CaringBridge

I think the sight serves a valuable role however the message and language around donations is misleading or possibly intentionally self-profiting for CaringBridge. "A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a page like ___ for two weeks. Will you make a gift to ensure that this page stays online for them and for you?" does not imply that this is a free service but communicates that without financial donations your person's information will not be accessible. I am asking the people behind this program to please consider this language and how it is interpreted by people already going though a difficult time.

We became aware of CaringBeisfe not long after our son, then 11yrs old, was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma and began treatment. Creating a space and venue for communication with friends and family about his progress, our experiences, and the emotional trip such an impactful journey has was provided by CaringBridge. It let us easily and effectively communicate on a broad scale, and helped us both in sharing our experiences and easing the manner in which we could reach out to people who wanted to be in touch and know how our son was doing. He fully recovered, and we so appreciated all that CaringBridge did for us along the way.

Caring Bridge! Greedy Bridge is more accurate! Sure its platform gives vulnerable family and friends a feeling of love and empathy! Very slick organization that preys in human tragedy. I will be calling the Minnesota Attorney generals office to complain about their deceptive predatory practices. After making a generous donation they then say there’s a charge. ?? Really. For me it was $100. I later learned the entire donation and charge went to Caring Bridge. Zero to the family with a toddler fighting brain cancer. There is a dark deception in this “non profit”!

Shameful how they mislead for people donating directly to them instead of families. They have gotten more devious about it throughout these years and it needs to be stopped.

The donation in 'honor' of peoples loved ones is misleading and needs to be changed. People think they are donating to the individual whose name is plastered on the page, but all the money goes to Caring Bridge! What they CARE about is getting those grieving family members cash. Truly sad.

Agree with other users. My 4 year old niece with cancer got less money for her treatment because several people were tricked by the wording of Caring Bridge‘s misleading donation prompt. It’s sick.

To the folks leaving one-star reviews - perhaps you're not aware of how non-profits works. They need to raise money from donations in order to provide their service free of charge to the users (families often dealing with unimaginable health-related hardship). The site is not collecting money to give to the people who have created sites on the platform. Come on - if you want to send a gift to your loved ones, use Apple Pay or Zelle or whatever. This platform does an AMAZING job allowing families to share their stories with a wide network of friends and family without having to repeat tedious details and difficult sentiments over and over. It's a great platform. I Can't see how users and donors wouldn't agree to this. I subtract one star only because the popups to donate to the charity to keep the platform operating are excessive.

I am finding this site useful to communicate with my sister's friends and family during her battle with stage 4 breast cancer; however, I am giving one star for the same reason that many others have given poor reviews. The pop-ups soliciting donations of $30 have led 8 visitors so far to make donations thinking they were going to Kelly. The Pop Up is deceptive and not well-worded. I have posted several times warning people that if their intention is to donate to my sister, their money is going to Caring Bridge. If people continue to be mislead I am going to find a different way of supporting my sister and communicating with those who care for her. And when I tried to click on the feedback link, the page could not be found. Nice. Caring Bridge should stop this practice immediately. It's really becoming a huge problem and a likely deal breaker for me. There is a donate button on the website that is readily visible, why not just use that? Or at least reword the pop up to make it very clear where the money will go. Shame on you if you're doing this on purpose!

Scam. Misrepresents their mission. Very disappointed they continue to exist,

SCAM ALERT. The website would be great but there are ads on every page begging your friends and family to "donate" "in honor" of your loved one to their organization in the form of "tributes." Even though they use your loved one's name, they will not disclose to you how much people are donating, and many (if not all) people donate with the misunderstanding that the money is going to the family. Even when asked to make the donations page clearer and to not take advantage of people's tragedies to make $$ ("Support so and so! Donate to help keep their website running!") this company point-blank refuses. They run themselves like a money-grabbing business and not like a non-profit with people's best interests at heart. It's unethical and has caused endless harm and stress. They need to make it an option to disable the tribute page if they want to claim that they're a non-profit. It could have been a great idea but profiteering, money-grabbing people are at the helm here.

