[STICKY] Fundraising for NaNo: Everyone Wins

In the past, ChiWriMo has had its own annual fundraising incentives - and will will this year too! On top of that, NaNo HQ is also instituting their own donation/fundraising contest as well. By donating money toward NaNo HQ, everyone can win. NaNo will have funds to operate again next year, and you'll have a chance to win one of several prizes just by participating! Here's how it works:

Donation Derby
This year NaNo HQ is beginning the Donation Derby, a friendly inter-regional contest to see who can raise the most money. It's broken down by region size - and since we're such a powerhouse region, we're in group one. Here's the way the contest works:

The winner in each league will be the region with the highest average increase in donations between last year and this year. The contest will close at midnight on November 30th, and winners will be announced as close to December 4th as possible.

Each winning region will receive these lovely prizes:
· A personalized web badge to decorate blogs and regional websites
· A personal email from Chris
· Their region name on a plaque/trophy at HQ, plus photographic evidence that they’re enshrined in the HQ hall of fame
· Public acknowledgment on the site

You can keep track of Chicago's progress by going to the Fun Stuff menu pull down/link, then to Donation Derby.

As an added incentive to donate, ChiWriMo will once again be offering a ChiWriMo button for anyone who donates and receives a halo on their profile. All you need to do to receive your button is donate, wait for your halo to appear, then PM me (Tim) with the address you'd like the button mailed to.

The 2009 ChiWriMo/NaNoWriMo Poster Contest
While we want everyone to donate online to NaNo HQ to get your halo right away, some people may prefer to pay an ML in person so we can send it off to HQ for you. (We can't blame you either in this age of sending personal financial information over the web!) Just for those of you who prefer to donate offline - we have a contest made for you! (Those of you who donate online are also encouraged to participate as well though!)

For every $5 you donate to an ML at any ChiWriMo event, you'll receive an entry into the contest. For $20 you'll receive ten entries, which means more chances to win! We'll give you a raffle ticket(s) and gather your contact information in case you win. And speaking of which, here's what's at stake:

Grand Prize: the 2009 NaNoWriMo Poster, a $100 value
Runners Up: You can also win one of several other smaller prizes such as a pass to the Children's Museum, a USB Flash Drive to keep your novel safe and saved, and much much more!

We'll be drawing winners at the TGIO Party on December 5 at Open Books. You don't need to be present to win the grand prize, but you will need to be in order to receive one of the runners up prizes. If you do win the grand prize and you're not at the party, we'll mail the poster out to the address you gave us when you entered the raffle!

Here's the catch: we need to raise $100 in order to purchase the poster from NaNo HQ - if we don't hit the goal, we'll still be drawing for a handful of other prizes. To track our collection progress, keep an eye on the ChiWriMo Sponsors & Donations page.

For additional information on either contest, leave a comment on this thread or send Tim NaNoMail!

Can't Afford to Donate? You Can Still Help!
Fondly referred to as "Donating When You're Broke", NaNo offers everyone a chance to help out. Check out the page & see if you can help out! Let's keep NaNo around for another 11+ years!

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Tim
Municipal Liaison for Illinois::Chicago
ml-tim at chiwrimo.org