Smencil Scented Pencils - Grape

Draw student attention with these gourmet-scented, environmentally friendly pencils. An alternative to wooden pencils, Smencils are made from 100% recycled newspapers. You can even see the layers of newspaper when you sharpen them! The scentsational fragrances are guaranteed to keep their wonderful aromas for two years! Set includes 5 Smencils of the scent that you choose.

The number of homeless increases every day, rising at alarming rates over the past quarter. High unemployment leads to many families not being able to afford their housing - putting many more on the crowded streets. Unfortunately during the downturn many companies and people have cut back on their charity giving and contributions.

So here is an easy way to help: have a coat drive in your neighborhood. Rally your neighbors and friends to make a big difference. Plus get your kids involved and not only will it help but it will also be a fun family event. so here is what you do.

Have your children color a nice informative flyer that you will be buy on A Saturday morning to pick up any extra coats and shoes. Let them know they can just leave the coats and shoes out on their front porch. Then have your children place the flyers in all your neighbor's mail boxes about 2 weeks before your collection day.

Then on the Wednesday before your Saturday pickup; have your children place another reminder flyer that you will be by on Saturday to pick up the coats. Make the flyers fun and colorful and eye catching. Hopefully on that Saturday you should be able to find many coats and shoes left for you. And you will be pleasantly surprised to see how many people leave coats and shoes for you and how many you collect. You will probably need to get some neighbors to help as they all will not fit in your car. Or you can make this a multiple Saturday event or help several shelters.

Then on the following Saturday go down with all the coats and shoes to your selected homeless shelter and drop off the coats, toys and shoes. Take breakfast or lunch or dinner if you like. Even better take some books to read. Or some soccer balls or gloves, bat and baseballs or a football or any other game you might want to play. Feel free to take some paper and crayons and think of some creative crafts. The important thing is also to share some time with the people staying at the shelter. The little bit of time will go along way to helping them feel loved and better about themselves. If you like leave the sports equipment and toys or crafts with the shelter for the next guests to use also.

Also remember the guests at the shelter are constantly changing. If you had another coat drive the next month the chances are the people staying at the shelter will have changed completely. And you will have many new homeless families in desperate need for coats and shoes and blankets and books. You can never do too much and you can always find a new shelter to help or a new set of homeless families to help. The terrible economic news means two bad things - they are many more people in need of help and there are a lot fewer people helping and those who are helping are offering less help. Your neighborhood coat drive will mean so much or will mean more than ever.

Thanks for your help.

Boake Moore is an IT solutions salesman by trade and also founded a non profit coffee company called Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee http://www.missiongrounds.com/ourphilosophy.php - the church coffee. It donates all its profits and proceeds to helping orphans and impoverished children. Helping orphans , the church coffee - can be found at Krogers. And its also the finest Tarrazu coffee coming from Costa Rica coffee.

http://www.missiongrounds.com

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Educational Insights Smencils Scented Pencils Bucket of 50

Draw" student attention with these gourmet-scented, environmentally friendly pencils. An alternative to wooden pencils, Smencils are made from 100% recycled newspapers -- you can even see the layers of newspaper when you sharpen them! They feature 10 scent-sational fragrances and are guaranteed to keep their wonderful aromas for up to two years. Includes 50 Smencils, individually packed in their own freshness tubes. Each measures approximately 7" long.

With the advent of social networking and the rise of online-based businesses, the opportunities for people to find careers around the world has greatly increased. Foreign language classes are commonly available for children as young as elementary school age, and it's not out of the ordinary for high-schoolers to want to spend up to a year as a study abroad student. The choices that face young people today are astoundingly diverse and exciting.

Transitions Abroad is both a print magazine, as well as an online portal that provides in-depth information on issues related to studying, living, and working abroad. In their surveys of American foreign exchange students, the following traits have been reported in significant percentages:

• Increased self-confidence
• Increased maturity
• Lasting impact on world view
• Enhanced interest in academic study
• Influenced subsequent educational experiences
• Reinforced commitment to foreign language study
• Helped foster a better understand cultural values and biases
• Influenced a desire to seek out a greater diversity of friends
• Continues to influence interactions with people from different cultures
• Acquired skill sets that influenced career path
• Ignited an interest in a career direction pursued after the experience

With these kind of life-changing properties, it is no wonder that so many young people want to spend time studying in a foreign country. However, such an experience can be very costly, and financial aid can be difficult to find. This presents a problem for many would-be adventurers.

