We quickly learned after Hudsyn was born that this journey we were on was going to become expensive. I’m not talking about medical expenses, necessarily, although we were (and are) fortunate that Hudsyn has both primary & secondary medical insurance so most of her out of pocket expenses are covered.
No, I’m talking about alllll the extra stuff, like:
- Special Tomato Chair, Stander, adaptive stroller (and any other adaptive equipment she needs to live and exist safely in and around our home) = $300-$1,100
- Wheechair Accessible Van = $35,000-$90,000
- Wheelchair Ramp into our home = $140-$400
- Stair Lift = $3,000-$25,000
- Bathroom Accessability (Bath Chair, roll-in shower, door widening, adult sized changing table) = $5,000-$25,000
- Bedroom Accessability (Ceiling Lift, hospital bed/SleepSafe bed) = $5,000-$30,000
Insurance may or may not cover any of the above. These costs begin to add up quickly as your child grows and becomes an adult. In fact, here’s a video I did awhile ago on the costs associated with raising a child with disabilities:
Add on to this the idea that you’d like to provide alternative therapies for your child like HBOT, Stem Cells or Hippotherapy (all of which are typically not covered by insurance), you begin to get overwhelmed.
This post is all about helping you think outside the box of how your middle-income family is going to afford all of this AND still keep necessary expenses in check like your mortgage payment, food and utilities. Below are a few ideas that we have used successfully.
- Selling custom t-shirts with Bonfire.com. This has, by far, been our most effective, and FUN, way to raise funds when we need them. Over the last several years, we’ve raised over $6,000 on this platform. The social media buzz we’ve received (people wearing their shirts and posting online, tagging Hudsyn’s campaign) has been incredible. Our shirts have been all over the world! You can setup your new shirt design for free. Bonfire handles all fulfillment, shipping and then you get paid quickly & easily online. We LOVE Bonfire.
- Facebook page with associated fundraising app (ie: Fundrazr, GoFundMe, etc.). See our “Tips” section below for how to start your own Facebook page and why this is important before you start asking for money.
- Host a local event – spaghetti dinner, concert, bowling night, Bingo (charge an entrance fee; make teams gather donations for prizes; etc). This can be a lot of leg work, and planning…but a well-attended event can be fun and very helpful for large lump sums over time.
- Scentsy, Mary Kay, Premier, Stella & Dot, Silpada or Avon fundraiser – work with a local consultant to host a party in your home. Sure, you’ve got to clean and look presentable, but most consultants will donate a percentage of sales to your child’s needs on top of anyone who gives a donation outright at the event.
- Ask local businesses to sponsor your event or make an outright donation to your cause/project.
- Online charity auction with donated goods.
- Choose the Torture – Have donors pay $1 a vote to decide which form of “torture” to inflict on you or someone who’s willing to be your guinea pig (i.e. dye hair, dress as a clown, trade a job for a day).
- Host a Neighborhood Party – Get entertainment and food donated and charge a ticket fee for each guest.
- Spell S-U-C-C-E-S-S – Hold a spell-a-thon with each contestant collecting donations for the number of words they spell correctly. The top winners receive donated prizes.
- Smoothie Stand – A healthy and yummy twist on the tired ol’ lemonade stand. I love this one, because our kiddos with G-tubes can participate as well!
- Strike Gold – Participants ask friends and family to donate old jewelry they no longer wear and sell the gold online for cash.
- 50/50 Raffle – Sell raffle tickets and offer half of the proceeds as prizes. This would also be easy to do online with #2.
- Going Once, Going Twice – Seek out service and product donations and hold an online or in person silent auction.
- Buy a Meal – Volunteers donate homemade meals to sell.
- Karoake Style – Have participants raise pledges for their commitment to lip-sync and sell tickets to the performance.
- Working at the Car Wash – Coordinate group members to wash cars in a high traffic location for donations.
- Cook Off – Solicit local celebrities to enter their best dishes and have people pay to vote on the winners.
- It’s a Wrap – Coordinate with a store to offer gift wrap services during the holidays. All payments/donations go toward your project.
- It Tastes so Sweet – Get baked goods donated to sell at a large event like a dance or basketball game.
