Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho

The annual Project Valour-IT Veteran's Day Fundraiser is coming in less than 3 hours! (if you're on CST that is ) It's that time of year again, and I'm honored to again have the privilege of being the team leader for the Marine Corps Team! Whoo hoooo!!

To those of you who are new to the fundraiser, it is a yearly blogging competition with the goal of raising money for a very worthy cause - Project Valour-IT. Four military teams are created, based on the service branches, and include Marine Corps, Army, Navy/USCG and Air Force. Bloggers may join any team they like, and have a military blog is not required. Throughout the fundraiser each blog will write posts encouraging their visitors to make a donation to Project Valour-IT on behalf of their chosen team. That's it!

Each team has their own donation meter, and you can find all four of them here. Once you've selected a team to join (*ahem* *cough* *Marine Corps team*) click the "<>Copy" link on the appropriate donation graphic to get the code for your own blog.

Besides these awesome donation meter widgets there are other great ways to participate and help us raise money.

1. You can start a benefit auction here. These auctions are just for the fundraiser, and it is free to list your item. Registration is required to list or bid, and is quite simple to do.
2. You can also design a flier and hang in your local businesses
3. Plan people/businesses/organizations to contact. For example: community clubs, professional organizations, veterans' groups, pro-military businesses, churches, etc.
4. Check for employer matching donations (or prep for a corporate donation during the fundraiser)
5. Give a heads up to your press/political connections by offering links to Valour-IT and telling them about Valour-IT's history
6. Share your ideas on the bulletin board created just for the fundraiser!

Join the Marine Corps Team and help us raise money for our wounded heroes!