Change Their Story Campaign

What: A campaign Children's Hopechest and sponsorship coordinators are partnering to bring change to Kechene

How: Consider having a fundraiser in your area to raise $500 by Dec. 31; Rummage Sale, Bake Sale, Jeans Day at work, Brown Bag Lunch'n it, donations from family and friends, etc.

Why: 160+ children in the slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia are surviving and working hard to learn so they can be changed forever! They need our help! We can raise the money via 10 team members and change Kechene for the better.

Who: YOU! With the money raised by 10 teams, you being one of them, we can choose our project for Kechene for Christmas. Contact me to be on a team and CHANGE THEIR STORY!

Here is the story told by Children's Hopechest...

Dear Greta, Thank you for signing up for more information about Change Their Story, the Children's HopeChest Christmas campaign for orphans. I wanted to get you some information about what to expect in the next few weeks, and answer any remaining questions you might have. The first part of this e-mail is about team captains. If you only are interested in being a participant, scroll down for that content.  What is a team captain? The team captain does everything a participant does. That means you select a project, set a fundraising goal, create a personal page, and ask your friends to make donations on behalf of your project.  In addition to participating, there are two key aspects you help with: First, you commit to recruiting 10 or more volunteer fundraisers to join your team. This is the most critical aspect of being a captain. By bringing more people to the campaign, we increase our chances for a very successful campaign. A team of 10 people is a goal to reach for. There are very effective teams of 3-8 people as well.Reach out now to start recruiting your team members. Send them to this page, and tell them to indicate they want to be on your team.  Second, you agree to encourage and support team members throughout this process. That means you'll be sending encouragement and reminder e-mails to your team members throughout the campaign. You'll have a special section of your fundraising page to send team member e-mail messages. We suggest you contact each team member 1-2 times per week to ensure they are on track. I will have some pre-formatted messages you can adapt and use. Ready to be a captain? Just reply to this e-mail and I'll get in touch with you about how to select your project for Change Their Story 2012. You'll have a special registration process to ensure you are set up properly as the team captain. What is a participant? If you signed up as a participant, just sit tight for now. In about 2 weeks, I'll be sending you the official registration link with all the login information you need to select your fundraising project and set up your personal page. Here's what you can do right now: 1. Determine your fundraising goal.  We suggest starting with $500. Over the past two years, the average participant has raised around $800. If you don't reach your goal that's okay! We will use the money you do raise to support the proejct you selected. 2. Think about the project you want to support.HopeChest works in 9 countries, and we have projects to help with food, water, medical care, education, trafficking, and microenterprise. If you are a current child sponsor, you can pick the project associated with your child's CarePoint or orphanage.  3. Invite your friends and family to join Change Their Story.Would you take a moment to ask others to join you as a volunteer fundraiser this year? Just send them to this link to read and pre-register just like you did.  And begin to make a list of who you are going to ask to support your project goal.