Monday, September 2, 2013

144 Envelopes Fundraiser

Now that we are matched, we will need to provide a large portion of the finances for our adoption, and after that we will have the expense of 9 plane tickets (2 round trip for Dustin and I, and 7 one way from the Philippines to home! YAY!). We are still a long ways from our total need, and though it is difficult for me to ask (because of pride), we would like to humbly ask your help with this fundraiser:

Kim Adams (with Ordinary Hero) had a GREAT suggestion for a fundraiser called "144 Envelopes."

Here is the idea:

We take 144 envelopes. We number each envelope 1-144. (that's the easy part)

Next, we will ask people to commit to taking an envelope (or more than one if you are feeling overly ambitious and super generous. :)

When you agree to an envelope, it means that you are volunteering to be responsible for coming up with the dollar amount on your numbered envelope. So, if you have the number 1 you would commit to $1. If you have the number 2 you would be committing to $2, and so on. The highest numbered envelope is 144. So the most anyone would commit to is $144.

All donations will be tax-deductible, and checks can be made out to "Christian Adoption Services" with "Bestul Family" in the memo field.

*You do not have to come up with the money on your own. Ask your friends and family members to join you. Perhaps you could have your small group commit to taking an envelope or two, or you could do your own fundraiser. (If you do this, please let us know, so we can advertise your fundraiser and give others ideas on how they could raise funds!)

Your envelope will be sent to you with the number you have requested. It will already have a stamp and our address for you to send your pledge back to us once you have collected it. (We are having them sent to our personal address to collect them all to send them into our adoption agency together).

Several people have stated that they thought it would be fun to do this completely randomly. So, you would sign up for an envelope, and I will randomly send you one. You wouldn't know the amount you are committing to (but the minimum it could be would be $1 and the maximum it could be is $144).

However, some people may not be able to commit to a large number, and they would prefer it to be for a specified amount.

Therefore, we have decided to leave both options. If you want to sign up for a specific number, please let me know. I will keep a tally on Facebook for people to sign up for specific numbers (please let me know if you prefer it to be anonymous). If you would rather that I randomly assign you a number because you like the surprise factor, I would be happy to do that too.

I would like to upfront thank everyone for their help with this fundraiser. This fundraiser cannot be a success without each one of you. I also want to thank my sister, Jeanette, who has offered to cover the expense of 144 stamps. I love you Jeanette!

Now here is the incredible thing...

If all 144 envelopes are committed to and returned...this fundraiser would bring in $10,000! 

Would you consider committing to take an envelope?  If you have facebook sign up at our event "144 Envelopes for the Bestul's Adoption." Or, you can email me if you are interested in helping us with this fundraiser. My email is: The.Bestul.Family@gmail.com

If you are curious how much our adoption costs and would like to see the breakdown of expenses, please click here.


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