I am so appalled by this site. There is no way to stop all the donation solicitation popups and requests for any user that just wants to be a part of a health support group.

This site should be completely revamped or taken down. There is no way for a support seeker, like myself, to just pay a fee to set up their own site instead of all these solicitation requests going to every person that signs up and is part of your support network. This is not a "non-profit" site IMO and should most definitely be investigated further. All the donations go to the site for them to use however they like without any say from any of the users or any flexibility (i.e. how about a No Donation/Solication option!)

I will be using a site that does not profit from someone's health emergency and need for support. Disgusting!

Misleading. They are profiting off the backs of those facing their hardest moments in life. They are very creative in how they suggest the donation is helping the person facing hardship, but all money goes to CaringBridge. Humans can be so cruel, even if their initial goal was out of loving kindness.

It is also worth noting that in their 2019 Annual Report they have a badge saying they are BBB accredited. According to the BBB website they are not.

https://www.caringbridge.org/about-us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2019_Annual_Report_v13_INTERACTIVE.pdf

When did providing a platform to communicate the most difficult time in a families life cost almost 6M (total salaries and expenses) annually?

What happened to non-profits working hard to go raise funds outside of those who they are supposedly trying to help? CaringBridge raising funds from those who are caring directly or indirectly for a being facing hardship is truly unfortunate.

Work harder and don't put the onus on those who are in need. More Feedback

This company Uses our name to trick people to donate to THEM on the page we opened up to share the story of my wife in a coma from a tragic car accident!!!!! What this company does should be a illegal, a felony because they steal from families undergoing tragedies thereby compounding the tragedy in thier lives when people have donated to help a family suffering but this company keeps all the money for themselves!!!!! They have no right to use my wife’s name to raise money for themselves! They have no right to use my wife’s name to raise money for themselves and not let the donor know that the family will not be getting any of the money. These are the most evil people on the planet to take advantage and cheat such people in the greatest of need. Hell will be full of these people as God will spit them out of his mouth like vomit. Cowards and robbers who take advantage of orphans and widows and deceiving others for years with no judgement at all for now. But judgement is coming upon these abominations! If you hear the voice of wisdom Caringbridge, repent before it is too late and payback double all those you have stolen from that you may find grace and forgiveness for your sins upon sins.

I am so grateful for this site. I am able to see what is going on with my dear friend who lives many states away. Caringbridge takes the communication burden off the family while interconnecting all of us who love and support our friend in his time of need.

Caringbridge costs the family nothing which is so wonderful for families who may have extreme financial stress on top of illness.

I am so pleased to donate to this wonderful and loving organization.

May God bless this organization and all the patients and families and doctors caring for them, in Jesus name, Amen.

this is a site that has great intentions but is now also just money hungry. my sister used this site when she was battling cancer. it was a great way for the family to keep in touch and up to date. sadly now just like everywhere else this is a NON-profit that is solely about profit for the people running it. Sonja Mehring created this website to help a friend in need, but has now in just the last few years given herself over $100,000 in raises. $180,000 a year to head a NON-profit is disgusting.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer and she lives in a very remote area and has few real-life friends. She read that cancer patients have better survival rates if they have a website/blog, so she found caringbridge. It has surpassed all of our expectations of a nonprofit organization. They helped with IT support when my mom decided she no longer wanted certain people accessing her site. It gave her something to do between treatments...she would journal and post plenty of pics of her progress, and family and friends from around the world would support her through the hardest times. I don't know how our family would have been able to get her updates and support her without this site. I would recommend it, hands down, above any other site for anyone having a significant life event. My mom said she would go back and read the posts from people and look at pics people sent her when she was feeling very weak and down. Normally there is always a catch with a good website but there really were no fees, ads, or anything like that. You just need to be aware that if you donate it goes to caringbridge, not to the individual who is using the site. Try it and you won't regret it.

