Julie Gumm - Author

“You Can Adopt Without Debt” – New book NOW AVAILABLE!

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NowAvailableIt’s launch day! Approximately 2.5 years in the making, I’m beyond thrilled to have “You Can Adopt Without Debt: Creative Ways to Cover the Cost of Adoption” finally available!!

The book was written with one goal in mind – to equip families wanting to adopt with the tools and ideas to make their dream come true and do it without going into debt. Unlike my previous book,” You Can Adopt Without Debt” is designed to even help someone just beginning to think about adoption. It explores the different kinds of adoptions, gives pros and cons to each, guides you through choosing an agency, what to expect during the process and the wide range of costs.

Then, of course, it delves into the nitty gritty of paying for adoption should you choose private domestic or international adoption. (Adoption from the foster care system is generally free or VERY inexpensive.)

It’s filled with tons of practical fundraising and income-producing ideas with varying levels of time commitment and return. (Don’t let the word “fundraising” scare you off – you don’t necessarily need to flat out ask for donations as you’ll see.)

(A Table of Contents is at the end of the post so you can see all the information we crammed in!)

SPREAD THE WORD: I would love it if you would help spread the word about the book! I’m giving away 3 signed copies and there are lots of ways to enter at the bottom of the post!!

BOOK HUNT: Of course the book is available at all the major online retailers BUT I’m wondering where else it’s going to be. The first person to find it in a brick ‘n mortar store and take a selfie in front of shelf it’s on wins a special awesome prize from me. (Email pic to julieATjuliegummDOTcom.)

AVAILABLE AT MAJOR RETAILERS

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book | Cokesbury

 

Table of Contents (*completely new chapters)

Introduction

  1. The Adoption Adventure*
  2. Our Story
  3. What Type of Adoption Is Right for You?*
  4. Choosing an Agency or Attorney*
  5. What to Expect in the Process*
  6. Considering the Cost*
  7. The Debt-Free Approach*
  8. Adoption Debt: Wrong or Right?*
  9. It Starts with Sacrifice
  10. Adoption Grants
  11. Employer Benefits*
  12. Sacrifices and Second Incomes
  13. Fund-Raising
  14. Event Fund-Raisers
  15. Sales-Driven Fund-Raisers
  16. Social Media Fund-Raising*
  17. Debt-Free Adoption Is Possible*
  18. Adoption Tax Credit*
  19. Giving Back*
  20. Our Journey to Ethiopia

Appendix
Notes

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Breakfast With Santa Adoption Fundraiser

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BREAKFAST-SANTASeem a little early to be thinking about Christmas? It’s not, I promise!

The holidays offer some great adoption fundraiser ideas and I especially love this one from the Teply family. They added Santa to their pancake breakfast fundraiser!

A pancake breakfast fundraiser is a great idea in itself. Families have made several thousand dollars with this idea (like the Burden family). But give a mom a chance to get her kids pictures with Santa WITHOUT going to the mall and you have hit the jackpot!! No mom wants to stand in line for an hour (or more) for the over-priced photo in which their child may or may not look totally terrified of the strange man in the beard.

The Teply’s had a great crew of friends helping them out with their fundraiser which was held at their church. They charged a per plate price of $7 for adults and $3 for kids for pancakes, sausage and a drink and then had a yummy looking topping bar!

Pictures with Santa were offered for a donation and did not require a breakfast purchase. The Teply’s asked friends and family and eventually found their Santa who generously donated his services for free. (They thanked him with a restaurant gift card.) If you’ve got someone who looks the part you could also rent a Santa Suit through a costume shop.

Someone with some good basic photography skills and a good point and shoot camera is fine for the pictures. They let people choose if they wanted to pick up printed pictures the next week at church or have the photos emailed to them. Most people chose to have the photo emailed.

They advertised the even in the local paper and on the back of their church bulletin. They also left flyers at local churches (great if you can get the flyers to the youth minister to give to parents). Jennifer also left half-sheet flyers at the restaurants that donated items and pinned flyers up on bulletin boards at the supermarkets. And of course, an event was created on Facebook. She suggested trying to distribute flyers at schools and daycare centers as well.

Around 75 people attended and the Teply’s made $1,722 with their fundraiser!! You can see some photos and read more about it on the Teply’s blog.

 

Adoption Fundraiser Spotlight – The Thayer Family

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Fundraiser-Thayer

We are Shawn & Amanda Thayer. We began the process to adopt our first child in March of last year. Our home study has been approved, and we are currently in the process of preparing a nursery and our hearts for the little one that God has planned to be a part of our home. We are expecting to adopt an infant domestically, but are willing to allow God to redirect as He sees fit.

We’ve been married for over eight years and have not had any children. It’s always been our desire to have a family and to raise children to serve the Lord.  Now we believe that it’s God plan for us to accomplish this through the miracle of adoption. It took a long time for us to let go of our own “perfect” plan, give everything over to God, and allow Him to mold and prepare our hearts for the ministry of parenting; which we now realize is far more than simply “having a baby” and much more an opportunity to love, nurture, and provide for a precious little life that God loves and wants to see brought back to Himself. It took a while for us to accept God’s will for us, but we now have great peace about the steps we are taking and look forward to seeing Him work in ways that only He can.

Since our decision to adopt, we’ve seen God address one of our greatest fears originally holding us back from beginning the process; the cost. Our adoption costs will total $21,500, plus lawyer fees.  We desired to fund the adoption without going into debt, and we believe God will help us to accomplish that feat.  We’ve held various fundraisers and experienced great results.

Thayer-tshirtOur first fundraiser was a huge yard sale in which dozens of volunteers, friends and strangers donated scores of items and hours of time. In the end we raised over $4,000!  We’ve also hosted a couple online fundraisers, featuring Premier Designs jewelry and Scentsy products and raised another $700.  A generous friend offered to auction off an original painting, which raised over $200. We also have designed an original t-shirt that has allowed us to raise over $1,500 and that we continue to offer through our blog. Our most current fundraiser is an online sale of Jamberry Nails.  We are excited to see how once again our God will provide.

We have come to accept that we are not in control of this process. We learned well before signing the original paperwork for adoption that we never really have been in control, that no person truly controls the creation of a life and that children are a gift from God, which He in His sovereignty allows to be born and raised in ways that He sees fit. We are thrilled to simply allow Him to work through us in preparation and provision for the moment when we will meet the perfect little baby He has made for us to love.  We pray that God will be glorified through it all.

If you would like to keep up with what God is doing through our adoption journey, please visit our blog.

Thayer

Each Friday I’ll feature a different fundraising adoptive family. My hope is that we can support each other and also learn from each other. For submission guidelines, go here.