtful details unique to them. Hosted on the grounds of the beautiful Lipnice Castle, their special day included vows exchanged in both English and Czech, traditional Scottish line dancing, falconry demonstrations, ceramic tile decorating, and celebrating with loved ones until sunrise. Thank you to Lucie and Geoff for including GiveWell as a part of this big moment!
If you’d like to include GiveWell on your wedding registry, or through any other event (birthdays, holidays, race sponsorships—there’s no event too big or too small), you can easily set up a fundraiser through Every.org by visiting our homepage. You can also reach out to us directly to create a custom donation link if you’d prefer not to use Every.org. Contact us at info@givewell.org with any questions.