Well, hello there, and welcome back to the second part of a three-part series focused on helping you adopt without going into debt.  In the first of our three-part series, we covered how much it is on average to adopt as well as the first of our three strategies which were focused on growing your savings through some unconventional methods. Today we are going to cover our second strategy, which is fundraisers. And for a spoiler alert, our third episode is focused on grants.

Before we dive into fundraising, let me first address what might be the elephant in the room for some. Should you do fundraising to pay for your adoption?  Obviously, I can not answer this for you as this is highly individual, but my caution would only do it if you are both on board with it, and if you are adopting as a single person, then it is just up to you.  The fundraising process will run more smoothly if you or your support system are willing to pitch in because it will require some work.   Ok, now let’s dive into those fundraisers, shall we? 

Adoption Fundraisers:

Adoption fundraisers are incredibly popular and a great way to grow your adoption budget fast.  And when it comes to fundraisers there are two different strategies to consider the get/give where people get something in return for their donation or direct appeal fundraisers where people just donate to support your fundraising objective. We are going to break down each of these strategies and then I am going to give you my top tips for marketing your adoption fundraiser so you can maximize your donations. 

Different types of adoption fundraisers:

1. Give/Get

2. Direct Appeal

   
   

Give/Get Adoption Fundraiser

A give/get fundraiser is just as it sounds, they give and they get something.  So this is what most would consider a traditional fundraiser.  Fundraisers like this might include the ever-so-popular adoption fundraiser of the t-shirt.  I have seen some people be super successful for the adoption t-shirt fundraiser, in fact, one of my private coaching clients raised over $10,000 with this one fundraiser alone.  

An untraditional idea for a fundraiser that is a give/get is using your unique talents to help others.  One of my private coaching clients used her love of organization to help friends spring clean their closets, organize their garages and things like that, and made a few thousand dollars.  She said it was actually great fun because she got to help her friends accomplish some goals around their homes and because she did these activities with them she also got some fun social time.  

The secret I have uncovered from all my clients is that being seasonally relevant, easy to distribute either in person or via shopping and be something that feels unique and would typically fit within your friend/families circle discretionary monthly budget seems to work the best. This is why things like the t-shirt and sock fundraisers work so well, but things like that hot chocolate bombs were incredibly popular this fall because they were seasonally relevant and felt a little complex to most people.  And those that priced them pretty reasonably on a per bomb basis (around $5) seemed to do the best. 

When it comes to a get/give fundraiser, you want to be focused on what would be desirable to your target audience.  To do this, I would suggest you make a quick list of those that you feel are more likely to donate to you, what are their interests, what do you think they would be interested in, and pay special attention to if they are local or if the item needs to be ok for shipping.  With this information in mind, I would suggest you check out 10 Adoption Fundraisers that Are Not T-Shirts and 25 Adoption Fundraiser Ideas to help you complete your plan here.

Now, let’s talk about what a direct appeal fundraiser is and how it can help you adopt without going into debt.

Direct Appeal Adoption Fundraisers

A direct appeal fundraiser is just where you ask for donations, and you are not providing something specific in return.  This has become increasingly popular around birthdays and people’s favorite charities, so it is extending that idea to your adoption. I have clients that have raised several thousand dollars using this method.  

The basic idea here is to share with your circle that you are trying to adopt and accept donations to help fund the adoption.  I have seen this work best when specifically trying to fund one thing in the adoption journey.  To give an example, if you were saving up to pay for the home study, or the activation fee, or something like that tends to work better than just a blanket, we are fundraising for an adoption type of approach. Your audience also feels part of your journey as well, without you having to share too much information, so they get more emotionally connected to your story.

Marketing Tips For Adoption Fundraising

No matter which route you choose for your adoption fundraising efforts, it is important that you properly market your fundraiser otherwise, it just won’t perform.  I have seven tips to help you market your adoption fundraiser successfully.

Seven Marketing Tips For A Successful Adoption Fundraiser

1. Be clear and concise about what you are doing. People want to know what they are getting and what you are getting. So if you are doing a give/get, make it super clear. If you are doing a direct appeal again, be specific to that point. And for both, be specific on how you are going to use the funds.

2. Don’t announce your adoption plans via a fundraiser.  Make your announcement a few days ahead of time, and then when people ask how they can help, tell them that you would love it if they would share your fundraiser with their social media followers as well.  

3. Make it super easy to donate. Accept the donations for your adoption fundraiser any way people want to donate.  

4. Make graphics that make your followers want to donate and stop their scroll from learning more

5. Don’t be afraid to text, email, and call people for donations.  

6. Deliver what you say you are going to so that they want to participate again

7. Be mindful of timing around paychecks, big expense times, and how frequently you conduct your adoption fundraisers.

And a super special bonus tip would be to join the My Adoption Coach Facebook group so that you can get the free direct appeal graphics that I am sharing with the group for fall and winter.  

Well, there you have it the two different fundraising strategies to help you fund your adoption without going into debt and my seven tips for marketing your fundraiser successfully.  I trust that you found a lot of valuable information in today’s episode, and if you did, I sure would love it if you would drop a rating and review wherever you are listening to this podcast.  I will be randomly choosing a winner each week to receive a free week of private access to me.  You will get to send me any questions you have about anything in adoption via text and voice message.  

Just another way, I have your back, friend.  Remember, anything is possible with the right plan and support, and I am just a voice or text message away!

Hi, I Am Amanda

I help women build their families through adoption by giving them the step by step guide to adopt a child and support them on their journey