Yes, I’m serious about giving away $1,000,000

Ok… I know I’m getting a lot of raised eyebrows and sideways looks when I tell people about my goal to give away $1,000,000.  It’s a pretty big endeavor.  I realize that.  To some it’s a crazy idea and to others it looks like a big marketing campaign to boost my business.  It’s neither.  Although I did my best to answer some of the basic questions, I think maybe I should tell you where I’m coming from and where I’m going with this million dollar giveaway.

Because Shrek told me to

I’ve always known I wanted to help womens groups – that was a given.  Using my blog as a platform to share my own personal stories of success and failures has been a great outlet and I’m grateful that it has provided a way to help others.  Lately,  I’ve wanted to step beyond my own little world and do something to reach out to the numerous womens organizations and provide a little extra support from our community to theirs.  There is a great song from the movie Shrek called “Stay Home” that I just love (listen to it).  It has the best lyric  EVER…

“I wanna be a millionaire some day.
But know what it feels like to give it away.
Watch me march to the beat of my own drum.”

Ever since I heard that line, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.  The Entrepreneur in me wants to prove I can build a successful business and earn that kind of cash.  The Minimalist in me knows I don’t need the money and wants to share it. The Revolutionary in me has a soft spot for womens groups, and the Individualist in me says to compose my own beat and go for it no matter what people say.  Those three lines really struck a chord with me (no pun intended).  I’m not out to get rich.  I just want to help.

Aren’t you making a profit?

I’m starting by donating 20% of my sales because I know that I can get by on the 80% and still pay all my bills.  It costs money to run this site and it takes a lot of time to maintain it, write new content and draw the characters.  Yes, ideally I would like to be compensated for my time, but I honestly don’t need the money.  I also freelance as a web developer and that is the money I count on for my income.  The money from this site gets invested back into maintaining and marketing it and I really am ok with that.  If my sales increase as a result of the marketing, I will recalibrate and up the percentage that I can donate.  Eventually I’d like to reverse it – give 80% and survive off of 20%.

So why do people have to buy something – can’t we just donate?

If you want to donate – then do so directly to the organizations.  It’s a better deal for you to give directly anyway so you can get credit on your taxes.  My logic for purchasing a Girls Can’t WHAT? design is simple.  At some point you’re going to need to get a gift for someone special.  If that someone special is an amazing woman that you support and you’d like to show her that support by getting her a gift that empowers her and affirms her dreams, then why not get a gift what also helps other women pursue their dreams?  I believe in my designs and I spend a great deal of time finding the right pose and then tweaking them until I am satisfied that they are completed.  Each and every one of them means a great deal to me and I am thrilled that they can be used in a manner to benefit others.

The mushy part

I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support of Girls Can’t WHAT?  I love this community, the stories that you share and most of all I love getting to encourage others to achieve the impossible.  I can’t do this on my own.  This community is the best and together we can give away $1,000,000.  I believe it can be done and I am looking forward to the many opportunities we will be making for future generations to achieve their dreams. Will you help me?