Draft list of fundraisers for 2010

18. Dee~ Yamileisly in the DR
19. Candace~ Adriana in Colombia
20. Stephanie~ Glenn
21. Wilfredo~ Jerry
22. Heather G~ Joyce
23. Holly~ Maria
24. Camille~ Ariela
25. Tamara~ Rosalie
26. Cherise~ Sabrata in India
27. Kate~ Nelanda in the DR
28. Mack~ Kevin in Ecuador
29. Heather M~ Brayan in Mexico
30. Chrystal~ Jessica in Ecuador
31. Susan H~ Jessabel in Phillippines
32. Holly G~ Roselle
33. Heather G~ Michelle
34. Barbara~ Mario

This is a semi-final draft of the upcoming fundraisers. There are still some kinks being worked out. I have gone through some of the donations. Some people are short on the amount that they need to donate before their fundraiser can start. I know some of this is because some of you were unaware as to how much you have donated. I have added up the totals for 5 of you, but I am still going through the list for the rest of you. I am only adding up the totals for those of you who have an upcoming fundraiser. I will let you know your total by the end of the week. Then, you have until your fundraiser is about to start to donate the amount you need to. If it comes time for your fundraiser, and you have not donated the 25%, you will be skipped and pushed to the next fundraiser. Once you have been skipped, it is time for you to donate the rest that you need. to If you do not donate or respond to me to tell me what is going on, I will push your fundraiser out again. If you still haven't responded to my inquiries or made any donations since, I will remove your fundraiser from the list.

I am trying to help everyone, but I am running into obstacles for the following reasons:

1. the need of pics, write ups, & break downs to set up your page

2. people not donating the 25% in enough time for me to plan out their fundraiser placement

3. people not wanting to help get their fundraisers funded

Here are my suggestions:

1. send your pics, write ups, & break downs in plenty of time to set up you page (send it to me at least by the time your fundraiser is 3 fundraisers away)~ That way, if you have a chance to get bumped forward, you can be, and I for sure will be able to get your page set up in time.

2. if it is hard for you to make donations, send them a few dollars at a time, and let them build up. 25% is not a big amount to request. Remember that if you donate to others, they are more likely to donate to you.

3. the rule of 25% means that if everyone only donates 25%, 75% has to be gotten from outside of the group. I hope that most are donating more than 25%, but it is not mandatory. This being said, when your fundraiser is up, you MUST lobby for your own cause. Especially if you only donated 25% (because you may only get 25% back from the group). Lobbying for your cause would include telling friends and family, social networks, facebook, twitter, myspace, and holding raffles (among other ideas).

Now, in order to launch the next fundraiser, I am just waiting for one of these fundraisers to be completed:

http://www.firstgiving.com/icecreamigp
http://www.firstgiving.com/betterlatethannever

Ok... Now, I hope everyone understands all that is going on with the fundraisers. I want to make this a great experience for everyone and help a lot of families along the way. I don't intend for this to be a one-person show~ It should always be everyone working together for a common cause. And, I can tell you this from experience... If everyone sits here and waits for something to happen, it will never happen. YOU have to make it happen.

**P.S. If you sent me a request, and your name is not on this list, e-mail me a reminder & I will sift through my e-mails to pull up your original request.

Also, most of these fundraisers have been on the list this year (for a LONG time!) The only new ones start at fundraiser #27 and on. Thank you to those that have patiently waited through these large fundraisers for their's to start!

Now, you have until Friday 12/18/09 to get your fundraiser requests in. I will load them up until we get to #40 or until the end of Friday night, whichever comes first. It is on a 1st request, 1st served basis, and is open to anyone who is not already on the list between fundraiser #27 and #34. That means any of you who have a fundraiser BEFORE #27 you can request another fundraiser for this new batch (the reason for this is because those between #18 & #26 have been waiting months for their fundraisers to start, since most were requested before October of this year).

Then, I will start taking requests again in April 2010, or sooner (depending on how quickly we get the fundraisers completed).

To get your child's name in these upcoming fundraisers, e-mail your request to me no later than Firday 12/18/09