Fundraising (ie. Money, Money, Money)

As you can see from the thermometer on the right, we currently have a goal of raising $20,000 for the adoption process. This is a minimum estimate of the cost according to our agency, AWAA. You can find a detailed breakdown of this estimate here. There are a number of things that could cause our goal to rise in the coming months, including being forced to spend more than the estimated minimum amounts as we continue through the process--something that is a definite possibility. However, the single biggest change will be if we receive referrals for two children instead of one. We have requested two referrals, but we probably will not know if this is possible until we receive them. At that time, our goal could increase significantly. So the question becomes, how are we planning on raising this money?

We are going to start a pyramid scheme! Ok, maybe not. We're actually pursuing a number of different ideas at once. Some of them may not pan out, but right now, this is the plan.

1. Garage Sale

This is going to be a huge sale, primarily made up of items donated by you: our friends and family. It will take place at Church of the Good Shepherd. For details, please see the next post.

2. Grants and Scholarships

The paperwork's a drag, but you can't turn down free money, right? We'll be applying for a number of different scholarships over the next few months. (You've heard that there are millions of unclaimed dollars in scholarships and grants each year, right? Here's to hoping that a few of them slide our way.)

3. Donations

Of course, we will also be accepting donations from family, friends, strangers, and enemies. The catch here is that if we receive any matching grants, some of the donations will have to be appropriately tracked by that organization. So if you offer us money, and we tell you to make the check out to something not even remotely like "Joseph & Heidi Bayly," you'll know why.

4. Write a Book

OK, so this is where we get a little crazy. Actually, the book has already been written by my sister, Hannah. The idea right now is to make some modifications, and then print it, market it and sell it. We aren't sure where this will go, but rest assured, you'll be able to find out more about it right here on our blog.

5. Let You do our Fundraising!

Yes, we are more than open to others putting on fundraisers of their own devising. In fact, it would be downright encouraging if you would be creative and help us out with this in your own unique way. We've heard tell of one plan that includes a real-life medieval feast. The reality is that we have way more fundraising ideas than Heidi and I can pull off on our own. Many of them are ideas that you all came up with and told us about. If you can just go ahead and do it too, that would rock! Then you can brag about how much money you raised for our adoption. Yeah, like I said, a pyramid scheme. (But we're serious.)