Fundraising is Hard!

I’ve learned so much from starting this Make a Difference Project, and despite it being the enormous challenge that it has been, I’ve decided to make this an annual project. Obviously I can’t re-sell the same decals every year, so I will have to come up with something new but I just love the idea of helping people. I am completely aware of how cheesy that is, I even sat and contemplated writing it or re-wording it but when it comes down to it, it’s just that simple. I want to help people, I want to make a difference. Over the weekend I did an online personality test, when I got the results it said “Making the world a better place is your motto. You need to have a crusade or mission in life,” and that couldn’t be more true. Right now, first and foremost my mission is to raise autism awareness and acceptance. 

The last two weeks I have been busting my butt trying to think of every way possible to spread the word and to get these decals sold. It is exhausting. Not only did I go back on my word of ‘spamming’ a bunch of people, but I’ve joined different online forums as another channel of getting it out there. I was not ready for the negative criticism that came along with it though. All comments towards design, which just comes down to personal taste, I just have to learn not to take everything so personally. I’ve done the best I can, and I think I’ve done quite a bit to make sure the right people are aware but I still can’t help but feel like it’s not enough. One of the things that has become painfully aware to me is that it costs money to make money. I decided at the beginning the amount of money I was willing to spend, personally, and how much I would recover. I haven’t quite sold enough yet to even recover costs, which is less than half of what I’ve spent. Now, instead of recovering costs I’ve decided to donate all of what comes in from now until Friday, I will continue to sell and hopefully recover some money then. I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but I also think that it’s good for my kids to see me do all of this work for literally zero money. I don’t want them to think of volunteering as a chore, or something to do just to pass a high school class. I want it to be normal for them, to see the positive effects from volunteering, and to continue giving back throughout their lives. So I guess, even if financially this wasn’t a tremendous success it’s still been a fantastic experience with other life lessons.