“She’s playing softball and soccer this year. We are just so busy… I don’t think we have time for it.”
“My kid? No, he’s too selfish; he would never want to participate.”
“Sara doesn’t really have any passions or interests. She wouldn’t know how to fund raise.”
These are just a few of the excuses that I’ve heard about why a child “can’t” participate in Kids Boost. I’m not saying that these excuses aren’t valid… but I would love to offer my thoughts and hope to offer some insight. Here are some of the common excuses or concerns, along with my thoughts…
- “We are so busy with sports, school and work… we just don’t have time for anything else.”
I get it. We are all busy… like, crazy busy. But did you know that a project doesn’t have to take up a lot of time? And projects can be done on your timeline, and even planned around or in conjunction with an already scheduled event. For example, one Kids Booster is planning to turn his regularly scheduled basketball practice into a fundraising event. And another participant is hosting an “animal lovers” birthday party and asking guests to donate money to the animal shelter instead of bringing her a gift. The truth is that we choose to dedicate a whole lot of time to things like sports and other extracurricular activities, but are we dedicating enough time to just allow our kids to be better people? Are we investing time to truly help them make a difference in the world? I don’t think you will regret carving some time out to help with these life lessons.
- “I don’t have the extra money to spend right now.”
Kids Boost doesn’t cost a thing. Actually, we provide the startup money so that you don’t have to spend a dime. The idea behind the startup money is to eliminate the financial stress to families – so that money can no longer be an excuse.
- “My child just isn’t mature enough – he is pretty selfish and wouldn’t want to participate.”
I agree that the idea of philanthropy requires a child to be at a certain maturity level. Most 7 year olds would laugh (or cry) if I gave them $100 and asked them to give it to someone else. They just aren’t developmentally there yet… they are still in the egocentric (“it’s all about me”) stage. For this reason, Kids Boost is currently designed for kids over the age of 8. And even 8 year olds might not be quite ready. Parents know their children best – so I always leave it up to the parents of the younger kids to help make the decision.
However, I’ve heard this excuse a few times from parents of middle school and high school age kids. My response is this… You aren’t giving your child enough credit. I suggest asking the child what he or she thinks. 10 out of 10 times, I talked to the child and he/she was more than excited to have the opportunity. Not only were the parents shocked to hear their child’s response – but they were also proud of the child and eager to provide support. I’ve never met a kid that didn’t want to help others… they just may need a little direction, support and encouragement. Exactly what Kids Boost is all about!
- “My child doesn’t play sports or have hobbies. She doesn’t have any interests so I don’t think she would know how to raise the money.”
Kids Boost can help! So while some kids don’t play sports or play a musical instrument, I am pretty confident that we can something that interests them. We can think outside the box. Did you know we have a list of more than 100 different ideas on things to do to raise money? The list includes things like bake sales, penny wars, photography, block parties and more. And if the child doesn’t know where they want their money to go…we can help with that too! We can identify an organization, based on the child’s interests that he or she would be proud to support.
- “I don’t like asking people for money.”
Honestly, I don’t either. Matter of fact, this is one of the things that scared me the most about starting a non-profit. But here’s the thing… people want to help others. Plain and simple… most people want the opportunity to make a difference, make a positive impact on someone’s life and give back. People will not donate if they do not want to or can’t at the time. The cool thing about Kids Boost is that we promote fundraising in a FUN manner. So the hope is that the kids are hosting an event or creating a product to raise money… they aren’t just begging people for money.
- “Not right now, but maybe later.”
“There is no better time than the present.” Just like most things in life, we can procrastinate and keep putting this off. We can question the work load or the benefit of doing something. I can assure you that the benefits will far outweigh the sacrifice. One parent told me that he was worried that it was too much for his daughter to take on at that particular time. However in the end, he said “it was everything she needed and more.” He told me that his daughter received the self-confidence boost she needed. He saw her come out of her shell and mature a little throughout the short process. So why wait?
So no more excuses! Let’s do this. Let’s make a difference.
