As you’ve seen this week, we’ve collaborated with BigTent by Care.com for Mother’s Day to showcase mothers in the Indiegogo Life and BigTent parent communities who have brought their friends and family together in meaningful ways to make big things happen.

We all remember how parents used to communicate as we grew up—be it for a sleepover, a soccer game or a class assignment. They utilized all forms of interaction they could at the time, which were often limited to complex phone trees, class directories and collecting checks in an envelope, however, usually they were quite clunky and inefficient at best.

In the last two decades, much has changed within this realm—digital interaction has replaced much of what we used to know. Sites like Indiegogo Life and BigTent are giving parents, and mothers in particular, new ways to interact and collaborate with the help of discussion forums, credit card donations and email updates.

Moms can simply launch a fundraiser through Indiegogo Life, as well as rally the people they love for the children they care about with easy messaging on BigTent.

Not only that, but it’s providing new ways for mothers to make connections, both online and offline—something that can often be difficult for very busy parents. For example, when Karen (featured below) first moved to Napa, California, she was overwhelmed by the many options available for preschool, but now, she’s been able to connect with other mothers online and truly carve out her place in a new town.

Similarly, Nerissa—whose daughter was diagnosed with leukemia at a young age—has been able to reconnect with friends and family nearby and across the country through Indiegogo Life, as well as forge relationships with two other mothers experiencing the same challenges. In her words, “Whether it was Indiegogo or Facebook… I found that my friends introduced me to their friends who had also been going through similar things.”

Each are examples of ways that technology is bringing mothers together to make sure that parenthood remains a loving and supportive experience, both inside and outside the home.

Below are a few moms we admire and short stories of how they were able to use BigTent and Indiegogo Life for the greater good—from women who needed help making friends in a new neighborhood to a dedicated mother raising money for her daughter’s leukemia treatment.

If you’re interested in starting a free Indiegogo Life fundraiser for yourself or someone you love, click here to get started and follow Indiegogo Life on Facebook and Twitter for tips and the latest news here.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Indiegogo Life is a free fundraising site for life events powered by Indiegogo, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, and BigTent by Care.com is an online destination for local parenting groups with thousands of members.

Nerissa
“Something about knowing that I’d be able to share my story and potentially help other people through their journeys to know that they’re not the only ones going through it, is probably one of the greatest benefits of Indiegogo… Knowing that there’s always someone going through something similar or even something worse, and hoping they can take something positive out of it.”

Nerissa’s friends and family raised $21,000 on Indiegogo Life after her two year old daughter Mila was diagnosed with leukemia. https://bit.ly/1zJbMEe

Aundrea

“It’s like a hand-in-hand thing. Your family and everyone want to give and help other people, and then other people see that you want to help and it’s kind of a cycle.”

Aundrea is an inspirational mother who has used the BigTent to connect with the Foster City Parents Club and raise money for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

Sarah

“The feeling of love and support completely enveloped us and in the worst moment of our lives we found strength. We felt loved by complete strangers half way across the world. Our goal was met within 4 hours. I remember feeling relieved that we would now be able to live everyday we had with Hadlie with no regrets.”

Sarah is the mother of Hadlie–a young girl diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor–who raised $110,345 to give her daughter as many wonderful experiences as possible before her 4th birthday. She and her husband called it Hadlie’s Bucket List.

Karen

Karen works with other “Napa Moms” in Northern California on BigTent to highlight services available to mothers in the area and make it a bit easier to find a preschool in a town that has many choices for newcomers.

“It’s definitely providing a connection for moms who aren’t familiar and that’s the point of the organization to help people feel a little less alone. Being a mom is tough and it’s a little tougher when you feel like you don’t have resources or ways to meet people.”

Indiegogo Life is now Generosity by Indiegogo: the only socially conscious fundraising platform that’s free, fast, and open, giving individuals and organizations the power to improve lives everywhere. Find out more about Generosity at www.generosity.com.