Some quick notes to help you through the process:*
- You must have a PayPal account to vote/donate in the 2024/25 “Enchanted Moments” calendar contest/fundraiser. If you don’t have an account (and prefer — for whatever reason — not to set one up, you can vote/donate through someone who does have a PayPal account and they can mention your name when they complete the process — there is a place at the end of the voting process where you can add a note to your receipt/donation).
- You may vote in multiples of $1 ($1-per-vote). The teachers/children who benefit from your kind generosity will be grateful for every vote, whether it be for $1 or $100 (or anything in between).
- To vote, simply click on the right side of the home page of this site where it say’s “Vote Now!”, then follow the prompts.
- IMPORTANT: I hand tally the vote on and off each day during the 2 weeks the contest/fundraiser runs. There is no live vote so be patience as I will update the contest/fundraiser online tally as often as possible. ASAP after midnight each day, I will also send an email (to the contest families only) with a daily updated vote tally so they can check to see if there are any over/under votes, etc.
- If you have questions during the process, email me at deborahouellettephotography@gmail.com and be sure to check my FB page at https://facebook.com/deborah.ouellette1 regularly for updates on the progress of the contest/fundraiser (starting the day after the contest launch date), along with tips on how to get more support for your child during the contest/fundraiser, etc.
Good luck to everyone in the contest/fundraiser and thanks to all for supporting the calendar project.
During the contest run, I will check back mornings (roughly 10 a.m.) to begin counting votes and updating the vote tally on the contest/fundraiser site (2-3 times a day — times will vary depending on what else I have on the schedule during the day)
Looking forward to photographing lots of fairies, angels, and other enchanted creatures in the fall for the 2024/25 calendar project!
- IMPORTANT NOTE: After all the shutdowns and other challenges during Covid, I am finally able to turn my attention back to the calendar project. It broke my heart to have to pause the project as it has done much good for struggling school systems by helping to fund teacher projects via DonorsChoose.org (see the testimonials from grateful teachers and students who have benefited from your kind generosity over the years.
So, I am bringing the contest back, with two important notes:
- I will begin shooting for the 2024/25 calendar project starting in the fall of 2023. Check the blog and social media regularly for updates and prep sheets for the calendar project.
- For the 2023/24 project, the staff and I will either:
* Choose our favorite images from over the years for the 2024 calendar OR,
* Choose our top 20 images from over the years and hold the online $1-per-vote contest, letting the public choose the 12 images (plus the cover) for the 2024 calendar.
I do love the idea of trying to raise money for DonorsChoose.org asap as the need is greater than ever, but we have to check the contest software first to make sure everything is in working order and — if not — do whatever is necessary to tweak or replace the software so that the contest part of the site is GTG before announcing we’re ready to rock (contest-wise)!
Thanks for your patience while we work all of this out. And when the time comes, I hope you will help support the project by donating/voting and by spreading the word to others who want to help us help teachers and students from struggling Michigan school systems.
HUGS!
PS You can donate any time your heart tugs at the thought of helping kids and teachers from struggling school systems. Simply go to DonorsChoose.org and find a project to help with. TIP: I try to find projects that fill a need that also have someone from a group or corp willing to match your donation (sometimes 3 x whatever you donate — how cool is that?)
Thanks for all you do to help make this project a success.
The team and I appreciate it very, very much…
