Campaign Results - iCouldBe.org

From 1 January 2017 to 1 May 2017, 15% of the profits from Bricks for Bricks was going to iCouldBe.org.  This is a non-profit focused on connecting teenagers with mentors.  I found this group in 2017 and took on the challenge of mentoring 2 high school students who were multiple time zones away.  It has been enjoyable to interact with them to and try and share some of the wisdom that I have.  I'm proud to say that we raised $61 for he program to help them help teens.  One of the expenses the program has is background checks for mentors so this will help to pay for a few of those.

Thanks to all who bought great LEGO items from the store over the past few months and supported a great cause!

Bricks for Bricks Campaign and Store Update - April 2017

In case you haven't seen, we've been running a campaign to raise funds for iCouldBe.org.  This is a website that runs a mentoring program for teenagers.  Adults apply to become mentors, build profiles, and then students select them to become mentors while they go through a program geared towards motivating them to be better students and to have successful futures.  As of the writing of this post, I mentor two students and I enjoy the program and sharing what I know with the two teens I mentor.  The program costs money as they have to maintain a staff, run the website, and conduct background checks on potential mentors.  To help fund that program, Bricks for Bricks is giving 15% of profits to iCouldBe.org.  The campaign started on 1 January 2017 and will end on 30 April 2017.

So where are we at?  We've had 26 sales and a profit of just over $147.  15% of that is just over $22.  Not that exciting and kind of disappointing on my part.  There's a reason for it though and it's something I need to look into changing as I continue to give back while selling LEGO products.  On BrickLink, many of the items that I have sold have been parted out.  Most often, minifigures are broken apart from sets and sold individually.  When either the parts or the minifigures are sold, but the whole set isn't sold, I typically don't show a profit until they are all sold.  So my revenue is higher, but doesn't show a profit that I can take 15% from to give to great organizations like iCouldBe.org.  

Any thoughts on how to change this up?  Please email me: store@bricksforbricks.com if you have suggestions.

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On a separate note, the store will be closing again... If you've followed me, you'll know that I had to pack everything up and move from New Mexico to Florida last summer.  This is due to what I refer to as my "real" job relocating me to Florida.  Well guess what?  My job is moving me again after less than a year!  The store will be shut down on 30 April 2017 and then re-opened in Alabama.  I'd like to be open again in June 2017, but I don't know how long the paperwork process is going to take to open up yet another business in a different state.  So I apologize for the inconvenience and will work to get up and running again as fast as possible.  Thanks again for all the support!  

Bricks for Bricks Campaign - 1 January - 1 May 2017 - iCouldBe.org

I'm a little late getting this posted, but I will included the profits from orders received starting 1 January 2017 and put them towards this campaign.  So what is iCouldBe?  I hadn't heard of it until this past fall, but I think it's a perfect fit for one of my campaigns.  We have focused the campaigns on helping kids and/or education and this is right in line.  iCouldBe is an online mentoring platform.  Adult "professionals" register with the program, go through the training, and then their name goes on a list.  The list is reviewed by teens in high school and they can select an adult as a mentor.  The high school students then go through an online course that has them look at how they can improve, building goals, talking about where they need help, and many other lessons.  How do I know about it?  I am currently mentoring two high school juniors through the program right now.  It's been a good experience for me and I can say that we had a few "aha" moments where the teens received and appreciated some feedback from me.  

iCouldbe has been around since the year 2000 and they claim to have over 21,000 mentor/mentee connections since then. If you're an adult looking to give back or to help mold minds, definitely check the program out.  They typically start up in the fall so you can register, do the training, and then wait for the fall.  Another way you can give back... 15% of the profits during this time period will be donated to  iCouldBe.  

Thanks ahead of time and happy building!