Now that I have covered “ask nicely” and “borrow”, that leaves me with “fundraising”. As I have said in previous posts on this topic, most people who set out to adopt do not have the entire lump sum of money just sitting in a bank. I know that a lot of perspective adoptive parents feel very discouraged when they realize the costs involved with adoption and I want to encourage you that it is very possible to get the money you need when you are determined and it is for a good cause. Remember, where there is a will, there is a way.

In previous posts I gave information on adoption grants and adoption loans. However, since very few, if any, of the grants would cover the costs of an entire adoption and since most people want to borrow as little money as possible, fundraising is an important aspect of the equation.

Fundraising takes some planning, some dedication, some ingenuity and some elbow grease, but if you are willing to put the effort in, it can be very rewarding.
There are options for fundraising that you can go at on your own or with your family and friends, and there are organizations set up for the purpose of helping families fundraise for their adoptions. I will give you information on both. I believe that one of the keys to successful fundraising is to spread the word. I have found that lots of people are more than willing to help a good cause.

Since it will take some dedication and work, I really recommend that you go with something that appeals to you. Put some thought into it and play with your talents. Below are some of the many options available, but the ideas for fundraising are endless. Be creative!

Here are two ideas that you can plan on your own.

Garage sales- Garage/rummage/bake sales are a fabulous way to raise money. For our first adoption, we organized a sale, and put an ad in our local paper asking for people to donate items that they wanted to get rid of, that would be good for a garage sale. We said that the purpose of the sale was to raise money for our adoption, and we put a picture of our daughter-to-be in the ad. We live in a small community and didn’t expect a huge turnout, but we got so many donations that we ran out of garage space to store it. Then the morning of the sale, we had women from our church bring baked goods and tons of people turned out to buy stuff. We still had people haggle over prices, but a lot of people not only didn’t haggle, but threw in some extra money as well. We also held a “silent auction”, where we had three high-quality items that we set out on a table with a piece of paper, and let people “bid” for them. Josh’s mom donated a gorgeous hand-made quilt, someone else donated a framed and matted painting and someone else donated a beautiful lamp. Those three items brought in a nice amount of money. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but had raised over $2,000 in one day out in our driveway.

Spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts and ice cream socials- Whether the food being served is pancakes, spaghetti or ice cream, these events are great money raisers. I know several families who have used this fundraising option with great success. The basic idea is you buy/prepare a food that is well-liked but cheap, and offer it for a price in a fun setting. I know families that have bought large buckets of ice cream along with toppings and sold tickets for an ice cream social. Spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts work the same. You can often find a location such as a school, church hall or park that you can use for free, and with a little bit of advertising letting people know it is a good cause, it is fairly easy to get a good turnout. Many people have success by asking $3-$5 a person, and something like $20 for a whole family. This is a fun and fairly easy way to raise some money and have some fun while you do it.

See the next post for organizations that have fundraising services for adoptive parents.