Happy Thursday Everyone!
Before I begin with my words of wisdom on how to get pockets full of green, I have some great news! The due date for the final payment of my trip has been extended until February 28! That means that I have an extra three weeks to come up with the rest of the money (and believe me I'm going to need it!) Even more great news is that one of my good friends Christa is going to be my roommate in France. So far, everything is looking up :)
Now on to my pieces of vital advice on how to get people to show you the money:
Tip 1: Ask, Ask, and Ask Some More!
I'm sure most of you are thinking "Well duh Naomi, that's obvious!" If you don't ask, you won't receive. When I sent out my Hanukkah cards asking for donations, I decided to only send them out to family and family friends. I didn't send them out to my personal friends because I felt rude asking for money from people who were also broke and in school like me. Now I know how wrong that decision was! I got crap from lots of friends, even those I wasn't close with, saying that they would be happy to give $10. Ten dollars may not seem like much, but if half of my Facebook friends gave me $10 then my trip would be fully funded! My advice for anyone else trying to raise money is to ask anyone and everyone available to your disposal: ask relatives even if you don't know them, ask friends even if you aren't close, and talk about your trip to anyone who will listen! Get the word out there because the more people that know, the more chances you have to get the dough.
Tip 2: Think Outside the Box
Applying for scholarships is one of the most effective ways to get your study abroad funded, but unfortunately my white upper middle-class status severely limits my scholarship opportunities at Georgia State. Applying for the IEF Scholarship has the potential to bring in $700, but I had to take a more unorthodox approach to financing the remainder of the cost. I have been sending out handwritten letters to family and friends. In these letters I have included an itinerary of my trip (to give an idea about what I will be doing) and a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The envelope makes it easy to donate: just write a check and stick it back in the mailbox. This approach cost me only $20 for the card stock (my parents covered cost of stamps for Hanukkah) and it brought in $1000! In addition to my cards, I am taking a class with a $300 stipend, selling old textbooks online, and putting in extra hours at work.
Tip 3: Take Advantage of Free Tools
This blog and the fundraising thermometer are completely free (If you are interested I will give you the links), and are great tools for letting people track my progress. Instead of asking for birthday gifts or graduation gifts, I am instead asking for trip donations, and plan to have a collection jar at big events like my family's Superbowl party, birthday party, and friend get-togethers. Using social media like Twitter and Facebook are also great ways to spread the word about your trip to everyone you know. If you are really tight on cash, instead of sending hand-written letters, you could use the beauty of the Internets to send out completely free and unlimited emails to friends and family.
Unfortunately, many of the great things in life aren't free. The Paypal button on my blog is a great tool for raising money because it offers the convenience of using credit/debit cards and allows for people to give on their own time, but like any business its motives are anything but altruistic. For each donation I receive, Paypal takes a 3% processing fee. At first, seeing Paypal take money that ought to be in my bank account made me feel like they had pick-pocketed me, but I've decided that offering this convenience is worth it for me, especially if I wouldn't have gotten those donations otherwise.
Tip 4: Start as Early as Possible
I began the process of applying and raising money for this study abroad in December, which gave me four months to find the funding. I would recommend that anyone who needed to raise the full amount for their trip start at least six months ahead of time if not more. It takes a long time to put out your asks, depending on how many people you are trying to reach. After receiving donations, saying thank you can also take a long time. Filling out forms and making trip plans on top of fundraising has been sucking up much of my free time, and I wish I had sorted out all the trip details long before I even began looking for donations. That way, I would have only had to tackle one piece of the trip of the time. Oh well, lesson learned.
I have one month left to raise $1000 and I'm ready to kick ass and take names! If you're reading this now and haven't donated yet, please consider giving me $10! It will be repayed with hugs, gratitude, and a pretty thank you note from me!
Peace, Love, and Paris ~ Naomi
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