Opportunities to help share resources
with others so they, too, can join us at the WOSonOS

Think about whether you can donate extra resources to help someone who would like to go but who just needs a little extra help. For example—when you register, you will have an option to tell us if you are able to buy an extra registration (so we can offer one for an "Asker"). Or you can reserve accommodations for 2 people (and share your room with an Asker). Or you may wish to bring some extra US cash to San Francisco (to give money to Askers who may wish to socialize with you in the evenings).

The concept of "the Access Queen Project" is about sharing resources (financial and otherwise) and actions (helping each other). So if you can buy an extra registration, please list that as you register. If you can offer an extra bed in your hotel room or home let us know. If you would like to contribute money, see the options for doing so on your registration form. You can also send donations directly to the Access Queen (Lisa Heft) with a US bank check through the post or a PayPal payment (to lisaheft@openingspace.net). For those of you in the USA who need a tax deduction you can also send to the fund via PayPal to the Open Space Institute of the US—see http://www.openspaceworld.org/osi-usa/pmts.html (and be sure to mention Access Queen in the comments section there). For PayPal and OSI-USA payment options, a small amount of money will be taken out of your donation to cover processing fees.

Some of you do not have access to much money, but perhaps this list will help you with ideas for how to ask others for help. And remember, with email as a tool these can be people you ask who are in your own community or elsewhere, and if you cannot do these things below perhaps you can ask someone else to do them for you.

So: here are some ideas for those of you who need to fund your own trip, and for those who would like to raise extra money to send to the Access Queen Project. Do share with us all other ideas you have to add to this list!

Ideas for Raising Money
(for yourself or for the Access Queen Project)

(some of these ideas come from past Access Queen "Givers'" creativity; some from Lisa's own experience; some inspired by the article "Fifty-Three Ways for Board Members to Raise $1000" by Kim Klein, co-publisher of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal—our thanks to Jan Strout of Seattle for sharing this article)

(remember that in some circumstances and countries the amount you donate to a charitable cause can be deducted from your taxes—therefore, if you collect funds be sure to give Givers a receipt as / with their thank-you note...)

Give it yourself
Put some money aside each week or month. Pick an amount that is a bit of a stretch for you but not impossible. Watch it grow.

Take someone to lunch or dinner
...and have them donate their share (or more) to the Access Queen Fund or to someone you know.

Sell or auction off some original art
Sell your poetry, your painting, your greeting cards to others and let them know where the money is going to. Have a coloring contest for the covers of your next OS event's Book of Proceedings and auction them off to the participants in your event, all for a good cause.

Sell things from your home
Do you have a collection stored away? Sell it to other collectors. Set items you no longer need out in front of your house and have a jumble sale and a lovely time chatting with neighbors.

Cook up some delights
Are you always the person people ask to bring desserts to their dinner party? Are you known for your special recipes? Do you have a fruit tree just yearning to be harvested and made into a delicious pie? Cook up some luscious tasty goods to sell to your faith group, or your neighbors, or your school, or your workplace - people will enjoy both the benefits of happy bellies and contributions to a worthy cause.

Donate a portion of your profits
Give x% of the proceeds from your workshop, your book sales, or other services and goods you offer and donate the money to the Access Queen Fund or to someone you know (or yourself, because going to a conference is professional development).

Have a house party
Invite people over for ... beauty treatments ... foot massages ... a sewing circle ... recipe exchanges ... storytelling ... art projects ... making music ... a seminar on financial management ... and have them each pay for the pleasure of attending.

Have your group, organization, company do a / some fundraising project(s)
Ask a group you are already a part of—faith organization? book discussion group? gardening club? neighborhood group? workplace? school? to think of some creative way to raise money that can go to you, to the AQ Fund or another worthy "Asker".

Tell everyone you know
...that you are raising money for your or someone else's participation in WOSonOS. Give them some background on the method and the event. Ask them if they would like to contribute and/or if they have any other ideas on how to raise more funds. Ask in your own style—with a lovely card, with an article on Open Space (ask me if you need one), with a newsletter sharing what you're learning, or over tea.

Ask an organization or individual to match your funds
Everything you raise by a certain date—can they match it as increased incentive for your creative fundraising efforts? If they can, then explain this opportunity to everyone you know and ask them to donate, too, to double your collective donation power. Ask people you know in other organizations to consider donating to your worthy cause and having their corporation or business match it, too.

