we put the FUN in fundraising!

A lot on the brain over the past week or so.  The road trip was great and it was awesome going home and visiting with family and the Indian food in particular that Ella (mom 2) made was fantastic. So excited about the connection that our daughters will all feel for Nebraska as they get older and also to India.

As far as fundraising for our adoption, it started out as a good idea to use everything I made going towards the adoption..but then we realized that after overhead costs and babysitting fees and bills, that I may help out with our budget at home more than I realized.  We definately put back as much as possible including any extras people would give as tips/donations, but we are still not making money as efficiently as I had thought I would have at this point.  Naturally, I'm happy to have any...but I'm left wondering what I can do to get the community to think donating even $5 is beneficial to achieving our goal.  (possibly people are assuming we are only looking for substantial donation amounts so they are not contributing, thinking their donation may be too small? or perhaps they don't know us and wonder where the money really will go? all understandable). 

So, it was time to put our heads together and think! We did a little brainstorming over the week I was out of town, and the family came up with some good fundraising ideas to reach our goal. Todd and I broke it down and decided we need $18 from 300 people to reach what we need to finish the agency part of the adoption. This should be the last sum we pay to the agency directly. Next year before we travel, our plane tickets and travel costs will cost another $5000 or so, but we have tax money we expect to pay for this, so it's not so immediate. 

300 people...giving $18 each..doesn't sound so bad..in fact that sounds obtainable even!!!

Now the wheels are turning.  My other mom, Ella, suggested to make that goal even easier, why not break it into 30 people in charge of getting $18 from 10 people.  Wow! Wonder why I hadn't thought of that before.... So now you have delegated it out to those closest to you that will approach the people closest to them with a suggestion that will probably be heard. No longer is a silent glass jar sitting there nagging people's conscience to donate to random strangers...instead you have "jane" asking "sally" to give her $18 to support "my childhood friend so and so who is in an adoption".  If someone I knew well asked me to donate under these pretenses..I would definately do it!  And it gives the one in charge of the 10 people they know, the option of breaking it into 20 people giving $6 instead. If that is easier to do and you have that many friends who aren't in a financial situation that is able to give the whole $18 then I say however you want to help reach the goal is great.  And if you wanted you could split the 10 people with your friend and each try to get 5 people to donate the $18 and meet back in a couple weeks and combine it. Looking to rasie the money we need all by myself, well it gets overwhelming. However, looking at it as a project that I can do alongside my friends makes it manageable. 

Finally, I have a plan that I see working. In addition to cards (business cards with our blogsite on them to hand out to interested people who want to know more about our cause) that my sweet girl Jen put together for me out of the goodness of her heart, I have a plan!! WHOO HOO!  :) It feels good to be rejuvenated from my trip and ready to try, try, again. Most importantly I have faith that God is behind us with the addition of our family and with Him we can do all things..even those that seem a bit of a stretch at times. So if any of you feel like you want to be one of the 30 people that can conjure up 10 of your closest friends/family to each help us donate $18..please contact me and we will get started.  We will continue to add whatever extra I make to the pot as well as me calling local businesses to try and do chair massage and possibly even have a few ideas from Todd's side of things! ( Oooo the plot thickens!)

The best part is that this "plan" gives me something to focus on when most of the actual adoption process feels out of my hands at the moment.  And that alone, makes the time feel productive and beneficial..and I'm secure that eventually we will get there..baby in tow! ;)