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Book's
Age group:
3 through
Adult
Underlying Principles Guiding the Book
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Using Storybook Advent Calendar Christmas
Carols
Collections
as a fundraiser
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Dear Churches, Non-profits
and Affiliates
Welcome and
thank you for visiting.
With the
economy in a mess worldwide I realized a
couple of years ago that non-profits and
churches would be hit hard. On November
17, 2009 the Federal Government
announced 1 in 7 Americans now goes
hungry. At the same
time, donations would be down and I
wanted to figure out a way to help.
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Co-author Laura D Lewis of the
Storybook Advent |
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I looked at what I
could do and if there was a way to parlay my talent into actual
capital that could help non-profits meet the increasing needs a
deflating economy channels toward them.
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Click Here
and listen to Oh
Holy Night from
Storybook Advent
Carols Collection Volume One
while you read! allow 5-30 seconds for it to
load depending upon your internet connection
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The Storybook
Advent Calendar™
is something I had rambling around in
the back of my mind since 1999, a simple
idea I knew I'd develop. I just wasn't sure when.
The bursting of the economic bubble last year coupled
with an increasingly negative impression of Christianity
made it clear, now was the time.
Michael and
I wrote and edited this book in addition
to producing the CDs of gorgeous piano
carols to celebrate our faith and share
it with others. Rather than simply
publish, we figured we'd share the
proceeds and help others who help others
navigate this economy. That's
where the idea of using the book as a
fundraiser came from. But if you
prefer to simply think of it as a
product for your online store your
supports might enjoy that's okay too.
As a simple product or used as a
fundraiser, you win.
Refocusing on Christ's
Ministry
There
are so many wonderful aspects of Christianity, yet the
impression of it world wide, due to a mixture of
politics with faith and a focus on consumerism, has
tarnished our faith to such an extent many no longer see
Christians as Christ-like. This isn't just people of
other faiths, who are increasingly distressed by
behavior branded as 'Christian' that looks nothing like
Christ.
This is within the Christian faith and it's a crisis of
epic proportions
The
Storybook Advent Calendar became the perfect solution to marry my
abilities with my desire to help others and celebrate
our faith as a community and remind Christians of the Kingdom Principles, love of Christ and our
mission as Christians to spread the good news we all
share in common. To me
Matthew 25 and the Beatitudes are the simplest messages
of what it is to be Christ-like; therefore the
stories in Storybook Advent drive home these basic
Christian principles. The book refocuses people on
the reason we celebrate Christmas each night of Advent
and it reinforces the values we learn through Christ's
ministry.
A love of learning
From an
educational standpoint, we delved into the history and
other works of the classic authors included.
We really hope
parents and children enjoy learning the history of the
stories, authors and carols as much as Michael and I
enjoyed researching them! That literary learning
aspect of this book is another benefit that makes
Storybook Advent unique.
PUTTING CHRIST BACK IN CHRISTMAS
So much
of Christmas revolves around consumerism and the
original story Finding Christmas drives home how
consumerism has robbed us of the true meaning and
celebration of Christmas today and the importance of
refocusing on the basics and true meaning, especially in
this hectic world. Finding Christmas is one of
seven original stories and poems Michael and I created
for this book.
I really
wanted something I could share with friends and family
that changed the focus of the holiday away from wish
lists toward faith. Given the number of people who are
homeless, jobless and hungry now, I also wanted to be
able to help them too. The best way I could think to
do that was by creating something the charities that
serve these people could use to generate the funds the
necessary to care for those in need, while at the same
time reinforcing our faith and the wonders it brings.
It's a little bit of a Salvation Army approach without
the collection trucks and stores.
The
motivations are that simple and I hope to grow this into
a holiday tradition over the years. My prayer is your
organization will be able to use this children's book
and the two music albums to support your ministry or
cause and by doing so help those in need make it through
these tough times. My hope is as a Christian
Community we'll be able to come together and celebrate
what we share in faith and that this book and the albums
will assist in making this Christmas special and one to
be remembered.
Thank
you for seeking us out. I truly hope you'll join us.
Below are some details. The rest of the
information is contained on this site. Please
don't hesitate to contact me
with any concerns, curiosities or issues.
