As leaders of nonprofits, Brandon Wilson and Suzanne West know how tough it is to raise money through donations.

So they are among 342 people and organizations in Marysville and 243 in Arlington are seeking financial help from the public through the internet’s GoFundMe site.

Wilson, general manager of the Living Room coffee house, and West, executive director of the Sarvey Wildlife Center in Arlington, are both trying to raise money to fix up their facilities.

Coffee shop

Because of a miscommunication with the health department, the Living Room had to almost shut down after eight months of operation because it lacked necessary permits and needed some upgrades.

At the time, “We were just making enough to keep the lights on,” Wilson said.

For about five weeks, they could only sell drip coffee and packaged food. They almost went out of business.

A GoFundMe site was set up, and “we were blown away by their generosity,” Wilson said. In five months, 47 people donated $3,680, and the business had not even been open a year.

The neighboring Hillside Church and community helped with funds and volunteers to remodel half the kitchen, put in a sink and plumb under the floor.

The updates are done, but the bill paying isn’t.

“We’re trying to catch up, like on rent. We had some difficult choices to make on which bills to pay and not pay,” Wilson said.

The all-volunteer staff, which works for tips only, and customers stuck with the business. The nonprofit helps its baristas get trained in return for asking them to work a few hours a week.

The Living Room is doing better, thanks to an adult coloring night that packs the house. They also offer jazz band and open microphone nights.

“It’s something to do, a place to go to hang out,” Wilson said.

Wildlife center

Meanwhile, in Arlington, Sarvey has received $2,069 for repairs from 35 donors in the past two months. The nonprofit started in 1981 and is in need of upgrades after all those years. The center needs a new roof, major flooring renovations and a special bathtub for animals.

Sarvey has regular donors who help it keep going year after year, which costs about $325,000 annually, West said.

“We wanted to find a way to reach out to new donors,” for the upgrades, she added.

They put on video on GoFundMe.com on Sarvey’s program, which is “Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release.”

“It has generated brand-new interest,” West said, adding, “How do you get it to go viral?”

Except for a Fish and Wildlife grant every two years totaling about $13,000, the nonprofit center relies only on donations.

“It’s not like we’re sitting on a pile of cash,” West said.

How site started

Based in San Diego and Menlo Park, CA, GoFundMe was launched on May 10, 2010, and has become the world’s  No. 1 fundraising site for personal causes. Millions of people have raised more than $1 billion in the past year.

In Marysville, people are asking for money for causes ranging from helping with medical expenses to helping “me buy nice clothes.”

Other requests ask for donations to pay for or attend funerals while another asks for a BMW to “bring me women.”

Other accounts ask for money for band, choir and sports team trips.

Still other requests seek money for things most people would pay for on their own, such as a wedding, honeymoon and vacations.

Others want help paying rent, car-repair bills, moving costs, vet bills, a 3-D printer and buying food.

Some of the sites are very successful.

One, a memorial for Zoe Galasso, one of the victims in the shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School last year, has received $29,824 from 500 donors.

One for Emily Fletcher, who has brain cancer, has received $10,159 from 139 donors in seven months.

And Lyndsie Jeske, who was severely injured in a fireworks accident, has had 39 donors give $1,995, also over five months.

Some of the requests are small, such as for a birthday present; some cost hundreds of dollars, such as for driver’s education and a lawyer for a paternity test; and still other requests are quite costly, such as for studying abroad and business startup funds.

In Arlington, the most successful site by far is that of Seth Jefferds, a volunteer firefighter who lost his wife, granddaughter and house in the Oso slide last year.

His Mudslide Recovery Fund has raised $57,496 from 611 people over the past 20 months.

Other requests ask for help paying for dentures, glasses and a new oven knob.