Back to Blogging!

Yikes- I think this is the longest that I've gone without blogging- dreadful! I don't even have much of an excuse as to why I haven't blogged- I haven't been on a journey around the world, found a cure to a rare disease or won Powerball. I was sick for almost a week- but that's a lame reason for not blogging. Regardless- I'm back to blogging!

So what's new? Well, I got an email yesterday from a police department in South Dakota asking for a donation of stuffed animals. The department is on the only open Native American reservation in the state. The corporal who emailed said that he was working on implementing new community policing and he thought that they would definitely like to have stuffed animals to give to the children they encounter. I just emailed him back and said we would be happy to send some boxes of stuffed animals for them to give out. It is always great to partner with a new department and this will our first one in South Dakota. It would be fun if I could take a trip out there to deliver them in person!

Last week, I completed one of our annual grant applications for a large retailer. They were our very first corporate donor 10 years ago. Their donation is usually around $1,000. I need to get moving on working on other grants as well.

I wish that I had a part time researcher who can help with looking up potential sponsors and donors. I spend some much time just researching new potential supporters.  Research is critical, so it's not like it's a waste of time, but it is very time consuming. You have to find new companies, then you need to find the contact info- I try to be as specific as possible, so I can get directly to the right person and then you have to reach out to that person. In many cases, you need to follow up a few times as well. When it comes to getting auction items, you also need to make sure that the same person is still in the job before you waste time sending emails to people that no longer work there. It's always so disappointing when a helpful person leaves the position and is replaced by someone who isn't helpful. In my perfect world, helpful donors would not be allowed to ever leave their position!

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm happy to be back to blogging- I've missed sharing our updates. I'm off to catch up on last night's episode of True Detective- such an amazing show and eat some pineapple and yogurt. Until tomorrow friends...

Welcome February!

Greetings friends! Well, February is almost a week old, so I'm a little late in welcoming the new month. We're off to a good start so far- my birthday starts the month, so I do feel rather biased towards February! On Tuesday, we did another donation to Lowell Police- we have been donating there for many years. Here is a photo from the donation.

Today, I was working on getting sponsors for the Date Auction and more gift certificates donated. I'm constantly researching new donors/sponsors to reach out to. It is so important to keep looking for new partners. I was on Facebook and saw a sponsored post from a company that would be a perfect fit for Date Auction sponsorship. I went on their website and emailed them- it was a generic email address, so I wasn't sure if I'd hear back. Those emails don't always yield the best results, but I got an email back very quickly asking for more details about the event and sponsorship info. Hopefully, they will get on board for the event. It is an excellent marketing opportunity.

In fashion show news, we have more food vendors on board which is good. I want a couple more vendors, then we will be all set for that. I also need to get back to work on grants- I feel like I'm already behind on researching new grants and I need to check the deadlines for the grants that we usually apply for in the spring. Ah, so much to do!

Well, on that note- instead of going back to work, I'm gluing myself to Olympics coverage. I get rather obsessed with watching as much Olympics coverage as possible every 2 years. It is marvelous to watch the skills and strength of the athletes- so beautiful. It doesn't matter which sport it is- it is all amazing. Until next time friends...