On the advice of a friend, I'm changing my approach to fundraising a bit. Instead of asking churches to donate money, I'm going to ask them to pledge money. The difference is, they won't be expected to actually hand over any cash until the entire $6,000 has been raised or at least pledged. The reason for this change is because, as my friend pointed out, some churches may be hesitant to donate money because they aren't sure I will raise the full amount, in which case they don't know what I would be doing with their money. They want to make sure the money is being used for my service dog and that I will be able to get the dog.
So that's the new plan. I'm still getting some donations from friends and acquaintances, and I'm still saving money myself, of course. I've gone over my budget carefully and I should be able to save $100 to $150 every month to put toward the cost of my service dog. Yes, that's a challenge on a limited income. I'm doing all kinds of things to save money. I'm making my own laundry detergent (costs me about two cents to do a load of laundry now, plus it's environmentally friendly), I'm using cloth instead of many disposable paper products (cloth napkins, cloth rags instead of paper towels, cloth menstrual pads, etc.), I'm making my own cleaning supplies. OK, I'm also doing those things because they are good for the environment. But they do save money, a lot of money.
I'm still feeling a little overwhelmed, but I feel less discouraged. I want to thank everyone that's contacted me about donating or volunteering to help with fundraising. All the support makes me feel much more hopeful.
This is great news! I like it! Maybe more churches would be willing to pledge too if they could pledge a smaller amount such as $100 and if your approach to them was "Church X is willing to pledge $200 to my service dog campaign. Would you join them in this effort?" and plan on sending a monthly email update or direct them to this site so they can feel directly involved and see your fundraising progress. Just a thought. I'm excited that you are being more and more creative and not letting the setbacks stop your determination!
ReplyDeleteOh, they can pledge any amount they want. In my fundraising letter, I don't ask for any certain amount and I state that any amount at all would be helpful. But I was thinking of saying something about what other churches have pledged, kind of a little bit of peer pressure type thing. Directing them to this site is a good idea. I've also been enclosing a brochure from Pet Partners, which is an organization that educates people about service dogs, and the brochure just provides some general information about what service dogs do and how they help people.
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