Make a Donation Giveaway

For the last few weeks, I’ve been toying with a giveaway of sorts. While the economy is spiraling out of control, my existence hasn’t really been affected. I got a new car in late October and I just treated myself to a laptop I can most definitely live without. But every time I turn on NPR or load NYTimes.com, I’m reminded of the current state of affairs. All of this has left me with an itch to scratch.

Over the weekend, I finally figured out what I’m going to do. And personally, I think it is brilliant.

As a part time employee at Banana Republic, I have access to the Foundation’s dollars. They will match up to $1,000 annually in either donated funds or in volunteer hours (every 15hr qualifies for a $150 donation). The year runs January 1st to December 31st and nothing carries over. As of today, I have around $300 dollars of donations left to be matched.

In the sidebar you will see a Donate button. My goal is to collect up to $300 from my readers. If we end up short, I’ll make up the difference. Though ideally, that amount will be less than half. Then, I’ll make a donation to a charity, submit my donation records to Gap Foundation and altogether, we will have $600 donated. Pretty nifty math for a girl who never bothers to balance her checkbook. But wait, it gets better.

Anyone who donates will be entered in a drawing. It doesn’t matter if you donate one dollar or five dollars. Your name will be written on a piece of paper and next Monday, after the donation window closes at noon, there will be a drawing. Note, donating multiple times doesn’t increase the number of chances you have to win one of the following:

First Prize: $50 Banana Republic Gift Card

Second Prize: $25 Banana Republic Gift Card

Third Prize: $10 Starbucks Gift Card

And since this is a group effort, I’m inviting you to help me pick the charity I tried to cover various causes and I intentionally went for national instead of regional organizations. I love my local Ronald McDonald House but not everyone who reads this blog lives in Philadelphia. Anyway, you (as in anyone) can vote in the sidebar as well. Although I'd appreciate it if you don't go and vote twenty times over for the sake of pushing your choice to the top.

Hopefully this will work. And thanks in advance to anyone who opens his/her wallet to donate, no matter how small. After all, if everyone gives one dollar, well, it’ll mean something, right?