CINCINNATI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–DonorDrive, an EngageSmart (NYSE:ESMT) solution and digital fundraising platform for nonprofits, announced the launch of a new version of its fundraising-focused app for iOS and Android. The DonorDrive Charity Fundraising app, which was created to transform the way people fundraise, has demonstrated significant success for nonprofits since its launch in July 2021. Nonprofits using the DonorDrive Charity Fundraising app saw a 195% increase in the average amount raised per fundraiser. , a 240% increase in average engagement rate among app users and a 56% increase in average adoption rate compared to the competing app in the market. The app’s average ratings on the Apple App Store and Google Play have maintained a 4.9/5.0 rating since launch.

DonorDrive runs some of North America’s largest nonprofit fundraising events and campaigns, including THON, a Penn State student-run philanthropy that benefits Four Diamonds and raises funds to improve the lives of children and families affected by childhood cancer. More than 16,000 Penn State student volunteers raised $13,756,348 through their 46-hour dance marathon from February 18-20, 2022 and saw a 29.3% increase in their annual fundraising. THON uses both the DonorDrive web platform and, new to the 2021-2022 campaign, the DonorDrive Charity fundraising app.

“We were thrilled to give all of our amazing supporters, including Penn State THON, Mini-THON, Team FTK and Play For The Kids attendees, the DonorDrive app this year,” said Michael Ringenbach, Associate Director of Four Diamonds. “THON’s student volunteers have easily used the app, which has contributed to their immense fundraising success at their record-breaking 50th event. We are grateful for their support in our shared mission to defeat childhood cancer.

The two most exciting new features that have just launched from DonorDrive – contactless event registration and new activity tracking integrations – have been designed to boost fan engagement and help fundraising. funds to exceed their goals.

New Event Check-In feature uses mobile fundraiser geolocation for live check-in at in-person events, reduces event wait times, provides attendees with post-check-in instructions, and reduces administrative aspects of event production so that volunteers and staff can focus on the fan experience. Nonprofit staff can get a more accurate picture of attendees, segment post-event communications, and better plan resources for the following year.

Stacey Chase, Sr. Manager of Community and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising at Be The Match Foundation, said, “At the best of times, checking people in at events is a waste. These new features could make it a very smooth experience for supporters. We may use this new registration data to make decisions about event day staffing, further personalize our marketing communications, and gain greater insight into our event day experience.

DonorDrive has also updated its Active Impact feature set to include new integrations with Apple Health, Fitbit, Google Fit and Strava. Active Impact enables nonprofits to host activity challenges that keep fundraisers engaged for physical, virtual, and hybrid events. Nonprofits can combine activity challenges with achievement badges and motivational messages based on fundraising behavior, set milestones for fundraisers to achieve, offer donor incentives to generate more donations and allow donors to pledge donations for each completed fundraising activity. Active Impact gamifies the fundraising experience and is designed to produce more effective fundraising results – fundraisers using Active Impact raise 25% more on average than those who don’t.

Integration with popular activity apps will enhance the fundraising experience when participating in cause-related challenges by giving their activity meaning, whether they choose to walk, run, ride, stream, jog, practice mindfulness, or whatever type of activity works best. their. Additionally, these updates open the doors for nonprofits to diversify their revenue and quickly create new fundraising opportunities, such as corporate wellness challenges, that can significantly expand their network of supporters. .

The DonorDrive Charity fundraising app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play here.

About DonorDrive:

DonorDrive, an EngageSmart solution, is an advanced digital fundraising platform for nonprofits that turns everyday people into powerful fundraisers. Generate more revenue for your cause with the most immersive, connected, and well-designed fundraising experience ever. For over 20 years, DonorDrive has helped hundreds of nonprofit organizations like Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Covenant House, Doctors Without Borders, Muscular Dystrophy Association, World Vision and hundreds more to raise billions of dollars. To learn more about DonorDrive, visit www.donordrive.com.

About Engage Smart:

EngageSmart is a leading provider of customer engagement software and integrated payment solutions. At EngageSmart, our mission is to simplify customer and customer engagement to enable our customers to focus their resources on initiatives that improve their businesses and better serve their communities. Headquartered in Braintree, MA, EngageSmart offers true vertical, single-instance, multi-tenant Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) solutions, including SimplePractice, InvoiceCloud, HealthPay24, and DonorDrive, designed to simplify the engagement of our customers with their customers by driving digital adoption and self-service. EngageSmart serves more than 79,000 customers in the SMB Solutions segment and more than 3,100 customers in the Enterprise Solutions segment across five primary verticals: Health & Wellness, Government, Utilities, Financial Services and Donations. For more information, visit https://engagesmart.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

]]> https://adroberts.net/ithaca-college-partners-with-mindfulness-app-for-students/ Wed, 16 Feb 2022 05:10:11 +0000 https://adroberts.net/ithaca-college-partners-with-mindfulness-app-for-students/

In an effort to address student concerns and needs regarding mental health support and services, Ithaca College has partnered with the mindfulness app Sanvello and is offering a free premium level version of the app to anyone. the world in college.

