For all your fundraising needs...

Fundraisers: Bane of my existence. Er... Or, actually, I think that may be the other way around. At the very least, it's mutual. You see... I'm the kind of person who has to buy all of my own kids' candy and wrapping paper so they don't look like idiots when they go back to school on Monday. I couldn't sell fish to penguins. Yet - somehow - I often find myself in the fundraising position.

When we decided to homeschool the boys - I was talking about academics and quality time with the children... but I was secretly rejoicing that there would be no more Sally Foster Gift Wrap campaigns... No more magazine orders... No more raffle tickets... *cackle*

I thought I was safe... until the Donorschoose.org blogger's challenge came up. I was optimistic about this one. It should be effortless -- set up the challenge, post the links, and wait for the money to roll in. I set my challenge goal for the Surviving Katrina Challenge at $1500. My first donation came right away - it was small, but every little bit helps, right? Well okay.. that first donation was actually made by me. I needed to test how the donation process worked so that I could help people with the technicalities of using the Donorschoose.org website. Then, I waited some more.

*crickets chirping*

I started to feel that maybe the $1500 goal was intimidating to those who couldn't afford a large donation and lowered my overall goal to $500 a few days ago. It must have been a terribly effective move - because tonight my challenge received its second donation so far... Thanks, Mom.

****Okay so fundraising dynamo, I am not... But that doesn't make the cause any less worthy. Through this blogger's challenge, Donorschoose.org is helping to raise money for Mississippi Public Schools. The challenge continues through September 30th. I have included proposals from teachers from coast schools affected by Hurricane Katrina in my challenge. If you are interested in making a donation - please visit:

http://www.donorschoose.org/challenge.php?id=298

Also -- if you are a public school teacher here on the coast (or even elsewhere!) -- be sure to visit the website to find out how you can get help with funding for some of your classroom projects!****