During Clarion Write-a-thon Marie Vibbert puts the rest of the Clarion fundraisers to shame.  I’ve watched her do Write-a-thon several years running now and I think I know her secret:

1. She’s a social butterfly.  She is networked with a good number of people.  She is friends online with a friend of mine in Baltimore that she met once at a New Years Eve party at my house over 15 years ago.  That wider audience pays off when she has an ask like, “Support my Clarion Write-a-thon.” (Marie’s Write-a-thon link)
2. She posts her fundraising request and she repeats it weekly, sometimes more often.
3. She offers a prize that is personal.  Several years running she has offered a hand-knitted sweater to a lucky random donor.  This year, she’s offering 3 shawls she knitted, one to each of 3 lucky winners, because she was feeling bad at the growing number of people who donated in hopes of a sweater and came up empty-handed year after year (myself included).

I don’t think Marie would bury the lead like I’m doing here.  So… rather than post how I’m fixing my fundraising for Clarion at the bottom of a long and boring post I will leave you hanging.  Want to know what I’m going to do to up my fundraising game?  Stay tuned.  Or, get a jump on the rush and donate to my Write-a-thon.