Become "Fan of the Week" on Facebook!

Please welcome the "Fan of the Week" special promotion for Facebook fans of Eclectic Giving.

The Fan of the Week is chosen through the app based on the person with the highest page activity for the week. To improve your chance of being selected post on our wall, comment or like a post we or others have made, share our posts on your timeline or on those of your friends,... well, basically just think of ways to interact with the page, do them and the system will put you closer and closer to the top of the winner's list. Also, you can go directly to the "Fan of the Week" page itself and click the "Please Choose Me" button and this will bring you up higher on the list, it's a bit of a "cheat" we’re offering you but we want winners!

Every Sunday afternoon that week's winner will be selected and posted to the wall. To claim your prize we're making it very, very easy for you; all you need to do is send us a message within 90 DAYS notifying us that you saw you'd won as our Fan of the Week, yes, we're going to give you 90 full days tor run back through the timeline to check if you'd won and didn't happen to notice! In your message mention the date you were selected as the winner and be sure to email us from the same Facebook account that was selected as the winning fan. That's it, that's all you have to do, no entry forms, just check out the page posts from time to time, interact with them and be sure to visit the page Sunday afternoons (or up to 90 days in the past!) and look to see if you were selected.

We're going to do something else... We'd hoped to have this promotion running by the first of the year yet weren't yet ready. To make up for lost time we'll be selecting two winning fans per week beginning tomorrow and running for nine weeks, until May 1st, we'll choose a second Fan of the Week on Wednesday afternoons, all the same terms apply.

You may be wondering, since we don't have a store what's your prize?... The prize can be used as soon as our store is up and running and it never expires (don't you hate expiration dates?!). It's a graduated discount code, meaning the higher your purchase amount the greater your discount percentage. In advance of opening for sales we'll keep a list of all selected Fans and all those who've claimed they're a winner and we promise an individual discount code, and although it can only be used once, again it'll never expires. Your savings will increase as follows:

• 5% off of purchases between $50.00 - $99.99
• 10% off of purchase between $100.00 - $149.99
• 15% off of purchase between $150.00 - $199.99
• 20% off of purchase over $200.00

As soon as we begin listing products we will contact everyone who's already won “Fan of the Week” and send you your very own personal discount code through the Facebook email you used to claim your prize.

~~Your Friends @ Eclectic Giving~~

Non-Cash Assistance to Put Eclectic Giving on the Fast Track of Philanthropic Success!!….

Cash isn't the only way you can assist in building this unique combination of both a charitable organization and a true business establishment. As two organizations in one, a charity and a retail business, our needs are extremely diverse. Following is a rather long list of ways you can be of assistance with direct contact emails addresses for each area you're interested in helping with (if you'd like to help in more than one area write to us at our "info" email address):


Share your suggestions and ideas on how to make this the best organization for you; we're creating this for you and when we've said that "our business is your business" as much as it sounds like a corny a catchphrase it was never meant to be one. We're raising funds for the betterment of everyone's health so we truly believe this is for you:

Suggestions@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
 
If you have a professional skill or area of expertise valuable amongst the vast array of our endeavor and you feel you could serve well as a consultant for us:

Consultants@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
If you're a blogger for subjects related to fashion, wearable goods, cosmetics, body care products or any and all subjects connected to health consider cross-posting on our blog, you'll be given full credit for your work with a link to your own blog site:

Bloggers@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
Would you like to become a part of the team who runs Eclectic Giving? Become a key player, have a true vote in how Eclectic giving will operate over the years and join our Board of Directors:

Board.of.Directors@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
Do you work for an existing health-based nonprofit, are there any you support or feel strongly about? Please let us know so we can select a charity for this year and add the others to our list of charities to donate to in the years to come:

Charities@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
Advertise on our blog and in time on our fully designed website, or invite us to advertise on your site. What you see right now is not the final look for Eclectic Giving, everything is being redesigned If you're interested in creating an affiliate advertising relationship together please let us know:

Affiliate.Advertising@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
We can always use help keeping our overall social media designs up to date along with finding and thanking new supporters:

Social.Media@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
To meet our philanthropic dreams we'll be selling through multiple outlets. A wonderful eCommerce company called Volusion has volunteered to work on the design and management of our own webstore and Facebook store along with the integration of an eBay store. What we need is to have that eBay store designed, in addition we plan to create an Amazon store. We need immediate help with the all aspects of web design and construction:

