2020 Annual Report Pray

Ada | Adopted in 2020 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.” MARK 9:37 NLT Margaret | Adopted in 2020 2 2020 Annual Report Pray. Support. Adopt. 3 AISE R the Get to Know Raise the Dough D O U G H Contents Our Mission We raise funds for adoption because no child should be without a parent. 6 Count Your Blessings Who We Are Lifesong Partnership We are a group of men and women who care for sons and daughters. At this moment, we have a very lean staff and 8 are mostly volunteer-based with an amazing group of volunteer board members. 10 The Tools of Our Mission What We Do Raise the Dough is a non-profit organization on mission to raise funds for adoption. Financial Report We’re a 501c3 (tax exempt) non-profit who receives gifts from friends, families, impact businesses, and private 12 foundations. These gifts enable us to prepare gifts to be distributed to families we partner with as they have financial needs incurred in pursuing the adoption of children into their homes. 14 Families Supported in 2020 How We Do It Homecomings We have partnered with Lifesong for Orphans to provide an application process to determine who we might 16 help and to assess just how much financial assistance to offer. Those funds are held between Raise the Dough and Lifesong until the awarded families provide proof of adoption-related expenses where we then make Family Adoption Story disbursements to help them shoulder those costs. We rely on the grassroots support of family and friends to make 18 this happen, so please receive that invitation to help us help them. 20 Our Board & Staff Why We Do It Perhaps the final line in our mission statement can answer that… We raise funds for adoption because no child should be without a parent. Looking Forward 22 Adoption is expensive. The average adoption we have supported comes at a $35,000 price tag. That is real money. In fact, it’s real enough that it keeps many families from pursuing this calling. So, we have decided to help facilitate gifting to reduce or eliminate that burden and help to ensure that all children up for adoption can ultimately be adopted. @RaisetheDoughInc @rtd4adoption RAISETHEDOUGH.ORG Count Your Blessings A Letter from Our Founder, Tobias Forshtay I love this time of the year, taking a end. As the news of COVID began to hit the airwaves, we look back over the past 12 months communicated a vision in our 2019 Annual Report, projecting and writing our annual report. It’s our desire to host some amazing events and to see giving a testimony to God’s goodness. It surpass our 2019 levels by nearly 40%. Well… that didn’t gives us a tangible way to count happen. Not only did we have to pivot from an in-person his blessings, share them with you experience to a virtual, but donations given to Raise the all, and invite you to see where He Dough were indeed down roughly 23% from 2019 levels, Tobe Forshtay might be leading us in the weeks falling short of our 2020 projections by nearly 60%. Founder and months ahead. The look-back is almost like putting on the old family VHS and recalling Despite the shortfall, God remains faithful to our non-profit. sweet and challenging moments, but truly counting the Not only did he supply for our every need, but the total blessings of God. funds brought in to our organization this year, including In 2020, we not only gifts from our Lifesong for Orphans partnership, were $10K Yes, 2020 brought with it a host of challenges, but the honest greater than the funds brought in during 2019. In 2020, we received enough gifts truth is… there were some amazing blessings experienced not only received enough impact business gifts to fund our from impact businesses over the year. It might be challenging to write them all out, operations, we officially transitioned to becoming a 100% but here’s a snapshot of ways we recognize God’s blessing in giving organization. What that means is… we had enough to fund our operations, we 2020… Impact Business gifts to fund our operations at 100%. Because officially transitioned from • We celebrated 5 new partnerships with families of that generosity, we can boldly advertise that every dollar deciding to pursue adoption. given to Raise the Dough will go directly to a family pursuing an 80/20 organization to • We shared in the joy of seeing 4 more adoption adoption. (Go ahead, do a visible fist pump and create a scene becoming a 100% giving homecomings this year. as you read this… that will give you an opportunity to share this amazing news with the people sitting next to you, who • We awarded $57.7K to families pursuing adoption. organization. now think you might be a little crazy.) • We celebrated the launch of an amazing partnership with Lifesong for Orphans. As mentioned above, we finished the year giving away over He remains faithful to our non-profit. • In light of that partnership, we saw an additional $50K to families adopting, and we still have some fuel in our $41,445 given directly to RTD families. tank. • We held our first ever virtual event, partnering with Pulse FM to host the Sons & Daughters Festival. Thank you for taking the time to read through this Annual • Our Impact Business launch was a huge success. Report. We do hope that as you finish reading this report, you will be impacted in three very real ways; (1) you should have • We began pursuing ECFA accreditation in order to a newfound awareness of what it is we’re doing at Raise the join Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). Dough, (2) your passion to support us will increase, and (3) you will receive an invitation to get even more involved in If you haven’t heard it from us lately, THANK YOU! Many of 2021. those blessings are the direct result of your faithfulness to live our out motto of Pray. Support. Adopt. You build us up Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all with your participation in this ministry. Thank you! circumstances. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18a) May God bless you in 2021! It is true, we felt the effects of the pandemic on our financial 6 2020 Annual Report Tobe Forshtay Pray. Support. Adopt. 7 Lifesong Partnership A Letter from Lifesong’s Program Director, Rich Metcalfe 2020! There are plenty of Adoptive families have also been impacted with countries emotions raised by that closing their borders, travel being restricted, fundraising combination of just 2 digits! events canceled etc, etc and yet we have been blessed to “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special 2020 – COVID, lockdown, illness, serve almost 600 new families in 2020 to help move over 620 function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one loss - of liberty - of loved ones - of children closer to being forever sons and daughters. They body, and we all belong to each other.” employment, stay at home orders, are amazing realities to consider but we could not do that ROMANS 12:4-5 NLT missing time with family, holidays alone. Our adoption fund partners, like Raise the Dough, alone, zoom meetings, distance play an invaluable part in supporting those families. North Rich Metcalfe Program Director learning, the list goes on… Then Central Indiana is often a difficult area of the country for there is all the political unrest, Lifesong to find financial support for Christian families who “fake news”, social media overreach, racial and social unrest, are obediently answering the call to adopt. Yet we are seeing again the list goes on… that change… over the past year, Raise the Dough has helped 5 families adopt children from Liberia, Haiti and the USA. At Lifesong, as we look back at 2020, we see clearly that it has They have disbursed $5,000, committed a further $18,000 in been a year of God once again proving Himself faithful and matching grants and have helped their families raise over sovereign. Have there been difficulties, tragedy and pain? $37,000 towards the cost of their adoptions. With the Raise Yes, indeed! But God has shown Himself to be the One who the Dough partnership with Lifesong, each family has a free said, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” crowdfunding platform, each donor receives a tax receipt, Isaiah 46:10, and of whom the psalmist wrote, “Of old you laid 100% of the money given goes directly to the adoptive family’s the foundations of the earth, and the heavens the work of needs and none of it counts as income for the family. It’s a your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will partnership for which Lifesong is eternally grateful. all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, RAISETHEDOUGH.ORG LIFESONG.ORG and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years We invite you to celebrate all that the Lord is doing through have no end” Psalm 102:25-27 the amazing team and families at Raise the Dough and encourage you to come alongside them in 2021. Lord willing “My purpose will stand, and I we will see over 600 families move forward in adoption next will do all that I please” year and we’d love to see Raise the Dough instrumental in 10- ISAIAH 46:10 20 new family’s adoption journey.

Load more