A message to everyone participating in the fundraisers:

Dear fellow sponsors,

Thanks to your overwhelming support, our fundraising projects have been a huge success! However, there is some concern that, as our campaigns continue, the people benefiting from these fundraisers will not be same people who have been contributing to others with the greatest generosity.

Our FirstGiving fundraising campaigns are based on the concept of 'Pay It Forward', following a model developed by an experimental group of four sponsors. Over the past year, these four developed a money-sharing system that would allow their sponsored children to receive Special Needs gifts more rapidly: instead of each sponsor saving up her money for four months, then each funding her own project, the sponsors contributed the money they would have saved to another child - with the knowledge that the same would be done for her when her child's turn for a donation came around. The beauty of the idea was that three out of the four children involved in the project would receive their donations sooner than they would have otherwise.

FirstGiving uses the same concept, only executed on a grander scale. With more people involved, a little goes a long way, and smaller contributions on the part of many can accomplish great things. The hope is that donors will feel good about helping other needy children, having the underlying belief that their own child's project will eventually be funded in the same manner. Unlike the arrangement between the above-mentioned four sponsors, there is no guarantee that each contributor will receive back precisely the same amount that he/she has invested in the previous projects - which is fine, as long as everyone is aware that the system could break down if it starts relying too heavily on a small core group of donators who may easily become frustrated if they feel they are doing all of the 'work'.

To ensure that things remain fair and somewhat even, I am considering the possibility of implementing a new regulation for projects #11 - 20. In order to have one of your children granted a slot in the next round of 10 fundraisers, you must have contributed at least 25% of your 'asking' amount to previous projects. For instance, if your sponsored child has requested $200 to buy an X-Box … oops, I mean to buy food and school supplies … then in order to start a fundraiser for him/her, you must have already donated a total of $50 to projects #1-10. This rule is particularly important as the maximum amount for future projects is being increased to $500. I would like to have seen a sponsor contribute at least $125 to other projects before requesting this much for his/her own child! Does this seem like a fair idea to the rest of you?

I welcome your comments and suggestions!

Sincerely,
Heather & Stephanie

P.S. Even when you put your donation as "anonymous", your name is still shown the the administrators.