Web.Designers@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
To start with we'll carry almost anything wearable you can think of; from jeans to mascara or cashmere to body lotion. We'll have products for men women and children from around the world and styles will range from sophisticated to playful. We're going to carry product from the top designers, the most recognizable brand names along with giving a hand out to small business with high quality merchandise. If you're an established company and would like to sell through us:

Vendors@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
We will sell on behalf of individuals on a consignment basis. These items will be limited to high quality, selectively curated vintage and secondhand items. Along with products you design and create yourself if you're still on your way towards becoming a small business, if this is of interests email us and we'll let you know how the process works:

Consignment@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
Again, we'll carry a selection of quality secondhand items and vintage goods but this time through public donations. And again, anything pre-owned will be carefully chosen. If you're interested in donating goods contact us and we'll fill you in on the details and get you a prepaid shipping label:

Donate.Goods@Eclectic-Giving.com

 
Please contact us regarding anything else at all; to simply ask a question or get more info:

Info@Eclectic-Giving.com

Below is our toll-free number, if you're a phone person and would like to call please do so (it's a donated service so don't worry about running up the bill).

By Phone:  855-779-9770

~~Your Friends @ Eclectic Giving~~

We Are Continuing Efforts to Round Out Our Board of Directors, Interested?

The powers that be require a minimum of three people on the Board of Directors just to register to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Fortunately, we already have over three qualified members lined up! We're aiming to reach between six to eight members by the end of the year with an ultimate goal of a twelve member Board  reflecting the diverse aspects of Eclectic Giving's functions. We're actively pursuing people to join our Board from a number of professional fields and educational backgrounds. The following list of qualifications are not requirements to join with us but someone with any of the below skill-sets in their background could prove to be quite helpful when it's time to make big decisions and when we apply for grant funding. Yet a caring heart and the willingness to dream are all you need to feel comfortable contacting us about becoming a Board member:
 

• Compassionate, Caring and Ambitious Dreamers!
• Nonprofit Organization and Fundraising Experience
• Grant Writing Experience with Knowledge of Appropriate Grant Sources
• General Business Management
• Startup Business Management
• Branding and Identity Creation
• Familiarity with Working Alongside Ad Agencies and/or PR Firms
• Experience Related to the Sales of Fashion and Accessories
• Background in Fashion Design
• Background in Fashion Marketing and/or Merchandising
• Overall Marketing Experience
• Internet Retail
• Website Design and Construction
• Social Media Organization and Management

 
We know that's a long list of possible qualifications while we're also saying compassion is the only true requirement, that's why we listed it first. Please email us at Board.of.Directors@Eclectic-Giving.com if you're interested in joining, please forward this post to friends who might be interested, share it on Twitter, Facebook or your other social media accounts. Another thing you can do to help us reach our goals with the Board is to send us name recommendations of people you may not know personally but by reputation, such as various industry professionals, athletes, entertainers and the like who you feel might be qualified and interested in becoming a Board member and you think we should look into inviting them.
 
Quite often the Board of Directors of a nonprofit consists of a mix of paid management staff and volunteers. We hope to hear from you for whichever direction you feel you'd like to pursue...

Designing From Inside a Glass House…

Please pardon the mess on this blog right now. Our name change to Eclectic Giving from Apparel Eclectic is completely official!

As great as this is for us it did mean dumping the old blog and starting over nearly from the scratch. We're doing the best we can to make this transition smooth and fast but we want to do it right too and doing something right does tend to slow things down a bit. We wish it were possible to make all the changes behind the scenes but it doesn't work that way with the application we're using... For example, at this time you can see the little titles we've given to our advertisements because with this app we must provide the ads with a title for us to see on the layout side of things; otherwise every single one of them is listed as "HTML/JavaScript" as you can (sorta) see in the below screenshot we made before putting the titles in:

I'm sure you can only imagine how difficult it is to work on the layout screen above by trying to recall from looking at the blog preview where to place the next advertisement or widget! It was taking us so much time  working almost blindly on the layout screen by looking at the blog preview and counting that the next item should be placed "sixth from the bottom" or "four down from 'BLOG VISITORS'". So for the re-design this week we're going with short-term messy yet long-term faster (we hope!!).

