With $25 We Can Buy 4 Jars Of Peanut Butter And 3 Bags Of Flour

We're into the second week of April and I'm already irritated with the upcoming event season. I understand the point of having events is to raise money and such, but this year the fees for a lot them are through the roof.

To set the stage a bit, from May through December we participate in local events to spread the word about Bodacious Biscuit Love. The events we attend are ones to raise money for our local animal shelters and, on occasion, a reputable rescue group or organization. We've attended quite a few and have met a lot of wonderful pups and people. We don't make much money at these events. Our motivation behind participating is to meet new pups and humans, contribute in the fundraising efforts of our local shelters, spread the word about what we do and to see familiar faces.

We have a short list of criteria of what events we'll participate in and those we graciously decline. On the list are event fees. If an event requires a fee to participate in, we're not able to do that. Fees can range anywhere from $20-$100 or more. For most, $20 doesn't sound like a lot to fork over just to participate, however, we run out of pocket mostly and will be indefinitely. For $20 we can buy 4 jars of the peanut butter we use to make our biscuits.

So far, we've never been asked to pay a fee even if one was required. In exchange, we've donated a generous Bodacious Raffle Basket filled with biscuits and other dog stuff. Raffle baskets raise a lot of money. In addition, we donate biscuits to the animal shelter hosting the event, offer complimentary biscuits to the pups and donate bags of biscuits to some of the rescue groups and organizations who attend.

To date, we've been invited to at least a half dozen events. We've said yes to one. The rest, we've had to decline.

One particular event we were invited to waived fees for non-profits. I sent an email explaining who we are and what we do. We're not a business. We're not a non-profit. We simply bake homemade dog treats and donate them to our local animal shelters and raise money to purchase much needed items for these shelters as well. We run out of pocket. What very little money we do make is used to buy ingredients and supplies and to cover shipping costs.

I asked if our fee could be waived as well. The fee was $25. Although we could swing it without any problem, both of us were thinking the same thing. With $25 we could buy 4 jars of peanut butter and 3 bags of flour. With that, we could make a lot of biscuits.

A little over two weeks later, I received a reply. In short, they were willing to waive our fee, but asked if we could donate a percentage of our sales. We could pick the percentage.

Ummmmmmm....

I had to read the email twice just to make sure I was processing the message correctly. Indeed I was. It made very little sense to me. I wondered if they had thought it through before sending their reply.

Again, over two weeks after I sent the original email.

The email closed with a brief statement explaining they were a non-profit and needed to raise money too. They understood our predicament and we should understand theirs. A mutual understanding of sorts.

Ummmmmmmmm....

I have a few problems with this, but none of that matters. I declined. We won't be participating in their event. Ironically, it's not because of their proposal. It's on the grounds that they took over two weeks to reply to my email and, during that time period between week one and week two, we made other plans for that day.

Well, that's what I replied with anyway.