Thanks caringbridge- you helped me be by my mom's side when I couldn't do it physically.

This has been a wonderful way for us to keep our family and friends up to date with what is going on with our youngest daughter who was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia on 7/29/13 and is still undergoing treatment for the next 1.5 years hopefully. It is a daily struggle but knowing that everyone who wishes to can go online and read about her day is a great help and relief from having to call everyone.

I'm in Ohio.Friend in hosp. in Oregon. They have many briends all over United States. No Way wife could call every day, but thanks to Caringbridge..she "could". It has been wonderful to be Up-to-date on his progress thes 2 plus months. when my son-in-law was in a coma for 7 mo. we were exhausted trying to call people and return ans. maching numbers. oh how we would have had caringbridge. Thans for it I hope it lasts forever and a day. eleanor gerber

Beware! Despite hundreds of complaints, this "nonprofit" refuses to change the Donate portion of their pages to make it VERY CLEAR that the donations to NOT go to the site member - they all go to Caring Bridge.

This is ridiculous. It is dishonest and it's deceitful.

This site gives you the ability to share your story and help others in need of emotional support. It also gives you the opportunity to volunteer with a plethora of ways to do so. I love it and I'm positive you will too!

A friend of mine is suffering from cancer. While I don't get to see her to help support her in her struggle, this site is a great way to connect, offer support, and keep up to date on her progress, struggles, etc. When she is down, she can post to this site and then get encouragement from her friends and family. I love the potential this site has to really help everyone to get involved in the fight against cancer and other illness.

Never before have I ever felt so taken advantage of. During an incredibly difficult family crises I turned to CaringBridge to help with family communication. I was appalled when I found my newly created site had ads and pop-ups all over it, using my personal story as a way to ask for donations. Not to support me or my family during this difficult time, but to support this website.

I had friends and family informing me that when visiting the site they were greeted with annoying pop-up ads informing them that my daughter (by name) needed their finical help. In reality, CaringBridge was using my daughter, her story just yo make money.

I did some research and found that CaringBridge makes millions of dollars every year has has many employees making 6 figure incomes. This profit machine should be ashamed of it's practices.

Needless to say there are may other great alternatives to CaringBridge and I recommend checking them out.

I first used CaringBridge in 2008 when my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. At that time, I lived 1500 miles away from my parents' home in Arizona, and then I moved to Germany in 2010. We were miles and then countries apart, and the site provided a critical and constant connection for us.

Like any family experiencing a health crisis, we needed and appreciated the support from friends and family. Yet Dad and I couldn’t keep up with all the questions and messages of support. Then a friend told me about CaringBridge. Over four years, my mom and I wrote over 100 Journal entries and her site received more than 16,000 visits. Writing in this journal was cathartic for me. Some days I was technical, defining terminology, researching, giving context and clarity to my mom's diagnosis, prognosis and options for treatment and care. On other days, I shared the emotional ups and downs we experienced. With the CaringBridge Journal updates in mind, I asked my mom questions, took notes on everything from doctor visits to what she ate that day, and always chose to look for positives during a difficult time.

CaringBridge was a lifeline that connected us to each other, and to an incredible community of support.

CaringBridge was an invaluable resource to me, my family, colleagues and dear friends during the year I was battling and recovering from Gastric Cardia cancer (June 2010 - 2011). It would have be exhausting, if not impossible, to keep our network informed without CaringBridge. It is an invaluable private website journal that my 'supporters' had the choice to read and respond to made all the difference in our digital world.

I was referred to use CaringBridge thru a friend. Today I have 6 CaringBridge Sites that I have followed, sad to know that many people who have had the need - so pleased that CaringBridge was available to them too. Six families that have had the opportunity to be supported through this incredible and private journal and messaging resource. I understand CaringBridge has been able to expand their resources to include other support services (meal schedules, etc.) that friends can use to reach out and help the patient and family.

