Tag Archives: Fundraising

Day 1601: What fundraising has taught me about rejection

Accept rejection with grace and move on quickly – that’s what fundraising has taught me.

It’s 12 : 06 PM on day 1601 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Jeremiah 18, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –”Sternutation” is a fancy word for the act of sneezing – feed myself bran flakes with banana for breakfast, hang out with family and promote my Educate Generations campaign–still on $1 730 and still grateful 🙂

Today it dawned on me that fundraising has taught me to accept rejection with grace and move on quickly when someone says no to me (which has happened more times than I can count) I just say thank you and move on knowing that every no is one step closer to a yes.

Day 1542: Educate Generations Campaign Two Months Later

5 Replies

Alone we can make a difference but together we can change the world– that’s what I keep realizing.

It’s 12 : 04 PM on day 1542 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Isaiah 27, publish my Disability of the Day feature, stretch my hamstrings, feed myself a peanut butter sandwich and a banana for breakfast, promote my Educate Generations campaign– yesterday Anonymous donated $100 and Catherine Cook donated another $30 (thank you SO MUCH Anonymous and Catherine your support means the world to me 🙂 ) which brings my total raised to $1 070 only $1 430 more to raise to reach goal – read and comment on Women in Tech: Meet Fiorenza Mella and continue promoting my campaign – still on $1 070 but I’m grateful for the progress made 🙂

Today marks the two month anniversary of my Educate Generations campaign benefiting the Malala Fund so far twenty-five people (including me) have donated to the campaign and between us we’ve donated $1 070 I am so grateful, happy and humbled by people’s support. Thank you Juliet Parrott-Merrell and Ann Blackburn-Pann, Nancy Scott, Meg Guegan, Ellen Seidman, Madalina Cristea, Bruce Sallan, Catherine Cook, Stan Faryna, Clare Donaldson, Barbara Royce, Duane Dell’Oca, Priya Thomas, Susan Mazza, Justina Valentine, Simon Magid, Emma Lambert, Sylvia Phillips, Nan Marvell, Nisa Thomas and everyone else who chose to donate anonymously for your generous donations. Thank you Sue Levy, Gaynor Young, Emma Lambert, Bruce Sallan, Stan Faryna, Marianne Tarkusep, Kelly Hengler, Ashlyn Singh, Cazanne’Z, Catherine Cook, Global Vision 11:11, Justina Valentine, Sylvia Phillips, Chris Teller, Rachelle Friedman, Emmanuel Castis, Gerda, Katrina Moody, Seema, Neethu Jacob and everybody else for helping spread the word about this campaign. ‏

[Update October 3 2015: Campaign over. Final total raised is $5 285]

Day 1512: Educate Generations Campaign One Month Later

Leave a reply

With God and a few like-minded friends great things are possible – that’s what I keep realizing 🙂

It’s 12 : 00 PM on day 1512 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Song of Song 7, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself a peanut butter sandwich and a banana for breakfast and promote my Educate Generations campaign – still on $770 but that’s okay the day is still young I’m sure I will find some generous people to support this very worthy cause I just hope I can do so before the power company shuts off our power (in South Africa we are going through this thing called load shedding the power company will basically switch off our electricity every day this week for a few hours a day to reduce the load on the system).

Today marks the one month anniversary of my Educate Generations campaign benefiting the Malala Fund so far seventeen people (including me) have donated to the campaign and between us we’ve donated $770 I am SO GRATEFUL and HAPPY. Thank you Juliet Parrott-Merrell and Ann Blackburn-Pann, Nancy Scott, Meg Guegan, Ellen Seidman, Madalina Cristea, Bruce Sallan, Catherine Cook, Stan Faryna, Clare Donaldson, Barbara Royce, Duane Dell’Oca, Priya Thomas and everyone else who chose to donate anonymously for your generous donations. Thank you Sue Levy, Verushka Ramasami, Gaynor Young,Rupasha Rampersad, Karmani Naidoo, Lee-Ann McDonald, Emma Lambert, Bruce Sallan, Stan Faryna, Marianne Tarkusep, Kelly Hengler, Sarah Britten, Lisa Varga, Ashlyn Singh, Wayne Mansfield, Laura Stanford, Michael Carr, Fiorenza Mella, Justina, Seema and everybody else for helping spread the word about this campaign. ‏

[Update October 3 2015: Campaign over. Final total raised is $5 285]

Day 1404: Eradicate AIDS campaign over

Leave a reply

Great things can be achieved with perseverance and the help of a lot of friends – that’s what fundraising has taught me.

It’s 12 : 53 PM on day 1404 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read Psalm 91, publish my Disability of the Day feature and feed myself bread with egg curry for breakfast and serve for upwards of 67 minutes in honour of Mandela Day – I promoted some of my favorite international charities on Twitter and with our housekeeper’s help I made sandwiches for kids in her neighborhood.

Today my Eradicate AIDS campaign ended in the 185 days that the fundraising page was accepting donations 33 donations were made to help me raise $1 088.84 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation (UK). Thanks again to each and every one of you who supported this campaign I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again if I am great it’s only because I’m standing on the shoulders of giants.

