Hello All,

I have been bothered by some of the infighting all cyber famileys go thru. I want to be the first one to offer the olive branch to all and get this forum back to it's intended goal.
Getting the word out "EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES" To increase the survival rates on people facing oral cancer. To offer advice when asked, support new members as best we can, offer our experiences going thru similer treatment.

We have lost alot of fine posters for one reason or another. I am asking them to reconcider and again continue to be a valuable resource to the foundation. The knowledge you have is a huge source of some excellant information that many new mwmbers can use. We miss you!!!!

We don't have to agree with everything we read. We can write why without getting personal or bitter. We are adults that should be able to agree to disagreee.

If you haven't read Brians last posting in the General Board section dated 6/5/05. please read it. It gives a clear vision of what this site is all about. I haven't seen Brian upset this much in over two years as an active member of this forum. He deservers better!! With the schedule he has, :rolleyes: the time used to smooth over bad feelings is wasted time. Remember he is funding this site, running it, Is the media guy and fines time to monitor the postings.

Again I ask some of the older posters to contribute again. We need your knowledge as well as your excellent postings skills.

I think we should all contribute donations to insure the foundation will continue to be here
helping as many as we can. Instead of having a large gathering that people have to travel to and raise money, why not each member ask friends, relatives, co-workers and strangers for donations on a reguler bases? If each of us got ten people in a year to contribute $25.00 once we would generate enough funds to let Brian do even more to get the word out. Think about how easy it would be to have 100 members pledge to do this. It would raise $25.000.00 with little to know expense!!! Now thats having an impact.

How does 50 members getting a $50.00 donation from 12 people during a whole year? This would generate $30.000.00. Thats only one donation a month mailed directly to the foundation. Again very little overhead with all going to benifit the Foundation and us! Large impacts come in snall efforts.

I am letting you know I want to be number one on that list. So we only need 99 more to pledge to do this over a years time. We could set it up, get the donation envelopes out to those who pledge and have a start date of 1/1/06. All you have to do is ask Brian for 125 donation envelopes and you can raise the money over a years time. Seems like an easy enough thing to do. The best way is for each member to send in one envelope a month. The foundation gets the benifit of having a more balanced incoming cash flow to run the foundation.

We could still have that second reunion but it's up to us to plan it and make it happen. Brian is just a spectator and hopefully a visitor to this event. The intent of the reunion would be to get to meet other members and have a couple days of fun. Who needs that more that Oral Cancer patiants, spouses and caregivers!!!!

All responses welcome, I will volonteer to organize abd run this fund raising campaign.
You can reach me through email. private messages or phone. 920 766-9040 I am working out the details as I type and will post them soon.

Lets join together and make 2006 a banner year for the foundation. Our goal is to make this Foundation stronger and be able to help more people then we are now.

Love to All, Danny Boy

Danny you took the words right out of my mouth. I too was wondering about some kind of fundraiser, I think this would be awesome.. BRIAN DESERVES SOO MUCH...

You have really thought this out Danny...Well Done!
Count me in.

Marica

Sounds good to me. I will have 12 of those envelopes but I will have to wait to send you my address as I will be moving to my sons this month, staying there a month and then finding a new apt. and moving again the next month. Are you confused yet cause I am. hee hee

Blessings,
Barb~

Danny,

Many non-profit and political organizations now have an option where a member can sign up for a recurring monthly donation charged directly to their credit cards (so that they don't have to remember to send a check in). I have no idea what this involves regarding setup, but could this be made available? I already do recurring donations for three other non-profits to which I donate. What I've observed about my own behavior with automatic recurring donations is that once I sign up, I keep doing it for many years since it takes no effort on my own part and I basically forget about it. It also might give OCF more of a projection of future income stream. So far for OCF, I've made two online contributions: mainly because I forget to do it again since they are one-time deals. Also, OCF could save money on the cost of producing and mailing the buttons, cards, etc. for recurring contributors because I certainly wouldn't expect (or want) to get them every month.

Just a thought.

Connie

Danny, LOVE your idea....sounds great! I will do my best to get donations for OCF. Love ya, Carol

Thanks for the ideas Connie. I have decided to try to to it with 50 members raising one $50.00
donation each month. This would generate $2500.00
to the Foundation per month or $30.000.00 annually.
I will start a list of members who want to help out. This is one way we can all give back something to the Foundation that has helped so many. I would like all envelopes and receipts in your hands by Dec 1st.

