[OSList] Access Queen Shares Ideas on How to Raise and Donate Money
Lisa Heft
lisaheft at openingspace.net
Sun Mar 31 16:37:17 PDT 2013
Hello, dear colleagues -
I will be at the World Open Space on Open Space in Florida, USA this
May 16-19.
I will also be offering an Open Space Learning Workshop May 14-16 in
Florida. More soon about that. I do hope you will join me for one or
both of these lovely co-learning experiences.
For more information about the WOSonOS - including a registration form
- see http://wosonos2013.crowdvine.com .
(if you think you'd like to join me for the pre-conference workshop,
do plan to join us on the morning of May 14 - more info on that is
coming soon).
One of my roles in the World Open Space community is what our late
great colleague Laurel Doersam named as 'Access Queen.'
Access Queen is a way for some of us to share our dream of going and
for others to know how to help us.
I am passionate about access and inclusion in dialogue-based events.
And I love helping all of us help each other get to whichever of these
face-to-face Open Space community events we can get to.
Some of my dearest friends (I smile when I think of you and you *know*
who you are) are those I have made at a World Open Space on Open Space
or regional Open Space on Open Space event.
There is nothing like sharing learning (and laughter, and good food
and drink, and walks in lovely neighborhoods, and late nights telling
stories ) with you marvelous Open Space colleagues.
I do not have a huge money source - but I do have ideas to share with
you, and I do believe in you, and I do know our community has a lovely
way of looking after each other at these live events.
So if you feel you can find the resources to get there, we can share a
lot of ideas with you about how to access low-cost housing (including
shared rooms or homestays), ride shares, and more. And if you get
there and have zero funds left there is always someone who is honored
and delighted to take you out to dinner or share what they have with
you in wonderful creative ways.
(By the way, if you would like to contribute to the Access Queen
project – a small resource-gathering project I coordinate each year to
help people who need pocket money or just a bit more) to get to WOSonOS,
contact me directly at lisaheft at openingspace.net. )
Perhaps you are one of those people who have raised almost enough
resources to join us at the WOSonOS - such as your airplane fair - but
you need just a little more to be able to join us.
If you are working hard to raise your own funds and you are just
seeking a little bit more funding, here are some ideas for you.
I never know if or how I am going to get to each year’s WOSonOS, as I
do not usually make a lot of money. I have a lot of family care and
self care needs which also require my time and resources.
But in those years I envision going there I always make a point to
start early thinking creatively so I can get there. And with a
mixture of faith in the unknown, intention about being there, luck,
and the kindness of friends and colleagues, I usually can get there.
I start by saying, “I will see you in Florida”! That is my first
recommendation: say it as if it is true, and it is amazing what
intention and clarity do to create reality.
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 project. Do share with us all the other ideas you have
to add to this list!
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Ways to Raise Money (for yourself or for the Access Queen project):
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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
project 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 context for
the covers of your Open Space 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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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
project 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 talk 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, the Access Queen project 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, with a newsletter
sharing what you’re learning, 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 detailed, cost-itemized proposal and / or give an oral
presentation –
Share this at 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 US by or before a certain date. Everyone was invited to a one
hour party. At 3:30 pm 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 4:30pm and everybody left. We raised
$2,000 US.
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Have a silent auction –
Have friends, co-workers, colleagues donate things 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 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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Offer a month of consultation to someone in something you are very
good at. Or something such as personal coaching for writers or five
horse-riding lessons or three house-sitting sessions for someone’s
time away or six months of walking their dog once a week or helping
someone in their garden for three months.
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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 the organization you work for 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 project or your airplane ticket 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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Givers:
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Buy a WOSonOS registration for an Access Queen Asker or buy a two-
person room at WOSonOS location 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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Pay a high - or even higher than you see listed - amount for
registration to the WOSonOS and tell the Host Team you are paying this
extra money as registration fee for an Asker.
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Any amount is the right amount. Small amounts add up to large
amounts. The Access Queen project (and individual Askers) can use
every bit, and anything raised that may be extra goes to ‘seed’ the
next year’s fund. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
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Askers:
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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...
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We believe in you.
- Access Queen (also known as Lisa Heft)
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