Regarding the donations (which some reviewers have complained about), it is very clear that the donation goes directly to CaringBridge. No smoke and mirrors here: "When you donate to CaringBridge, you help build a world filled with care and compassion." It is no different that when you donate to other charities "In Honor of, or in Memory of" an individual. This is not uncommon, and is a wonderful way to let the person you are paying tribute to know how valuable their communications are during their difficult journey.

I am constantly told by friends and family how much they appreciated being able to stay updated on my health through CaringBridge. It was the year of my 35th HS reunion, an event I had helped organize in the past. Through CaringBridge so many of my HS alums were able to reach out and send inspiration to the woman they had known so long ago. Those friendships long abandoned by busy lives have even revitalized. Such a Blessing. The Guestbook messages gave me comfort, strength, and encouragement. Even today, 3 years later I can look back and see how far I have come from those days and reflect on the support I received from so many - in a private concise journal. Email and Facebook cannot easily provide this private space for reflection.

The Prayers, Support and Encouragement I received using the CaringBridge site was an invaluable asset to my recovery! Thank you CARINGBRIDGE!!

I have worked for 3 non profit organizations during my career. I have no connection to the CaringBridge organization, staff or volunteers. My experience is just that of a member of the general public and someone who has received support through the service provided by the CaringBridge website.

I first heard about CaringBridge in 2010 when my adult son was hospitalized with a rapid heart rate and was put on the HeartMate II as he awaited a heart to come available for transplant. This site was invaluable to me at that time. It gave me a way to keep family and friends aware of how he was doing. It gave those praying around the country a place to check in and made it so easy for me as I did not have to worry about omitting anyone.
He received a new heart in August of 2010 and is doing well. Could not have done it with this awesome site.
Then in 2011 I was diagnosed with Lymphoma and a friend began a site for me. I continue to update the same people. I have been cancer free since competing treatment in June of 2011. I Am so grateful for this website and the ease of use.
Thank you CaringBridge for being there.
Donna Blauw
Lake Forest Park, WA

CaringBridge has been an invaluable resource to my family during the past two years, as my mom has been battling ovarian cancer. We use the free website to communicate with our large extended families and my parents' extensive network of friends. It would be exhausting, if not impossible, to keep all of these people in the loop without CaringBridge. I am constantly told by friends and family how much they appreciate being able to stay updated on my mom's health through CaringBridge. The Guestbook messages give my mom comfort, strength, and encouragement. Our experience of my mom's journey with ovarian cancer would be entirely different without CaringBridge.

Regarding the donations (which some reviewers have complained about), I do know that CaringBridge is willing to refund any donation if the donor misunderstood that the donation would be directed to CaringBridge and not to the patient. That being said, 25 tribute donations have been made in my mom's honor, and I know that every single person who made a donation knew that it was going to CaringBridge. They wanted to give back to CaringBridge because of everything that CaringBridge have given to us. Several people have given multiple donations.

For full disclosure, I began volunteering for CaringBridge several months ago. However, my comments here are related to my experience as a CaringBridge user. Indeed, I would not be giving the organization any of my time if I did not think it is a worthy cause.

This company is sitting on a mountain of $4M in cash they've collected from unsuspecting donors... and that is after they pay their staff of 66 employees over $4.4M PER YEAR in compensation!

This company needs to be investigated by the IRS, FTC and FBI. Clearly its core purpose is to enrich the founders and employees by duping people into thinking they are helping other people with medical bills.

I will be contacting the Minnesota attorney general's office about this.

Also, I believe most of the five star reviews on this site and Yelp and others are written by employees... take a look at how they are worded and you will see what I mean. Scammy... very scammy.

This website asks for donations that go directly to the company. If you do not read it carefully you assume you are giving the money to your friends or family that is ill.
Another example of a company making money of people's charity.

This is just an amazing site! Being able to bring all their loved ones together in one place at one time. Those who are too far away or those that can't make a daily trip to spend time with the person at the other end of the "CaringBridge". Keeping everyone updated with the SAME information instead of relying on word of mouth, which let's face it, things get misinterpreted or facts gets communicated wrong. This site lets you set the "record" straight and keep everyone on the same page. It also gives the chance for all their loved ones to show love and support which is a key component the good health and healing!

