First Official Fundraiser!

Blog Post 4-19-2014

This past week has been a fantastic week, with just a dose of misery. David got sick first, then I did, but then after that passed, it was GREAT! David received “Teacher of the Quarter” which was awesome because he needed to feel appreciated, and I definitely think he does now! He puts in a lot of hard work teaching ESL and I feel it was well-deserved.

          Then at school on Friday, my cousin Melissa told me about a possible fundraising opportunity. There is an Easter Brunch every year and charities get a free table! So I talked it over with David and we decided we could probably throw something together in a week’s time, so when we saw Aaron on Sunday we told him we would have a booth there! I had several evenings that I knew I could work on it this past week, so I planned on getting a whole lot done. HA! That night I got the flu, the next day I called out sick from work. I thought, “You know, I could still get a lot done here since I’ve already called out sick.” Ya… that did not work either! I slept most of the day and was not productive at all!

Thankfully, the rest of the week was a little better! We had to gather all the ingredients and design all the labels and signs, but somehow we managed to get it all done! Friday (the day before the event!) we were able to get the most done, with the help of a good friend! Stephanie helped make the mixes and put the labels on all the jars! I am so thankful for her help! We had such a fun time working on this project together.

Right before the event I decided to glue a piece of wood to a picture frame I found in the trash in my neighborhood. I propped it up and used it to display the jars of cookie mix. David thought I was insane, but when he saw it all set up today, he changed his tune! We had some people think the mixes were candles and some that were just SO confused. The Chinese people did not understand the concept of cookie mixes and so many of them just wanted me to explain what it was, how to make it, or to just take a picture! Seriously, if I had charged for pictures I would have raised so much more money!! We had one Chinese lady who bought two (buy one, get one half off) and told me she would call and ask if she got confused! I may have laughed a little inside!

We sold quite a few of my hemp creations, a lot more than we had anticipated. A few people even placed orders for headbands and bracelets, and I even made one in 15 minutes on the spot. As I sat and sold other pieces, I made more, and sold most of what I made. I even had a Chinese girl named “Wind” who was from another charity booth, watch over my shoulder for a good part of the day. She even recorded me braiding a hemp cross with her phone. The culture is so different here! I sold the hemp pieces much cheaper than I would have liked, but I realized we’re not in the USA and most people are used to getting stuff like this fairly cheap.

Even with reducing the prices, we still made $257 at the end of the day (1,570RMB)! And this means we're up to a total of $739 for our adoption savings! We sold all but 4 of the jars of cookie mix and even made an after-the-last-minute sale! We had already packed up and were loading the stuff in the TLC van, when we were told a lady upstairs wanted to buy a jar of cookie mix!  We ran back upstairs and looked around, even though we had no clue who we were looking for! By some miracle we did find her! We offered her a deal for two, but she decided on just one. When the elevator doors opened to let us out to the first floor again, she was rushing towards us! She decided on the other jar as well!

We also got some great advice and came up with ideas to make our next fundraiser better. First of all, we’re going to put an ad in the local foreigner’s magazine the HERE! Dongguan, to sell more pre-made cookie mixes. We’re hoping to set up some sort of ordering system and that people (especially foreigners) will continue to want to buy them!  We’re going to start looking for a place to get t-shirts and stickers made with our very own logo. One made by my fabulous brother Jonathan! He took the basic sketch I shared on here, and graciously transformed it into a true work of art! I’m so excited to be able to share it soon, but he’s putting a few details in still. If anyone in DG knows of a good, reliable place to get tees and stickers made, please advise us! We will also start selling cookies individually at fundraisers, as people usually want something they can have right now. We will also label our booth better, so our cookies will not be mistaken as candles!

What do you think of our first fundraiser? If you have done a fundraiser, what have you found that is most successful? Has anyone used websites, like Paypal or Kickstart Adoption, and if so, would you recommend it? Any suggestions on other fundraisers we might be able to do later? Anybody want to throw a fundraiser in the future on our behalf in the USA? Comment on Facebook, on the blog, or on my Google+ account!