The college is a JED Campus, which is a four-year partnership the college launched in 2020. The campus is rated on student mental health offerings and JED helps the college improve and increase services. Sanvello is a JED partner and over 12 colleges across the country have partnered with the app. Sanvello fights stress, anxiety and depression and offers guided journeys, meditations and daily mood tracking.

Michelle Goode, program director at the Counselling, Health and Wellness Centre, said one of JED’s recommendations was to provide more opportunities for students to develop coping skills. She said she thinks the app will give students an additional resource to improve mindfulness.

“Our mission vision would be to provide students with health and wellness content education,” Goode said. “And also the skills they might need to be healthier and make healthier choices and decisions while they’re students that will hopefully continue after graduation.”

The college offers workshops and groups such as the “Building Your Anxiety Toolbox” group in which students can participate via the Psychiatric Counseling and Services Center (CAPS) or Student Leadership Institute programming, but Goode said she thinks students are often too busy to attend.

“[Sanvello is] as an extra layer of care and something someone can do, regardless of what they are currently going through, but certainly would not replace someone who might need to seek a higher level of mental health services,” Goode said.

The partnership was funded with funds raised from Give Tuesday in the fall semester of 2021. Giving Tuesday raised $22,287 and 73 donors donated directly to the Sanvello app initiative, raising $6,807.

Senior Michelle Pei, president of Active Minds, a student organization that focuses on promoting mental health on campus, said she thought the app couldn’t harm the campus community, but that it might not be good to put more pressure on students to seek help on their own .

“What [Sanvello’s] doing is super cool,” Pei said. “But at the same time, like any therapeutic meditation through your phone, the problem I have is that it’s really about putting therapy and helping–looking on you rather than providing resources or easing the burden.

Pei also said she thinks the funds could be better used to support and increase CAPS Services because she knows students who have struggled to get appointments in a timely manner. In 2015, a group of students on campus formed a campaign #getCAPSReady to push the college to increase CAPS services and counselors when student demand increases.

“I’ve also heard that CAPS has been a difficult process for many people in which they have had to be on the waiting list for weeks, which is not an ideal situation for someone trying to reach out. hand and get help,” Pei said.

Freshman Miriam Schatz said she hadn’t heard of the Sanvello partnership but wanted to download the app and try it out.

“College is definitely stressful and I think it’s necessary for colleges to provide mental health resources because it’s such a big transition for students,” Schatz said. “To me, I could probably contact CAPS, but I don’t because it’s a big process and I don’t even really know how to access it or how it works, but I think an app is easy and done. ”

CAPS has ten clinical staff members and tries to schedule initial student appointments within 5-7 business days depending on its Web page. Goode said the Sanvello app is in no way intended to replace CAPS and that Sanvello is an addition to existing services.

“We don’t want to replace the board because that’s not what the app is for,” Goode said. “For me, the phone app is a really awesome way that, in theory, gives everyone on campus anytime, fingertip access to the tools they need to deal with stress or whatever. that she is living at that time.”

Goode also clarified that the college will receive a number of people downloading the app with an Ithaca College email address, but no personal information about the user or who downloads the app will be shared with the college or CAPS.

Pei said promoting wellness on campus is always a good thing, but added that she hopes the college will always focus on promoting connections between people.

“I think if you use your phone and your apps to do mindfulness meditation… that much more power to you,” Pei said. “But I just don’t think it would be smart for your tech device to be the thing that houses all of your workload, all of your therapy, all of your entertainment. It’s too focused on that and not enough on human relations.

]]> https://adroberts.net/work-on-your-well-being-five-resources-for-success-redbird-news/ Mon, 07 Feb 2022 21:31:41 +0000 https://adroberts.net/work-on-your-well-being-five-resources-for-success-redbird-news/

Illinois State students reported that stress and anxiety were two of the biggest factors affecting their academic performance. Fortunately, the University’s Health and Wellness Promotion Unit offers several resources to improve Redbirds’ sense of well-being.

From coaching sessions to deep breathing meditation, Promoting Health and Wellness helps students overcome the obstacles they face.

