This weekend I'm going to fill out our application to host and MAIL it on Monday morning. If I can possibly fill out the entire application tomorrow, I'll mail it on Saturday. Our local group already has four applications in, and they are only planning on bringing 8-10 kids to our area this summer.
We're also going to a hosting meeting next Sunday. I've gone before, when we were just volunteering (Lucky Boy used to work nights).
(OK, this is the deal on the rubber stamps. I've got a bunch of Stampin' Up stuff that I've never even used, or just used once or twice. Mostly they are general "feel good" stuff, friendship sayings, alphabets. I'm hoping to figure out how to post things this weekend, but the hosting application is a bigger priority right now. If I have a snow day tomorrow, I'll work on my fundraiser a bit. I just finished a HUGE work-related project so I feel like my weekend is all about getting ready financially and emotionally to host.)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Proceeding with the plans
We printed out the application form and are working our way through it. It's 18 pages and includes information about the hosting program, homestudy process, and general application stuff. We're hoping to get it in the mail by mid-February.
The popcorn fundraiser actually earned $150 in profit, which is $50 more than we hoped for so we're pretty happy! I'm also still trying to figure out how that whole PayPal thing works.
I'm going to list some of the books I have laying around my house on Amazon.com. I read on another group that people have sold stuff there, so I figure I may as well try it. I'm going to list the books as I find them during my cleaning frenzy, and I'll check the listing again in like April. If they don't sell, I'll probably just donate them to the local library.
I'm also going to see about listing some craft supplies I never use on Ebay. I have a bunch of things that maybe someone will get use out of, like rubber stamps (some brand new), scrapbook paper and stickers, quilling supplies, and knitting/crochet patterns. Anyone know about setting up and advertising a "lot" of stuff? Oh, and I have some old baseball cards, too, that I can offer in a "lot." Cleaning my house for fun AND profit...
Finally, I'm going to start a magazine fundraiser over the next few days. The company says that if you sell 50 subscriptions, your average profit is $400. Worth a try, right? I want to go through the magazines they have listed and make up some "suggestions" for friends and family. Hee hee.
$470 is almost HALF-WAY there!
The popcorn fundraiser actually earned $150 in profit, which is $50 more than we hoped for so we're pretty happy! I'm also still trying to figure out how that whole PayPal thing works.
I'm going to list some of the books I have laying around my house on Amazon.com. I read on another group that people have sold stuff there, so I figure I may as well try it. I'm going to list the books as I find them during my cleaning frenzy, and I'll check the listing again in like April. If they don't sell, I'll probably just donate them to the local library.
I'm also going to see about listing some craft supplies I never use on Ebay. I have a bunch of things that maybe someone will get use out of, like rubber stamps (some brand new), scrapbook paper and stickers, quilling supplies, and knitting/crochet patterns. Anyone know about setting up and advertising a "lot" of stuff? Oh, and I have some old baseball cards, too, that I can offer in a "lot." Cleaning my house for fun AND profit...
Finally, I'm going to start a magazine fundraiser over the next few days. The company says that if you sell 50 subscriptions, your average profit is $400. Worth a try, right? I want to go through the magazines they have listed and make up some "suggestions" for friends and family. Hee hee.
$470 is almost HALF-WAY there!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
40% raised already
Wow! Our hope for the popcorn fundraiser was $100, and that's just about what we raised (including the 4 bags we purchased ourselves). Thanks to some donations from blogger-buddies, we already have almost half of what we need for the hosting fees.
At the request of a good friend, I added a "donate" button to this blog in the hopes that someone might consider helping out some more. Even after we raise enough money for our hosting fees, we are still responsible for fundraising for the hosting organization. I've seen reports that it costs anywhere from $5000 to $8000 to bring a single child here for a month through a hosting program, and the agency pays that mostly through big-business donations. Last year, we did some fundraising for the same agency we're hosting through. I think our fundraising responsibility is $1000, but we know there are some friends who would be more comfortable donating to a nonprofit than directly to us so we're hoping they will help at that time. In the unlikely event that we raise more on our hosting fees fundraiser than we'll need, the rest of that money will go towards the agency fundraiser (how nice would it be to give them beyond the minimum expected donation?).