Is It Really In You?

Before venturing down this path too far, however, the student needs to be sure he or she is ready to totally commit to this process. A two to three week program overseas can cost up to $6,000 itself, so the student needs to realize this is serious business. It is going to take hard work and great sacrifice to make this opportunity possible.

It is also important for a student to decide what kind of program will best serve his or her interests. While study programs have great value, perhaps a volunteer work program is a better fit. Or, maybe a church-oriented mission program would be appealing. Not everything has to be academically based. In fact, if you pick a non-academic type of program, you might find alternate means of funding. So, please do thorough research not only on where you want to go, but also what you want to accomplish. It could help you focus your efforts.

Step 1- Personal Commitment or "Digging in your Own Pockets"

I think that there are some preliminary steps that should be accomplished early in this process that will reveal just how serious the student is about making sacrifices for this adventure. If any of these suggestions turn the student off, I would question the decision to move forward.

Control Spending Habits

The first thing a student must do is look at his or her own spending habits. If a weekly movie, music downloads, clothes shopping, and other incidentals are a higher priority than the study abroad trip, saving thousands of dollars is going to be difficult. Therefore, the student will have to create a strict budget and slash those expenditures that will keep him or her from reaching the goal.

Sell Your Stuff

Secondly, it would be wise for a student to assess what items he or she could sell to earn money for the experience. Ebay and other online auction houses are a great way to unload un-used or unnecessary items and earn pretty good cash for them.

A garage sale, held at the right time of year, can also be lucrative. You might even get your parents to "donate" all the proceeds to your study abroad fund. Perhaps friends and relatives would also be willing to give you their belongings to sell and keep the money.

Trade Your Stuff Up

Next, I know this may sound like an unusual suggestion, but in this age of email and cell phones, it might actually prove very profitable. I think the student should embark on a "Red Paperclip" project. I wrote a blog post about this on Top School Fundraisers. In essence, the student would choose an inexpensive item of his or her own and attempt to trade it to friends, families, co-workers, fellow students, or anyone willing to trade something of slightly higher value for it. Once the first trade is made, the student will immediately try to trade the second item for something of yet a higher value still. And so on. Eventually, once the student has traded for a significantly valuable item, he or she can sell it for cash and put that toward the trip.

I lead a class of adults once that undertook this experiment, and one woman ended up making a trade for an old car that had the original chrome on it. She took the chrome off, polished it, and sold it on eBay for $1,300! All this money-making opportunity takes is a cheap item to start with and the courage to ask people to trade. Who knows how far you could take this?

Blog Your Way to RichesAnother way to generate some revenue is to learn how to blog for money. There are a number of websites that will instruct you how to "monetize" your blog. You may not get rich from doing this, but incomes of $50 to $60 per month are pretty easy to set up and don't require a lot of hard work. Just a little creativity and attention should get the job done. I would suggest looking at the websites called Problogger or Shoemoney for ideas.

Get a J-O-B

Ok, this is a boring one: find a job. Committing to a part-time job, if you haven't done this before, can be a major step. It can intrude upon your studies and your personal life. But, if you want this overseas experience badly enough, you might be willing to work a few hours per week. If you make $7 per hour and work 15 hours per week for 36 weeks (an average school year) you could earn $3,780.

In the summer, you could even earn more. If you plan far enough ahead, you could really take a chunk out of the total bill this way. You won't be doing anything glamorous for $7 per hour, but remember your goal. Of course, you can't spend any of this income. Put it right in the ol' savings account.

Discover more ways to fund your exchange student experience with study abroad scholarships at http://topschoolfundraisers.com/news/how-to-raise-money-for-your-high-school-study-abroad-experience-part-ii/

Author Jim Berigan is a former school principal who enjoys guiding schools with their fundraising efforts. He writes for the Top School Fundraisers blog at http://TopSchoolFundraisers.com/news which includes a variety of fundraising ideas for students, parents and teachers.

