Fundraising is the process by which organizations, whether for-profit or non-profit, obtain money and other resources for their operations. These operations can be political campaigns, student scholarships, disaster relief, research or social issues.
There are several types of fundraisers, like competitive or sporting Events, sponsored walks, auctions, etc. Identifying a type of fundraiser depends primarily on the cause for which one needs to raise the funds. Fundraising usually involves donation of money, but money can also be raised by selling products. For fundraising ideas to be a success, one needs to identify the target audience, people who will be donating or contributing towards the fundraising event.
Special events are used to create the awareness of the issue to the masses and to raise the fund. Benefit concerts, walkathon (sponsored walk) or sporting events are popular fundraisers for issues that affect large sections of populations. Therefore their target audience is from a wide range of ages and economic backgrounds.
Fundraising can start at home. One can offer goods and services to the community to raise money. BBQ is a great money earner, especially if a good job of creating affinity with community through relationship building is done.
Auctions are common and very successful. If an auction offers something that is valuable to the audience, which can be anything from antiques to a date with celebrities, it can raise lots of funds.
Selling wearable items, such as t-shirts, wrist bands and accessories is another way of fundraising. For successful fundraising, the gap between production cost and revenue must be wide. Therefore inflated prices should be used for selling the product.
The tips have started rolling in - (and a dose of nostalgia with them).
An unusual one from Mrs Lewis of Wiltshire. She used her old tights (legs only) for crocheting bath mats, and, whilst the crocheting bug was still with her, used up the rest of her old tights by treating the dog to a new cover for the inside of its basket. As she says - “it is simple to wash and quick to dry”. She crochets these circles along the same lines as we used to make shoulder handbags. Do you remember them ladies? We used to crochet two matching circles plus a long narrow strip and then join the circles to the strip and hey presto! a bag which was very fashionable at the time . . . And as everything comes round in circles, they will no doubt one day be fashionable again. Come to think of it, the same bag created out of old tights/stockings would make a very useful ‘peg bag’, one which you could sling over your shoulder and so leave the hands free for hanging out the washing.
Crocheting
As soon as Mrs L mentioned ‘crocheting with fabric’, my mind immediately flipped back to my childhood. I can remember my friends’ mothers and also grandmothers sitting together, chatting, and at the same time pushing strips of old woollen cloth into a sacking backing (with a special metal dibber) and then pulling the same strip towards them. The result was a closely woven ’shag style’ rug with an approx. 2″ pile, often of a beautiful and intricate design. Of course, the children weren’t allowed to be idle and they were roped in to cut up old woollen coats, skirts, etc. into 4″ x l” strips. Most families were content with the making of just a fireside rug which could be taken up, thrown over the washing line and given its once-a-week beating, but my friend’s mother had ambition and the whole family (including the six children) spent the winter evenings making a rug which when completed filled the whole of the living room. (I think she must have been the Mrs Bouquet of her day). This was the first time that I had seen a fitted carpet and Oh! what bliss! as we rolled around on it. Not very hygienic of course with six children, two dogs, cats and friends playing on it, and as it was too heavy for its weekly ‘lift’ and was therefore only moved for its ‘once-a-year’ spring clean, it probably had a few more additions to the family, living and growing in it. Well, we didn’t have vacuum cleaners, health visitors, etc, but didn’t we have fun? It was such a change from the usual cold lino with just the obligatory rug in front of the fire and often that was made of hard coconut matting, which was not exactly child friendly.
(You didn’t have to play outside to get a grazed knee you could get it by playing inside on the coconut matting.) Perhaps that is why most of the games were played at the family table, as the cold lino was not the place to play during the cold winter evenings. Isn’t it funny how times have changed? Now, the focal point of any living/family room is the TV and, then, the large family table dominated the room. In fact, it was often half the size of the living room as it had to accommodate large families (several of my friends had six or eight siblings) and of course they all sat down together for meals
Living rooms
Note that I have mentioned ‘living rooms’ - the word ‘lounge’ had not yet arrived in the family vocabulary. Lounges as far as our young ears could determine were rather dubious places in pubs and hotels, places where good girls didn’t frequent. Isn’t it funny also how actual words come in and go out of fashion. I think lounge has done the complete circle now. The working class front room/sitting room became the estate agents’ upmarket ’spacious lounge’ and now the word ‘lounge’ is considered a ‘no, no’ and we are back to the estate agents’ ‘large, airy living room/sitting room’, etc. And, can you remember when ’sofas’ suddenly went upmarket and became ’settees’, and now ’settee’ is downmarket and it’s back to ’sofa’? Which reminds me - last week I mentioned the word ‘anorak’ to my grandchildren, and they looked at me blankly and asked ‘what’s an anorak?’ I wonder if the pre-anorak word ‘windcheater’ will make a comeback. Hope so, it was such an apt name and we could certainly do with a ‘wind cheater’ at the moment!