Even after our hosting fees, we still have other fees associated with the homestudy. I heard that medical insurance won't cover the kind of physical examination you need for that, so I'm thinking it will be over $100 for a physical. Fingerprinting, $75 each for me and Lucky Boy to prove we aren't criminals (which is the best money because it makes me feel that not just anyone can get a child through this route). And of course, the homestudy. I've seen online that homestudies can be in the thousands of dollars, but lucky for me that my state only has a mini-homestudy requirement for hosting so it's like $250.
Once the child is here, there are expenses other than the obvious food and entertainment. The expectation is the child attends summer camp. I don't know about the different camps in my area, but I'd obviously prefer one where there are Spanish speakers. Lucky for me, I live in an area where there are plenty of Spanish-speakers from different countries so chances are good that the camps will have other kids who speak Spanish and maybe even a Spanish-speaking counselor. The regional coordinator for the hosting organization said he knows of some camps that will donate the tuition, but they are like a 30 minute drive away. With the cost of gas, it might be more economical to pay for a local camp, if I can't find one that will give me a discount for a hosted child (the hosting organization can help set that up).
We also have to sponsor (or co-sponsor) one of the weekly get-togethers when the kids are here. Last year they had picnics, pool parties, that kind of thing. There's a local small farm with a petting zoo, we're going to see if we can arrange for something there. (The point of the get-together is so that the kids see each other and play, the host parents see each other and talk, and people who are considering adoption meet the kids to see if there's any connection.) That's only one day a week, which means we'd have to figure out other fun-but-not-overwhelming things to do the rest of the week. Our development has a pool, which is always fun for the summer and there are plenty of kids around (some Spanish-speakers, too). We're trying to come up with some free and low-cost activities in the area and asking our friends who have kids the similar age we'll host.
And clothing. The hosting organization warned us not to get too many things for the child ahead of time. Not a whole closet of clothes, just a few outfits and that's probably more than the children are used to. The kids can only return to Colombia with a carry-on suitcase (they arrive with just a backpack), so it's not like if we get her all of this clothes thinking she can bring it back with her. There are a few Goodwill stores in our area (one by home and one by each of our jobs), and you can often find brand new clothes there. Once we find out more about the child we'll host (age, height, weight), we'll see what's available. I'm sure Lucky Boy is going to feel real comfortable in the little girl's section of Goodwill! Maybe we'll just send him looking for toys instead (which we're also told to limit).
At the request of a good friend, I added a "donate" button to this blog in the hopes that someone might consider helping out some more. Even after we raise enough money for our hosting fees, we are still responsible for fundraising for the hosting organization. I've seen reports that it costs anywhere from $5000 to $8000 to bring a single child here for a month through a hosting program, and the agency pays that mostly through big-business donations. Last year, we did some fundraising for the same agency we're hosting through. I think our fundraising responsibility is $1000, but we know there are some friends who would be more comfortable donating to a nonprofit than directly to us so we're hoping they will help at that time. In the unlikely event that we raise more on our hosting fees fundraiser than we'll need, the rest of that money will go towards the agency fundraiser (how nice would it be to give them beyond the minimum expected donation?).
Even after our hosting fees, we still have other fees associated with the homestudy. I heard that medical insurance won't cover the kind of physical examination you need for that, so I'm thinking it will be over $100 for a physical. Fingerprinting, $75 each for me and Lucky Boy to prove we aren't criminals (which is the best money because it makes me feel that not just anyone can get a child through this route). And of course, the homestudy. I've seen online that homestudies can be in the thousands of dollars, but lucky for me that my state only has a mini-homestudy requirement for hosting so it's like $250.
Once the child is here, there are expenses other than the obvious food and entertainment. The expectation is the child attends summer camp. I don't know about the different camps in my area, but I'd obviously prefer one where there are Spanish speakers. Lucky for me, I live in an area where there are plenty of Spanish-speakers from different countries so chances are good that the camps will have other kids who speak Spanish and maybe even a Spanish-speaking counselor. The regional coordinator for the hosting organization said he knows of some camps that will donate the tuition, but they are like a 30 minute drive away. With the cost of gas, it might be more economical to pay for a local camp, if I can't find one that will give me a discount for a hosted child (the hosting organization can help set that up).
