Access Queen invites you to ask and offer - WOSonOS 2009 Taiwan!
Lisa Heft
lisaheft at openingspace.net
Tue May 5 08:39:20 PDT 2009
Hello, dear colleagues -
Get a cup of tea or something stronger and find a cozy seat - this
email is long...
Make your plans to come to the World Open Space on Open Space
(WOSonOS) this October 14-17 in Taipei, Taiwan.
An amazing opportunity to jump into Open Space with a diversity of
colleagues in our own all-Open Space conference.
If you are not used to dreaming, setting intention and realizing your
dreams, now is a good time to practice.
Envision yourself at WOSonOS 2009, and start putting things in motion
that will get you there.
See all the information you may need to help you in your planning at: http://www.frontier.org.tw/2009wosonos/the_site.html
And: here is some information that may help you as you generate
resources for yourself and for others so that everyone who wishes to
can find a way to join together in Taiwan this October...
Below are some ideas from Access Queen (my other persona)...
Cheers, and a wave of the royal queenly hand,
Lisa Heft
__________________________
Dear friends – remember that the World Open Space on Open Space
(WOSonOS) is coming up in Taipei, Taiwan this October.
If you are already thinking of registering, think about whether you
can donate extra resources to help someone who would like to go but
who just needs a little extra help. For example – let the Taiwan host
team know if you can pay for 2 registrations (and offer one for an
“Asker”), of if you can reserve accommodations for 2 people (and share
your room with an Asker) or bring some extra cash to to the WOSonOS
(to give money to Askers who may wish to socialize with you in the
evenings).
The concept of ‘the Access Queen Fund’ is about sharing resources
(financial and otherwise) and actions (helping each other). If you
have resources such as the ones mentioned above, let me know. If you
would like to contribute money, you can send me a check through the
post for US dollars or send via PayPal (lisaheft at openingspace.net) –
for those of you in the USA who need a tax deduction you can also send
to the fund via PayPal to http://www.openspaceworld.org/donate (the
Open Space Institute of the US – be sure to write “Access Queen” in
the comments section there).
Some of you do not have access to much money, but perhaps this list
will help you with ideas for how to ask others for help. And
remember, with email as a tool these can be people you ask who are in
your own community or elsewhere, and if you cannot do these things
below perhaps you can ask someone else to do them for you.
So: here are some ideas for those of you who need to fund your own
trip, and for those who would like to raise extra money to send to the
Access Queen Fund. Do share with us all other ideas you have to add
to this list!
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Ways to Raise Money (for yourself or for the Access Queen Fund):
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(some of these ideas come from past Access Queen “Givers’” creativity;
some from my own experience; some inspired by the article “Fifty-Three
Ways for Board Members to Raise $1000” by Kim Klein, co-publisher of
the Grassroots Fundraising Journal – my thanks to Jan Strout of
Seattle for sharing this article)
(remember that in some circumstances and countries the amount you
donate to a charitable cause can be deducted from your taxes –
therefore, if you collect funds be sure to give Givers a receipt as /
with their thank-you note…)
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Give it yourself –
Put some money aside each week or month. Pick an amount that is a bit
of a stretch for you but not impossible. Watch it grow.
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Take someone to lunch or dinner –
…and have them donate their share (or more) to the Access Queen Fund
or to someone you know.
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Sell or auction off some original art –
Sell your poetry, your painting, your greeting cards to others and let
them know where the money is going to. Have a coloring contest for
the covers of your next OS event’s Book of Proceedings and auction
them off to the participants in your event, all for a good cause.
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Sell things from your home –
Do you have a collection stored away? Sell it to other collectors.
Set items you no longer need out in front of your house and have a
jumble sale and a lovely time chatting with neighbors.
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Cook up some delights –
Are you always the person people ask to bring desserts to their dinner
party? Are you known for your special recipes? Do you have a fruit
tree just yearning to be harvested and made into a delicious pie?
Cook up some luscious tasty goods to sell to your faith group, or your
neighbors, or your school, or your workplace - people will enjoy both
the benefits of happy bellies and contributions to a worthy cause.
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Donate a portion of your profits –
Give x% of the proceeds from your workshop, your book sales, or other
services and goods you offer and donate the money to the Access Queen
Fund or to someone you know (or yourself, because going to a
conference is professional development).
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Have a house party –
Invite people over for…beauty treatments … foot massages … a sewing
circle … recipe exchanges … storytelling … art projects … making music
… a seminar on financial management … and have them each pay for the
pleasure of attending.
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Have your group, organization, company do a / some fundraising
project(s) –
Ask a group you are already a part of – faith organization? book
discussion group? gardening club? neighborhood group? workplace?
school? to think of some creative way to raise money that can go to
you, to the AQ Fund or another worthy “Asker”.
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Tell everyone you know –
…that you are raising money for your or someone else’s participation
in WOSonOS. Give them some background on the method and the event.
Ask them if they would like to contribute and/or if they have any
other ideas on how to raise more funds. Ask in your own style – with
a lovely card, with an article on Open Space (ask me if you need one),
with a newsletter sharing what you’re learning, or over tea.
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Ask an organization or individual to match your funds –
Everything you raise by a certain date – can they match it as
increased incentive for your creative fundraising efforts? If they
can, then explain this opportunity to everyone you know and ask them
to donate, too, to double your collective donation power. Ask people
you know in other organizations to consider donating to your worthy
cause and having their corporation or business match it, too.