Some tips on requesting the donation.
1) donation Brochures and envelopes should be handed out personnaly. This is the time to tell them why it's so important to you. Explain how much good work this Foundation does with no state or federal funding. It is a non-profit organization with a very high percentage of any funds received going dieectely to running the website by the founder Brian Hill. Fill out the bottom portion of the donation envelope with your name and address and write in the amount above. Place a stamp on the envelope prior to handing it out. If possible try and get the pledge in person and you can mail it yourself.
Distribute the envelopes to those you know will follow through on the pledge. I will create a receipt to write out to give them after for tax purposes. Will follow soon.
On the receipt hand write a personal note thanking them for there generous donation to such a good cause. The donation envelopes should arrive at The Oral Cancer Foundation around the first of each month. This will insure an even cash flow to the Foundation.

The goal is to have this set-up and ready to go by 1/1/06. This will give me time to get the 50 members to help out, mail out the donation envelopes and litature.
I was hoping the brochure handed out with the donation envelope would be all that is required.
If you think pins are necessary let me know and I will talk to Brian.

Would like to think of a name for this fund drive. So far: (2006 Oral Cancer Foundation Fund Drive)
Any suggestions are welcome.
Remember by hook or crook I am going to make this happen. We have several members who have committed and I hope to here from more of you soon. Have roughly a little over two months to get everything in place.
Remember you can reach me through PMs. emails or phone. 920 766-9040

Love Ya All, Danny Boy

Danny Boy,

I'm not sure if I can get regular donations, but I will give it a try. Her are a few ideas for others who are unsure about doing the regular monthly thing, but still want to help. I sent explanatory letters and donation envelopes to many family and friends last Christmas. I don't know how much was donated, but I know it was over $300. I also pointed out in my letter that this was a qualified tax deduction.

I also took some extra T-shirts from the VA walk to my family reunion and "sold" them. I just laid them out on a table with a jar for donations, after I made a little speech explaining what it was about. I think I raised about $140 and I know some people donated without taking a shirt. I plan on doing the same at another family reunion coming up later this month. No shirts left, but will be putting out a jar.

Another idea for those that have gift exchanges at work for Christmas. Perhaps you could suggest that you skip the exchange this year and donate the amount you would normally spend on the gift to OCF.

Believe me when I say I am not a "salesman" and generally hate asking for money. I used to hate even taking fundraisers to work for my kids when they were in school. I absolutely HATE asking people for money. But for such a good cause, I bit the bullet and did it. So I figure if I can do it, anyone can.

Also, a reminder for our members that it is a nice gesture to donate to OCF when we lose one of our members. I just found out about Lowanne losing Jack, so will be donating in his memory. I have done this for several lost members this year. Maybe some of you remember that I said I was going to do this either until there was a cure or I went broke. Well, I'm not broke yet and I only donate $25 each time, but so far this year that has added up to $175. At first, I posted every time I donated as a reminder to others to do the same. I stopped doing that though, because I thought it sounded too much like I was tooting my own horn. Perhaps it's not such a bad idea though to give people a reminder at times like that. I know not everyone can donate $25 each time, but if 50 people can donate even $10 each, that would add up to a nice amount for the year.

As for the buttons that Brian sends, I agree with Connie. The first time is nice, but it is not necessary each time I donate. Connie, I sent Brian a private e-mail telling him this. You may want to do the same. I did give some of the buttons to family members who donated. And I am going to take some of them to local dentist offices to see if I can get them on board the early detection education and awareness program.

And although there are numerous good charities out there that deserve our $$$, may I suggest that you all consider the fact that most of those generate tons of money each year. They have paid staff that do nothing but solicit funds. OCF is basically a one-man operation - no paid staff, just one man who has devoted his life to this cause. One man who is running himself ragged trying to keep up with all that needs to be done.

May I suggest that those of you who donate to other causes, please consider donating the lion's share to OCF. I still occasionally donate small amounts to other causes, but there is no other charity I know of that needs the money more and that uses more of the money for the cause.

Your money goes directly to support this cause. It does not go to pay an inflated salary. It does not go into sending out labels, cards, calendars and other stuff that generally is not wanted and often not used. I personally receive more address labels than I could use in a lifetime and I don't even donate to the charities that send them. But they keep sending them anyway. How many $$$ are being wasted on that kind of stuff? Why send your money to a charity that uses only 75% (or less!) of it to actually help the people? Send it to OCF and you know it is all going to be used wisely.

I hope someone can use these ideas for their own donation campaign. Now I need to get my donation made in Jack's memory before I forget. Hint! Hint!

Rainbows & hugs,
Rosie

Danny, let me know how I can help you....(besides getting donations) SMILE!! Love you! Carol

Hello All,

Have 5 members committed to joining the 2006 OCF fund raiser. Not bad for one day!!! Hoping to hear from many more soon. What better way to insure this website continues than 50 members raising funds once a month for one year. Please contact me as soon as possible for details.

Love Ya All, Danny Boy