Write a proposal and / or give an oral presentation
You will find a sample proposal at http://www.openspaceworld.org/wiki/wiki/wiki.cgi?OpenSpaceInstituteUSA/AccessQueenKing
Use all or parts of this as it may be relevant to your own situation and offer your proposal / request for funding to your school, faith organization, service club or community group. Ask other people you know if you can do the same at their organization.

Ask everyone you know to save their pocket money
Ask your friends to save the coins they find in their pockets—you can, too. A few months before WOSonOS collect and count it all up and share the exciting announcement!

Have a one-hour, $10 benefit (or whatever is your currency)
I once did this to raise money for a refrigerator for the local AIDS food bank. We invited everyone we knew to send or bring a minimum of $10 by or before a certain date. Everyone was invited to a one hour party. At 3:30 pm (15:30) the doors opened and they all came up to a friend's empty work-loft space, donation money in hand. All around the edges of the room were alarm clocks. Food, beverages and flowers were donated, a friend played dance music, and everybody partied until ... all the alarm clocks rang at 4:30 pm (16:30) and everybody left. We raised $2,000 US.

Have a silent auction
Have friends, co-workers, colleagues donate items and services. Each should fill out a card placed next to that item saying what it is, who is offering it, what its normal cost would be, what would be a minimum bid, and blank lines below with name of bidder and amount they are bidding. Invite everyone you know to a party, picnic or other event (ask them to bring their cash or checkbooks and tell them of your worthy cause) and set up a table with these items. Announce the auction is open and participants are invited to write down on the cards how much they wish to pay to be the highest bidder and win the item or service. Towards the end of the event announce 'last call' for anyone who wants to write their final, winning bid. Collect the bid cards and announce the 'winners', asking all 'winners' to bring you the money before they leave.

Lead a nature walk
...or an architectural tour, a historic tour, a sailing trip, a rafting trip, a horseback ride, a salsa or capoeira class. Charge each participant (a bit more if you wish to provide lunch).

Donate your frequent flyer miles to an "Asker"
Check with your airline for their rules and restrictions regarding this. Be sure to note any time restrictions on usage.

Buy an extra WOSonOS registration for an Access Queen Asker or buy a two-person hotel room at WOSonOS so an asker may stay for free (let us know if you are doing this and if you would like to be introduced to your Asker or instead remain anonymous...)

Put yourself on the map
Join the Open Space World Map and weave our world together—often the World Map contributes a portion of the profits to Access Queen Askers.

Join (or renew your membership for) your regional Open Space Institute
Some of the OSI's and other regional collections of Open Space facilitators, learners and enthusiasts contribute funds to the Access Queen Project. In adding or renewing your membership you also contribute to the support, learning and growing communities of Open Spaceniks (thank you, Raffi, for that term) around the world.

Offer to do something your friends and family have been nagging you to do anyway
...and attach a price to it. Quit smoking on the condition that your friends donate to your cause, or get them to pay a certain amount for every day you do not smoke. Agree to give them their money back if you do not reach a certain (reasonable, pre-set) goal.

See if your business has a community fund
Check with your workplace to see if they have any funding programs that might support you or this sort of fundraising effort. Sometimes businesses will agree to match dollars raised for worthy causes; sometimes they can give small amounts of 'seed' money. Check to see what sorts of things they will fund and see if you can fit your cause to their guidelines.

If you have a wedding or birthday party—
Ask friends and family not to give gifts but instead donate money to you or to the Access Queen Fund.

Ask a local store to donate a percentage of a day's profits
..or week's profits. Pick a store where all of your friends or co-workers shop. Then ask everyone to shop at that store on a certain day (or between certain dates) and let them know that by doing so x% of the store's profits will go to your worthy cause.

Givers:

Any amount is the right amount. Small amounts add up to large amounts. The Access Queen Fund (and individual Askers) can use every bit, and anything raised that may be extra goes to 'seed' the next year's fund.

Think also of the things you have that are not money but are useable, shareable resources. The Fund typically does not fund single individuals but spreads little bits of resources among several.

If you know of other places where Askers can apply for funding, please do let us know. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Askers:

Be direct about it in your gracious and charming way—people are just waiting to find ways to help each other. When you name those ways, people come out to help in any way they can.

Most of all, dream, dare, leap...do not hold on too tightly to your concern or anxiety about lack of money but open up and let go and breathe and hold your arms out wide and trust that the money will always come...