I sure hope you collected enough trinkets. The trinket mania's been going on for over ten days now and it seems to have slowed down a bit... Just a bit. In the meantime, items have suffered. Contests, auctions, raffles... You name it! The need to collect any item that pops up on the newsfeed had been so bad, people clicked on written items which contain images because they thought someone posted a precious trinket.

Well, if you've been one of those people who has an auction to run, a contest to maintain, a group to support, and help didn't arrive until you created a shiny object, let me help you.

Merit Badge for Gift Points:

We have always used this - as a thank you for your donation, you'll receive a Merit Badge. Sometimes it can be of your choosing, other times, it can be whichever the host prefers to send out, and on some occasions, you might receive that rare beauty instead. It all depends. A great way to raise GPs... Until trinkets!

Trinket for Gift Points:

I am one of those rare few who refuses to create a trinket of any kind (any longer!) in order to receive support. However, it is a great way to to get some donations rolling in. If you read "Contests & Activities Newsletter (October 5, 2016)"  written by Legerdemain as well as "Short Stories Newsletter (October 5, 2016)"  written by Shannon , you can learn more on how to create them, where and how you can hide them, and so on. I think we've had plenty of explanations on how to create one, but if you're still unsure, don't hesitate to contact anyone who's create one or many before.

C-Note Shop:

A Community Note (C-Note) shop is not hard to set up and it can bring a steady stream of gift points to you or your activity. You must, however, have an Upgraded Membership or higher in order to have one. For more information on how to create one, visit: "Community Note (cNote)" . Now, once you do create the shop, you can always redirect those GPs you receive. Instead of them going directly to you, you can specify which group they should go to.

For example, I have about 8-9 C-Note shops at the moment. A few of them support a group which is on hiatus at the moment, another one supports "October Novel Prep Challenge"  and I'm working on another shop to help out with "NaNoWriMo Write-A-Thon" . That means that whenever someone sends a note to a friend on WdC or outside of it, the GPs they pay with will go straight to that group.

The downside to this is, you have to refresh it once in a while to make it current and visible on the search page in order for people to see it and use it. Once you get their attention, they'll support the shop because it supports a group. It'll take time to gather some serious GPs with this, but it works and we all know that every little bit helps.


Reviews for Gift Points:

Many of us review on a regular basis. Some are more diligent about it, especially if they use the gift points for their own upgrades. One thing you can do is, create an item where people can send in their request to you (for a certain amount of gift points which goes directly to the group you're raising GPs for in the first place) and your job is to deliver the promised review,.

While anyone can request a review from a person on the Request a Review   page, having your own personal reviewing forum is less intimidating and you can offer a better, more detailed description of your review service and what you focus on while reviewing.

If anyone else has any ideas or ways on raising GPs for their auctions/contests/activities, I'd love to hear about them!

'Til next time!
~ Gaby