I thought it might be helpful to post it over here on my blog, too. So if you're paper-chasing or considering starting: I hope this post is helpful for you.
Let's face it: adoptions cost money! Lawyers, home-studies, background checks, social workers, dossiers, fingerprinting, immigration papers (and a lot more): it all comes with a price that needs to be paid. But on the other side of those fees is your child; the mountain you are standing in front of looks impossible and you need that thing to crumble! Ask any adoptive family how they could afford that $30,000 adoption and they'll tell you that God shows up big on adoptions. A phrase that we adopted (pun intended) around here is: "God funds what He favors and we know He favors adoption!" And He really does! After all, it was His plan for us to be adopted into His family - what a beautiful reflection of our salvation. Praise Him.
I will never say that 'everybody should adopt', but I do think more people should. It's a beautiful thing and a great way to grow your family! Many people have a heart for adoption and say they wish they could adopt - I hear it all the time. They are scared that they can't afford adoption and put adoption in that "one day we'll do that" file. But many people never move past that 'one day' and move it into the now. Finances are one of the reasons that people think they can't adopt.
I wanted to share some ways to afford adoption. As you pursue adoption or consider an adoption, I hope you find this post helpful!
Trim the Fat!
How can you make that paycheck S - T - R- E- T - C - H just a little more? What are some things that you can cut back on at home?
- Goodbye 700 channels! We cut the cable a little over 3 years ago. We still have TiVo to record our shows and we have Netflix to do instant streaming. Honestly, we haven't missed it much. We can find most of what we want online or on Netflix and we really don't need to spend much time watching TV anyway. This saves us $70 a month.
- Eat at home more! Grab a newspaper, cut some coupons, and plan a week's worth of meals based on what is on sale in the grocery store this week. You'll save a ton of money by eating at home. Eating out is expensive - limit eating out to once per week and make that one affordable - use a coupon, drink water in restaurants, and even choose a place that has a Kids Eat Free night. We usually eat out on Tuesdays. There are several local restaurants that offer Kids Eat Free on Tuesdays and our family of 5 can eat for around $15!
- It's spring right now and it's gorgeous outside. We have the air turned off and the windows open to let in light and a cool breeze. Save running that air in the summer when it's too hot to open the windows.
- Think of other ways you can cut back on your monthly expenses. Cut your internet speed back just a tad, shop around for your house and car insurance and make sure you're getting the best rates. Maybe you don't need the latest and greatest gadgets as soon as they hit the shelves. The sacrifices are worth it!
Put the FUN in Fundraising!
This one can be a lot of WORK, but a lot of FUN too. God could just drop $30K from the sky if He wanted to, but He doesn't usually operate that way. God has a plan to bring your child home. You just have to find it and obey. Pray for creative ideas, ask for His guidance and jump in and do it! I'm going to give SOME fundraising ideas. This is by no means an all-inclusive list. I am going to share some things that I have done and some friends of ours have done that worked well. Get creative and have FUN fundraising to bring your kiddo(s) home!
- YARD SALE! What a great way to make room for your new child! Clean out those closets, playroom toy boxes, and the garage. Ask your friends and family for donations and put some signs in the yard. My friend Wendy had a sale about 3 years ago that topped $12,000. Just this past weekend, she did it again! Her family paired with two other couples and they went BIG! They asked a church on a main road if they could hold their sale on their lawn for four days. They secured storage units with 1 month rent free and asked everybody they know for donations of their junk! They ended up filling up FIVE large storage units, a carport, a garage, and an extra bedroom full of donated stuff. Over the four days, they made a whopping $16,000!!!! They'll split that among the 3 families, but that is a substantial amount of money!
- T-Shirts - I have to admit that about 90% of my t-shirts are adoption fundraiser shirts. Contact a printing company to create a custom design for your adoption - take pre-orders for shirts from your friends and family. Typically, you can get shirts for about $5 - $6 each when you buy 25+ and you sell them for around $20 each. It's also a great way to spread the word about your adoption! Actually, I have a t-shirt fundraiser going on right now! Go check outSummer's Coming and You're Going to Want a Really Cool T-Shirt! to see how I set mine up and feel free to grab a shirt or two while you're there! You can also sell shirts that are already designed and made specifically for fundraisers. 147 Million Orphans, Chrome Buffalo,Adoption Bug, Wild Olive Tees, and Ordinary Hero all offer t-shirts that you can sell as adoption fundraisers. I'm sure there are many more, but these are a few of the bigger and more well-known ones.
