The 10th Annual “Going to the Dogs” benefit sale is a now a wrap! This was a long one---we started way back on June 19th with Part 1 here: Part 1 We continued on through Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, with three additional sale Parts in the Modern Folders subforum, and three more Parts in the Gadgets & Gear subforum where I listed a bunch of flashlights. Now we’ve arrived here---the Grand Finale. And this is what it’s all about---making the donations and helping the pups!
In Part 1, I explained that I was scaling back the sale this year by making the hard decision not to accept any new contributions of knives from my generous friends and donors, so I knew the sale would have a lower gross. I’m happy to report that this has nevertheless been a very successful sale. The total is 39 knives and 9 flashlights sold and $2888.00 in gross fees and contributions (I cover the PayPal fees and shipping costs, so the pups get it all).
I had a $1500 matching funds commitment from each of the two beneficiary organizations, for a total of $3000 in available matching funds. So I kicked in a little more on this end to bring the sales proceeds up to $3000 so as to earn the full amount of the matches.
Here are the numbers on how this year’s sale compares to the previous 9 years (and apologies that the numbers are all jammed together but the BF software doesn't want to incorporate the spacing in my little chart!):
Annual “Going to the Dogs” Sales:
# Knives Sold Sales Proceeds Match Total Donation
1st year: 4 210 290 500
2nd year: 7* 429 171 600 (* plus sharpening kit)
3rd year: 13 680 20 700
4th year: 26 1037 1037 2074
5th year: 27 1500 1500 3000
6th year: 32 1626 1626 3252
7th year: 41 2500 2000 4500
8th year: 55 3050 3000 6050
9th year: 49* 4065 4400 8465 (* plus 12 flashlights)
10th year: 39* 3000 3000 6000 (* plus 9 flashlights)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Total Knives Sold Over 10 Years: 293 (+21 flashlights & 1 sharpening kit)
Total Donations Made Over 10 Years: $35,141.00
___________________________________________________________________________________
And though I didn’t accept any new knife donations this year, several good hearted friends and forum members sent cash donations, which gave a real boost to the total. I am very grateful for their generosity.
Finally, I want to thank all the buyers—wouldn’t have been much of a sale without them. Several were repeat or multiple buyers who made an oversized contribution to the total. And then there are the good folks who return year after year to buy knives and support the sale. Many buyers even kicked in extra---and the pups, of course, got every cent.
As I mentioned, both of the beneficiary organizations, the Austin Humane Society and the Duo Duo Project, came through on their matching funds commitments of $1500 each. Many thanks to their generous supporters who stepped up to pledge the matching funds. These are two great organizations and you can read more about them here: Austin Humane Society and here: End Yulin Festival | Duo Duo Project
I divided evenly the gross proceeds of $3000.00, so that was $1500.00 for each organization. The $1500.00 match commitment each beneficiary had secured brought the total for each up to $3000.00. So that makes a grand total of $6000.00 this sale raised for the pups. I’ve copied below the very gracious acknowledgment letters I received from the recipients.
The end of this year’s sale is bittersweet for a couple of reasons. Just as it was winding down, we lost one of our two remaining rescues, Mia, our Pointer, who has been the Canine Queen of our house (and my BF avatar) since we brought her home as a puppy 14 years ago. We loved her dearly and miss her greatly. I’m thankful, though, that she had a great dog’s life and is now in a better place. This sale is dedicated to her.
And I’ve decided this will be the last of these sales, at least of this size and scope. Frankly, this 70 year old doesn’t have the energy I did as the spry 60 year old who started this way back when. And 10 years, with over $35,000 in total contributions, are good round numbers to end on. And maybe losing our girl Mia just confirms that it’s the end of an era.
I have a small hope that some other dyed-in-the-wool knife and dog man or woman might decide to launch something similar here on BF. And I might manage some occasional modest sales to benefit the pups myself. But in any event, now is the time to bring down the curtain on AFAustin’s Annual Going to the Dogs Sale. It’s been a true labor of love.