“We’ve found that more students are reporting difficulty with different aspects of mental and emotional health,” said Jim Almeda, MS ’02, assessment and wellness initiatives coordinator at Health Promotion and Wellness. Almeda is also a certified health and wellness coach with the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching.

Alongside her colleagues, Almeda ensures that students across the state of Illinois have access to the many programs available to those looking to improve their well-being. Here are some of the free resources available to students.

1. Wellness Coaching

Introduced on campus two years ago, wellness coaching offers students the opportunity to reflect on their experiences and develop strategies for success. During a session, students meet one-on-one with a Certified Wellness Coach to discuss their wellness goals and identify how they can work to achieve them.

“What we do is work with them to tap into their strengths to help them see what they are capable of, and to create a plan to help them understand what their vision is for their well-being. and a roadmap to get there,” Almeda said. “We, as coaches, try not to tell them what we think they should do. Instead, we really work with them to help them identify the things they think they can do and want to do that will work for them.

Coaching sessions typically last 30 to 60 minutes, with the frequency determined by the needs of the student.

2. Koru Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness is about acknowledging and accepting one’s thoughts, feelings, and bodily state. The Koru Mindfulness Program was designed specifically for students to help them overcome common challenges faced by young adults. The research-based program, developed by Duke University, focuses on gratitude and “being in the moment.”

During four weekly sessions of approximately one hour each, students are guided through meditation and mindfulness techniques. This practice allows an increased awareness of one’s thoughts and feelings in the present moment, and therefore the practice of mindfulness.

The Koru 2.0 program offers four additional sessions that will further extend student learning. “We’ve seen people who, over the eight weeks, have really noticed significant changes,” Almeda said. “They may not be experts in mindfulness and meditation, but they use it enough where they find it can help their overall well-being.”

3. Learn and grow as a group

Facilitated by Health and Wellness Promotion staff, the workshops are a great option for students and faculty looking to both learn and share information about improving their well-being. This resource is often used by Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) who wish to educate their members on certain topics related to student success and well-being.

Specific workshop content varies, but topics can range from nutrition to workspace organization. For mindfulness and stress reduction, staff offer “Managing Your Stress by Being More Aware,” a workshop in which participants will learn and discuss stressors, coping techniques, and self-care strategies. .

Interested groups should determine which workshop best meets their needs and submit a request with a preferred date, time, and location, as well as an alternate date, time, and location at least two weeks in advance.

4. LIVE WELL with Eight at State

The Eight at State initiative addresses the maintenance of one’s well-being by focusing on the eight dimensions of well-being: emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, physical, social, spiritual and professional. The initiative’s LIVE WELL program is an offshoot of this belief.

The incentive program is designed to empower students in healthy living. Upon joining the program, students will record their daily activities as they align with one or more of the eight dimensions of well-being. Participation in activities awards students points that will go towards monthly rewards and challenges.

The objective of this program is to encourage students to adopt healthy lifestyle habits and to motivate them to adopt them as regularly as possible. After only the first 10 registered activities, participants are eligible to receive a LIVE WELL t-shirt or stone coaster.

5. Wellness in the palm of your hand

WellTrack is an app with functions similar to the LIVE WELL program, providing a virtual workshop alternative for students who might not be able to fit wellness classes into their schedule.

The self-guided program can be used to treat stress, anxiety and depression. After an initial wellness assessment, users receive information and courses tailored to their specific needs. In the app, students can enroll in cognitive behavior classes, track their mood, engage in regular reflections, and complete wellness assessments to track their progress.

The app, paid for by Student Advising Services, Student Health Services, Health Promotion and Wellness, and Campus Recreation, is available to all students, staff and members of the body. Illinois State professor.

In addition to the above resources, Health Promotion and Wellness also sponsors the Student Wellness Ambassador Team and PAWSitively Stress Free Therapy Dog Tours.

“There are many factors that impact people’s well-being, and when you think about all of these issues, they’re kind of interrelated, aren’t they? So if you don’t sleep well, you won’t be resilient. If you don’t take the time to take care of yourself, it may be difficult for you to sleep well at night,” Almeda said. “We do, however, have programs that can help students get started and take action that can greatly help them navigate all of these different factors.”

]]> https://adroberts.net/how-to-exercise-mindfully-borneo-online-newsletter/ Mon, 07 Feb 2022 20:03:05 +0000 https://adroberts.net/how-to-exercise-mindfully-borneo-online-newsletter/

jenny marder

CNA/THE NEW YORK TIMES – It was a blustery summer day in southeastern Tasmania, and Heather Larsen, a professional slackliner, was standing on a one-inch-wide strip of nylon slung between two of the highest cliffs in the southern hemisphere. Nearly 1,000 feet below, seals barked and waves pounded against the rocks.

