FAQ #1:  Why am I spending time trying to win a contest when I'm not even going to keep the prize money??

That's a good question.  Primarily, it's for the challenge of it.  I'll admit, I first entered the contest, with just one poll, thinking it sure would be nice to win $800 for myself.  But then, as I thought about actually trying to convince people to vote in my poll so I could have a chance of winning, I found my heart just wasn't in it.  I'm just not someone who easily asks others to do something, spending their own valuable time, just for my own gain.  If it's something they might like or benefit from as well, then that's fine (for example, I'm happy to invite people to look at my Zazzle gallery, because they might enjoy my photographs.  And if someone finds something she/he likes enough to want to buy it, that's great for both of us.  Of course, I do also donate a portion of my Zazzle proceeds to worthy causes.)

So, I thought, ok, how can I make this something beneficial for both parties?  I decided to try to make both the subject of the poll, and the outcome, of interest to my audience.  I thought, if I ask people I know are interested in a certain cause (which I also support), then they'll be more likely to respond if I pledge to donate a percentage of the prize money to that cause.  My first efforts at that approach got some response, better for certain audiences/questions than others.  Some topics just tend to provoke more passionate responses than others.  But I still didn't feel quite right about saying, in effect, "help me win this and I'll give some of the money to our cause, and I'll keep the rest for myself."  But the challenge of the contest still interested me: the challenge to myself of how to make use my contacts and get them interested enough, not only to vote themselves but to ask others to participate.  And then I realized I could make it more broadly interesting, to more people, if I give each person who responds a chance to win money for his/her OWN favorite cause -- not just the charities I like most.  There are so many worthy causes, and I do already support a number of them, but I certainly can't claim to know all the organizations available.  And it's rather subjective deciding on which causes are "most worthy."  So, I decided to let my voters help me figure out who should get some of the prize donation.  And at the same time, I realized I'm dividing up the prize already among two or more causes; if I still keep some of it for myself, how much help will that really be to any one recipient?  So I decided to give it all away, if I win it.  That freed me from worrying about seeming selfish when I ask people to help me win, and made the task, the challenge easier to face. 

I don't enter many contests, since I usually figure I don't have much chance of winning.  By the time I decided to enter even my first poll in the contest, the contest period was almost half over.  By the time my plan developed fully and I devised my third poll, I only had a few weeks left.  I'm definitely a "dark horse" in this race!

And for anyone reading this (if ANYONE is) who has entered the same contest without intending to donate the prize to charity -- I mean no criticism at all to you.  It's just not something I could manage to find a lot of enthusiasm for, myself.  Some people might see that as a weakness -- certainly, in some areas of employment or other endeavors, it would be.  Everyone is different, and that's what makes life interesting.

Oh, and yes, I am doing a slightly selfish thing by posting my Zazzle gallery on the poll pages.  But, as explained in the first paragraph above, I don't feel like that's quite the same as asking people to do something purely for my benefit.

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FAQ #2:  How can anyone be sure I'll actually carry through with my promise?

Well, ultimately, I guess you have no guarantee.  But if I win, I promise to post updates here or on the www.kaboodle.com/wendyqzx/polls.html page, to the best of my ability, about who's getting the money and when.  And believe me, I've asked enough people to vote who are personally involved in the various causes I've pledged to, that I'm sure they'll be checking for those updates, and if I were to lie, someone would certainly call me on it, and I'm sure it would somehow be mentioned as a comment on my pages, or in the forums on Kaboodle, or on the email groups of those organizations.  I have no intention of backing out of my pledge, but if I did, I'm sure I wouldn't get away with easily (without making a lot of people angry at me, which I don't like to do).

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FAQ #3:  Can the poll voters really choose ANY cause in the comments?

Sure, you can mention any cause or organization you want.  If I'm the one making the actual donation, however, I have the right and the responsibility to act within my conscience regarding whom it goes to.  If the top-mentioned cause is one which, after careful consideration, I feel I truly cannot support, I reserve the right to substitute either an organization as similar to the top-mentioned one as possible within what I CAN support, or the runner-up cause.  In accordance with #2 above, I will explain my decision on such a matter either here or on the Polls page.