About 4 months ago we kicked off our 4th Annual CT HCPP, and I’m back with a final recap!
Now that I’ve given out all of our bags, our project is pretty much at its end. Similar to last year, I handed out a majority of our bags at a local community kitchen. I’m still working on making connections to be able to safely give our bags more directly to those experiencing homelessness, but it doesn’t appear to be as easy as one may think.
My goal for this year was to raise $2000, simply to be higher than the $1900 we raised last year.
Ultimately though, my only goal is raising enough funds to cover the necessities we put in the bags. Since we can’t quite do more than 48 bags (since that’s how the quantities work out), we can add to the bags we do create with the extra funds we receive.
While we didn’t quite reach $2000, we did raise enough to complete our bags! We collected donations for 2 months – from October 1st to November 30th.
In that time we raised…
$1543.52!! It will never cease to amaze me the support that people give towards this project. It’s even more appreciated since we usually have fewer donors each year!
While it’s a little sad to see fewer people involved in this project the more we do it, it also warms my heart beyond words that there are people who align and want to support, even year after year! 70% of our donors this year have donated to previous years’ projects as well. It’s always quality over quantity, and the donors of the CTHCPP are prime examples of that.
Overall our cost for this year’s project came to $1621.34, so we were a little over our donation amount this year. Nonetheless, we take a win where there’s a win cause this was still a success!
If you’re a data person like me, you may be interested in the “statistics” of the donations:
- Venmo upheld their #1 spot from last year as the top platform we received donations on, accounting for 70% of donations!
- Our average contribution per person was $140.32, which is not too different from last year.
- Our average cost per bag was $33.78, not too far off from the $30 I estimate!
Each year I try to brainstorm some fun, different ways we can raise money. Last year we introduced merch, and this year we attempted a Silent Auction. Unfortunately it was sort of a bust, but I won’t stop trying to think of more ideas. If you have one, please drop a comment and let me know!
If you follow this project online, you know I post video updates to our Facebook Page and my socials. This year I posted a total of 27 videos! There’s a pretty obvious correlation between videos posted and donations received, so I always try to post every few days when fundraising. They say it takes the average person about 7 times of seeing something before they take action, so the more the merrier!
Each year someone always comments about wanting to do something like this in their community or asking where we get our items. As always, I made sure to create an item list! The only items not linked are the bottles of water, the HCPP note card I put in each bag, and the shower caps that were donated as I’m not sure where to get them (but hopefully will know by the next project 😉 ).
The list also breaks everything down into categories:
- Clothing
- Food Bags
- Feminine Bags
- First Aid Bags
- Hygeiene
- Other
If you’ve continued reading this long, THANK YOU! ❤
I would never be able to do this project to this extent without your support. Whether you donated, watched the updates, liked and commented, or shared it with a friend, every little bit counts and does not go unnoticed.
We started this project slightly ahead since we had some leftover donations from last year, but we won’t have the same luck when we start our 5th year. So we’ll have to start out strong!
Speaking of…
When I first started this project we collected through November and December.
Then we wanted to have 2 full months of collections before we started packing bags, so we started a month earlier. We collected October and November, and then packed in December.
My goal is always to get all of our bags out before the end of the year, but I have yet to be able to actually do that 😦
If I’m being honest, this project is very labor intensive. That is not to complain at all, because I love doing this, but to be transparent. With December being a crazy busy month for everyone, it gets to be extremely challenging. I also don’t like that my updates become less frequent as I feel it loses its momentum.
For year 5, I’m between 2 options:
- Start another month earlier. We would collect donations September + October, and then pack and hopefully give out bags in November/early December.
- Start after the holidays in January. When I was handing out my bags at the community kitchen, I got to talking with one of the volunteers. She mentioned that often times people are “forgotten” about after the holidays. Everyone is in the giving spirit during the holidays, so that’s when they are able to get the most support. If we did it after the holidays, it could be a little more beneficial for those on the receiving end. If you’ve been a follower since the beginning, you know I started this project because it’s very cold in CT, and I wanted to ensure people had something to stay warm (which is why including sweatshirts and winter bundles is so crucial for our bags). It’s of course still colder during the beginning of the year, but my concern is that everyone will be post-holiday spent and no longer in the giving mood.
Please drop a comment and let me know which option you would choose! Make sure to also join the HCPP email list so you know exactly when we’re kicking off!
If you ever have any questions, comments, feedback, ideas, or anything you’d like to share, I would LOVE to hear it! Please feel free to leave a comment below on this post, DM me on our FB page, my Instagram, my Tiktok, or email me at brittney@traudtstwocents.com. I am always open to suggestions and thoughts on how we could make this project even better!
As always, thank you SO much for reading! See below for our donor shoutout and be sure to subscribe so you never miss a post!
This Year’s Project Would Not Be Possible Without The Following People:
- Jennifer
- Michelle
- Barbara
- Dottie
- Maria
- Courtney
- Wendy
- Isabella
- Ginnie
- Gracie
TRAUDTSTWOCENTS 