We also have to sponsor (or co-sponsor) one of the weekly get-togethers when the kids are here. Last year they had picnics, pool parties, that kind of thing. There's a local small farm with a petting zoo, we're going to see if we can arrange for something there. (The point of the get-together is so that the kids see each other and play, the host parents see each other and talk, and people who are considering adoption meet the kids to see if there's any connection.) That's only one day a week, which means we'd have to figure out other fun-but-not-overwhelming things to do the rest of the week. Our development has a pool, which is always fun for the summer and there are plenty of kids around (some Spanish-speakers, too). We're trying to come up with some free and low-cost activities in the area and asking our friends who have kids the similar age we'll host.
And clothing. The hosting organization warned us not to get too many things for the child ahead of time. Not a whole closet of clothes, just a few outfits and that's probably more than the children are used to. The kids can only return to Colombia with a carry-on suitcase (they arrive with just a backpack), so it's not like if we get her all of this clothes thinking she can bring it back with her. There are a few Goodwill stores in our area (one by home and one by each of our jobs), and you can often find brand new clothes there. Once we find out more about the child we'll host (age, height, weight), we'll see what's available. I'm sure Lucky Boy is going to feel real comfortable in the little girl's section of Goodwill! Maybe we'll just send him looking for toys instead (which we're also told to limit).
Friday, January 18, 2008
Update on the plans
I did hear back from the organization this week. I had the e-mail address of someone who no longer works there. I went back to their website and saw a different name, and she responded not even one day after I sent the e-mail. I feel much better about the organization now, because I didn't want to face another instance where I was begging and no one was responding. Not only did I get a quick response, but the response gave all the information I needed and none of the "anything we can do to help" speech that sounds a little too overeager to me.
This weekend we're going to total the popcorn fundraiser and see how much we have. The first fees should be just about covered by now, which is a very good thought. I'm not sure when the second round of fees are due, but that's a big chunk of money so I've got to get started on the next fundraiser. We have one thing that we're going to list on ebay, but that's through one of the ebay retailers so our profit won't be quite as high as if we listed it ourselves. We're not ebay people by nature, so at least this experience will give us an idea of what it's about. If it's a little profitable, we may dig into some of our "collections" and see if there's more money there.
This weekend we're going to total the popcorn fundraiser and see how much we have. The first fees should be just about covered by now, which is a very good thought. I'm not sure when the second round of fees are due, but that's a big chunk of money so I've got to get started on the next fundraiser. We have one thing that we're going to list on ebay, but that's through one of the ebay retailers so our profit won't be quite as high as if we listed it ourselves. We're not ebay people by nature, so at least this experience will give us an idea of what it's about. If it's a little profitable, we may dig into some of our "collections" and see if there's more money there.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Popcorn update
I did pretty well at work with the popcorn. I haven't figured out how much we raised, though. I was hoping for $100 in profit, so I'm going to give it one more day of running around begging more people. I think another 10 people will be the difference.
Lucky Boy wasn't so lucky at his work. Apparently no one at his job eats popcorn??? Really? NO ONE? He was pretty shy about asking, so maybe that did it.
Hopefully this week I'll have a little bit of time to get started on my next big idea. It's an online thing, so I'll be sure to post here when it's ready. And by then I'll probably have the total from the popcorn to add.
I'm also waiting to hear back from the hosting organization. I sent them what I thought would be a regular, normal question that could easily be answered, but it's been almost a week and no one has gotten back to me yet. If I don't hear from them tomorrow, I'll call.
Lucky Boy wasn't so lucky at his work. Apparently no one at his job eats popcorn??? Really? NO ONE? He was pretty shy about asking, so maybe that did it.
Hopefully this week I'll have a little bit of time to get started on my next big idea. It's an online thing, so I'll be sure to post here when it's ready. And by then I'll probably have the total from the popcorn to add.
