Email campaign

Hello everyone,

I have tried sending the email below to many of you, but realized I do not have many of your email addresses, so I'm posting my email here. Please read my email below and feel free to copy and paste it into an email to send on to your family or friends that you think might be interested in helping me out. I wanted to start an email "guerilla campaign", which is where you start an email chain to get the message out to as many people as possible and hopefully a lot of them will donate through the widget on this page. Thanks for checking out my blog, I'll be updating it again soon.

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Hello Family and Friends,
For those of you who have not yet heard, I have applied to be a foreign exchange student through AFS, and will be leaving next September for a year in Spain. I am really excited about this opportunity, but I have a lot of work to do to get there. This experience will be an opportunity of a lifetime, which will allow me to fully embrace another culture, become fluent in a foreign language and to make new lifelong friends. I think this experience will benefit me in so many ways.

Unfortunately, it is very expensive to become a foreign exchange student. The cost of tuition alone is nearly $12,000, which does not include my passport, visa, travel to departure city ( New York ) or any spending money. I have applied for a scholarship, which may help up to $1500, but I do not know if, or how much I might qualify for. Therefore, I am going to be responsible for raising the money on my own. I am working on several fund-raising ideas, including raffles, corporate sponsors, car washes etc. I am also looking for private sponsors who can donate cash or items that can be raffled such as airline tickets, gift cards, and hotel stays etc. I have started a blog at www.austin-bain.blogspot.com, where you can read more about me and this adventure. I will be updating at least monthly with my status, and I will continue to update it with postings and pictures until I return in July of 2011.

On my blog page, I have a link (Chip In) where donations can be made via credit card to AFS, which is applied directly towards my tuition. Any donations are highly appreciated, and I will be posting sponsors names monthly on my blog page in appreciation. Donations can also be made by check or money order mailed to my house, my address is listed below. I am also asking that rather than receiving any gifts for birthdays or Christmas, please donate to this experience! Gift donations for raffle items can also be mailed to my house, or call to make other arrangements.

Another way you can help is to forward this email which includes my blog link to your family, friends, co-workers or anyone you know as part of an email campaign. This has been done before by college students who have successfully raised thousands of dollars, just by asking for a small donation. Let’s keep this email going and remember, NO donation is too small; every penny is one step closer to making this opportunity come true. I know it sounds like it is a long time away, and a lot of money, but that's why I'm starting now. I have to have my tuition paid in full by July, which is about 60 days prior to my departure. That's only 10 months away!

Thanks again for all of your help and support, I will not be able to do this without you! Remember to check my blog frequently, the Chip In widget will show you how much money I've raised until I have had to turn in my tuition.

Thank You,
Austin Bain
78 Huntington Parkway
Saint Charles , MO 63301
636-493-0281