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Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencils - Set of 10

These deliciously scented pencils are made from rolled sheets of newspaper instead of wood--you can even see the layers of newspaper when you sharpen them! Recycled newspaper is tightly rolled around #2 graphite then hardened so they feel like wood pencils, but are better for the environment

To help clarify the purpose of your nonprofits mission and to elicit maximum support, membership should understand that every meeting or event that occurs in front of the public is important. Simply put it is a chance to get the word out and build support for your nonprofit's causes.
To help with that thinking, here are 12 reasons to always make the most of each event.

1. Awareness -

You can create awareness of your nonprofit's causes. Most events offer the ability to do free advertising. Make the event an integral part of your annual advertising and marketing program.

2. Donations

You never know who wants to contribute to your cause. Therefore always have a donation jar and a list of causes available and on display. You now have the ability to solicit donations and make all your events a fundraiser.

3. Membership

Events are a great opportunity to secure new members. All you need to do is leave your membership forms around. One potential member may read and agree to sign up and instantly your event just became a successful membership meeting.

4. Special Causes

Do you have a special need like a physical structure that requires community and neighborhood agreement? Develop a special handout and carry away piece that will inform neighbors about how they can support your cause. Make the marketing piece focused and distinguishable from your normal organization material so it is memorable.

5. Education

When you educate the meeting participants, they usually appreciate it and will spread the word for your nonprofit group. This also helps your organization meet its community outreach goals.

6. Media

The media may never come to your nonprofit monthly meeting but will gladly come to an event. You invite and they write, which is great free publicity.

7. Branding

Build your nonprofit's brand especially if you are being overshadowed by another group because another organization has a national or just larger profile, then an event should become a branding opportunity.

8. Community Relations

Establish community relations and create a win-win situation. Meet your neighbors, partner with them and help support their causes.

9. Government Support

Most nonprofits need some form of local government support. An event helps you chat up local government officials who you may not come across during your local travels. Sometimes you may learn something you didn't know and you can help sell your cause.

10. Networking

Build your community relations network. An event brings in many people from many neighborhood organizations. Networking with all the other community groups will help strengthen your cause and build your nonprofit's reputation.

11. Grant

When you attend grant training one of the line items that is clearly marked is, do you have community support? If your cause requires some level of community support, an event helps you gauge community interest and you can start to build a supportive group all in one place.

12. Advertising Dollars

An event raises your profile and demonstrates to store owners and business owners in town that you have an audience. They in turn will support your nonprofit with advertising dollars

So there is no real meeting distinction when it comes to your nonprofit events. Yes there is an initial advertised purpose, but what you advertise versus what you accomplished is always up to you. So dream big and hope your local millionaire, like Donald Trump or some other philanthropic businessman walks into your event and says I love your cause - here is a 6 or 7 figure check.

Looking for additional ways to increase income and your nonprofit's visibility? Gregory Burrus helps nonprofits increase income and visibiity via internet marketing strategies and fundraisng programs.

Visit http://techoss.com/np_support today.

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Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencils 10 Pack

Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencils 10 Pack. Includes: Bubble Gum, Cherry, Tropical Blast, Grape, Cotton Candy, Chocolate, Very Berry, Orange, Watermelon, and Rootbeer.Note: Not suitable for children 3 or under.

Fundraising is an every day occurrence for so many churches today. There are a variety of different types of church fundraisers available today with the selling of products being one of the most popular. What you sell is only a portion of what is important when you are having a fundraiser. The way you sell is equally as important if not more to make your profits soar with a sales type fundraiser.

The first objective of a successful fundraiser is to set up a goal for each volunteer. This gives your volunteer the opportunity to meet and exceed their goal. When your volunteer has a measurable goal for the fundraiser you will find that it is easier for them to achieve.

Secondly you must have a clear cut start and end date for your fundraiser. A fundraiser that just goes and goes is a waste of time. Your givers will get tired of hearing about how you need this or that, they will tune you out. Have your start and end dates selected and stick to it.

