Bumps

Just a few bumps in the road...and of course, I made it to the other side. A bit winded but gaining stamina.
The fundraiser was suppose to be a week from yesterday, but we weren't getting any response for tickets. Natasha and I decided to meet last weekend and lay out a new plan of action. It took us about 90 minutes to figure out a new date and a new way to go about selling tickets. The new date will be a Saturday instead of a Thursday. It will be on May 16th. Our thinking was more people would be apt to go on a Saturday because they wouldn't feel rushed from work, night students would be able to go, and it would be something fun to do on a weekend and people would still have time to go out after the fundraiser.
Well, so far there has been mixed reaction to the change. Mostly for the positive, and have gotten a few more verbals of people wanting to attend. But we need to translate the verbals into ticket holders, and we are stuck in the mud on this issue until next week.
As of today, we still didn't have the event tickets. If we had followed our schedule we should have had them on Tuesday or Wednesday, but we ran 3-4 days behind schedule...Again. No tickets = no selling = no donations = on hold.
I am having some anxiety about us not sticking to our schedule. When it comes to work related items I tend to be more literal than general. I don't like being behind and not knowing what to do or not being able to move forward because we are waiting on something.
But hopefully come Monday we will be up to date again. The event tickets should be delivered on Monday. Our plan is to meet on Monday and finalize our "going out to sell" plan for Friday. Natasha and I and some other ladies will be hitting some Friday night businesses in the hopes of selling some tickets. We will also try to sell at First Friday in Phoenix the following week. Betty has graciously volunteered to do some 5th floor selling at my old job. And Natasha will cover the 6th floor selling at the old job.
We should have our flyer cards by Wednesday next week as well. I believe we are getting 1,000, so we will be handing those out as much as possible at First Friday, art shows, festivals and any other high traffic areas between now and May 16.

"Hello Rwanda Children's Program" has it's first commited young girls. A troop of 11 girl scouts. They will be making their friendship bracelets, writing their letters and taking pictures on May 6. More on HRCP soon!

I underestimated this process. I knew it was going to be hard to raise funds due to the economical issues the world is having, but I did not think it would be this difficult. Not so much that it is hard as it is disappointing. It's understandable that someone does not want to give out their money when they are worried about paying their own bills. But to give say $5 instead of maybe having that extra drink at Happy Hour...it's really that easy.
As I talk to people about my plan they absolutely love the idea. They want to do more and they want to see pictures and hear stories and follow along. But...they don't necessarily want to get involved. I am trying to figure out how to bridge that gap. How do I get people to donate in such hard times?