Carnivals, Raffles, Swag, Oh My!

On October 20th, I’ll be contributing my post for the Scarleteen 2011 Fund Raiser and Blog Carnival. The Carnival is meant to get maximum exposure to as many people about Scarleteen – what it is, why it’s so important, and getting donations to help keep the site running.

Scarleteen is an independent, comprehensive and inclusive sexuality clearinghouse for young adults which receives no federal, state or local funding. We serve around 25,000 users daily, providing accurate, nonjudgmental and compassionate sexuality information and education via static content, as well as one-on-one advice and counsel via our highly-moderated message boards, our advice columns and our new SMS service. Tens of millions of teens and young adults have found the help or information they were seeking at Scarleteen.

We probably don’t have to tell you that one of the tricky bits about keeping Scarleteen afloat is that while our traffic is so high, most of it comes from users who either don’t have their own income, or who don’t have checking accounts or credit cards to make donations with. We usually average around just one donation per every 500,000 users. That’s also one reason why a site like Scarleteen is so important. Due to both age and financial limitations (as well as concerns about safety — particularly for GLBT youth, or those addressing issues like rape or abuse from partners — and privacy), often young people are also without the resources to purchase good books or access quality counseling and support services and our free, easily accessible information and support has been a godsend for many of you.

See that photo up there? Lots of goodies, eh? It’s a whole shitload of swag that I’ve gotten at events. There’s promotional buttons and stickers from Njoy and HotMoviesForHer. 2 travel packs of Afterglow wipes. 2 FYN zippered condom cases – one logo, and one that’s beaded. Under those are condoms; various types from various places, and even a little travel tin that holds 2 condoms and a little lube pack. In the middle is a whole bunch of various lube samples, and even some toy cleaner. Bottom left are three 30-min VOD porn cards.

How do you get this awesome pile of swag? Simple. Donate to Scarleteen. Any amount, $5 or more, will put you in the running for it. I only have this one pile o’ sexy stuff to give away, so a donation to Scarleteen is the key to your “raffle ticket” for it. All I need is proof of donation. You don’t need to forward me your Paypal email, as that would contain personal information, so just do a screen cap and blur/black out the personal identifying info:

Email that to me and you’ll be entered to win the swag. (dangerouslilly(at)gmail.com) The Blog Carnival runs until November 15th, so that’s when this contest will end. If I should manage to acquire any more swag, I’ll be sure to update this and hey who knows….maybe have two winners!

Also….since I’m the owner of said swag, you need to be willing to give me valid mailing info.