Our Beliefs

At HelpGoat we believe that everyone has something to offer and everyone can benefit from a little more help and support.  We all thrive when we feel useful and productive and we all feel good when we are able to help others. On the other hand, we often find it hard to ask for help. Paradoxically, sometimes the best way to help others is to provide others the opportunity to help.

HelpGoat aims to blur the lines between helper and helpee, promote a culture where people are open to both offer and receive help, and provide an easy platform to facilitate the exchange – resulting in more meaningful social opportunities among friends, family, coworkers and community members and improved circumstances for all.

Post a HelpRequest or HelpOffer

Request or offer help with anything from yardwork, child care, pet care or home projects to music lessons, technical help, community clean up projects or business projects. Sometimes companionship and moral support is all someone needs.

You control your privacy. Posts can be made public, posted to specific trusted HelpGroups or even to specific people.

Review and Accept HelpResponses

Review the responses you receive in a private way. Work out any details including timing and the amount of points to be exchanged. Accept the responses you feel comfortable with.

Give or Receive GoatPoints

Receive 300 GoatPoints just for signing up with HelpGoat. Earn more GoatPoints by Responding to HelpRequests or accepting responses to your HelpOffers. Once the help has been delivered, securely exchange points.

Remember, to keep the system functioning it is important to both give and receive help and give and receive GoatPoints.

Why exchange points?

While exchanging points in HelpGoat is not mandatory, it is highly recommended for several compelling reasons.

Our society values self-sufficiency, making it difficult to ask for help without feeling like a burden. When we do receive assistance and aren’t able to offer something in return, it can lead to feelings of gratitude…mixed with feelings of uneasiness.

On the other hand, we all experience the joy of helping others. However, sometimes we are hesitant to offer help as we don’t want to intrude. Other times, we aren’t sure how best to help or what assistance to offer. Finally, when we do offer help, our offers are often not redeemed.

Exchanging points is key to breaking down these barriers. We need people to ask for help in order for us to truly be able to help them. We need to be open to accept points as payment as a means of encouraging people to ask for help. We need to earn points and ask for help ourselves in order to give other people the opportunity to help others!

The reciprocity that the exchange of points facilitates is what blurs the lines between helper and helpee and perpetuates the virtuous cycle of giving and receiving.

My grandmother loves to bake but had nobody to bake for. After posting a HelpOffer on HelpGoat, she now earns points for sharing her baked goods around the neigborhood. She uses her points to get help with yardwork and things around the house. She now feels more connected with her neighbors and has made new friends.

After losing my job, I needed to cut back on expenses and started doing my own lawn work. I used HelpGoat to host a lawn cleanup party. We had a lot of fun and got the job done. Now my neighbors have hosted their own lawn cleanup, house painting, etc. parties and I’ve been able to reciprocate the help I received. It’s been a fun way to socialize, I’ve made new friends and our neighborhood has never looked better.