All these memories from just one tip. Hope the above has evoked happy childhood memories for you also, but unfortunately all these meanderings means that I am out of space ….. but, watch this space and join me for the rest of the tips …. Unless, of course, you’ve been encouraged to start making a rug or two?
Visit Mabels…Maintaining Bygone Times, containing numerous articles thoughtfully researched mainly for the older person. You may access these articles by visiting http://www.mabels.org.uk/ - You will learn about the best tips, latest news & advice to improve your health, fitness, finances & retirement as well as information on nostalgic topics, places to visit, leisure & lifestyle, mobility & helpful organisations to make the most out of life and much, much more to benefit “Your Quality of Life”.
We are fast approaching the season where love, more than simply being in the air, is positively running riot. It’s something to do with the elevated moods that warmer weather and sunshine inevitably bring. With the unseasonably hot April weather, you can expect to see more proposals and hasty weddings flying in left, right, and centre. I can’t think of a better time to celebrate a union than with the backdrop of sunny blasts, singing birds and calming breezes. Summer is nature’s own light display. It’s lucky that here at the Wish Lantern headquarters, we are prepared for all eventualities. We have designed two types of wedding package which suit every bride and grooms personal requirements. There is both a small and a large wedding package, the first comprising of 50 lantern, the second of 100. No bride needs more than 100. Both packages come with personalized inserts designed by a talented artist. On these are the names of the happy couple along with the date of the wedding and a list of instructions addressed to the couple an guests. There are also wedding lighters in each package, which can be used for other activities aside from lighting the lanterns, wish tags upon which the guests can dedicate wishes to the happy couple, and highlighters should anyone wish to write directly on the lanterns. What more could you want?
Make your craft projects extra special by applying glitter.
Glitter is fun and easy to use. It is also inexpensive considering how little it takes to cover an item.
Here are some suggestions to easily apply glitter:
For precise glitter placement, use a glue pen. Other options include using glue sticks, or cotton swaps and a puddle of glue. Just “paint” where you want the glitter to be.
For full coverage, use a can of spray adhesive or a Xyron machine. To use your Xyron machine, just roll the die cut or item you want to completely cover through the machine with the piece face down (just opposite of how you normally do it), then apply the glitter. For extra ease, now run it through the normal way and your gorgeous piece is ready to use with glue on the back!
Work over a sheet of paper so you can fold it to put the excess glitter back into the jar. When buying glitter, look for wide mouth jars, instead of tall skinny containers, to make saving the excess easy.
So be a kid again and don’t be afraid to play with glitter. It is great on homemade Christmas cards, die cuts, scrapbook pages, and attention grabbing signs, just to name a few.
Maribeth Duffy is the owner of Little Extras (http://www.LittleExtrasDiecuts.com) an on-line scrapbook store which sells both retail and wholesale since 1990.
Poems have different cores, or so I believe, and can only be structured well for certain figurative languageheart beats; like all counselors are not made for all clients, so all poems are not made for the same person, or purpose; when we read we all have our likes and dislikes; I do not necessarily know what poetry is per se, but I do know what the greatness of poetry has, and great poetry is close to an illusion…it carries an echo I do believefigurative yes, at best, and questionable yes, by far. Here are five poems I’ve recently wrote, all with a different core, focus and style.
1)
The Beehive
[Poetic cut-ups]
[Paper] “USA Today,” 75 cents, March 18, 20, 2005: ‘…it was acceptable in the l980’s…as a cup of coffee…what I will not do is participate…to be clear, I have never taken illegal drugs…In my 19 years in the big league…Around the World in 8, days….McGuire said repeatedly…recent spat of vehicle accidents in Iraq…Rice Reaches Out…Quest for Fame…Jules Verne 100th anniversary…Peterson to San Quentin…Jackson’s young guests…Stun guns…’
[Sound] In the background of the café-bookstore, I hear the music of Nat King Cole: ‘…we are not too young to know…’ Now I hear trousers hitting legs…Dishes in the dishwasher [café] …a laugh, I think its Erica behind the café counter…squealing of galoshes…a cough in the background… .
[Sight] Three girls went to the counter…lady beside me writing…Michelle came up to my table, talking about her boyfriend…Mark waved goodbye for the day, just left his music area…lady in the front of me whispering…large woman with a thin sport jacket on at the front ordering food, talking to the servers (some food to go I think)… .
[Dreams] Voices that let you roam at your will, but to receive the voices one must stop all the echoes, shadows, aggravationsfind silence. The subconscious can hear ever operation going on. I am like all warm blooded mammals: we all dream: bats, bears and beastslike humankind. Dreams are the keys to keeping the heart beat, beating; stop the dreaming, you stop everything. Last night I dreamed of writing this poem.
