Yesterday was a pivotal moment in Project FED's history. After time spent praying over the direction to take Project FED and asking God for His help in seeing to its success, I received answers on multiple levels.
The Struggle Is Real
It's tough to get the majority of people interested in doing something for others. Most people like to talk about it, but when it comes time to rolling up their sleeves and taking action, they are too busy.
Only 25% of Americans - my home country - do volunteer work of any kind. Those that volunteer typically do so for just ONE of the many organizations that need help and support.
While 73% of Americans do give to charitable organizations, the average donation is just $128. There are so many causes and organizations to support, so many people asking for support that people begin to feel overwhelmed.
They know that - at least on the surface - what they give today won't come back to them and the money they have is a finite resource that can be gone quickly if they give to everyone who asks of them.
Besides, most people are quick to point out, don't they already pay enough in taxes? Why can't the government do something about it?
Donor fatigue, as my friend Rita mentioned, is all too real.
It's understandable. People have lives of their own, problems of their own, challenges of their own to face. While the desire to help others is often real, the realities of what it takes can quickly undermine the intention.
Fighting the Fatigue By Giving Back
When I started this project, I mentioned that I wanted to teach people by demonstrating how to start and build businesses of their own including how to brand them, market them, and sell the services or products they have to offer. I had no specific strategy planned for that. It seemed slightly disconnected from my ultimate mission of providing food, education, and dwellings for Nigerian orphans.
It was just something that was on my heart to do and had been for a while. Then, came the epiphany moment yesterday after praying for the success of the project. Zazzle has an affiliate program. All those who sign up for it and share the products from Project FED can make a profit off of their efforts.
Suddenly, teaching business building, branding, and marketing skills made sense - a lot of sense - for all those who want to support this project and even those who just want to make money and don't care about supporting the project. In helping them to succeed, I am ensuring the success of the project.
Unexpected Blessings
With that vision, I received two unexpected blessings that very same day. The first money came through for the project and a friend reached out who saw the work I was doing to set up a store for Project FED to ask for help setting up her own Zazzle store.
The generosity I had shown in doing all of this work to benefit orphans I've never met on a faraway continent was coming back to me in unexpected ways at the exact time that I most needed it.
One of the things that was done with the money given for Project FED was to purchase an official domain name (https://projectfed.org) for the project. While that website is a work in progress, I hope to have it up and running next week.
Having our own domain name is a first step forward in getting access to some very powerful free marketing tools, like MailerLite, which allows us to set up email sequences and essentially automate the cultivation of our audiences.
The rest of the money will be spent on the promotion of the project and ensuring that those who are looking for ways to make money at home know that Project FED has something to offer them.
Lessons in Life, Relationships, and Business
Life Tip 3: Everyone is going through something.
It doesn't matter how wealthy you think someone is or how much easier you believe their life should be, I promise you that it's all an illusion. Everyone is going through struggles and challenges of their own. Everyone has burdens to carry and needs help.
Relationship Tip 3: No matter how busy you get, make time for other people.
Our lives are often filled with things that we could be doing or should be doing. However, when it comes time for us to end up in the hospital or the nursing home, that's when our choices about where to invest our time are going to become apparent to us. If you didn't make time for people when you had the time to make, don't expect them to make time for you when it is your turn to need it.
Business Tip 3: If you get stuck or need direction, pray over it.
Many people think that prayer and business have nothing to do with one another, but this isn't true. Prayer isn't magic. It's not an incantation you're reciting to get your way.
It's more like your brain is a radio that is constantly receiving different frequencies from the world around it. Prayer is that tuning knob that tunes your brain so you can receive signals about any topic of interest to you.
You're going to start meeting people that are connected to what you want, or you'll notice articles and programs and other offers that are all pointing you in the direction you need to go to get where you want to be in life.
So when you're needing direction or are stuck and things aren't quite working, pray over it. Better yet, pray over it every day.
Join Project FED
Sign up to support Project FED and be part of making a difference with your dollars while getting paid to do it: https://bit.ly/3wlZM9x
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