Your understanding and patience is greatly appreciated while we work exposed publicly during our re-design process!

~~Your Friends @ Eclectic Giving~~

What Happens When You Sleep? - National Sleep Foundation - Information on Sleep Health and Safety

This article is from the National Sleep Foundation titled, "What Happens When You Sleep?" provides an interesting outline of what processes a person should go through in a normal night's sleep. Not getting any sleep at all for many, many days in a row will actually lead to death! The average person will die in 8 to 10 days if they don't sleep over that length of time; the longest anyone's known to have lived without sleep is 11 days. Additionally, most people will suffer permanent brain damage after being awake for between 6 to 8 days.

Those examples are extreme consequences associated with not getting enough sleep. Yet such serious issues emphasize the importance of finding a way to get your optimum amount of daily sleep. If no sleep at all is fatal than living everyday without adequate sleep is not healthy. The article describes during what sleep stages energy is created by the brain and body, it's also well documented that sleep improves daytime performance.

During sleep your neurological, endocrine and other body systems create the chemistry necessary for the continuation of your life itself but a more common concern for most is that these chemicals are required for simple, adequate daily functioning. Carrying a sleep debt means living with a constant deficiency of these chemicals necessary for a life of quality. A good night's sleep is about more than getting enough hours of sleep in a night but making sure the sleep you do get is of solid quality is crucial. If there is anything you can do to improve your sleep such as replacing a mattress and/or pillows, wearing earplugs if you live in a noisy area and if you or your partner snores resolve this because it's a sleep problem for both of you; neither the person trying to sleep through someone's snoring nor the person snoring is getting great sleep. Many of the products which work to prevent snoring also help to prevent sleep apnea, a common yet dangerous and sometimes fatal sleep disorder, read the packaging before purchasing if you're looking for something to help with this also. Consider any purchases made to improve your sleep as necessities for a healthy life. Maybe this information will inspire you to make important sleep related health changes such as prioritizing your sleep above other things you've felt were more important, because without a sleep restored body and mind you're not going to be a whole lot of good to the parts of your own life you've valued above your own sleep.

If you or someone you know has difficulties with sleep, take a browse through the other articles on the Sleep Foundation site and take a look at some of the durable medical goods they offer to aid in sleeping through their store. A number of the products they offer appear somewhat complicated and some are expensive, it would probably be best to consult with your doctor before making a purchase. Additionally, Amazon.com offers a number of high quality sleep aid products such as special pillows, mattress toppers, and even snore prevention devices which the wearer places inside their nose to widen the nostrils and allow for increased respiration; a couple examples are the Snorepin* and the SleepRight Breathing Aid*. The principle is the same as the disposable adhesive drug store products but apparently much more effective and there's no concern about these coming unstuck and falling off in the middle of the night. Even if snoring or sleep apnea aren't problems for you these little devices will increase your night-time oxygenation which shouldn't cause you any harm. If they don't already come in sets of two or more t's suggested to purchase at least two so you always have a clean set ready to wear.


Each of us needs a different amount of sleep per night on top of that we all have different rhythms for when it's best for us to go to sleep and wake in the morning; hence the idea of being a "night owl" or a "morning person". Each one of us must figure out our optimum sleep needs for ourselves. If you already know when and for how long you should sleep nightly but are finding it difficult to keep up with your needs, sit down and take a look at what parts of your day would be better and how much more quickly you might accomplish a task if you were to get more sleep each night. A large number of a day's inconveniences can be associated with carrying a sleep debt; forgetfulness, slow performance, making mistakes, errors of judgment, poor behavior towards others, lowered immune response, and even increased physical pain. If you're unsure of the best time of night for you to sleep and the amount of sleep you truly need then keep a sleep journal. In it each morning you'll keep track of when you slept each night, for how long and how you'd describe the quality of your sleep. In the evenings you'll record how you felt during the day. After doing this for a few weeks you'll notice correlations between how you feel in the day and the connections to the timing, quantity and quality of your sleep. Once you sort this out you know what you should do...


