Our Anna Rakeb has been home from Ethiopia for just over 2 weeks now. Lots of firsts, new experiences, and bonding going on at our house. And I forgot how many messes toddlers can make in ten seconds flat!
Now that we’re at the end of the adoption journey, we can look back and see how God provided the finances. Every. Single. Time.
If God has called your family to adopt, then don’t let the finances scare you. Once we stepped out in faith, God totally blew us away with His provision.
My hope is that this list will help other families in the adoption journey. Here is what worked for us in order from least to greatest.
1. Giveaways on Social Media & Online Auctions
A friend of my sister volunteered her artistic abilities for a giveaway to benefit our adoption. She offered a custom pencil portrait for the winner. We had a raffle on social media. Each contribution of $5 put your name in the giveaway once. $10 would enter you twice.
Do you have a friend who could team up with you for a giveaway? Maybe they own an etsy shop and could donate an item or two. Maybe they would like to contribute a wonderful gift basket to your raffle. Many people would like to help, perhaps they just need to be asked.
2. Online business owners donate commission {Jamberry Nails}
A friend hosted an online Jamberry party and graciously donated her commission toward our adoption expenses. This is a great advertisement for your friends’ business as well as helping your family. Don’t be afraid to ask!
3. Sippy Cups of Change
{See those tags? Yes, we did initially start out to adopt from Russia. God providentially moved us away from that option before Russia closed itself off from international adoptions.}
Our sippy cups of change provided an easy way for interested friends & family to help. They took a sippy cup I had purchased at the dollar store and filled it up with their spare change for weeks or months. A ladies Bible study at a neighboring church even took a dozen to fill up for us. Our boys contributed extra change to ours. It’s a tangible way people can help.
4. Become an Amazon affiliate
Who doesn’t shop online these days? Again, this fundraiser will be as successful as your ability to remind your family & friends to use it! When you sign up to be the amazon associates program, you will earn referral fees every time someone shops from your link. We have designated our adoption account with the program, and the money just gets dropped right in. It’s easy to set up. However, as with the others, it is something you need to continually remind people about on their social media. People would like to help — it doesn’t cost them a dime more to shop through your link — but you need to make it accessible and remind them regularly, especially during peak shopping seasons.
5. Yard Sale
Our yard sale weekend was amazing — it brought in $2550! That was much more than we had hoped for. We held it at our church on Memorial Day weekend (Friday – Saturday). It might have even done better had the weather cooperated. We had to move it inside because of cold blowing rain! But even with that, it was quite a success. We asked our church family and through Facebook for donations of items to sell. People were generous, even donating high ticket items, like a ride-on lawnmower, bunk beds, guitars, and such. Friends helped us sort the items into sections, like you would have at a thrift store — housewares, girl clothing, shoes, toys, etc. We sold clothing by the bag ($5/plastic grocery bag) or 50 cents a piece. This helped to clear some of it out quickly.
People donated baked goods. We made lemonade to sell, but would have done better with hot chocolate or coffee! Who could have predicted such a cold Memorial Day weekend? Still, it was a success and definitely worth the effort.
6. Puzzle
Between our first and second trips to Ethiopia, we decided to try a puzzle fundraiser. We have seen friends do amazingly well with it. However, I think the timing of ours (at the very end of the journey) was what made it so successful.
We purchased a 252 piece puzzle featuring a picture of our sweet girl. For every $10 donated through our tax deductible Pure Charity site, we wrote the contributor’s name on the back of a puzzle piece.
We plan on framing the completed puzzle using a double sided glass frame so we will be able to see all the names on the back of the puzzle as a remembrance of those who had a part in her adoption.
7. Grants
Yes, it takes time to do the research, but will be worth it in the end. Most grant applications will all require the same information — financial (tax returns), some of your story and what led you to adoption, and references. It’s a good idea to have all of that paperwork handy, and then you can apply for half a dozen grants at a time, in assembly-line-fashion. Nothing beats getting that acceptance letter in the mail and realizing God has this adoption covered!
Overall, we received about $12,000 in grants for this adoption!!
8. Etsy shop {use your hobbies and gifts}
What can you do to raise extra funds right now? Even if you have a full-time job, is there something else you could do on the side? Perhaps you could offer in-home childcare. Do you play an instrument? You could give lessons. Maybe you could declutter and sell some of your things on ebay.
For me, I have always loved to craft. I also love thrifting. So, it just made sense to open an etsy shop, where I could sell my up cycled, painted, and sewn handmade goodies. It gives me a good excuse to regularly go thrifting. My boys are even in on the hunt now, as they know what I’m looking for.
God has really blessed my shop. I never could have imagined the benefits that would come. First, financially, this shop has covered many adoption expenses along the way.
Additionally, I have been able to network with other like-minded individuals and ministries because of my online presence. I have been able to donate to missions trips, orphanages, and other adoptive families because of the income from my shop.
My shop is called 4onemore, and I hope to keep it open long after our adoption is through, so that we can bless other families who are also Making Room 4 One More.
Other ideas to look into:
{Just Love Coffee, fundraising letters, breakfast fundraiser, online auctions, selling T-shirts, finding extra money in your budget, Both Hands Foundation}
Check out my Adoption Pinterest board for more inspiration!
The bottom line is this: don’t let the financial aspects of adoption deter you if God has called you to this journey! He can provide, and He will. Many times, He’s just waiting for us to step out in faith and be ready to watch Him move.
