Launch a free blog using Blogger. Make sure to select the “Simple” template, or else the widget may not show up on your blog. We strongly encourage you to choose a blog template with a light-colored background. Your AFS-USA widget has a white border and will look the best against a light background.
For your first blog entry, your post (at least 3 paragraphs) should reflect who you are and answer all of the questions below. Be sure to consider your audience when writing your post(s). People other than just your friends will be reading your blog, so you will want to write in a clear, professional manner that demonstrates why supporting your goal to study abroad is a good investment. Here’s a great example blog.
Answer the following questions in your first blog post:
- Who are you?
- Why do you want to go abroad?
- What do you expect to gain from the experience?
- How/what will you give in return for someone’s contribution?
- Why do you need help funding your AFS experience?
- What have you already done, and what are you planning to do, to contribute to your fundraising efforts?
- What is the Sponsor an AFSer program? Copy and paste the following directly on to your blog: Sponsor an AFSer is an online fundraising tool provided by AFS-USA to allow potential contributors to make easy, secure, and non tax-deductible contributions to my AFS program fee.
At the end of your blog entry, please include the text:
To sponsor my AFS program, please click the Donate Now button to make a non tax-deductible contribution directly to my AFS program account.
Make sure you show that you are working hard to make your AFS experience possible. It is also important to include a nice picture of yourself somewhere on your blog.