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!