I believe in CaringBridge purpose in inspiring other people who are sick and those related to them that are also suffering emotionally... although they might not be experiencing the pain, yet they are also affected somehow.

My husband was diagnosed with late stage cancer several months ago, and we were told by friends about Caring Bridge. It took all of 5 hours for me to realize its value as the various emails poured in following the operation that gave us the unwanted details. I simply could not have kept up with communications any other way. As new people hear of his issue, we just send them to Caring Bridge first so we don't have to constantly retrace things. It is much, much easier for us and leaves the other person better informed.

Since then Caring Bridge has become our primary way of sharing our lives with friends and family. We know of many who go there first each day to see if there is a new post. For us, it is a way to talk about his cancer with some distance and perspective.

They have a Support Planner that can go with it the blog, to list tasks that the Caregiver or Patient may need done, that is also offered free.

CaringBridge is an amazing site that helps families and friends keep updated on the health and family of people affected by an illness. It keeps everyone in the loop and also makes it non-intrusive to the families. Friends can get updates without having to bother the family or person that is ill. It's hard to ask how a person is doing and sometimes the answer may not be good, so all involved are uncomfortable. CaringBridge makes it more comfortable for all parties involved and keeps everyone apprised of details. This is an amazing site.

i am, thankfully, not a patient at this point in time. however, i do have a friend who is and is using the site. WHO KNEW FROM THIS SITE? she sent me the link and it. bounced. my. socks. off!! at first i thought "how cool is THIS?" look at what she (my friend) made; then..."wait a sec...this isn't a personal deal...look at what is available to her at the hospital. how come i never saw this before?"; then..."umm....hang on, here, this isn't a hospital site, it's something different."; then...."HOLY WOW!!" after i read my friend's story and several journal entries, i found the parts where i could write to her and then where i could send a donation to help this site continue. i wrote and wrote and wrote to her and then..."uh oh. i haven't been working in a while. money is kinda tight." and then "I'LL KISS FEET ON BROADWAY IF I HAVE TO, BUT I HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING TO HELP THIS CONTINUE!!" and i did. not a lot. nothing huge. just a little. just the kind of amount that says that i can't have two bags of snicker's minis and three magazines this week; or the kind of amount that says i'll have to get my darned hair cut after 8 weeks instead of my usual 6 weeks. you see, 28 years ago i watched my father die with my 6 month old only child in my arms. thankfully, it went quickly, and for the most part he wasn't aware of much. however, I was. i was hyper-aware of EVERYTHING. every breath he took; every squelch of a nurse's shoe in the hallway; every ring of the telephone which made me jump up like a cat kicked in the caboose because my nerves were so raw; all of the constant repetitions of the same litany i had to recite to every person that paraded through his room or called; over and over and over and over....had something like CaringBridge been available at that time (we didn't even have computers back then...wow, i'm a fossil) i think it would have taken me to a different place. i believe that my hair would have stayed hair instead of the live nerve endings it had become. i would have had an outlet; i would have been able to reach out; i could have let everyone know when it was a good time or a bad time to come or, when they needed to ALL come right away. i could have read words of encouragement to my father as he lay in his bed in the hospital instead of snippets from books or newspapers that had nothing at all to say to him. over the past 28 years since my father has been gone, we've gotten computers and cell phones and microwaves (WHOA) and so many friends of mine and family members, as well, have had me sitting at their bedsides asking them questions that, i'm sure, had been answered ten thousand times previously and so many of these same people hadn't heard from me at all because i didn't want to call or visit because i was afraid to disturb them and their family members during such a stressful time. lots of times i was too late to call or visit. lots of times i never got to say "i love you, you know that, right?" i would have had that opportunity if we would have known about CaringBridge. lots of people roll through life blessedly unaware of these kinds of situations; unaware of how blessed they are. then, there are the people like me; people that have watched so many of their friends and co-workers and family members heroically wrestle with impossible diagnoses only to succumb in the end while we watch them, sit with them, see ourselves reflected back to us in their eyes; helpless and lost and unprepared even though we've been prepared; people like me who could have made a great and happy present of CaringBridge to our loved ones; people like me who could have written daily; who could have been better informed by reading daily posts and who could have made sure the words "i love you. you know that, right?" would have been read. before it was too late. THIS SITE IS ONE OF THE SINGULAR MOST IMPORTANT PATIENT/FAMILY RELATED TOOLS I HAVE RUN ACROSS SINCE RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE. it is a blessing and one that shouldn't be in danger of being lost. now, i get onto facebook daily and urge, encourage, plead, cajole, bully, sweet talk and say anything and everything i can think of to get people off of their dead behinds and PAY ATTENTION!! if they can pay REAL money to play VIRTUAL games on a venue such as facebook, then they have the spare greenbacks to toss a few around to CaringBridge, in my opinion. and something as easy as MICROvolunteering? c'mon!! if you're sitting there staring at a pc screen with your eyes glazed over and drool running down the corners of your mouth while you are plowing your FARMVILLE field, you can just as easily make a post on your page for people to just "take a look at this CaringBridge thing, yo!" how simple is THAT? very. how many people can that reach? infinite numbers. how important is it? one of the most important things in the world. thank you. God bless you all for your huge hearts and your wonderful imaginations which are making dire situations more palatable and pleasant and less stressful.

