One of the the most daunting aspects of adoption is the cost. Adoption costs vary by case, but typically total $40,000-$45,000. Tax credits, subsidies, and grants can help with adoption costs—however adoptive parents are responsible for the majority. Over the next couple of years, we will continue to build our savings, apply for every grant we are eligible for, and sell some things here and there, but fundraising will definitely also have to be part of our journey.
Jedd and I both happen to be professional fundraisers (this is how we met ❤️). We feel very confident raising money for the organizations we work for because of the important mission, established donor base, and resources available to us at work. We also solicit donations for a few nonprofits that are near and dear to our hearts. You may be familiar with Jedd's annual Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation Birthday Fundraiser. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support he has received the last few years.
Our community, our family, always. shows. up.
And by family, I don't just mean our immediate family (though our parents and siblings are our absolute favorite people)... but also our amazing, huge extended family, our friends who are more like family, and even the people we don't know very well BUT they are family of our family and feel in their hearts to show up for us too.
Despite all of our professional and personal experience, asking for money for ourselves is HARD. But because we know our family will insist, we are starting our first adoption fundraiser. You may remember my reference to our '2020 Quarantine Games' (we are currently tied 19-19 😬) and our love for board games and cards, but we're also a big fan of puzzles! I saw this adoption fundraiser idea on Pinterest and fell in love:
We had a custom 520-piece puzzle made with one of my favorite Harry Potter quotes, and we hope our family will help us piece it together. Each puzzle piece is available for "adoption" for $5. If you adopt a piece of our puzzle, we will write your name on the back. Once the puzzle is complete, we will hang it in a floating frame in our future kiddo's room so that they can see the names of all of the people who love them in their new family.
If you would like to adopt a piece, you may:
🧩 Give online through our AdoptTogether crowdfunding page
(This method makes your gift tax-deductible!!)
🧩 Venmo @Jedd-Spidell or @Alissa-Spidell
(Please indicate what the gift is for in the comments of the transaction.)
🧩 Email us at IOWAdopt@gmail.com for our address to mail a check
Should you feel called to adopt more than one puzzle piece, we would be overjoyed to put your name on multiple pieces 🥰
Never heard of AdoptTogether? We hadn't either until really starting our research one year ago! Think GoFundMe, but specifically for adoptions. My two favorite things about this platform are: ALL funds donated are guaranteed to be used for adoption expenses, and, as I mentioned, all gifts are tax-deductible! We will continue to use this platform even after our puzzle is complete.
It brings us comfort to know that anyone who donates to our fundraiser has peace of mind knowing 100% of their gift will be used for our adoption. How do they know? In order to withdraw any funds from our fundraising account, we must submit an "application" of sorts with attached invoices or receipts proving the funds are used as intended. Because of this extra step, and AdoptTogether being a registered nonprofit organization, all donations are made out to them (rather than directly to us) -- which is what makes the gift tax-deductible. [More FAQ here if you're interested]
Everyone who donates to our adoption becomes a permanent part of our adoption journey—a piece of our puzzle! 🧩
Whether you donate to our fundraiser, share it with your friends on Facebook, or just pop in for an update on how we're doing.... THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.
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