Auctions and Grants

Well, today I was focused on fundraising. With the blizzard over the weekend, it's not a good time to contact any police/fire departments. A lot of them are wrapped up with the storm after-math. These are good days to focus on grant work and start applying for auction item donations- which is exactly what I did!

I love early stages of grant writing, when you blast through all the easy sections of the application and feel really good about things. Then the hard part starts and everything slows down. This grant is due the end of February. The good news is that they supported us in the past and the grant application hasn't changed. We are asking for continued funding for the same program. It is helpful when the application is the same, but it can be challenging too, because I feel that we should add new things, but our program is the same, so I don't know what to change. Obviously, I update our statistics, but other than that- there isn't a lot to change since they're asking the same questions and we're asking for support for the same program. Maybe that isn't something I should worry about, but I do.

I felt very motivated and decided to get cracking on getting gift certificates for the Date Auction. It is never too early to start. I filled out a lot of online applications for gift certificates to Boston restaurants and hotels. A number of businesses are using the Bidding for Good online application to handle charitable donations. I like that application because it is a streamlined process, very easy to complete and you get an email back to say that the donation has received. We already have our first auction item for the Anniversary Celebration. On Friday, I filled out an online application for Sturbridge Village passes- they emailed a ticket voucher today. Tomorrow, I'm going to work on some more auction items for the Anniversary event as well.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm off to watch a new TNT show that I've been enjoying- Monday Mornings and eat my grapefruit. Until tomorrow friends...