My dear 1st cousin was diagnosed with stage 3 grade 3 invasive carcinoma of the breast. She always believed in early detection and went every year on time for her routine mammogram. This July her journey to survive started and she has shared daily her progress, experience and feelings publicly. She has so far had over 1,000 visits and post that have inspired her and brought her courage by way of their inspiration. During her work up prior to starting chemotherapy she had a PET scan, which shows if there has been any other organs affected. During this they found a spot on her kidney which also proved to be cancer. Both were primary sites, non related to each other. Since the breast was the fastest growing type of cancer and the kidney was the slowest they decided to jump on the breast aggressively with chemo and then follow with radiation. The chemo is different for each site so the chemo for her breast will not help her kidney. She has just finished her 3rd treatment and has posted her day to day emotions,, fears, concerns, an experiences for all her friends and loved ones to see and respond. She always looks so forward to reading her guest book and has never felt such an out pouring of love from others. The post inspire an encourage her to realize she is not alone and keeps her spirits up. She thanks God everyday that Caring Bridge is available to her and gives her strength to carry on. She now believes she doesn't have a death sentence but a survivor sentence that she can carry on and help others on here going through a difficult time. Thank you Care Bridge for allowing her a place to vent her day to day recovery.

During the time when my friend was being treated for a brain tumor, CaringBridge assisted her family and friends in keeping us updated as to her ongoing condition and treatment. Sadly, my friend did pass away but in CaringBridge kept her family and friends connected, even to this day. CaringBridge is a caring, compassionate organization which is strictly non-profit. It exists only through donations. I thank God for such an organization.

My friend is currently in the ICU after a terrible car accident. CaringBridge has provided his family a way to keep all of his friends and extended family up to date with his progress. In addition, when I accidentally made a donation to the organization thinking it was going to my friend's medical bills, I contacted the organization and they immediately refunded me.

My good friend was going through the process of a kidney transplant. I live far from her. Caring Bridge made it possible for her family to let a wide audience of select friends and family know what was happening. I could get information and give my support, knowing that while she was ill, she only had to go to one place to get messages from me and and that it would be a help, not a bother. I loved the option to receive an e-mail whenever her family gave an update. I highly recommend this excellent service. What a great idea.

My sister had CaringBridge page last summer while she was in the hospital. It was a great way for her to keep in touch with friends and family. This site is a great idea, and we had a very good experience.