Fundraising ideas?

Perhaps ABC could produce a book, with a collection of stories from ABC website, and sell it in aid of your charity, Liana - just an idea, powers-that-be-here??? J

Well...someone's got to be brilliant!! Us lot would all buy it - and we'd all suport publicity etc- reading in our local bookshops etc, I'm sure...

On a similar tack, how about a writing competition? You set a title or theme and then charge people to enter. The prize is donated and volunteers pick the winner(s). I always think that these competitions must net quite a lot of money. Also, is there no possibility of some sponsorship for equipment etc from local businesses?

I knew someone that had a silent auction. They got local merchants to donate some things (ie. t-shirts, baskets filled with goods, pillows, gift certificates, etc.) and some people donated their services (ie. massuse, painting a picture, photography, etc.). Then people bid on these items and the money went to the fundraiser. It was held in a bar and I believe a portion of the money spent on food and drinks that night was also donated. Hope that helps. ;o)

Fundraising is a brilliant idea and is very much central to the spirit of ABCtales. On a very personal note, I think there is a big problem if a state relies on Liana and thousands of others to provide homes and education for people who are deaf and blind. On behalf of ABCtales, we are helping the homeless now and we need to look to see if there are any other ways we can do something for other groups of people. Guys, we'll look at it. Un grand fromage.

liana ... start new site called XYZtales ... all profits to new educational thingie ... next year new statesman award ...

I'll join!

Well - how about ABC holds a competition where the top - I don't know - 20 - stories are published in an anthology, with the proceeds going to both Liana's charity and the homeless? - how's about that? J

And who's to do the judging?

There are some ace ideas here. We're putting our heads together here to come up with something that would work for everypne and I'll let you know once we've figured out what we could offer. Cheers Em PS: Anyone who fancies helping us promote the site is more than welcome - you're clearly a load of natural marketeers :-)

Hi All, My son is a thirty one years old Down's Syndrome person. In the thirty one years that I have loved and looked after him I have never received a penny from any charity. I have had plenty of so called charities calling me for money, strange though, when I ask where the money goes to I never get an answer nor indeed any money offered etc. I have learned the hard way, charity always starts at home. Also my father, who most of you will now know died on the 5th July, lived in London for many years. Being an alcoholic he had nowhere to stay, so he knocked on the Sally Army's door one night. "That will be a shilling," said the officer. "Sorry," said my dad, "only got 11d." "Then push off," said the Sally Army man. The above is true, sad but true. So Liana, I wish you luck, you'll need it. AJ

That is absolutely shocking. Does Shelter charge for a roof for the night too?

Hi Jennifer, Probably!!!! AJ

I always think raffles are top ways of raising money. We drove a car down to the Algarve one year, and 18 months later decided to ship our personal belongings and £4000 worth of port (which I later auctioned at Christies for £2000 - there's no flies on me) back to England and fly back. But we just couldn't sell the car. Not even the TimeShare OPCs (touts) would buy it - and they buy anything! They run a car until they get a tug for not having it matriculated and then just leave it in the pound and buy another. But even they wouldn't touch! In fact, not even the stockcar guys would buy it from us. It was the end of the season and they were all looking for cars to work on through the winter ready for next for year. Yet even those guys wouldn't touch it. So we raffled it. Tickets cost 1000 escudos (about £4) each and we sold them all over town for a couple of weeks. We had a farewell party in a popular bar and raffled the car. Half-way through the night a friend of mine walked in and decided he wanted to buy it off whoever won. With that information, I was able to go round and sell tickets to tourists. Ironically, he picked the winning ticket. But the strange thing was that we got more money for the car than we were originally asking! And the owner of the bar let us off our tab for the night because he'd had such a successful evening - and as a goodbye present, of course. So raffles! It takes some initial capital, of course. I don't know how many writers contribute to ABC Tales, but there's a fair few of us. You choose an item - a computer, or a printer, or a strereo, or a holiday, or tickets to a concert - and raffle it. Once the initial purchase price (which will no doubt be wholesale) has been reached, anything over and above goes to the charity.