Dear Supporters,
I was very proud of our board when they voted to undertake our Super Draw fund raising plan earlier
this year. For such a young organization to undertake a project of this proportion is very bold and many Not-for-Profit
organizations usually do not break even for the first few years that they hold a fund raising event that requires the support
of the community at large to succeed. Our goals for this event were to raise the money that we needed to continue our
work, expand the awareness of The Gratitude Group and the important work that we do to a greater number of people in the community,
as well as to create the good will of the press, radio and television.
Since at the time we started
this project, we had a membership of a little over 120 people, we knew that if we were to move our plans forward, we needed
more friends, more volunteers and more people to step up and financially support our efforts. We also knew that we needed to sell at a minimum 140 of our 1,000 available tickets in order to
pay our event expenses and to provide at least a 50/50 to payout to all of the prize winners. We of course visualized
throughout the ticket sales process that we would sell at least half of our tickets and if we were very fortunate that we
would sell all of our tickets. Our plan fell somewhat short
of our goal, however, we faired substantially better than the model for a first year event, we did not lose money. Instead,
we took in enough to pay all of our entertainers, the hotel for providing the great food and the room and we paid out about
$7, 000 in prizes on sales of 144 tickets.
In the process of creating
this event, we made many new friends and we created substantial good will in the community for our organization. We
also were able to recruit several new volunteers and to add two new board members. This is very important since many
hands make light work and our group needs new people and new ideas if we are to move forward as an organization. We will continue to use the best thinking of our board and volunteers and
apply our faith, believing that we will succeed as we labor together and that the result will be perfect because our Higher
Power will provide a perfect outcome. I am pleased to report that it has already been provided. I believe that
with the support of our new friends and supporters in the community and the added vision and energy of our new board members,
that we will finish 2010 with our projects funded and completed.
We thank you in advance for
your prayers and continued support as we move forward and do our work throughout the remainder of this year.
Best regards,
Taylor Swan