Larsen was tied to the line with a harness and leash, but the gusts of wind and the height terrified her as she crossed. So she focused on her breathing. Arms above her head, knees slightly bent to absorb the vibration of the line, she inhaled as she took one step and exhaled as she took the next.

Be here, she thought as she put her foot down. “Now be here.”

Larsen, who is 35, uses this type of breathing and mantra as a form of meditation to stay focused while balancing on a bouncy webbing band. “It helps me stay only in that moment,” she said, and avoids distractions, like previous shaky footsteps or upcoming line tension changes.

Although meditation has been shown to have many benefits, including increased focus, reduced stress, and a mind clear of distractions, it can be difficult to find time for it in a busy day. But some trainers, doctors and athletes have said it can be incorporated into your exercise routine, enriching your workout.

With a clear, focused mind, you’re better able to make quick decisions in a basketball game or react to a beach volleyball set. And experts said meditation’s focus on the breath and the body shifts the focus from the outcome – whether it’s winning a race, increasing your running time or losing weight – towards movement for the pleasure of movement, which makes it more enjoyable.

Most often, this meditation takes the form of mindfulness, which Sara Lazar, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, has called “paying attention to the present moment in an open, inquisitive, and nonjudgmental way.”

His research showed that just eight weeks of mindfulness meditation, including movement-based forms like yoga, produced beneficial structural changes in the brain, particularly in brain regions associated with mind wandering and stress. . She said incorporating mindfulness into your movements is simple and can bring unexpected rewards.

FIRST, BREATHE

Before a sports game or activity that requires focus, a few minutes of intentional breathing can prepare you mentally, says performance expert and author of The Mindful Athlete: Secrets To Pure Performance George Mumford who has led sessions of regular meditations with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers.

And during activity, deep breathing can get you out of your head and calm what he calls “the monkey brain,” a mind filled with emotions and thoughts.

Dr. Chiti Parikh, who directs the Integrative Health and Wellness Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, teaches her patients how to breathe deeply in a way that engages the diaphragm, the largest respiratory muscle in the body, which separates the chest cavity of the abdomen. Studies show that deep breathing can activate bodily functions associated with calm and relaxation, as well as calm responses to stress.

Also, she says, people tend to take shallow breaths during exercise rather than lung breaths from the diaphragm.

To practice breathing this way, Dr. Parikh said, lie on your back, relax your muscles, and place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Take long, slow inhales and exhales through your nose and watch your hands as they move. Inhale for four seconds, then exhale for six. Over time, lengthen your exhalations. Notice how with shallow breaths the chest moves, but with deep breaths the belly moves too.

Once you’re able to breathe deeply, you can incorporate it into any activity: swimming, scuba diving, or plowing the driveway.

FOCUS ON THE BODY

Focusing on the sensations of your body as it moves — for example, mentally scanning body parts and thinking about muscle groups that are engaged — can also bring peace to a wandering mind, said Kalpanatit Broderick, who runs a fitness studio in Seattle that combines strength and cardiovascular training with mindfulness meditation.

“If I pay attention to my body while doing pushups, I can feel my shoulders, my chest, my triceps, my quads,” said Broderick, who was once a nationally ranked distance runner.

Or during a run, he says, think about how the arms swing, whether the shoulders are relaxed, whether you hit the ground with your heels or your toes.

It forces you to commit to the movement rather than focus on the outcome, he said.

SETTING AN INTENT

Two years ago, Imani Cheers began a daily ritual of meditative running, walking, yoga and cycling to combat the stress of a busy job as a single mother during the pandemic. A fundamental part of her meditation is setting an intention for each day which she says out loud to herself while exercising. “Don’t repeat bad habits and expect a different result,” for example, or “Finish that half marathon without injury.”

His routine affected more than his training, said Dr. Cheers, who is provost for undergraduate teaching at George Washington University. “At 41, I am healthier, happier and stronger than I have ever been. And who says that after a pandemic?

THE GOAL: FINDING THE FLOW

Putting meditation into motion can have another benefit: Reaching the state of “flow”.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who coined the term flow, defined it in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to have any effect. ‘importance”.

Anyone who exercises or plays sports, whether professional or amateur, has likely experienced some version of a flow state. On the basketball court, Mumford said, the basket gets bigger and time slows down.

