Julie Gumm - Author

“You Can Adopt Without Debt” – New book NOW AVAILABLE!

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NowAvailableIt’s launch day! Approximately 2.5 years in the making, I’m beyond thrilled to have “You Can Adopt Without Debt: Creative Ways to Cover the Cost of Adoption” finally available!!

The book was written with one goal in mind – to equip families wanting to adopt with the tools and ideas to make their dream come true and do it without going into debt. Unlike my previous book,” You Can Adopt Without Debt” is designed to even help someone just beginning to think about adoption. It explores the different kinds of adoptions, gives pros and cons to each, guides you through choosing an agency, what to expect during the process and the wide range of costs.

Then, of course, it delves into the nitty gritty of paying for adoption should you choose private domestic or international adoption. (Adoption from the foster care system is generally free or VERY inexpensive.)

It’s filled with tons of practical fundraising and income-producing ideas with varying levels of time commitment and return. (Don’t let the word “fundraising” scare you off – you don’t necessarily need to flat out ask for donations as you’ll see.)

(A Table of Contents is at the end of the post so you can see all the information we crammed in!)

SPREAD THE WORD: I would love it if you would help spread the word about the book! I’m giving away 3 signed copies and there are lots of ways to enter at the bottom of the post!!

BOOK HUNT: Of course the book is available at all the major online retailers BUT I’m wondering where else it’s going to be. The first person to find it in a brick ‘n mortar store and take a selfie in front of shelf it’s on wins a special awesome prize from me. (Email pic to julieATjuliegummDOTcom.)

AVAILABLE AT MAJOR RETAILERS

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book | Cokesbury

 

Table of Contents (*completely new chapters)

Introduction

  1. The Adoption Adventure*
  2. Our Story
  3. What Type of Adoption Is Right for You?*
  4. Choosing an Agency or Attorney*
  5. What to Expect in the Process*
  6. Considering the Cost*
  7. The Debt-Free Approach*
  8. Adoption Debt: Wrong or Right?*
  9. It Starts with Sacrifice
  10. Adoption Grants
  11. Employer Benefits*
  12. Sacrifices and Second Incomes
  13. Fund-Raising
  14. Event Fund-Raisers
  15. Sales-Driven Fund-Raisers
  16. Social Media Fund-Raising*
  17. Debt-Free Adoption Is Possible*
  18. Adoption Tax Credit*
  19. Giving Back*
  20. Our Journey to Ethiopia

Appendix
Notes

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Breakfast With Santa Adoption Fundraiser

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BREAKFAST-SANTASeem a little early to be thinking about Christmas? It’s not, I promise!

The holidays offer some great adoption fundraiser ideas and I especially love this one from the Teply family. They added Santa to their pancake breakfast fundraiser!

A pancake breakfast fundraiser is a great idea in itself. Families have made several thousand dollars with this idea (like the Burden family). But give a mom a chance to get her kids pictures with Santa WITHOUT going to the mall and you have hit the jackpot!! No mom wants to stand in line for an hour (or more) for the over-priced photo in which their child may or may not look totally terrified of the strange man in the beard.

The Teply’s had a great crew of friends helping them out with their fundraiser which was held at their church. They charged a per plate price of $7 for adults and $3 for kids for pancakes, sausage and a drink and then had a yummy looking topping bar!

Pictures with Santa were offered for a donation and did not require a breakfast purchase. The Teply’s asked friends and family and eventually found their Santa who generously donated his services for free. (They thanked him with a restaurant gift card.) If you’ve got someone who looks the part you could also rent a Santa Suit through a costume shop.

Someone with some good basic photography skills and a good point and shoot camera is fine for the pictures. They let people choose if they wanted to pick up printed pictures the next week at church or have the photos emailed to them. Most people chose to have the photo emailed.

They advertised the even in the local paper and on the back of their church bulletin. They also left flyers at local churches (great if you can get the flyers to the youth minister to give to parents). Jennifer also left half-sheet flyers at the restaurants that donated items and pinned flyers up on bulletin boards at the supermarkets. And of course, an event was created on Facebook. She suggested trying to distribute flyers at schools and daycare centers as well.

Around 75 people attended and the Teply’s made $1,722 with their fundraiser!! You can see some photos and read more about it on the Teply’s blog.

 

What’s new in the new version of “Adopt Without Debt”

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NewBook080814PinNow that the new book is listed on several retail book sites (see links below) I’ve had a few people ask me what the difference is between the two books. So here’s the low down…
  • The first book was self-published in May 2011 and was approximately 25,000 words (152 pages)
  • The first book is out of print and only available from used book sellers who are charging an exorbitant amount of money. Please don’t go into debt to buy the book 🙂
  • The first book told our story and focused only on how to pay for adoption.
  • The new book is being released by a “real” publisher – Abingdon Press. (January 6, 2015)
  • The new book title is slightly different because the old version can never really “go away” from Amazon. It is now titled “You Can Adopt Without Debt: Creative Ways to Cover the Cost of Adoption”
  • Abingdon wanted the book to be a “all-encompassing” adoption book that someone at the “I’m thinking about adopting” stage could pick up and it would cover A-Z
  • So, the new book is over 65,000 words (approx. 225 pages)
  • It includes 5 new chapters in the beginning that cover the different types of adoption, pros and cons of each, overview of the process and steps of each, etc. There are a couple new chapters in the last half of the book as well.
  • Tons of new fundraising ideas and stories of other families who’ve adopted debt-free.
  • Information on the adoption tax credit.
  • …and lots more.

Available at these retailers:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book