(hand)made for Glory re-cap + thoughts on online auctions

Well, it's over. Sort of. Payments are rolling in and boxes are being shipped out. Pretty soon I'll have my office and my evenings back. All in all, we made just under $2,000 from the auction! Getting closer!

Several people have asked how we pulled this off. Here are just a few loose tips. If you want specifics please feel free to contact me.

• First, start collecting your items at least 4-6 weeks in advance. 
• Pick a theme that is enjoyable to you. I love handmade goodness so I choose handmade. Maybe you like sports, or food, or something else. It will be more fun if you enjoy it.
• Don't pick a theme. (I know, I know.) I had a couple items offered that just didn't fit handmade. Could I have thrown them in and probably no one would have noticed? Yes. But I'm a first born type A and couldn't do it.
• Share enough of your story to get people interested in helping. When I contacted potential donors I gave one or two lines about our adoption journey and shared the link to our Give1Save1 video. 
• Give them the details on what they need to know - what are you asking for specifically, when is the auction, do they mail the item to you or the donor, what are you offering them in exchange - FB mentions, Tweets, blog profiles, etc.?
• Note: It is against Etsy policy to solicit donations. I did not know this when I started. I must have contacted 200 - 300 shop owners and only ONE person mentioned this policy. I'm a beg-for-forgiveness-rather-than-ask-for-permission kinda girl but Etsy can and will shut down your account for breaking this policy.
• It might also be against policy to hold auctions on Blogger. See begging for forgiveness comment above.
• Some people are not familiar with Blogger and thus don't know how to comment or see older posts. I wouldn't have done anything differently, just something to note.
• Sending out invoices via Paypal seems to be working well. Some people don't have their settings set up to receive  an email if they get an invoice. Those people will be a little confused.
• Having donors mail the item directly to the winning bidder is ideal however, not everyone will want to do this. 

I think we'll be taking a break from fundraising for a while. This one nearly did me in and, unfortunately, we don't need the rest of our money for quite some time. I can write grants in my sleep and I think I'm going to read George Mueller's autobiography and pray for some of that to rub off on us. 

Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him,

He will never fail you.

~ George Mueller