I'm also waiting to hear back from the hosting organization. I sent them what I thought would be a regular, normal question that could easily be answered, but it's been almost a week and no one has gotten back to me yet. If I don't hear from them tomorrow, I'll call.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
More on fundraising
The immediate goal is $1000 for the summer hosting fees. Putting the unexpected $180 refund towards that, we're left with having to raise $820. We've decided that any overtime we get or any tax return we get (hopefully a decent one) will go towards adoption fees, should the hosting program work out.
http://www.fundsnetservices.com/Fundraising/cookbook_fundraising.htm
This site (not necessarily the cookbook) seems to have a lot of good ideas. We're already doing the popcorn fundraiser, and we sent out for more information about the magazine fundraisers. They also have a "spinner" fundraiser, which seems like fun because we both like to gamble (small stuff like slots and $1 scratch-off lottery tickets, remember that our names are Lucky Girl and Lucky Boy).
I'm just concerned with the spinner because it's so obviously fundraising. At least with the popcorn and magazines, the person supporting the fundraiser actually gets something from their donation. The spinner program seems to go like this: The fundraiser group (that's us) buys a spinner and 50 coupon sheets for $25. Then, you ask people to take their chances with spinning the wheel two times, and they pay whatever the spinner lands on (average $4 per person), and they get a coupon sheet. The coupons include national groups like TCBY yogurt, Pizza Hut, JC Penny Portraits, and FTD floral delivery. A coupon is only valuable if someone likes and is going to USE it, so I don't know how many of those 50 coupons I would sell. And remember, if the average is $4 per person, it's possible that someone can spin to give us $8 while someone else would spin to give us $2 ($4 average is based on the knowledge that there are more possible combinations that will result in $4 than in any other figure, after 2 spins), so people might not be so willing to actually take the chance at spinning just for the coupon. I'd probably do better just begging for money without shelling out the initial $25 for the spinner gimmick.
Once I get a little bit of time, I have some other ideas that would require more work. I'm hoping some blogger buddies can help with those fundraisers. Someone did ask about a Paypal button, but I'm not totally sure how that would work. And frankly, I'm concerned about a Paypal situation right now because we haven't even been matched (or approved) by the hosting organization. Let me see how the other, more traditional fundraisers work out before I resort to "send me money." It's funny, I don't mind the "send me money" buttons on blogger buddies' sites and I'm actually thankful when buddies give me the chance to help them form their families, but I'm not ready to open myself up for that just yet. Maybe because I know this is just a hosting situation, not necessarily an adoption, and I don't want to jinx things? I will let you know how to help, though, because I'd definitely appreciate your help!
http://www.fundsnetservices.com/Fundraising/cookbook_fundraising.htm
This site (not necessarily the cookbook) seems to have a lot of good ideas. We're already doing the popcorn fundraiser, and we sent out for more information about the magazine fundraisers. They also have a "spinner" fundraiser, which seems like fun because we both like to gamble (small stuff like slots and $1 scratch-off lottery tickets, remember that our names are Lucky Girl and Lucky Boy).
I'm just concerned with the spinner because it's so obviously fundraising. At least with the popcorn and magazines, the person supporting the fundraiser actually gets something from their donation. The spinner program seems to go like this: The fundraiser group (that's us) buys a spinner and 50 coupon sheets for $25. Then, you ask people to take their chances with spinning the wheel two times, and they pay whatever the spinner lands on (average $4 per person), and they get a coupon sheet. The coupons include national groups like TCBY yogurt, Pizza Hut, JC Penny Portraits, and FTD floral delivery. A coupon is only valuable if someone likes and is going to USE it, so I don't know how many of those 50 coupons I would sell. And remember, if the average is $4 per person, it's possible that someone can spin to give us $8 while someone else would spin to give us $2 ($4 average is based on the knowledge that there are more possible combinations that will result in $4 than in any other figure, after 2 spins), so people might not be so willing to actually take the chance at spinning just for the coupon. I'd probably do better just begging for money without shelling out the initial $25 for the spinner gimmick.