Thanks again this year to Spark, the mods, and BladeForums for providing the perfect venue for this sale. They’ve allowed this to go on for a decade and I’m very grateful.
And my everlasting thanks to the great donors and buyers for having made this a success and for doing so much good for the pups.
Andrew
In Part 1, I explained that I was scaling back the sale this year by making the hard decision not to accept any new contributions of knives from my generous friends and donors, so I knew the sale would have a lower gross. I’m happy to report that this has nevertheless been a very successful sale. The total is 39 knives and 9 flashlights sold and $2888.00 in gross fees and contributions (I cover the PayPal fees and shipping costs, so the pups get it all).
I had a $1500 matching funds commitment from each of the two beneficiary organizations, for a total of $3000 in available matching funds. So I kicked in a little more on this end to bring the sales proceeds up to $3000 so as to earn the full amount of the matches.
Here are the numbers on how this year’s sale compares to the previous 9 years (and apologies that the numbers are all jammed together but the BF software doesn't want to incorporate the spacing in my little chart!):
Annual “Going to the Dogs” Sales:
# Knives Sold Sales Proceeds Match Total Donation
1st year: 4 210 290 500
2nd year: 7* 429 171 600 (* plus sharpening kit)
3rd year: 13 680 20 700
4th year: 26 1037 1037 2074
5th year: 27 1500 1500 3000
6th year: 32 1626 1626 3252
7th year: 41 2500 2000 4500
8th year: 55 3050 3000 6050
9th year: 49* 4065 4400 8465 (* plus 12 flashlights)
10th year: 39* 3000 3000 6000 (* plus 9 flashlights)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Total Knives Sold Over 10 Years: 293 (+21 flashlights & 1 sharpening kit)
Total Donations Made Over 10 Years: $35,141.00
___________________________________________________________________________________
And though I didn’t accept any new knife donations this year, several good hearted friends and forum members sent cash donations, which gave a real boost to the total. I am very grateful for their generosity.
Finally, I want to thank all the buyers—wouldn’t have been much of a sale without them. Several were repeat or multiple buyers who made an oversized contribution to the total. And then there are the good folks who return year after year to buy knives and support the sale. Many buyers even kicked in extra---and the pups, of course, got every cent.
As I mentioned, both of the beneficiary organizations, the Austin Humane Society and the Duo Duo Project, came through on their matching funds commitments of $1500 each. Many thanks to their generous supporters who stepped up to pledge the matching funds. These are two great organizations and you can read more about them here: Austin Humane Society and here: End Yulin Festival | Duo Duo Project
I divided evenly the gross proceeds of $3000.00, so that was $1500.00 for each organization. The $1500.00 match commitment each beneficiary had secured brought the total for each up to $3000.00. So that makes a grand total of $6000.00 this sale raised for the pups. I’ve copied below the very gracious acknowledgment letters I received from the recipients.
The end of this year’s sale is bittersweet for a couple of reasons. Just as it was winding down, we lost one of our two remaining rescues, Mia, our Pointer, who has been the Canine Queen of our house (and my BF avatar) since we brought her home as a puppy 14 years ago. We loved her dearly and miss her greatly. I’m thankful, though, that she had a great dog’s life and is now in a better place. This sale is dedicated to her.
And I’ve decided this will be the last of these sales, at least of this size and scope. Frankly, this 70 year old doesn’t have the energy I did as the spry 60 year old who started this way back when. And 10 years, with over $35,000 in total contributions, are good round numbers to end on. And maybe losing our girl Mia just confirms that it’s the end of an era.
I have a small hope that some other dyed-in-the-wool knife and dog man or woman might decide to launch something similar here on BF. And I might manage some occasional modest sales to benefit the pups myself. But in any event, now is the time to bring down the curtain on AFAustin’s Annual Going to the Dogs Sale. It’s been a true labor of love.
Thanks again this year to Spark, the mods, and BladeForums for providing the perfect venue for this sale. They’ve allowed this to go on for a decade and I’m very grateful.
And my everlasting thanks to the great donors and buyers for having made this a success and for doing so much good for the pups.
Andrew
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