Friday Fundraising Feature: The Basics

I am really hoping to expand my blog so it is more of a resource for adoptive/adopting families.  On Fridays I am hoping to start doing special features including a fundraising feature that will include some guest posts from other adoptive families.  Until I get that all organized, here is a few thoughts I wrote up to include in my Fundraising 101 section.

Once in awhile I hope to feature adoptive products I love as well... Check out my blog post from last week------> Heaven Scent Bonding Blankets

Also-- I want adoptive families to be able to share about their Adoption Fundraisers!!  So please link up below!! 

Fundraising Basics by Tessy (yours truly)

I am not sure if the word "fun" should be included in the word "fun"draising because to tell you the truth that is one oxymoron.  Being the wife of a youth pastor and involved in various ministries, anytime I hear the word fundraising I inwardly groan a bit.  No matter the cause, it has always been weird for me to ask people for money.  Plus it usually means a lot of work and planning and time I don't have.  It does make it a bit easier though if I'm doing it to help someone else.  I have this crazy big heart that loves to help others.  However, when it came down to me asking people to give toward our adoption it was just tough. And there are some pretty strong opinions on this topic in general. So to be quite honest I had to swallow some big nasty spoons of pride and choke down some humble pie.  I ended up learning a lot through fundraising.

 #1 That people like helping just like I like helping (amazing huh?)

 #2 That some of the biggest gifts were not monetary but people giving of their time and talents

 #3 We weren't designed to always do things on our own - That the Body of Christ is awesome and that we have some amazing friends, family, & church family - EVER!!

      For the body does not consist of one member but of many....But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  1 Corinthians 12

  #4 That no matter what you plan - commit it to God - and He will surprise you with His ever abundant blessings.

Now by no means am I a fundraising expert but I have been around the fundraising block so to speak.  But if your adopting, fundraising is something you will probably be doing and if I can give you some ideas/tips/ etc... then I would love to help.  I also am hoping to start a Friday feature on my blog that features Fundraising ideas and utilize the great network of adoptive friends I have come to love.  

What fundraisers did you do?

• The traditional "Send out your Support Letter" fundraiser asking for support and prayer.  We waited to send our letter  out mid-adoption because we were hoping to get a matching grant from Lifesong.  We were able to match our awarded grant with these support letters.
• Just Love Coffee - We made $60.00 - I think I could of promoted this a bit better with some free samples and dessert night after church etc...  I mainly relied on online orders and should of tried to get more person-to-person sales - and then sent in for one big order.  They have the greatest coffee.  I will continue to order my coffee from here and support an adoptive family.  My daily cup of Joe now has a cause beyond just keeping me caffeinated. 
• The Garage Sale - (ohh the stories <--click if you really want to know-- that came with that one)  Whatever you do -- let your cute kids (or someone elses cute kids sell cookies) I made more money from people shopping in my garage after the sale then I did at my actual yard sale.
• Let friends fund-raise for you! (really the best option - jk!!)  I had an amazing friend who knew how crazy I was with my other 1500 fundraisers so she sold some lollipops for $1 a piece and raised around $200 for us.  Another friend had a yard sale and donated what she raised to our fund.  Yeah, I know, amazing - because I so was not doing another yard sale!!
• T-shirt Fundraiser  -- One of our best and most profitable fundraiser.  We raised around $4,000.  This one also fell under our church family adoption fund -- but I headed it up. 
• Spaghetti Dinner -- We advertised to our community and delivered lunches to businesses (all pre-orders) and had an open eat in time at the church for lunch and supper.
•  Put a donation button on my blog.  A friend suggested doing this.  I had to swallow more spoonfuls of pride when I did but I was amazed at the donations that came in through that little button.  The only thing I had to do was paste and copy some html code.  
• Bake Sale -- We had ours at Wal-Mart and the church helped host this one.  (Hope to post Bake Sale Tips soon!)

Now that is just the fundraisers that we personally did.  There is tons more ideas out there.  :-)  I hope to capture more of those in that Friday Feature. 

Basic Fundraising Tips: 

• Recruit Volunteers -- Do not - I repeat - DO NOT take on all the responsibility by yourself.  You will quickly become overwhelmed and throw fundraising out the window.  People really do want to help, I promise.  Utilize your friends talents and skills -- the people that know a lot of people -- the Martha Stewart that can make your bake sale become a drool fest -- the committed friend who will spend the long evening the night before sneezing dust and pricing items - the teenagers who will help watch your kids while you run around like a crazy woman - (ohh maybe that is just me)  - the amazing artist friend who will design your T-shirt --  You get the picture!
• Plan smart and strategically--  Yes, you have deadlines to meet but you also have a husband, a family, housework, mounds of adoption paperwork & forms, appointments etc...  Get out your calendar and figure out a fundraising plan that will not result in you stressed out and ready to die from exhaustion.  I believe planning a few fundraisers well will be much more successful then doing a lot of fundraisers on the fly.  Get my drift?!
• Keep detailed accounts of how much you raised.  (I wish I would of done a bit better at this- as I have more approximate results in some cases)  Also, if someone sends you a donation/gift keep the envelope/address - you will want it later when you finally get to writing out thanks yous.  (Ok, maybe some people do those as they go along -- but that just didn't happen in our case-- and I am not sweating it -- I'll send some out when I get my family pictures taken and then they will be extra sweet!!)
• Choose Wisely - Some fundraisers are worth the effort and some are not.  Ask what others are doing that work and spend your efforts on something tried and true.  This is not the time to do fundraising experiments that may flop when you need to reach that deadline next week.
• Get informed on how fundraising can affect your taxes/income.  Gifts from people are not taxable up to a certain amount but when you start selling a product etc.. there are some legal things you need to think about.  I actually wrote to the IRS about my garage sale.  (What?! The IRS scares me) There are many organizations where you can set up an adoption account to collect funds and then the person donating can get their donation tax exempt.  It is a good route to go.  I am no tax expert so please don't write to me with your tax questions. :-)  Just a reminder to be smart about it.  Check out these two articles: Bad Adoption Fundraising Ideas and Smart Adoption Fundraising Ideas