On Monday I talked about the iSchool Friends of First Place Library and how we're raising money for the First Place library to buy a barcode scanner and barcodes. The specific way that we chose to raise this money was a raffle. Although in retrospect we probably shouldn't have picked a raffle since there are all sorts of gambling regulations that we have to consider, the fundraising has so far been incredibly successful. Almost everything including all 14 prizes was donated, so we have almost no expenses. The raffle will be pure profit for First Place! The raffle tickets have been selling like hot cakes, and I ran out of my first set of 50 in less than two days!
Partly because of the success we're having, this is by far the best fundraiser of my life. Most of the time I've had to sell cookies or candy or raffle tickets for a club or musical group or team I'm in, and the motivation was always selfish. I don't mean that it was a bad thing to raise money for Girl Scouts or the riding team (and in many respects it was a lesson that money does not, in fact, grow on trees), but I always hated asking people for money. This time I have more faith in the cause for which I am working, so I'm less bashful about asking people to buy, and in fact every single person whom I've asked has bought at least one ticket. Isn't that amazing? Yes, I've mostly been asking librarian-type people who are generous and who believe in providing access to information, but I still find it wonderful, and it's fast becoming one of the greatest part of my time in the iSchool so far. I'm also starting to understand how my father, who shares much of my introvert temperament, can go out and sell the DChem program to friends and strangers, because he believes in it.
So if any of you, my faithful readers, wish to participate in this ambitious enterprise, drop me a line, and we'll work it out. Thanks to all who have given of your time, thoughts, and pockets!
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