God
Bless You and Merry Christmas,
Laura D
Lewis,
Co-author of The Storybook Advent
Calendar and co-producer of the Storybook Advent Carols
Collections.
To review the book
and CDs,
e-mail us from your organization's e-mail address or
call us at 310-594-3728: (PST). Upon verification, we will
give your organization one registered digital copy of the book and
a free copy of each album. Limit one copy per organization for review.
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ORGANIZATIONS BENEFITING
FROM USING storybook advent TO
INCREASE DONATIONS |
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Types
of non-profits that benefit from using the
Storybook Advent Calendar and/or carols
collections to raise funds for themselves or
their favorite causes:
For
non-Christian organizations or government
supported organizations that must remain
secular, the music albums alone are perfect. The
covers can be changed to uphold any laws and a
separate sales page can be created.
Typical Charities Interested
in the Storybook Advent
Calendar
Homeless shelters, schools, churches,
clinics, food banks, emergency services,
non-profit news organizations, human rights
groups, ethnic support groups, recovery groups,
non-profit entertainment, after school programs,
literacy programs, music programs, programs for
special needs, retirement centers, battered
women's/battered men's shelters, animal rescue
and environmental causes. Causes and
political organizations focusing on human
rights, interfaith understanding and justice.
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Steps for using Storybook Advent
to increase donations & RAISE
FUNDS |
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Step 1:
Set up a Free Clickbank
Account
Click Here |
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Step 2:
Choose your Promotional
materials
from online ads to
sermon note inserts
Click Here
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Step 3:
Add Storybook Advent to
your online store
or website,
if you have one.
Not sure how to 'stock
your online store' with
affiliate products?
See the
Girlfriend Store on
Couples Company.
The entire store is
affiliate marketing!
-OR- |
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Add your unique URL from
Clickbank
to the product in your
store, an e-mail
communication OR
print it out on flyers
so people know how to
buy through your link
and therefore donate a
portion of the proceeds
from that sale to your
organization.
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Let your supporters know
about Storybook Advent
through your normal
communication channels:
notes, flyers, e-mails,
website and/or
announcements. |
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Monitor your daily
progress online Your 50%
is sent in two weeks
from date of sale.
Checks are cut 2 weeks
after the sale.
You can opt for direct
deposit or paper checks.
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Quick Start Guide:
In a couple of minutes you'll be set
up and ready to go. You don't need a website, but it helps.
For organizations without an online presence, we recommend
simply printing your unique URL on a flyer or having us
place a link on the Storybook Advent Calendar site with your
organization's unique affiliate link for your supporters to
click on. We can place this on the homepage.
Thank you so much for joining us!
To begin using the Storybook Advent Calendar and Carols
collections as a fundraiser all you need to do is:
1) Set up a
Clickbank Account
This takes 5-minutes and is free
If you already have one, skip this step. You just need your
affiliate code.
2) Go to the
Marketing Materials
Choose the elements you'd like to use or create
your own. You don't have to use anything we're
providing. You know what works best with your
supporters!
3) Put your ClickBank User name in place of the X's in this
code:
http://XXXXX.SBADVENT.hop.clickbank.net
This is how your sales are
tracked and this is how your organization captures
donations. Use this code by itself or attach
it to banner ads and pictures.
4) Send out an e-mail to your list (or
use our pre-fab version) with the above hoplink
-AND/OR- Place the link on your webpage, (all materials are
available in the Marketing area) -AND/OR- Print out the
flyer, add your hoplink in the field and hand it out.
5) Add your Church or organization to
our affiliate database so we can keep you updated on
additional opportunities, product changes and releases.
You're done.
Clickbank processes the sales and you'll be able to monitor
how many sales you've had. Your code in your affiliate name
automatically assigns credit for the sale to you and you'll
receive 50% of the net profits on all Storybook Advent
purchases through your link.
Checks arrive about 2-3 weeks from sales date. |
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Do you want
a special music CD just for your
organization?
Would you
like us to create a version of Storybook
Advent that highlights the unique
beliefs within your doctrine?
What about
having stories that center around your
cause but teach biblical values and
principles?