Third and often one of the easily overlooked aspects to fundraising is lead time. It is imperative to your success that you plan and plan well. If you launch into a fundraiser with poor planning and unclear goals you are setting your self up for failure. As your grandpa used to say measure twice and cut once. These are words to live buy. Failure to plan is a plan to fail.

Fourth is to know what other fundraisers are taking place in your area. You will want to be sure that you are not competing for your consumers dollar with other fundraisers. Rest assured that there is plenty to go around and that if you need to wait to hold your fundraiser you will surely be rewarded with soaring profits.

Fifth you need to let people know you are out there. If your consumers do not know that you exist then how can they possibly give. Take advantage of your local newspaper and distribute flyers. If you are able to advertise on radio do so. Use as many avenues as possible to advertise your fundraiser.

Sixth is to train your sales team. Make sure that your volunteers know what they are selling, why they are fundraising and how much money they are trying to fundraise. This will do two things, it will give them the confidence to succeed and it will allow people to simply donate with out buying.

Following this advice will give you the most successful fundraiser you have ever had.

Shauna Hanus of http://www.laetans.com builds and maintains fundraising websites for churches and small ministries. Shauna has years of experience building websites and internet marketing. For more information on how to get a free fundraising website for your church visit http://www.laetans.com

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Just like on the field, a head start is beneficial for your fundraising efforts. It pays to start early and focus your fundraising efforts especially in a slowing economy. Why wait until you are already in the midst of your season and need the extra money for team expenses? Be prepared and start your fundraising campaign now so the money is there when you need it!

Here are few easy fundraising ideas for your Track and Field team.

Cookie Dough Fundraising

Always popular, and an easy sell - cookie dough fundraising is especially popular in fall and winter when people are inclined to stay indoors and feel cozy. If each team member approaches neighbors, family and friends, you can raise enough dough to last you for your track and field season. Print out or request order taking sheets from a fundraising company that offers a good profit margin for your cookie dough sales. Take orders and wait for your delicious tubs of cookie dough to arrive. Then, all you have to do is deliver the cookie dough to your excited friends, family and neighbors and hope they treat you to some fresh baked cookies.

Candy Fundraising

As many people's incomes are taking a hit during this economy, candy fundraising is a super cheap and very easy fundraiser to do. Candy is cheap and just about everyone likes it. You can buy in bulk and sell the candy directly, or you can run a fundraiser similar to the cookie dough fundraiser where you take orders and deliver the candy later.

Scratch Card Fundraising

Because not everyone wants the additional calories of the sweet fundraisers above, a scratch card fundraiser is a good option. It's great for those who want to help out your group but don't want to spend a huge amount of money doing it. In exchange for their small donation scratched off on the scratch card, you present the donor with a sheet of valuable local coupons as a thank you.

Whichever fundraiser your track team chooses, make sure everyone on the team is committed to working individually and together to raise the funds you need for the season and you will be sure to have success.

Jenny Ann is an expert fundraiser and writes exclusively for ABC Fundraising.

For other great fundraising ideas and to receive a Free sample go to http://www.AbcFundraising.com

Don't forget to check out the World's first re-usable fundraiser "Spinners" at http://www.SpinnersFundraising.com

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You have a mission that you are passionate about fulfilling, and you have decided to start a nonprofit organization to do just that. One of the first measures to undertake toward achieving that goal is the selection of the initial Board of Directors for the organization. While this may be only the first of many steps that must be taken in legally forming the organization, it is arguably the most important and should not be taken lightly. The decision of who to place on the founding Board must be made after careful consideration of each potential candidate's unique set of knowledge, skills, and abilities. In my experience, most founders of grassroots nonprofits are compelled to select members of their family as their trustees. At first glance this method makes sense. When thinking of those individuals that can be trusted to control your organization, most would immediately lean on family.