 

~~Your Friends @ Eclectic Giving~~

*We don't sell these product so we don't benefit by promoting them. We did a bit of informal online research into durable anti-snore products and some simple product testing on our own; we did this research for your benefit, pure and simple. If you do try anything we've suggested please share your experiences for the benefit of others!

We're Still Here and Plugging Away!

We've obtained the first set of documents that make this whole endeavor a real business! It's like a child getting it's Social Security number for the first time, except in the case of a business it's called an EIN (Employer Identification Number). Although our nonprofit application is still in process we'll be able to begin sales as soon as we have a store or two built somewhere online. We will function as a nonprofit even while waiting for it be officiated because our status for the entire year will be based on whatever our year-end status will be and in our case we will end the year as on official 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Because of the differing rates we can get things done based on both the design and construction complexity it will most likely be that we'll have an operational Facebook and an eBay store before our website and webstore are completed. Hopefully we'll have the at least the website aspects built by the time the other stores are up and running so you'll have an easy place to go to learn more about us, our overall giving mission and the charities we've selected to be recipients of our proceeds for the year. Because it's our first year out and we'll be starting sales mid-year we're considering selecting only one charity for 2013. As a new business we do need to use some of what we make this year to re-invest towards our expansion plans for next year, also as a new business it'll take some time for us to get our name out there and build a customer. We feel that giving one established organization the sum of what we have this year will be better than to split that up into potentially small pieces between multiple nonprofits.

To obtain our own nonprofit status we're working with a nonprofit called the Foundation Group . For a nominal fee they work with those wanting to establish a nonprofit. They put together the by-laws, assorted other documentation and the final applications for status as a 501(c)(3) corporation. They've been a great find; they average a four month process compared with an average six months before all documents are approved and they maintain a 100% application approval rating after eighteen years in business. If everything continues as it's been going we'll have the first of our online stores, our Facebook store,   up by early April 2013!!

As always, this store is your store too and we look forward to your ideas and suggestions!

~~Your Friends @ Eclectic Giving~~

It's Been Awhile!! — Time for an Update From "Eclectic Giving"

We personally thank every single one of you for your maintained support during the slow process of making this dream a reality. As promised, your patience will be rewarded...

For a long time I've been arduously working on a post trying to explain all the details of why we're not yet operational and why we haven't been communicating. It's due to your support that I feel you deserve to know the detailed reasons for the sudden disappearance that began only months after publicly announcing the idea for this nonprofit business. As I was struggling with sorting out what to say I realized I was making something simple overly complicated. The bottom line is a very simple thing, and that's until the past few months I've been too sick to work on furthering this business. One of the reasons my illness served as an inspiration to create this nonprofit is because of how being sick got in the way of my ability to lead a normal day-to-day life. Until not too long ago it had again been doing just that.
 
We are now ready to get things underway though, and although it doesn't show on the outside, we've already started. There are so many things to announce I don't know where I should start... So in brief the following are some things we'd like to share with you:
 

• Although not yet reflected on Facebook we've officially changed our name to "Eclectic Giving". In the first months after we announced our plans we received inquiries from both potential customers and vendors suggesting an interest in being able to buy or sell products outside the scope we were restricted to by our old name. It wasn't a big leap for us to see that having the ability to move with the market into new sectors is the best way for us to reach our philanthropic goals. The name change is the reason we're asking people not to promote the FB page right now; we can change the name as long as our fan numbers don't increase by much.

• We've begun the process of legally becoming a 501(c)(3). We're working with a wonderful nonprofit organization called the Foundation Group that will handle everything for us. As a nonprofit themselves their fees are nominal and more than worth it. As long as our application is approved anytime in 2013 then all business conducted during the year will be considered that of a nonprofit. 

• Behind the scenes, the creation of our website and webstore at Eclectic Giving is currently being constructed for us by Volusion pro-bono because we're an honored member of their "Stores to Change the World" program. In addition to building our site they will also design an improved Facebook page with a fully functional store, redesign our Twitter account, create our first Pinterest account and the full redesign of this blog is part of the deal too. They will also build an eBay store for us! Additionally, we can be found on Foursquare.

• We will soon announce new members of the Board of Directors. This is incredibly exciting, yet we still have a few more seats to fill, send a message if you have any interest in joining, if you've contacted us in the past on this subject please do so again.

 ~~Your Friends @ Eclectic Giving~~