We can do
that! Give us a call and let's see
what we can create together. |
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Customization/Co-branding
The
storybook advent uses the
same tactic Christ did, parables and
stories, to teach people about their
faith and the lessons we're to learn.
We have the
ability to customize the Music Albums
and Book for your organization by adding
your logo and contact information for a
small fee, generally a one time $75 fee.
This covers the hard costs involved in
setting up an additional Clickbank
account for your version and the artist
for applying the logo and creating new
thank you pages for your organization's
unique book and albums. As the
publisher, we pay all the
Clickbank fees. Your account as an
affiliate, is free. This is simply
required for us to set up your own
custom link to a co-branded product.
The
following are examples of how this would
work. Click to see a larger version.
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Your
organization's logo added to the book
cover
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| Your
organization's logo added to the Album
cover, Vol 2 |
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| Your
organization's logo added to the Album
cover Vol 1 |
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This option is
available with a 72-hour turn-around. We also
have the ability to insert extra pages or
additional information about your organization
in your unique book.
Full Customization Option
Several
denominations have asked us if we could create a
version of Storybook Advent specific to their
doctrine. The answer is yes.
This option is
usually taken by the Church as a whole on a
regional, national or international basis,
rather than an individual parish. Exceptions
have been mega churches with 20K plus members.
We have the
ability to rewrite the stories and focus on
scriptures to promote a specific doctrine.
This means essentially creating a new book
with the information you want your
parishioners to learn. By altering it we're
required under US law to generate a new ISBN
number and library of congress registration.
These are hard costs we cannot avoid.
As with the
above, it is co-branded. For example
if the arch diocese of the Greek Orthodox
Church decides he wants an
Advent tradition that upholds his church's teachings,
we recreate the stories an emphasis on the
church's chosen scriptures and change the
stories to teach these. This version
then becomes "The Storybook Advent Calendar,
Greek Orthodox Edition".
It would be
available to anyone on the Storybook Advent
Site but also promoted within the Greek
Orthodox Church as a fundraiser and method
of promoting their doctrine within the
church.
The set up fee will depend upon how
extensive the rewrite is. In most cases its
between $500 and $1000 for altering stories.
Original stories are negotiable.
Another option
is creating custom stories to speak to a
specific segment of the population.
For example, if St. Jude wanted two or three
stories showing children with terminal
illness or cancer as the protagonists, we
can create those for their book. If a
group of churches in Africa wanted several
stories that highlight their culture with
children from that region as the
protagonists, that's possible too. We
can do just about anything within reason so
if you're curious, ask. If we can do it.
We will!
CUSTOM MUSIC
We also have the ability to create a
Christmas album with traditional hymns from
any denomination. The beauty of this is we
can add it to our catalogue so funds are
raised exponentially through all purchases
not just by those within the faith, but
people of other denominations.
For example,
we're creating a spa meditation album from
the two albums of the Storybook Advent for a
company that wanted relaxing Christmas music
to offer to its spa guests and to use in the
meditation rooms during the holidays.
This simply required identifying 14 songs
from the two albums, packaging them together
and creating a third album for that
non-profit's objectives. We can do
something similar for you.
January through
June is the time we set aside for creating
the next year's books and the custom books
for various denominations. This year, as it
is November, we cannot create fully custom
books in time for the holidays so this would
be an option for next year we'd want to
start on in January.
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For a detailed
description, click here
E-books
and digital music are a multi-billion dollar
industry. Because they’re delivered digitally,
they also lend themselves to fundraising through
the use of affiliate programs, a concept created
by Amazon in 1996.
Affiliate programs
use specially coded URL’s (links) to assign
credit to a company or non-profit to the sale if
one is made through that link. The
processor/distribution partner, in our case
ClickBank, takes care of all the billing and
costs of sale. The affiliate, (you) simply logs
on to their account and can see every day how
many sales were made from their link. Two weeks
later, ClickBank sends a check for all closed
sales or directly deposits these funds into your
account. You don’t even have to do the
accounting. Everything is done for you.
An added benefit of
using affiliate marketing as a fundraiser is
called viral marketing. Here’s how that works.
One of your supporters purchases the book and/or
music. She likes it and she sends an e-mail to
her friends, or posts it on her Facebook page
recommending the book/music and gives your link
as how to buy. Several of her friends, based
upon her recommendation buy and do the same.
