Baking to appeal to Fashionistas

So the next chapter in the baking story comes from an idea that my sister had based on my comment about how many folks at work seem to have fashion sense. Thus came about the high heel cupcake idea.

Having done the bake goods, I thought I had a good audience. However, cupcakes are sweeter and it came with a price tag of $5 vs. free and optional donation. While I don't think the cupcakes were as succesful, I still raised about $50 from 9 cupcakes. Yes that means some donated more than the $5. Interestingly enough, I have received comments about how much of a conversation piece they were and even got an email request for a future event. All in all, it was a lot of work. Maybe next time I'll have my sister do the mini-cupcakes.

Bake Sale Makes Dough (part deux)

I'm truly amazed at the generosity of people. Yesterday I blogged that after a day of effortless fundraising (all I did was set it out), I raised $29. What I didn't know was that after I left work, other folks came looking for the goodies and even though they didn't find any, they found my dedication box and put in another $25!!! Then this morning my colleague walked over and dropped in an undisclosed amount and made a dedication, stating, "no cookie needed." I'm definitely need to make more cookies!

Bake Sale Makes Dough!

So I tried something new in terms of fundraising. July 4th was spent with family and my sister and oldest daughter helped bake and decorate a dedication box.

I brought both items and set up a small sign to tell my story of why I fight. I figured it was worth trying out on a smaller audience given that today was the day after a major holiday and many folks would be out. I was amazed at the results. In just a short day, many of the baked goods were gone, I had dedications on the box, and inside was a whopping $29! I can only imagine what might happen if I made more and put it out on a day where everyone was in the office. Plus, I can possibly attempt this on 4 other floors!

If you think fundraising is hard, just put in a little effort. You might be surprised at the results!

Note to self, chocolate chip cookies and brownies = good. Peanut butter cookies = not so good.

Breast Cancer is tough, but we're tougher!

A few weeks ago, I found myself doing something I haven't done in a while...cry. As I reflected on this for the next few days, I pondered what kind of cry was it?

First, why was I crying? Well, I had just learned that my good friend was diagnosed with breast cancer for the 2nd time. As we talked on the phone, I found myself choked up from the shock that breast cancer had hit close, again.

Her story is reflected in her blog here...
http://kristinsgoodlife.blogspot.com/

So what kind of cry was it? Well...

It started as a cry of helplessness, the feeling that there was little I could do to help my friend.

Then in morphed into a cry of remembrance, reflecting on the days when my own mother battled breast cancer and remembering friends and their pain as they lost loved ones.

Quickly, it turned into a cry of anger. Why is breast cancer still here? Where is the sense of fairness that it strikes where the light shines brightest?

Finally, my cry settled...not that it stopped, but it became a LOUD and ECHOING battle cry!

And so I will continue to cry and more importantly, I will continue to cry out, Breast Cancer, your days are numbered and you will not prevail.

And to Kristin, my dear friend, my battle cries this year will be dedicated to you!

Recognition is nice, but I don't want to be doing this forever

Every year that I crew another Komen event, I often reflect why am I doing another event?  As much fun as I have every time, there are several moments whether during planning, on event, or post-reflection where I just question why we have not found a cure.  Sure it's great to receive recognition that you have the Crew Power Team or that you have raised $5,000.  However, we're were only supposed to be in this "until there's a cure."  I think a lot of folks would agree that it's long overdue.  And while some would argue that vanity drugs support the rest of the industry, I truly wonder why a cure for cancer hasn't been found given the amount of scientific talent around the world.  SO until then, I WILL continue the fight.  I WILL continue to fundraise.  I WILL continue to work on behalf of women and men who will face this disease, because everyone does deserve a lifetime.

Fundraising is in full swing! Boston starts at the end of July and I would love to have 5 people today donate $10 each to help end breast cancer!

http://www.the3day.org/goto/sf12drew


Every dollar counts in saving someone's life.

Don't Judge a Charity by Its Expense Ratio

There is only a few months until July when 3-Day season kicks off with Boston! As I prepare for the event, getting rosters, calling the team, scheduling flights, I came across an article today that fits the way I feel about charities in general, but also about the way people think. The gist of the article is about the common measure by which people judge charities and ultimately contribute to. The popular measure is the percentage of adminstrative costs or expenses in relationship to how much goes to the cause.

I can see where this can be a problem. We've probably all heard the stories of how much Girl Scout cookies cost and how much actually goes back to the troops. We see stories in the paper about the high compensation of CEOs and executives while the average American struggles to make ends meet. We use past experiences as our guidelines to make snap judgements, which the article refers to a study about how the brain thinks.

Basically, our brains have 2 ways of thinking. The first way is the easy way, we look something over and using our past experiences we make a judgement call. The second way is a lot harder where there is actually an analytical side to handle complex issues. The problem is that it takes work and the brain natually shifts to the easy way.

So think about this. If Apple, the world's most valuable company right now, had an expense ratio of 20%, would you say that it is being mis-managed? How would you tell? You might respond that it takes more than that to assess if the company is not living up to its shareholders, such as stock price, debt to equity, sales turnover, new product successes, etc.

Then should a charity only be judge by one measure?

Check out the story The worst way to judge a charity
.