A Radical New Goal

 

Fundraising.  It is the hard lift of most non-profits. Craft a message. Communicate a vision. Set a goal with benchmarks….and then cross your fingers and hope it works.

Most non-profits who serve our community and others simply MUST fundraise. Without it they cannot feed children, house the homeless, counsel the abused, and give needed care to the elderly.

So, what about Orphans Treasure Box?  Frankly, I squirm when we ask for money, even though we do it so seldom. It’s true that starting a business is VERY expensive. A conservative number for most start-ups is $50,000. No wonder many fail…you have to generate a lot of customers for just daily overhead not to mention the massive start-up costs. So, either have a very generous donor or go into debt (Orphans Treasure Box depended on neither to begin.  A wealthy elderly orphan gave us $10,000, we’ve gotten smaller timely gifts of $1,000 and by the grace of God, our debt is a paltry $4,000, and if it weren’t in a zero interest account, we would simply pay it off).

For several months now I have been working on a rather radical fundraising goal for Orphans Treasure Box.  Ready for the pitch?  Here goes.

Our radical fundraising goal in 2017 is to NOT raise any funds, to not ask for a dime in financial contributions.  We will ask for your prayers, your books, and your service but we will not ask for your money.

We are deeply grateful when someone feels led to give us money.  A volunteer today brought her family in the store from out of town and they gave us a check.  It was what she asked for as her Christmas present….that they give money to Orphans Treasure Box…now THAT is the spirit of the season and giving.  For those who feel led to give here, we will always gratefully receive it.

However, there are four clear reasons why we will not join the chorus of asking for money this year:

1. We are not going to compete for money with others.  Orphans Treasure Box is raises money for groups like Feeding Our Kids, a Peruvian orphanage, Safe Families, God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti.  We are an “Aaron” organization, taken from the story in the Old Testament, meaning that we want to hold the arms up of those organizations that are doing God’s work here and around the world.  Hard to be supportive and compete with them.

2. A unique aspect of our bookstore is we don’t make money on collecting checks but rather on collecting (and then selling) books.  Time doesn’t allow us to do both well, so we won’t.

3. How transparent should I be here? In the early days, I wanted a church or set of wealthy donors to adopt us and underwrite our heavy expenses.  It didn’t happen, and I now see God’s “no” as great gift. Why? It made us a much better business. Rent, salaries, mission, utilities….these are all paid by our system of sorting, listing, and shipping books to the best of our ability.  Because the margins were so tight, we had to work our butts off to get it right. We became, by God’s grace, an excellent used bookstore.

4. We either trust God to build this company or we don’t.  Every time we have needed an extra boost, God has come through in ways I could not even imagine.  When it was time to move out of a home’s basement, He moved us to a warehouse that gave us free space that just happened to be owned by WBGL.  It was the PERFECT place to incubate us, spread the word, and let us grow.  In the early years, God sent us free furniture, gifted carpenters, professional painters, 10 free computers, free storage space, and free recycling.  He has never left us hanging.

So. Our radical fundraising goal is to do no fundraising. And we think God resides in the radical.

~Beth