Your charity, by being an affiliate has just
made 50% on each of those sales. Anywhere your
link is, if someone purchases through it, you
raise funds and you didn’t have to do anything
other than spend five minutes getting an account
and letting your supporters know that by
purchasing through that link, not only do they
get a great product, but they support your work
as well.
For small
congregations and groups, this could mean an
extra $500 - $1000 this holiday season for
roughly 10-minutes work. If that congregation is
located in a third world nation, that’s a small
fortune. If not, even a small amount like that
will multiple ten times in the good works and
help it provides. For large congregations and
groups, this can mean tens of thousands of
dollars raised. If the book and music are kept
in your online store year around, you can
continue to reap benefits 365 days a year.
Another benefit of
an affiliate program is its international
nature. A Pastor in the Philippians or a Bishop
in Hong Kong can benefit from this fundraiser as
equally as a church in Dallas, Texas. A small
Christian village in Nigeria can raise funds for
its work as easily as a priest at a Greek
Orthodox Church in Nablus. Leveraging the
internet and using a digital distribution system
allows anyone in the world who wants to
celebrate Christ, share the good news and enjoy
the holiday, while raising the funds necessary
to support next year’s programs can take part.
To my knowledge
e-book leveraged affiliate programs as a
fundraising vehicle has never been done with
non-profits. That’s a shame because it’s perfect
due to it’s low cost, high return and simplicity
of implementation. For-profit groups have been
using e-books and digital products as profit
centers over a decade. Several people I know
are in the seven figure realm. For most people,
once they buy their first digital download of
music or a book, especially if they’re able to
print and save those items, this becomes a
preferred method of obtaining information. It’s
usually less expensive. The information is fresh
and they don’t have storage or transportation
issues to deal with. For people that travel,
e-books have become a must. Weight restrictions
on planes make physical books an expensive
luxury.
The
Storybook Advent Calendar and the Storybook
Carols collections are created in digital form
to cut unnecessary costs and facilitate their
use as turn-key fundraiser. What this means is
other than spending five minutes to set up your
affiliate account on Clickbank and adding your
unique link to your collateral, emails, websites
or sermon notes, you don’t need to do anything
else aside from letting people know it’s
available.
By keeping it
digital, people all over the world can enjoy the
book and music CDs, and thus support your cause.
It also allows the supporter to have multiple
books, (three copies can be created from each
purchase) that can be sent to grandparents,
aunts, uncles or absent parents serving in the
military, out of town or separated from their
loved ones during the holidays. This allows
those apart to read a bedtime story with their
children or grandchildren no matter where they
are in the world. The child can be at home
thumbing through the printed version and dad can
be on a base in Iraq reading from his computer
as he talks on the phone. They can share the
holiday together each night of advent,
strengthen their faith and family intimacy.
Have more questions?
Please give
us a call! (310) 594-3728
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60-day Money
Back Guarantee |
Choose Your package
Download
it & be enjoying your selection in minutes! |
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Buy the
Book Only
Storybook
Advent Calendar
$9.95 |
BUY NOW |
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Buy the
1st
ALBUM ONLY
Storybook
Carols Collection
Volume
I
American
Free Caroling Song Book
included!
$8.95 |
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BUY NOW
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Buy the
2nd
ALBUM ONLY
Storybook Carols Collection
Volume II
British
Free Caroling Song Book
included!
$8.95 |
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BUY NOW |
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Buy the
Both CD's
Storybook
Carols Collections
Volumes I & II
Free Caroling Song Books
included!
$16.95
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BUY NOW |
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Customer Favorite!
Buy
All Three together
Storybook
Advent Calendar
& Carols Collections
Volumes
I & II
Free Caroling Song Book
included!
$24.95
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BUY NOW |
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Buy the Book & CD VoL. I
American
$16.95
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BUY NOW
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Buy the Book & CD VoL. II
British
$16.95
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BUY NOW
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With each Storybook
Advent purchase you receive a
free copy
of the inspirational 'Memo from God', the
scripture based inspirational message of hope, success
and love!
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Don't forget to sign up for
Kingdom Kindling.
Live the Christmas Spirit throughout the whole year! |
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