[Fredslist] Networking for Fundraising

[Dana Charlton]

Fellow Gothamites,

A good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with an aggressive, late stage form of cancer.  His wife has a nationwide networking group by way of her profession, and one of her friends started a "donate me now" fund to help ease their expenses.  But as I watched it grow, noticed that most donations ranged from $20.00 to $200.00.  That is not easy for everyone, and thus not everyone was included.

My friend and I are members of a large nationwide community of antique bottle collectors. The one thing common to all bottle shows is a raffle, tickets starting at $1.00 on up for an antique bottle or "50/50" cash.  So I started networking among the bottle collecting community on Facebook.  A major bottle show was coming up and it would be ideal to have the drawing at the show, with tickets sold beforehand (used paypal) and at the show itself.  Word got out and everyone wanted to take part.  It was networking and constant hammering it home and in one week 2,850 tickets were sold.  One collector called it a "Happening" and my friend and his wife said they were amazed, that they never knew they had so many friends.  

I share this possibility with you as a surprisingly easy way to raise benefit funds, and rewarding way to show support for someone who is cared about.
 
Dana Charlton (Lefty Group)