You may see hundreds of solicitations a year from local and national charities and non-profits. Maybe you are someone who donates regularly, or maybe you are interested but have no idea how to go about making a donation.

I have been working for a non-profit organization for just over 2 months now and it has really opened my eyes to how time consuming processing donations can be. Non-profits depend on these donations to keep their organizations alive and running and the donors depend on getting that tax receipt for the end of the year.

Because most of these organizations are living on the bare minimums they most likely only have one or two people processing these gifts. This can take a lot of time, especially at the end of the year when everyone is trying to get in last minute donations. 

Here are a few tips to make this process run a bit smoother for both the donor and the processing officer so you get your tax receipt that much quicker.

Use the donation card: If you receive a card in the mail, please use it. Sending just a check in an envelope with limited information can be very difficult, especially if you have never donated before. We strive to get all of your information correct in our systems to make sure you are properly thanked and receive your tax receipt promptly.

Handwriting: We understand that everyone does not have perfect handwriting, however if we can not read what it is you have written to us, we could make a mistake. This is especially true if you would like us to send a card in honor of someone. If we cannot read the name it may be impossible to do that.

Details: If this donation is for something specific or you would like us to send a notification to someone on your behalf, please provide the proper information. This includes: full name and address. We do appreciate everything you do, and can understand you may be in a hurry when sending out your donation, but the process goes much quicker and more accurate if all the information is there when we receive your donation.

Credit card information: If you decide to send us a credit card to use, please make sure you give us all of the information. We need the full card number as well as the expiration date. It is clearly marked on the donation card what is required. Going back to the handwriting category, this would be another area to make sure you are writing clearly. 

Patience: We love each and every donor who donates to our organization, and we understand you may get concerned that you have not received notification from us right away.  We ask that you have confidence and patience in us, as we are trying to weed through and decipher numerous donations on a daily basis. We strive to get your acknowledgement out promptly, but there will be times where it  may take a few extra days.

I think I have covered the basics here. A few steps to make your donating experience a pleasant experience. The more information you can provide the better. We are happy to go out and look for this information for you, but this will push back the time it takes us to get your tax receipt out to you.

I hope this was helpful to anyone out there who makes donations, or someone who is debating making a donation.

Let me know if you have any further tips in the comments!

With all of the hype over the record breaking Powerball jackpot it makes me stop and think as to what I would do with all of that money if I were to win it. I have seen oodles and oodles of Facebook posts asking people what their top 5 buys would be if they were to wake up $1.3 billion dollars richer on Thursday morning.

I saw everything from paying off debt, to buying a house, to buying cars, college funds, and luxurious trips. The options would be endless. You would have to remember there would be taxes involved as well, but even after taxes you would still have a wonderful windfall.

I sat and thought about this all day on Sunday. What would I want? What decision would ever be considered the right choice?

Is there really a right answer here? Probably not. I do know for my own purpose, I would still want to do what I could to preserve the money and make smart choices. I put budgeting into my goals for 2016, and adding another $1.3 billion dollars wouldn't change that decision.

If I absolutely HAD to pick 5 items to spend my money on I would most likely go with things that corresponded with my life currently:

1. Pay off my student loans (It's the last of my debt!).

2. Fund my wedding as I am getting married in September. Nothing big or flashy but it would be nice to throw a nice party without the debt that comes with it.

3. Build my first home. Me and my hubby to be have some pretty unique ideas for a home we want one day. We are not looking for a large home but the ideas we have will make the house very efficient but very costly to build. It will pay off in the long run though.

4. Make sure my parents are taken care of. They have done so much for me over the years and have been a great support system when I needed them. Making sure they can retire comfortably would be important to me.

5. Donate to a few of my favorite charities. I always feel like if I am in a place to help someone else out then I will. Working in a non-profit myself I see the real struggles and understand that the donations really do make a difference.

So there you have it My top 5 things I would put spend my winnings on if I won the Powerball. I completely missed the cut off to buy on Saturday I was not in that pot. Maybe it was a sign?

What would be your top 5?

Each year I am sure we all make all kinds of goals and resolutions for ourselves. Am I right? If you are a blogger that adds another whole set of pending to-do lists that we may or may not have left in the previous year. You need to come to a point where you can set aside some time to get things done. Enter the Blog Staycation. If you are not familiar with this, it is a 4 day span where you tackle some of your blogging to-do list with a little help from your friends. We hope you can join us:

 

Thursday, January 14th through Sunday, January 17th

This is the 4th Staycation since August of 2014 when it was founded by myself, Jen from Jenerally Informed and Julie from Girl on the Move.


You can also read about some of our past staycations here, here, and here if you are looking for a more in depth picture of what the staycation is all about.

Important info you need to know!

When is it? January 14th through January 17th! (That's a Thursday through Sunday)

What can I expect? Each Staycation we try to touch on new hot topics. We want to be able to educate and learn together. Whether we are featuring an expert speaker or giving away a useful prize, we are making sure you leave the staycation with something. We enjoy meeting all of you and giving you all the opportunity to network and connect.

We are always up for recommendations and requests for future content with the staycation. Please send me an e-mail if you have any questions or suggestions!

We hope to see you there! 

Is it just me or are there a $h!t ton of programs and groups out there this year to help you plan and reach your goals? Has it always been like this or is this the first year I have really paid attention to making myself some meaningful and useful goals? I wrote out a whole bunch of things I thought I wanted to label as goals for 2016, but decided to go back to the drawing board after diving into all these goal planning topics.



I don't want to set goals that are un-achievable, but I also don't want to sell myself short by placing goals in effect that have no real value to me. After going through and reading some of my favorite bloggers goals, I found it really fascinating how each person seemed to take a different approach to setting them. I wanted to give this goal thing another thought.

There are all sorts of tools out there to help you make a list. There are free worksheets, printables, as well as books and workbooks. You can read oodles and oodles of topics on just about every kind of goal out there. Personal, professional, blogging, relationship, financial, fitness, and the list goes on. If you want to achieve it, there is something out there for you.

I have printed out a bunch of different worksheets that ask more in depth questions about what it is I am looking to do in 2016. I have joined an Instagram reset challenge that encourages you to plan your goals around your current lifestyle. I joined a Facebook group dedicated specifically to goal crushing. I ordered a planner that will not only keep track on my daily activities, but also my goal progress.

All of these tools have made me realize if I want to set healthy, reasonable goals, I need to really think about what it is I wanted to achieve in not only the next year, but in the next 5 years. Then the next 10 years. Goals to help me grow as a person for my whole life, not just my year.

So instead of posting those old goals I came up with today, I am going to sit on this for a bit and see what where it takes me. I am going to fill in my worksheets, and read more exercises on these things. I can already start to feel the stress falling off my shoulders as I look forward to my year.

How about you? How do you set goals? Do you have a plan or do you just go with the flow? Lemme know! I need all the help I can get :)

I know you all expected to read about goals today. The goals I am setting for 2016. I woke up this morning expecting to post them and something changed. I let my emotions drive. Something more important was on my mind.

A big part of my goals this year is to come back to being me. I am going to continue to remind myself that I am doing things like blogging for me.

My holiday week was pretty jarring. I faced a lot of hard realities. I am starting my first week of the new year with a heavy heart and frustrated.

I know there has to be some bad to see the good, but sometimes that is really hard.

I know you can all relate and can understand my frustration.

Hello first Monday of 2016..