Unfortunately, if you'd like the organization to qualify as a public charity under IRC section 501(c)(3) you must look beyond family members and seek out members of the general public to provide governance.A primary concern in Board selection is avoidance of partiality. Most would assume that members of the same family will vote in accordance with one another, without first taking into consideration the effects on public interest. This is the principal reason why the IRS requires 51% of a nonprofit Board to be comprised of "disinterested" parties. Disinterested individuals are those who have no relationship with any other Board member, and who do not receive compensation from the organization for any reason. (Keep in mind that your Board should be primarily a volunteer group anyway.)When looking to the public to make your Board selections, there are several things you'll want to keep in mind:

Knowledge- Each member of the Board should be familiar with appropriate, ethical governance practices. Select individuals who have knowledge and experience in the nonprofit sector and who have demonstrated mindfulness for compliance. Skills- Members of the Board should be able to contribute something to operations. Select individuals who have skills in accounting, law, or business administration. You'll also want individuals with experience in your specific activities. For example, if you are an educational program you may want a teacher or school administrator on your Board. Resources- Individuals who have good resources in the community are essential on your Board. Select individuals who have contacts in local legislature, with large corporations, or who have relationships with private individuals who may be potential donors.

Character- Nonprofits must observe the highest standards in order to retain the trust of the donating public and the confidence of those they seek to help. The board provides the public face of the organization, and its behavior, and that of individual board members must be exemplary. Passion- The organization's mission should guide every decision the board makes and thus each member of the Board should be able to articulate and demonstrate a real passion for it and encourage their fellow trustees to show the same commitment.Establishing a Board who will provide excellent oversight of organizational operations while also representing a cross section of your community is essential. If careful consideration is made before every Board election, your organization will succeed in creating public trust and value.

CharityNet USA's mission is to serve as a "one-stop" resource center for churches and charities nationwide. As the nation's number one provider of nonprofit services, CharityNet USA offers assistance in all aspects of establishing, operating, and sustaining a religious or community-based nonprofit. In addition to the diverse products CharityNet USA makes available, the organization also provides charities and churches with free tools and links to free resources for nonprofit organizations. For more information on CharityNet USA please visit http://www.charitynetusa.com or call 877-857-9002.

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Charity golf tournaments can be a fun and profitable way to raise money for whatever cause you want. Unlike a lot of charity events, golf is something that, if you market it properly, is almost guaranteed to be a success, because it's something that many people love to play, and when you combine that with having a worthy cause behind it, who can pass it up?

It's no secret that the more players that register and therefore pay you to play in your charity golf events, the more money you will make, and of course, the more you will have to donate to charity. This article will give you some tips on how to make your tournament as attractive as possible to potential players to increase your chances of successes.

The bottom line is, if you are in any way associated with a non profit firm, you will probably find yourself organizing a charity golf tournament at one time or another. These are one of the more popular ways to raise money, for the reasons listed above.

The most common types of tournaments for two or three days, because you can charge more money, but of course, one day events often work out as well. It really depends on how much money you need to raise.

A tried and true method for getting the most players to your event is the opportunity to play with local celebrities, and if you're tournament is really big, nationwide celebrities. These always help to raise awareness for the cause, and will really increase the exposure of your tournament.

Let's face it, while the opportunity to raise money for charity is something that most golfers wouldn't object to, they still won't play if they don't expect to have an entertaining and enjoyable time, and this is why having celebrities can make or break your event.

Chances are, your charity golf tournament is not the only one in town, and the thing that makes it stand out is having famous people promoting it. Otherwise, you are just a "me too" event, and nobody wants to play at another boring tournament they could find anywhere else. You need something to make your tournament stand out.

Another way to spice things up is to give out prizes for various things throughout the tournament, and of course, for the winner at the end of it. Typically, these tournaments have different flights so that each group will have a winner, to make it more fair.

You don't want fifteen handicappers competing with scratch golfers, because they will have no incentive, knowing they have already lost right from the start. This is why it's very important to have different flights, to make it competitive and enjoyable for everybody involved.

What kind of contest am I talking about? You can have closest to the pin, a hole in one award, long drive, etc. This helps keep players interested even if they aren't playing very well, and really have nothing to play for in terms of final outcome. These always help to make charity golf tournaments more popular, and I'd recommend you try these and others.

Are you organizing charity golf tournaments? Check out internetgolfinfo.com. This is a popular golf site that reviews golf equipment, locations and packages, such as golf packages in Arizona, as well as anything else related to golf.

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