[Epilogue] The mind, the mind, the mind: papers, sounds, sights and dreamscome in and out from all sides of me: day and night, and night and night and day, every which way. From all sides of me, like a movie; computer, filing, filing them all away, “…for what you say?”
2) Old Charlie Edwards
Old Charlie Edwards had an office About one and a half miles from town Most cars that came by you’d know why He owned all the real estate In town He never smoked cigarettes Nor drank alcohol He never gambled with his money From what, most folks can recall, during his formative years And until his High School Prom He’d play Monopoly year round And whip everyone Fine, as you may foretell He made his money just that way It was like playing chess, he’d say And he’d never rest, play all day And owned half the town Well, Old Charlie Edwards’ Office Was always in the white Until the town’s committee Voted to build an interstate Just to spite Old Charlie and his ways Yes, Charlie had to move From that old spot As you may have guessed And thereafter, Charlie sold all His real estate After that, all the towns folks Ran to his office to look around As if he may have left some treasure Laying about But Old Charlie Edwards Simply moved out of town Laughing and Giggling Buying more real estate in St. Paul!…
3)
The Last Second
Angels come
(sometimes)
within arms reach
but dare not touch
the heart’s beat;
beyond its sacred
melody…
for your sake!…
4)
Sid M.
[l966]
Long forgotten is my friend
Forty-year ago this spring
He died when he was twenty,
And I was but nineteen.
I see us in our High School Halls,
With boyish hopes and dreams;
His face was always high-brow
But he never looked down on me.
To him who died so very young,
And now, so very long ago…
In memory, unsought, I say:
I have never forgotten you!
5)
The Scent of Paris
Calm as a Paris…river’s afternoon
Warm in the month of June
And filled with spirits, crimson people,
Pervaded with a scent that could lead
One’s illusional dreamsto be!
A ghoul’s cologne haunts my hands
As I glimpse the bridges: land to land
As I touch the hidden flutes of memory
The scent of Pariscomes back to me.
About the author: Mr. Siluk is a world traveler, a lover of the mysteries around the world, and has visit many World Heritage Sites, his most recent being Easter Island, the Galapagos and Mesa Verde. His books can be seen on/at Barns and Noble.com, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Abe.com Alibis, Boarders and several other sites and book stores. Many of his books can be purchased through the English Bookdealers. He spends his time between Lima, Peru and St. Paul, Minnesota, and has just finished working on two new books: “The Macabre Poems,” and “Perhaps it’s Love,” and continues to work on “Curse of the Abyss Worm,” a suspenseful mystery, and “Cold Kindness,” a tragic love affair.
In early fall, in Minnesota, the rain falls, falls,
In buckets, buckets and more buckets: drops
Likened to music from its many streamsland
Of ten-thousand lakes; moistened gravel, gravel
Everywhere…
Grandpa sits on the porchdaydreaming of, of
Something, perhaps winter around the corner;
As the flies disappear, with the mosquitoes…
Leaves will soon vanish, shadows will come early
Maybe he’s thinking about summer: miles and miles
And miles and miles of cornfields; his childhood now
Long gone, he hums a hymn, a song; looking at the
Metal-piped fence, he made, with three poles, on the
Embankment, leading up the steps to the porch;
It’s worn-out like him.
The winds in Minnesota smell fresh, fresh from all
The foliage, there’s a lot of it. The eighty-three
Year old man looks about, on his screened in
Porch fetches his pipe, lights it up, sucks in a
Drag, pushes out some smoke: it drifts and drifts
In the corners of the house
“Ah!” he saysproud of his life eventsI say to
Myself (I’m but ten): “No doubt He’s already lived this?”
There are many stories he wants to tell, but first he
Wants to smell the fresh air, the burning of autumn
LeavesHe, never intended to have lived this long of
A life, I believe, the old bear, came from Russia in 1916;
He accepted lifeadjusted to it
He hears the sparrows, their feathers flapping, faintly
Soiled feathers, flapping, covering every inch of their
Bodies He notices frost on the nearby tree. It seems to
Him, the sun is bouncing off of the ground, he gets bits
And pieces of it on his face, it warms it, somehow,
Thaws it out…
He’s breathing in, frail like,like reading Faulkner, slowly
Does it, a ting uneasy. He never left Minnesota once, once
He arrived back home from WWI (1918), “…no need to,” he
Sayshe’s happy…
The fields are clean, animals in the barns; in the city,
People getting haircutseverything shutting down.
Winter is nowit came last night, a Minnesota winter
Is like no other. He just woke up, his bones chilled. The
Wind blows, now it whistles, no foliage to stop its echoes.