- Trendy Bracelets – Sell silicone bracelets that promote your cause. Threads of Hope is another great online platform for this.
- For the Birds – Deliver a group of fake pink flamingos to a donor’s yard and leave a note explaining the cause and asking for a donation to “replant” the flamingos in the yard of the next “victim” the first donor designates.
- Another Man’s Treasure – Collect gently used items from group members to be sold at a yard sale.
- Text It – Use a service that allows your organization to receive donations of $5-10 by text messages. Givelively.org and Snowballfundraising.com are two of many you can explore.
- Bail Me Out – Handcuff two willing fundraisers and let them lose when they raise “bail”. Doing this via a YouTube channel (think Livestream) would be fun!
- Sticky Fly – Sell pieces of duct tape for donors to stick your group’s leader to a wall suspended above the floor for a portion of an event.
- Sit-a-thon – Offer babysitting services for a designated evening or two.
- It’s a Bust – Sell balloons for $10 each and insert a number in each that corresponds to a raffle ticket given to the purchaser. Pop a balloon for each available prize and read off the winning number.
- Nacho Dough – Sell a lunch or dinner of nachos and a cookie at a church or school when participants already need to stay through a meal.
- Rent-a-Worker – Volunteers commit to working for an afternoon doing any odd jobs sponsors “hire” them to do.
- Pay it Forward – Give each person in your organization $10 and a specific amount of time to use the funds to raise as much as they can for the cause.
- Birthday Pledge – Ask for donations to your cause instead of birthday gifts.
- Pump it Up – Coordinate with a local gas station to have volunteers serve as gas station attendants who pump gas and clean windshields for donations for a day.
- Consignment donations – ask people to do some spring cleaning in their kids’ closets. Thred Up will give you the bag and free shipping for all clothes, then give your fundraiser cash for each item accepted.
Tips for Success:
- Start a Facebook page for your child. Get some fans and post regular updates to share your life with those fans BEFORE you start asking for money. This was how we started our initial communication to family & friends while we were in the NICU with Hudsyn. It allowed us to stay removed from the daily asks of “how is she doing?” but also allowed people to share her story & updates with those who were interested that didn’t know us directly. After awhile, Hudsyn’s page gained thousands of followers who later we asked for support with some of the above ideas. Using social media builds trust and gives people a way to see how their donations are going to work in the long run.
- Decide what things you’ll want to use to fundraise. Pick one or two things to focus on. Do t-shirts OR wrist bands…try not to overwhelm your fans with a ton of choices, especially with the smaller items.
- Get a few large donors/donations in the wings before you launch the big fundraising campaign. Once you start the ask, add these in to create some big, initial momentum. Show your fans this progress and be SUPER excited about it. People like seeing momentum quickly and it will help you gain more donations and usually from people who may not normally donate because they want to help you reach that goal.
- Make it easy to give. Sure Fundrazr and other apps charge a fee, but they also make it really easy for people to give so the fee is not a deterrent. If someone has to go through too many steps, they are less likely to give.
- Look to your resources. Who do you know? Maybe there’s someone you know who will offer their services at a reduced rate or with part of the sales going to your cause (ie: hairstylist, restaurant or bar, carwash, etc.), or maybe they’ll donate goods or services for an auction or incentive.
- Once you’ve raised the money, keep your donors engaged for the next ask. Don’t ask them to do anything for awhile, and give them a break from giving, but keep them abreast of what’s going on with your child and updates about their condition, good and bad especially pictures and videos.
DON’T: Nag by asking for money too often. Balance asking for money with other posts showing milestones, progress, good news, photos, etc.
DON’T: Ask people to make checks out in your child’s name. Make sure all donations come to you or a non-profit organization you would work with to receive the funds in a way that is appropriate for your child’s needs. This allows your child to keep their benefits in tact if they have SSI or Medicaid.
KEEP: Your posts positive and don’t try to guilt people into giving or blame the doctors or hospital for your child’s condition.
THANK Everyone who donates or shares your page. Thank them individually with a personal email, and also thank them with a handwritten note. A group thank you on your Facebook page is not enough. People want individual attention and personalization from you.
