My team ‘Helping Hands’ have decided which organization we are going to donate to. We have decided on Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin because of how much they do for kids that are sick, injured, or don’t have a family. They came into our panel discussion and it helped us a lot on our decision. This whole project has been exciting but yet difficult in a good way. Fundraising was a struggle. We couldn’t think of an idea to raise money and we then decided to do bracelets. It has been hard to sell them but we are trying our best. We are also looking for donations from local businesses. But it still has been exciting and gives you a good feeling knowing you are doing something great for someone else. It has been nice having the team members I have because we can agree on almost everything without issues arising.

This past week we had our second panel discussion. My group and I invited Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin to come and speak about their organization. I learned a lot about Children’s Hospital and all the different things they do. I didn’t know that they help out with foster kids and adoptive kids. I always thought that all they helped with was children who are injured or sick. They definitely do a lot more than that. One other organization that came in to our panel discussion that surprised me was our local historical society. I knew of it but I didn’t know much about it. I didn’t know how many things they have done and what projects they are working on now for the upcoming future. It was cool to hear about an organization that takes place in the same town I live in.

We recently had a panel discussion with four non profit organizations last thursday. I was surprised about how passionate these representatives of these organizations were and many of them said they were a part of this organizations because of kids. They love kids and want to help. It made my mind open up more to the other unknown organizations near us because Variety for kids came in and I didn’t even know about the organization until now. What I am learning from my fundraising experience is that is somewhat hard to figure out how and what to fundraise. I never knew how hard it was to plan it out and get the word about it as well. So far for my groups mission for helping sick and injured kids we have held a penny drive throughout our school. The class with the highest amount wins ice cream. To get the highest amount you need to bring in pennies which adds to your total and if you bring in silver coins or dollars you should want to put it into a different glasses jar because they subtract to your total.

There are different ways into evaluating companies. Using their 990 tax forms or even how they react to you asking questions about their organization and how they run things. A good organization will have people excited and willing to talk to you about their organization. I find that way more personal and more valuable than looking at a 990 tax form. Seeing how things run throughout the organization and what they believe in is way more valuable than numbers on paper. I find it somewhat easy to tell if they are a good organization to donate to but if you are stuck between two really good non-profit organizations it can be difficult.

What my group and I learned about our cause/organization was that they keep families together and promote the health and well-being of children. We also looked up tax returns for each of our organizations. I found a 990 form for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. I evaluated them and found a 990 form from 2016. I found out that their cost to raise $1 was  $0.23 which is considered to be pretty decent. Also found out that their sustainability is 192 months which is also a good sign. Our teams purpose for this all is to help children who are hurt or ill and we will work up to this day by day.

In my brown paper bag I put in a softball, picture of my best friends and I, and another picture of my two sisters and I. I chose these three things because I love playing softball and I love my family and friends. I learned a lot about others like how religious someone is and what is important to each person like school or sports. As of right now, my team hasn’t officially came up with a for sure idea for our fundraiser. One option for an organization that we will probably be fundraising for might be Children’s Hospital. I talked to my parents about Main Street Philanthropy and what we are doing. They thought it was a great idea and they have read past classes about this same thing before in the newspaper. They gave me a lot of good ideas about what organizations we could raise money for and how we could do it. They gave my organizations like Ronald McDonald House and organizations for kids with cancer. Instead of raising money just for Children’s Hospital, they were thinking we should get more specific like for the families that stay at the Ronald McDonald House and people that may have cancer.

While I was using the Make A Difference cards with my group, I learned a couple of different things about others and myself. My top three causes I picked out was hospital and medical care, children and youth services, and hunger. What I learned about myself was that I like helping others out more than just financially. For example in the children and youth services cause, I want to help those children find a family that will love them and help them find a happy home. Using these MAD cards I found out things about my other group members I never knew before. Some said that there most important cause they picked was the hospital and medical care because they wanted to give back since they were once on the opposite side of the spectrum being in the hospital long term. From the Main Street Philanthropy I hope to gain more knowledge about all the different ways I can help people and become a better team member and leader throughout this journey.