Day 1309: Different approaches = Different results

Leave a reply

If you want different results you have to try different approaches – that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12 : 08 PM on day 1309 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, read Job 42, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, promote my Eradicate AIDS campaign – still on $582.85 but I have to say a HUGE THANK YOU to @JPM_at_FAPN, @kaijuisme, @laurajteacheroz, @GiaIbarra, @MissShuganah, @nay731, @sapphire100, @ChrissyPappas, @justmemariannet, @noxhanti, @WasiJaved, @sharoneden and @LegalEagleStar for retweeting my campaign tweets (thanks again guys YOU ROCK!).

Last night while promoting my campaign I decided to try a different approach and it worked (in terms of social media engagement) just goes to show if you want different results you have to try different approaches. When what you’re doing is not working do you try a different approach or do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?

Day 1219: Eradicate AIDS – Fundraising for Elton John Aids Foundation (UK)

Leave a reply

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s 12 : 00 PM on day 1219 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 2 Chronicles 22, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast and set up and promote my Justgiving fundraising page – read more about this in the following paragraph.

This morning I started Eradicate AIDS – a fundraising campaign benefiting the Elton John Aids Foundation (UK), an organization that aims to create an AIDS free future for everybody in this world by eliminating new HIV infections, AIDS deaths and discrimination – because I believe nobody should die of HIV/AIDS in this day and age my goal is to raise $1,000 in 6 months. For more information about Eradicate AIDS or to make a donation please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Eradicate-AIDS .

(Update: Eradicate AIDS now ends on 18 July 2014)

(Final update on 18 July 2014: The Eradicate AIDS campaign raised $1 088.84 for the Elton John Aids Foundation (UK))

Day 1129: Lessons learned from my anti-slavery campaign

Leave a reply

There are lessons to be learned from every experience – that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12 : 01 PM on day 1129 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, read 1 Kings 8, publish my Disability of the Day feature and practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles.

Today reflecting on my anti-slavery campaign I realized it has taught me two very important things 1). if you want people to support you in whatever you’re doing you have to convey to them why you’re doing it and in order to do that you yourself have to know why you’re doing what you’re doing 2). always give yourself twice the amount of time you think you’ll need to reach your goal (I thought I could raise $1,000 in three months but the three months came and went and I still hadn’t reached my goal so I extended the campaign for another three months the same thing happened when I was raising money to build a well in Kenya I thought I could raise $6,500 in a year but then the year came and went and I still hadn’t reached my goal so I extended the campaign for another year). Do you look for lessons in every experience?

Day 1128: End of anti-slavery campaign thank you SO MUCH everyone

Leave a reply

I would be nothing without God and the people who help me – that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12 : 18 PM on day 1128 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Kings 7, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -$1050 raised – feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, continue promoting my campaign – still on $1050 with 8 hours to go – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings.

As you may or may not know my anti-slavery campaign ends today so far 18 030 people have visited my fundraising page of which 29 people have donated to help me raise $1 050 for the Not For Sale Campaign. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who donated and helped spread the word I appreciate it more than I can express.

(Update: The campaign is over the total raised remained at $1050)

Day 1026: 11 Facts about Modern-Day Slavery

2 Replies

The only way to create change is to face the problems of the world – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 1 : 27 PM on day 1026 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to publish my Disability of the Day feature, sleep – my brother wanted to stay up and watch Masterchef so I stayed with him we only went to sleep after midnight – pray, stretch my hamstrings, brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and All Bran Flakes for breakfast, read Joshua 9, listen to music, practice typing with both hands and tweet and Facebook about my campaign – still no luck.

Today I am going to do something different and share with you some facts about slavery in the hopes that after reading it you will be moved to do something about it. Take a look:

11 Facts about Modern-Day Slavery

More than 30 million people live in slavery today.
The modern-day slave trade is a $32 billion-dollar-a-year business and one of the fastest growing industries
The United Nations estimates that currently more than 150 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 have been forced into child labour.
Slaves are forced to work without pay, under the threat of violence, and unable to walk away.
Slaves work in fields, brothels, homes, and practically any other place you can imagine.
The majority of slaves can be found in Africa and Asia.
There are more human slaves in the world today than ever before in history.
Some human traffickers recruit handicapped young girls, such as those suffering from Down Syndrome, into the sex industry.
UNICEF estimates that 300,000 children younger than 18 are currently trafficked to serve in armed conflicts worldwide.
Slavery is not legal anywhere but it happens everywhere.
The cost of the average slave? $90

Have you read enough? Are you ready to re-abolish slavery? If so, donate to my anti-slavery campaign the proceeds go to the Not For Sale Campaign, an organization that aims to create a world where no one is for sale.

Day 1011: Adjusting goals

Leave a reply

Sometimes you’ve got to adjust your goals – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 1 : 37 PM on day 1011 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read Deuteronomy 28, publish my Disability of the Day feature, stretch my hamstrings, take off my dirty t-shirt and put on a clean t-shirt and jacket, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast and practice typing with both hands.

Today I decided to keep my anti-slavery campaign going for another three months I know that I (with God’s strength) can raise $1 000 for the Not For Sale Campaign I just don’t think I can do it by July 15^th which is why as of today my campaign ends on October 15, 2013.