Once I get a little bit of time, I have some other ideas that would require more work. I'm hoping some blogger buddies can help with those fundraisers. Someone did ask about a Paypal button, but I'm not totally sure how that would work. And frankly, I'm concerned about a Paypal situation right now because we haven't even been matched (or approved) by the hosting organization. Let me see how the other, more traditional fundraisers work out before I resort to "send me money." It's funny, I don't mind the "send me money" buttons on blogger buddies' sites and I'm actually thankful when buddies give me the chance to help them form their families, but I'm not ready to open myself up for that just yet. Maybe because I know this is just a hosting situation, not necessarily an adoption, and I don't want to jinx things? I will let you know how to help, though, because I'd definitely appreciate your help!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Fundraising
Soon I'm going to get one of those thermometers for the side of my blog that show how much money we've raised towards this hosting experience. The fees are over $1000 just to host, so we'd like to raise $1000. (There are still more expenses, like the homestudy and medical exam, possibly paying for summer camp, preparing a bedroom for the host child and ensuring she has necessities like clothes and shoes and food.)
Our first fundraiser started yesterday. We're selling flavored popcorn to people we work with. Our goal is to raise $100 through popcorn, but of course it would be nice if we made more.
I also got an unexpected refund from a work expense (something I forgot about) for $180. That went right into the hosting fund, which means we're already at $180. We're hoping to get some overtime and add that to the fund, too. And I have a few other projects up my sleeve...
Anyone know of other good (and relatively easy) ideas? The popcorn seems to be a really good start because it's food, it's small, even people who wouldn't normally support a fundraiser have bought it. I've only gotten negative feedback from one person at work when I said I was doing a fundraiser for a program that helps older orphans find adoptive homes.
Our first fundraiser started yesterday. We're selling flavored popcorn to people we work with. Our goal is to raise $100 through popcorn, but of course it would be nice if we made more.
I also got an unexpected refund from a work expense (something I forgot about) for $180. That went right into the hosting fund, which means we're already at $180. We're hoping to get some overtime and add that to the fund, too. And I have a few other projects up my sleeve...
Anyone know of other good (and relatively easy) ideas? The popcorn seems to be a really good start because it's food, it's small, even people who wouldn't normally support a fundraiser have bought it. I've only gotten negative feedback from one person at work when I said I was doing a fundraiser for a program that helps older orphans find adoptive homes.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
2008 will be our year
Welcome to my Leap of Faith blog. I've been trying to adopt for over three years now. I've already had two "failed placements" (which we won't mention on this blog again, please), so now I'm trying to believe in this leap of faith thing.
I'm trusting that whatever His plans are for my family, there will be a clear direction for me to follow. I'm leaping and I'm trusting He will let me land in the right place.
The people in this adoption process will be known as:
I'm trusting that whatever His plans are for my family, there will be a clear direction for me to follow. I'm leaping and I'm trusting He will let me land in the right place.
The people in this adoption process will be known as:
- Lucky Girl - That's me. Because I'm so lucky.
- Lucky Boy - Because he's so lucky to have me. And he knows how lucky he is, because I tell him every chance I get.
- Invisible Kid - Hopefully there will be a real name by the end of the year, even if it's just a blog name to preserve anonymity.
- Grandma Cooey - That's my mom. For some reason, my sister decided to call her Cooey when she was younger, and that's the name that stuck for Grandma.
- Aunt (my sister), Uncle #1 (Lucky Boy's older brother), and Uncle #2 (Lucky Boy's younger brother).
- and of course - ALL THE CATS (we have three of them).
The adoption plan: hosting a child for the summer and hopefully pursuing her adoption, if things should work out right.
The timeline:
- January through March - fundraising (hosting fees are over $1000)
- April - hosting paperwork (including medical exams, fingerprinting, and homestudy)
- May and June - more fundraising for the hosting agency
- July - hosting (!!!!), which will hopefully lead to...
- ...August - adoption paperchase (homestudy, dossier preparations)
- ...September through December - the wait
WISH US LUCK!
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