- Adoption Benefit Dinner (or Breakfast) - Pancake Breakfast or Spaghetti Supper - or whatever you want to serve. Get a location, arrange your food - you might cook it, you might have it catered, maybe you have some awesome friends and family who want to cook for it. Sell tickets and people can come EAT and help you bring your kiddo home. I've seen some that even had silent auctions and cake-walks. The possibilities are endless and it's so much fun to celebrate with family and friends the anticipating arrival of your child. It's a date-night with a purpose - getting your kiddo home!
- Online Auction - These have become really popular on Facebook! Create a page on Facebook for your auction and post photos of your items. I'm sure you are friends with a crafty mama who makes things and would be glad to donate an item or two. Maybe your sister is a consultant for Pampered Chef or Thirty-One bags and they'd donate something. Maybe you paint - get creative and gather donations for your auction. Start bids low and people can comment on the items they want to bid on. I've seen some items get into a bidding war and go much higher than the item was actually even worth. In the caption on the photo, make sure to include who donated it and a link to their website. I've seen these auctions bring anywhere from $500 to $5,000 in a matter of days. The key here is to get some GREAT items!
- Sell Coffee - I know I run on coffee - especially when I'm in the throws of an adoption. This staying up late to do paperwork wears this mama out! There are a couple companies that will let you sell their coffee as an adoption fundraiser. The two that I know of are Just Love Coffeeand Coffee for Hope. I think you can usually make about $5 a bag on this coffee.
- What can YOU do? - Tutor kids in the afternoons, teach an art class or private music lessons, babysit for a friend, mow lawns (husbands - listen up!), do some fix-it-up jobs for people: think painting, landscaping, cleaning, etc. Make yourself useful to others and take the money you earn and put it aside for your adoption.
- Puzzle Fundraiser - get a 500 piece puzzle and sell the pieces. I've seen pieces sold for $5 and for $10 and both seem to go over well. We did one of these to finish paying for our son's hosting fees for this summer. We had the puzzle made with a picture of him and sold the pieces for $5. Our puzzle was only 252 pieces, so we made $1,260 in 10 days to finish up his hosting fees.
- Cookbooks - gather recipes from friends and family and create a cookbook and sell them for your adoption. My sweet friend Elissa recently did this one and sold 100 cookbooks pretty quickly. The cookbooks cost them about $6 each and they sold them for $20 - that's a pretty great profit. And she even included their adoption story in the book. I love it! I've cooked several things from it and prayed specifically for her Ethiopia child while I was cooking.
- Host a Raffle - I actually just launched one of these this week. We asked a friends for donations to raffle off. We actually had a 1 week vacation at a 5 bedroom beach house donated by our awesome friends! We also have an iPad, and 2 pieces of custom artwork. We're selling tickets and set a date for our drawing. I posted it on our blog and on Facebook and we're praying this is our biggest fundraiser! Go check out our Adoption Raffle Fundraiser over on our blog and feel free to buy some tickets while you're there!
Apply for Grants!
There are a TON of grants available out there to help adoptive families. Your agency might have a grant for waiting or special needs children. There are really too many to list, but your agency might have a list for you or you can do some searching online. Some of the popular grants are Brittany's Hope, Show Hope, A Child Waits, One Less, Lifesong for Orphans, and JSC Foundation. I recently learned about Both Hands and I think this one is really cool. They serve both the widow and the orphan and I love the idea of doing a work day at a widow's house to raise money for your adoption!
It's hard work to raise money for an adoption, but it's so incredible to watch friends, family, and complete strangers rally around you to support you on your adoption journey. It's really amazing to watch God show up big time and provide time and time again. When we were bringing Zoe home, my hubby got an unexpected bonus that was EXACTLY how much we needed to pay for her immigration papers. I remember laughing and saying I knew exactly what God wanted us to do with that! Maybe you've tried something and it didn't go as well as you'd hoped or perhaps you applied for a grant and were denied: don't lose hope! He's got this. He sees you and He sees your child and He has a plan. Keep it covered in prayer and get to work!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." Ephesians 3:20
~ Paula
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