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Write a proposal and / or give an oral presentation –
Your proposal can include a clear request to attend, why it is
professionally important for you to attend (make a good case), the
dates and description of the event (including the learning
opportunities there and a request to arrive several days earlier /
stay several days later to acclimate to the time zone and attend pre-
and post-conference learning opportunities), perhaps a short
description of Open Space, and an itemized budget (the host teams can
usually help you with identifying in-country costs) for air and ground
transport, accommodation, registration and pocket money. Do not forget
to include extra budget for pre- and post- conference accommodation,
including any you may need to use during layovers if you are flying
across the world. Offer your proposal / request for funding to your
school, faith organization, service club or community group. Ask
other people you know if you can do the same at their organization.
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Ask everyone you know to save their pocket money –
Ask your friends to save the coins they find in their pockets – you
can, too. A few months before WOSonOS collect and count it all up
and share the exciting announcement!
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Have a one-hour, $10 benefit (or whatever is your currency) –
I once did this to raise money for a refrigerator for the local AIDS
food bank. We invited everyone we knew to send or bring a minimum of
$10 by or before a certain date. Everyone was invited to a one hour
party. At 3:30 pm (15:30) the doors opened and they all came up to a
friend’s empty work-loft space, donation money in hand. All around
the edges of the room were alarm clocks. Food, beverages and flowers
were donated, a friend played dance music, and everybody partied until…
all the alarm clocks rang at 4:30 pm (16:30) and everybody left. We
raised $2,000 US.
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Have a silent auction –
Have friends, co-workers, colleagues donate items and services. Each
should fill out a card placed next to that item saying what it is, who
is offering it, what its normal cost would be, what would be a minimum
bid, and blank lines below with name of bidder and amount they are
bidding. Invite everyone you know to a party, picnic or other event
(ask them to bring their cash or checkbooks and tell them of your
worthy cause) and set up a table with these items. Announce the
auction is open and participants are invited to write down on the
cards how much they wish to pay to be the highest bidder and win the
item or service. Towards the end of the event announce ‘last call’
for anyone who wants to write their final, winning bid. Collect the
bid cards and announce the ‘winners’, asking all ‘winners’ to bring
you the money before they leave.
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Lead a nature walk –
…or an architectural tour, a historic tour, a sailing trip, a rafting
trip, a horseback ride, a salsa or capoeira class. Charge each
participant (a bit more if you wish to provide lunch).
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Donate your frequent flyer miles to an “Asker” –
Check with your airline for their rules and restrictions regarding
this. Be sure to note any time restrictions on usage.
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Buy an extra WOSonOS registration for an Access Queen Asker or buy a
two-person hotel room at WOSonOS so an asker may stay for free (let me
know if you are doing this and if you would like to be introduced to
your Asker or instead remain anonymous…)
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Put yourself on the map -
Join the Open Space World Map and weave our world together – often the
World Map contributes a portion of the profits to Access Queen Askers.
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Join (or renew your membership for) your regional Open Space Institute -
Some of the OSI’s and other regional collections of Open Space
facilitators, learners and enthusiasts contribute funds to the Access
Queen Fund. In adding or renewing your membership you also contribute
to the support, learning and growing communities of Open Spaceniks
(thank you, Raffi, for that term) around the world.
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Offer to do something your friends and family have been nagging you to
do anyway –
…and attach a price to it. Quit smoking on the condition that your
friends donate to your cause, or get them to pay a certain amount for
every day you do not smoke. Agree to give them their money back if
you do not reach a certain (reasonable, pre-set) goal.
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See if your business has a community fund –
Check with your workplace to see if they have any funding programs
that might support you or this sort of fundraising effort. Sometimes
businesses will agree to match dollars raised for worthy causes;
sometimes they can give small amounts of ‘seed’ money. Check to see
what sorts of things they will fund and see if you can fit your cause
to their guidelines.
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If you have a wedding or birthday party –
Ask friends and family not to give gifts but instead donate money to
you or to the Access Queen Fund.
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Ask a local store to donate a percentage of a day’s profits –
..or week’s profits. Pick a store where all of your friends or co-
workers shop. Then ask everyone to shop at that store on a certain
day (or between certain dates) and let them know that by doing so x%
of the store’s profits will go to your worthy cause.
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Join this year’s host team with the role of raising sponsorship money –
Help them find sponsors to increase resources for Askers. Let them
(and me) know if you are about to do this outreach so it can be
coordinated, tracked and followed up as needed.
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Givers:
Any amount is the right amount. Small amounts add up to large
amounts. The Access Queen Fund (and individual Askers) can use every
bit, and anything raised that may be extra goes to ‘seed’ the next
year’s fund.
Think also of the things you have that are not money but are useable,
shareable resources. The Fund typically does not fund single
individuals but spreads little bits of resources among several.
If you know of other places where Askers can apply for funding, please
do let us know. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Askers:
Be direct about it in your gracious and charming way -- people are
just waiting to find ways to help each other. When you name those
ways, people come out to help in any way they can.
Most of all, dream, dare, leap...do not hold on too tightly to your
concern or anxiety about lack of money but open up and let go and
breathe and hold your arms out wide and trust that the money will
always come...
Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net
www.openingspace.net
*
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