Thursday, November 5, 2009

Our fundraising efforts

Can I be frank? Adoption is expensive. Nasty rumors aside (I still haven't confirmed them), we need about $6,000 for our agency fees. Then when we can finalize we will need another $2,000 to finalize. Sadly, we are no where near those two amounts. Personally, I blame the college student, but he's gotta do what he's gotta do to better his life for his family.

This summer we had a yard sale where we raised just over $400. But our efforts didn't stop there. I also have a PayPal button in my side bar to the right where people can donate. (Thanks Wendy!)

Recently I vamped up my efforts and I am now an official seller on Ebay. A great friend (thanks Kelly) pointed out that fact that we need to decide what is more important in our lives; our big campers we only use a few months of the year OR the child we so desperately want. While I don't have a big camper or boat to sell, I have other valuables. Two weeks ago I started selling my barbie doll collection on Ebay. My efforts are slow and easy, I only list a few a week. But in those two weeks I have made almost $500. I hope to increase that amount to at least half of what we need for our adoption fees. (I just need to figure shipping rates out because they are KILLING me!)

Want to donate? I've already had one friend send me her doll collection, she won't even let me reimburse her for shipping (thanks Christine, and if you change your mind, I'll pay you back.) I'm so glad for my infertility and for the friends I have made.

Not wanting to count on Ebay alone, and because this is so easy to do, I also set up a coffee shop. Yes, me, the non coffee drinker, now sells coffee. Check it out HERE.

It's a great way for the coffee drinkers in our lives to get their caffeine fix AND contribute to our adoption. Its a Win - Win situation. They have different flavors and packages to choose from. It cost us NOTHING to set up with them and each month they will send us a check for the sales from the previous month. We have a savings account set up just for adoption funds and we will hope that between this and other money raising efforts we can be able to cover the costs of our adoption when a situations does come up.

And now I step off of my fundraising soapbox and hope to see my efforts (and preaching) pay off (literally).

5 comments:

Malone and Brittany said...

Good job! Oh, and I can tell you FOR SURE that LDSFS is NOT raising their fees. I spoke with my caseworker about it yesterday. She said that the church was considering a SMALL increase, but decided against it. That goes for everyone, couples already in the system and new couples. I know we breathed a sigh of relief on that one!

Meka said...

I am soooooo glad to hear that they aren't raising the prices!! What a relief for all of us! I am going to email you this survey company you can sign up for. It's $3 per survey and sometimes they even send your free product. I don't know if they are looking for more people to sign up but it's worth a shot! Well I will just give you the link now so I wont forget. https://www.pineconeresearch.com/Signup/Signup_Form.asp

Did I email you about putting your pass along cards in with my orders? Do you want me to do that?

Malone and Brittany said...

Oh, and totally forgot to ask if I can feature you on our family blog as a waiting family! If that's ok, send me an email at maloneandbrittanyadopt@gmail.com with a photo, a way to contact you, a link to your online profile, and a short paragraph about your family.

Photo Journey said...

Flat rate shipping will save you so much trouble. You can track the package as well for free! The box is included and the shipping is fast and much more secure. Trust me, my dad manages the mid-west bulk mail center. If you go Prioroty Flat Rate your box is taken much better care of. If you go to USPS.COM they will send you the boxes for free and pick them up for you so no waiting in line at the post office. They will do the same even if you use a none flat rate priority box. You should check it out, the go to all 50 states and some international destinations. I agree with your friend. Do you want a baby or do you want stuff? Don't sell anything you will regret but really it is just stuff. You can't take it with you when you die.

Here is some more bad news! We just got a bill from the attorney ad litem for $300. We were told it was part of the original $2000 but we didn't get it in writting. I hate our lawyer.

Elizabeth and Brian said...

It's beth again. We ended up taking several WWII items Brian's dad had saved from the war to a collector in order to help with the adoption. We also sold off a coin collection had a garage sale and I sold things on e-bay. Brian has been doing on call work for two social service agencies in addition to his full time job. I don't see how we could afford to ever adopt again. Looking back I have no idea how we have been able to pull it all off. God will provide away. I have nothing to offer but I would be happy to make things if you want to post things on etsy.