GRANTS:
- JSC Foundation [we did receive a grant from this organization]
- OATH[we did hear from this organization, but they are not accepting applications at this time]
- Families Outreach [we did receive a grant from this organization]
- Sowing Roots [we did hear from this organization, but did not receive a grant]
- Show Hope [we received a substantial grant from the Tim Tebow Foundation via Show Hope]
- Lifesong for Orphans [we received a zero interest adoption loan from Chosen & Dearly Loved via Lifesong]
- Gift of Adoption Fund [we did hear from this organization, but did not receive a grant]
- Stone Family Adoption Fund [we did hear from this organization, but did not receive a grant]
- Rollstone Foundation [we did hear from this organization, but did not receive a grant]
- Love Has Come [we did hear from this organization, but did not receive a grant]
We also applied for a grant that a local church offers, so look into church's in your area for possible grants. We applied for and received a grant from a local business that was celebrating their 50 year anniversary by giving grants to individuals & organizations, so keep your ears open for potential opportunities like this in your area. And our agency offers a grant for families, that we applied for and received, so check with our agency to see if they offer anything :]
In the end we received 5 grants totaling $16500!! Which was more than 1/3 of our adoption expense!
**side note...a lot of these grant application ask for the same information from you. We wrote our adoption story, personal testimony, statement of faith, etc & saved it so all we had to do was print it out a few times or copy and paste. Also, I figured out all the applications that required a letter from our pastor and requested them all together so he also just had to write something once & just edit it a little for each separate organization :] Finally...almost all of the applications ask for a copy of your home study...so when you go to get copies...get several. I think we ended up needing 15 copies!!**
**side note...a lot of these grant application ask for the same information from you. We wrote our adoption story, personal testimony, statement of faith, etc & saved it so all we had to do was print it out a few times or copy and paste. Also, I figured out all the applications that required a letter from our pastor and requested them all together so he also just had to write something once & just edit it a little for each separate organization :] Finally...almost all of the applications ask for a copy of your home study...so when you go to get copies...get several. I think we ended up needing 15 copies!!**
FUNDRAISERS:
- Pure Charity: we started a fundraiser page within months of beginning our adoption process. it was a nice way for family & friends to make tax deductible donations. There is a fee to use this site, but we found it well worth the 5%. There was $7143 donated to our adoption via this site.
- Give1Save1: included in the Pure Charity total is donations that we received as a part of Give1Save1...but this organization is no longer doing weekly feature families :[
- Compelled Designs: we sold several necklaces to help fund our adoption. We were able to make about $2500.
- Thirty One Online Party: A wonderful adoptive mom who sells Thirty One offers to give her commission to adoptive families :] we were able to make almost $300 just by having an online party [and we got to get all of the hostess gifts & incentives too]
- Running for HOMe: some other adoptive families organized a team to run a local 5K/10K to support our adoption. We made $1493
- Outdoor Family Fun Night: a local business allows families to rent their facility for the night, they offer go karts, batting cages, mini golf and other fun outdoor activities. We had a selection of desserts & just requested a donation from all those that came out to enjoy the fun. We made $1200
- Pancake Breakfast: a small group from our church hosted a pancake breakfast to raise money for our adoption. They did all the work...we just showed up and enjoyed the food & fellowship. We made almost $3500.
- YouCaring: we stated a YouCaring page after our Pure Charity page expired. **in hind sight we should have started another Pure Charity page because we did not realize that YouCaring is NOT tax deductible. We did make $1200 through this site.
These pretty simple fundraisers helped us raise $17336.
Between our own contributions for the application fee, homestudy, odds & ends fees & trip costs and other donations that showed up in the mail from family, friends & total strangers, within one month of arriving home with Christabel our entire adoption was paid for in full!!
When we look back over our 16 month journey we are in awe of God's faithfulness & provision! Please do not ever let the cost of adoption stop you from taking the first step...we are here to tell you that no mountain is to big for God...all you have to do is be willing to climb...and just keep climbing!!
Between our own contributions for the application fee, homestudy, odds & ends fees & trip costs and other donations that showed up in the mail from family, friends & total strangers, within one month of arriving home with Christabel our entire adoption was paid for in full!!
When we look back over our 16 month journey we are in awe of God's faithfulness & provision! Please do not ever let the cost of adoption stop you from taking the first step...we are here to tell you that no mountain is to big for God...all you have to do is be willing to climb...and just keep climbing!!
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