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s definition of flow is very similar to the benefits derived from meditative movement: inner clarity, intense focus and a sense of serenity. And while meditation before or during exercise can’t guarantee flow, it can set the conditions to achieve it.

“You don’t try to make things happen, you allow them to happen,” Mumford said.

Larsen, the slackliner, agrees. She is best known for her stomach tricks, such as lunges, handstands, and upside-down hanging of her ankles, all performed incredibly high in the air. One of her favorite slacklines near her home in southern Utah spans a slot canyon overlooking swirling sandstone and cottonwood.

There, Larsen can easily access the state of flow because she has become better, through meditation, at putting aside distractions, ego and focus on results. And that’s the point of meditative movement, she says: “The effort goes away and that’s it. It feels good and it’s easy.

]]> https://adroberts.net/pupils-at-pantysgallog-primary-school-go-digital-with-an-app/ Sun, 30 Jan 2022 18:49:05 +0000 https://adroberts.net/pupils-at-pantysgallog-primary-school-go-digital-with-an-app/

Pupils at Pantysgallog Primary have been busy designing a new app called ‘MIHealth’ which aims to promote wellness and health in their daily lives.

The wellness app includes tips, challenges, and tools to improve wellness. The students designed the app to provide a wide range of activities specifically for students by students. There are mindfulness activities for calm and relaxation, but the app also includes awesome technology like augmented reality to bring fitness routines and artwork to students in their classroom and at home.

The initial vision for the app came from students discussing how being a Silver Rights Respecting School identifies the importance of investing in their overall well-being. They then worked with Value Added Education and developed an app that was suitable not only for students at the school but also for the community.

Principal Darren Thomas said, “We are extremely proud of the work done by the students of Pantysgallog, working with value-added education experts, to design their very own health and wellness app, MiHealth. Over the past two years, we have taken a strategic approach to becoming a school where health and well-being are at the heart of everything we do, supporting our students and staff. The work of our students, involved in this project, gives us the ability to support the well-being of individuals, who have access to the devices, around the world. The project educated our students on how they can take care of their own well-being, while improving their digital proficiency levels. It was a great success.”

The school held a virtual event yesterday to showcase its new app and counselors were invited to attend. Chief of Council and Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Lisa Mytton, was present alongside Deputy Chief, Cllr Geraint Thomas and Dowlais and Pant Ward Cllr Julian Amos.

Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Lisa Mytton, said: “I have been so impressed with the students and staff at Pantysgallog for creating the MIHealth app. The app is perfectly designed for students, parents and residents to use, with content that improves their well-being and health in an engaging and accessible way. As a cabinet member for education, I would love to see more of this in our schools in the future. The pandemic has been an incredibly difficult time for many students and content like this is just one way to support them and others both at school and at home.

The vision of MTCBC’s RARS Education Strategy is to ensure mental and physical health support is available to every child and youth in the borough. This app is an example of enabling students to benefit from wellness and health through the use of engaging and informative digital content while developing digital skills at the same time.

Deputy Chief, Cllr Geraint Thomas said, “Seeing the incredible creative effort and intelligence that has gone into this app has really impressed me. Innovative ideas like this are what we need to move forward in supporting the county borough’s children, families and school staff. This app is an important step in helping students with health and wellness, which I believe is so important as we emerge from the pandemic which has been a difficult time for all of us.”

]]> https://adroberts.net/how-to-exercise-mindfully-the-new-york-times/ Fri, 28 Jan 2022 18:55:35 +0000 https://adroberts.net/how-to-exercise-mindfully-the-new-york-times/

It was a blustery summer’s day in southeast Tasmania, and Heather Larsen, a professional slackliner, stood on a one-inch-wide strip of nylon suspended between two of the tallest cliffs in the southern hemisphere. Nearly 1,000 feet below, seals barked and waves pounded against the rocks.

Ms Larsen was tied to the line with a harness and leash, but the gusts of wind and the height terrified her as she crossed. So she focused on her breathing. Arms above her head, knees slightly bent to absorb the vibration of the line, she inhaled as she took one step and exhaled as she took the next.

Be here, she thought as she put her foot down. “Now be here.”

Ms Larsen, who is 35, uses this type of breathing and mantra as a form of meditation to stay focused while balancing on a bouncy strap band. “It helps me stay only in that moment,” she said, and avoids distractions, like previous shaky footsteps or upcoming line tension changes.

Although meditation has been shown to have many benefits, including increased focus, stress reduction and a mind clear of distractions, it can be hard to find time for that in a busy day. But some trainers, doctors, and athletes say it can be incorporated into your exercise routine, enriching your workout.