We're going to go ahead with trying to finance an IVF cycle.
eeeee! Exciting.
I've been beating the bushes and found some fundraising ideas. Here's a few:
Bean & cornbread dinner. Here in the south, you can raise some serious cash with beans and cornbread. Tack on homemade desserts to sell and there's more money. You can also add things to raffle off, too.
Auction. I know a couple people who have money, who know other people who have money. They sometimes get together for a party and everyone brings something to auction off. Then they buy each other's stuff through the auction. It's made lots of money in the past and I'm going to see if they'd be willing to gather friends and hold a "charity" auction where at least a good chunk of the sales will go to our baby drive. (this would be our best bet to bring in a good amount of money all at once)
Drag queen benefit. I know, this one sounds strange. But sometimes the local drag queens will hold a benefit for someone. I don't personally know any, but I know lots of people that do.
I saw those donation scratch-off tickets online. At $1 each, you're pretty much gauranteed to make a profit. Add those to any benefit thing you do and that's extra cash.
Straight-forward donations. I'm also giving serious thought to a donation button on my blog. I wouldn't want that to the be the sole source, since how much can you really make from that alone? But maybe that in addition to other things can make a difference.
Sell t-shirts & sweatshirts - my step-mom has an embroidery thing on one of her sewing machines. You can sometimes get t-shirts from hobby stores pretty cheap. Add some sort of embroidery thing - such as a big T for the Vols - and they'll easily sell for $10 each.
Make and sell things on ebay. I've been tossing around the idea of making and selling wine glass charms for over a year now. It's a low expense, high profit sort of thing. This may be the time to buckle down and actually do it.
Whatever we do, give it a snappy logo name. Like - Baby or Bust or something. It's weird to say, but it's true that what you call the whole fundraising thing will affect how many people show up and participate.
So those are some of the things my friends & I have been tossing around the last couple of days.
2 comments:
Whatever happened to the furniture idea? I liked that idea! The higher amount you'd get per piece and margin would mean you wouldn't have to make too many pieces before reaching your goal. I think you would get really annoyed if you made several thousand wine charms, plus all those auctions would be hell to manage.
If you do any embroidery be careful of what you put on there - that big T is definitely a licensed property and you don't want any lawyers on your back. I work with a lot of licensed properties and trust me - just assume they'll find you eventually and demand an obnoxious amount of money.
I'm digging the eBay/etsy idea though. I've always thought that I could make a fortune selling wedding related crap to brides. Think bigger though - maybe instead of charms you do some necklaces and earrings? I think people would pay more for jewelry and you could have a much higher margin b/c of the perceived value. They use similar skills and you could probably meet your goal faster.
Have you thought about getting an old fashioned bank loan with a reasonable interest rate? Do banks even do that? The upside is that they could cut you a check fast and you won't have to mess with any other crap (perhaps making the interest rate worthwhile so you can proceed ASAP). Or maybe sign up for one of those 0% interest credit cards and put it all on there - just plan on paying it back before the rate expires?
Not sure if these are options for you, but they sound a whole lot easier and more efficient on your time than making several hundred pans of cornbread. :) Mmmmmm, cornbread!!
Also, you were absolutely right about feeling "full" at this point. I woke up this morning literally feeling as if I have golf balls in my abdomen. It's completely bizarre. E2 and sono this morning to check in - update to come!
You are going to be a busy woman, that's for sure!
And is there a way to mail order some of that cornbread? I'd love to make a donation AND stuff my face!
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