Guest blogger: Elliot Greenberger is an MBA Candidate at the Yale School of Management and the creator of goodworkpeople.

My Unforgettable 28th Birthday

There comes a time when we all own up to our adulthood and accept the fact that we no longer have a need for birthday gifts. The problem, though, is that our friends and family keep wanting to give us gifts. So we let them buy us things—some we end up liking, most we end up forgetting.

This year, I let them give me a gift I will never forget.

How it all began

It started in early October, when the tragic suicides of teenagers like Tyler Clementi and Asher Brown caught national attention and reminded us of the very real consequences stemming from hatred against gays. Like others, I felt helpless and hopeless. I felt lucky to have had a supportive community growing up, but what could I do now?

Later that month, ten days before my 28th birthday, I set up a Birthday Wish to benefit The Trevor Project, the leading organization providing suicide prevention services to LGBT teens. I gave myself ten days to raise $500, unsure of how many people would be willing to give. I launched the page at 9:00am and met my goal by 2:30pm. By that evening: $1,000! A few days later: $2,000! And then: $3,500! By the time my birthday rolled around on October 27, I had raised over $4,200 for LGBT teens.

Each time a donation was made, I got an email on my BlackBerry: “Liz Kinsley has just donated $28 to Prevent Gay Teen Suicides”. I jumped up and down with each notice. Throughout the week, I got 135 of these notices—in other words, a lot of jumping. Getting gifts had never been so gratifying.

Why people got involved

When I started the Birthday Wish, the first thing I did was write an email to most of my address book. I talked about my personal connection to the cause, and how this year I wanted to do more. Many of the first donations came from people who knew me well and understood how much this mattered to me.

But others didn’t give because of my story. They gave because they had seen the news reports on gay suicides and bullying, or because they saw the incredible It Gets Better videos or because they knew someone who had struggled with coming out.

“Thank you so much for setting this up,” someone said to me at school. “I’ve been wanting to do something—I have a bunch of friends who have been through the same things—but I didn’t know how. It’s awesome to have such a straightforward way to get involved.” The issue was pressing, and people were itching for a way to make a difference.

Surprise!

People were thanking me for starting the Birthday Wish, but I felt I was the one who should be thanking them—I was blown away by how many people were willing to pull out their credit cards and donate. Even though I sent a couple emails, thanked everyone who donated, and updated my page as each goal was reached, everything seemed to happen on its own.

I looked at the list of people who gave money, and the list ran the gamut: friends, family, friends of family, family of friends, people I haven’t spoken to in years, and people I’ve never even met! I had asked these people to donate just $5, but many of them were willing to donate much more (I didn’t realize that Causes sets the default donation to your birthday age, so most people gave at least $28).

My Birthday Wish surprised me. I had a blast, I got inspired, I reconnected with old friends, and I raised money and awareness for an important issue. Much more than I expected.

And the wish lives on. The Help Prevent Gay Teen Suicides cause now has over 750 members and is growing each day!

To get involved, check out Elliot’s cause and The Trevor Project’s Causes profile.