“There are only a few left like me,” he murmurs. The
Flavor of winter he likes; warm biscuits, hot coffee, a
Smoke from a pipe or cigar. Black branches that were
Green a few months ago: it’s 10-below zero.
He sees the beauty of Minnesota in a glance here and
ThereIt makes his brain swim with life; it is nature at its
Finest!…
For Kathy [#800 8/14/05]
In Spanish
Translated by: Nancy Penaloza
Respirando en, Minnesota
[un poema]
Al comienzo del Otoo, en Minnesota, la lluvia cae, cae, En cubos, cubos
Y ms cubos-: gotas Comparadas con la msica de sus muchos arroyuelos de
Diez mil lagos; grava humedecida, grava por todas partes…
El abuelo se sienta sobre el prtico, soando despierto, de Algo, quizs el invierno rondando la esquina-; mientras las moscas desaparecen, con los mosquitos…Las hojas pronto desaparecern, las sombras vendrn temprano
Tal vez él esta pensando en el verano: millas y millas y millas y millas de maizales;
Su niez ahora, hace mucho tiempo ida, él tararea un himno, una cancin; mirando
La valla metlica-entubada, que él hizo, con tres postes, sobre el Terraplén,
Conduciendo los pasos hacia el prtico; Esto esta desgastado como él.
Los vientos en Minnesota huelen fresco, fresco por todo el follaje, hay
Mucho de ello. El anciano de ochenta y tres aos mira alrededor, sobre su proteccin
En el Prtico - trayendo su pipa, encendiéndolo, aspiran una Rastra, eliminando el humo: esto va a la deriva y llega las esquinas de la casa
” Ah!” l dice - orgulloso de los acontecimientos de su vida- me digo a mi mismo (pero yo slo de diez): Sin duda “l ya vivi esto?”
Hay muchas historias que él quiere contar, pero primero, él quiere oler el aire fresco, la combustin de Hojas de otoo - l, nunca tuvo la intencin de haber vivido esto a lo largo de una vida, Yo creo, el viejo oso, vino de Rusia en 1916; l acept la vida- adaptado a ello.
l oye los gorriones, su batir de plumas, plumas apenas Manchadas, batir, cubriendo cada pulgada de sus Cuerpos - l nota la helada sobre el rbol cercano. Le parece, el sol esta saltando en el campo, él consigue aicos y pedazos de ello sobre su cara, esto calienta, de algn modo, Lo deshiela hacia fuera…
l esta respirando, frgil como, - como leyendo Faulkner, despacio hace esto, un tintineo difcil. l nunca dej Minnesota alguna vez, una vez que l lleg a casa de WWI (1918), “…ninguna necesidad”, él dice - que el es feliz…. los campos son limpios, los animales en los graneros; en la ciudad, la gente que consigue cortes de pelo - todo cerrando abajo. El invierno esta ahora - lleg anoche, un invierno del Minnesota no Se parece a ningn otro. Justo cuando el se despert, sus huesos enfriados. El Viento sopla, ahora esto silba, ningn follaje para parar sus ecos.
“Hay slo unos pocos dejados como yo ” murmura él. El Sabor del invierno le gusta; bizcochos calientes, café caliente, fumar de una pipa o cigarro. Las ramas negras que eran Verdes hace unos meses-: esto es 10 bajo cero.
l ve la belleza de Minnesota en un vistazo aqu y All - Esto hace a su cerebro nadar con la vida; esto es la naturaleza en su fineza!…
Para Kathy [*800 8/14/05]
You can see Dennis Siluk’s many books at http://www.bn.com or http://www.amazon.com
Are you looking for ways to keep craft time with your children simple and fun? If so, I hope you will put some of the following suggestions to use.
1. Find the craft the kids want to make and then make a list of all the supplies you will need to make the craft.
2. If you do not have everything on hand add the supplies you need to your shopping list so you will not forget them.
3. Put a plastic table cloth down where you will be crafting.
4. Have all supplies laid out before you announce craft time to your kids.
5. Use non-toxic paints, glues, etc.
6. Have wet wipes and paper towels handy for spills.
7. Always try to have extra supplies in case something is lost or torn, etc.
8. Let them wear old clothes so you will not be stressed out over ruining what they are wearing.
9. Show the kids how to do the craft but let them do it in their own way. If you insist on it being perfect then you might as well do the craft yourself and forget about having craft time with the kids. It also makes the children think that everything has to be perfect and that their best is not good enough. Sometimes little hands need help but you know you have gone too far when you are the only one left at the craft table.
10. Have fun! Don’t worry about a little paint on their hands & faces, take pictures instead.
I hope you will try these suggestions for a stress free craft time with your children. Show them how to have fun, they will learn how to be stressed out way too soon anyway.
Angela Billings is the founder of Home and Family Ezine and offers recipes and tips for better living. http://www.homeandfamilyezine.com
