All the professionals are facing this problem. On account of economic meltdown every company is following cost cutting which is being done in several ways. Most common way that is being followed by almost all the organizations is the retrenchment of staff. The employees are being pink-slipped that is giving rise to anxiety in the air. This is severely upsetting employees both with a pink slip and without a pink slip. Both population as well as the supervision is opposing the decision of lay offs but the organizations and companies that are running in loss have no other option other than sacking off the resources. Its not only the staff that is being sacked but numerous other resources too are being sacked off. Be it the resources inside the office or the transportation resources, all have been cut short to save operating cost. Not only this, numerous facilities that were earlier provided to the employees have now been limited by the owners comprising mid day meals, transportation allowances, etc. The promotions and wages hikes are almost at arrest! Almost all the populace has been affected in the spate of slump as it is expanding its rule over all the business that is connected with a particular business in loss. Even the professionals with legendary and exceptional expertise and talent are facing a problem due to less number of clients hiring them for the accomplishment of the tasks at homes and offices. The list of these professionals also comprises the famous New Haven Plumbers, Pasadena Electricians and Villanova Roofers(Need one?click here!). These legends, who have won the hearts of people internationally, have only few number of projects in their hands as compared to last year when they were swamped with the clients worldwide. Hope is that the government will soon rescue the world from this outbreak and economic meltdown by mounting the liquidity rate in the market with its new tactics and proposals bringing back the happy days.

I suppose it’s just another sign of the tough economic times, but people are surrendering their pets in higher numbers and with donations down and adoptions down, it’s a real struggle for pet shelters around the country.

To help ease the pain, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, located in the Front Range Village on Harmony Road in Fort Collins will be offering the K-9 Bed & Biscuit no-kill pet shelter in Northern Colorado 10 percent of the proceeds from their fund raising event.

For more information about K-9 Bed & Biscuit or the ‘Feasting for the Furry’ event, call 352-5330 or visit www.k9BandB.org.

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Car donation is the practice of giving away no-longer-wanted automobiles or other vehicles to charitable organizations. In the United States, these donations can provide a tax benefit and have become very popular.

In the United States

Some critics have claimed that car donations are essentially a tax shelter. However, non-profit organizations in the US have come to rely increasingly upon the revenue from car donations. This type of donation has become increasingly widespread; in 2000, 733,000 U.S. taxpayers reduced their taxes by $654 million.

Tax considerations

Although advertised as an easy way to dispose of an old car, donors need to fulfill certain post-donation requirements to qualify for the tax deduction, such as obtaining a written acknowledgment of the car’s subsequent sale by the charity, and itemizing tax returns instead of taking the standard deduction.

For vehicles valued at less than $500, the deduction amount comes from the donor’s own estimate of the car’s value, even if the charity receives less money from its sale. Deductions greater than $500 are limited to the proceeds of selling the vehicle, usually at auction. The U.S Internal Revenue Service advises that starting in 2005:

The rules for determining the amount that a donor may deduct for a charitable contribution of a qualified vehicle, including an automobile, with a claimed value of more than $500 changed at the beginning of 2005 as a result of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. In general, that Act limits a donor’s deduction to the amount of the gross proceeds from the charity’s sale of the vehicle.

For vehicles valued at over $500, taxpayers are required to attach the charity’s written acknowledgment to their tax return.

Benefit to charities

Many charities run donation programs. Some have their own car lots which sell the donated cars but many have their donations processed through auto auction companies. Many processing companies also collect and sell donated cars and distribute the money to a charity the donor indicates. The processing company typically takes a percentage of the sale value of the car, but these programs allow charities without their own facilities or staff dedicated to fund raising to benefit from vehicle donation programs.

Ideally, donors should also investigate how much money from the sale of the car goes to the auction processor and how much actually benefits the charity’s programs, as opposed to its administrative overhead.

Learn more about online car donations by taking the car donation quiz and playing car donation trivia games via MastersOfTrivia.com.

If you’re thinking of starting a charity fund raising event, then you probably know all the most obvious questions that you should be asking yourself. If you have the answers to all these things, then you’re well on your way to making your dream a reality. Non profit fundraising means receipts for tax deductible contributions.

Most churches typically turn to the standard church fund raising events, but this is no time to be like everyone else. This article will direct you to some fresh new church fund raising ideas. Before you get out the wash buckets and plan to hold a car wash like everyone else will be doing — hold on and try a new twist. You would simply advertise in advance that there will be a truck, RV, trailer wash at the determined car wash.

Delegation also works with volunteers, provided that you provide them the structure and resources they need to be successful. The best advice I can give you for writing successful fundraising letters is to act as if your donors are obese. Creativity is one of the key ingredients to success in today’s competitive world of unique fundraising ideas. Imagine that they want nothing more than to lose weight and look fabulous.

Successful fundraising letters are exciting to read. An inexperienced writer will tell you about a subject, place or person. Novel fundraising letters usually open with a dramatic scene, go on to state the need, invite the donor to participate with a gift, include one or two more dramatic scenes, then conclude with another request for a gift. This may seem like blasphemy to some, but events should primarily be utilized to attract new donors, cultivate existing donors and volunteers, say thank you to your donors, volunteers and staff, or to provide community education.

Your readers expect to be able to hit Reply and answer a question you’ve posed, or share their opinion. By using ‘forward to a friend’ buttons in your emails, and message boards and forums on your website, your email messages help your constituents share information with friends and colleagues, and discuss relevant topics. That number will skew your results if you let it. If you take this one gift of $15,000 out of your calculation, your average gift will likely be closer to $36.

American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide, community-based voluntary health organization. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the ACS has state divisions and more than 3,400 local offices.

The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

Who is this super-woman?  A beauty, an actress, a mother of six children (inluding three adopted), a Goddess in the eyes of many, a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, a three-time Golden Globe Winner, two-time Screen Actors Guild Awards Winner, Academy Award Winner?  All of the above!  And all this at the still tender age of just thirty four.

Born in Los Angeles, California on June 4, 1975, Angelina Jolie has become more than an icon.  The “Queen of All Media” tops 2009’s “Celebrity Top 100″ list published by Forbes Magazine every year.

Today, Jolie is one of the best known celebrities around the world. According to the Q Score, in 2000, subsequent to her Oscar win, 31% of respondents in the United States said Jolie was familiar to them, by 2006 she was familiar to 81% of Americans. In a 2006 global industry survey by ACNielsen in 42 international markets Jolie, together with Brad Pitt, was found to be the favorite celebrity
endorser for brands and products worldwide. Jolie was among the Time 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the world, in 2006 and 2008.  She was described as the world’s most beautiful woman in the 2006 “100 Most Beautiful” issue of People, and she was voted the greatest sex symbol of all time in the British Channel 4 television show The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols in 2007.

Starting in 2005, her relationship with Brad Pitt became one of the most reported celebrity stories worldwide. After Jolie confirmed her pregnancy in early 2006, the unprecedented media hype surrounding them “reached the point of insanity” as Reuters described it in their story “The Brangelina fever”. Trying to avoid the media attention, the couple went to Namibia for the birth of Shiloh, “the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ”, as it had been described. Two years later, Jolie’s second pregnancy again fueled a media frenzy. For the two weeks she spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade to report on the birth.

There have been recent rumors of a break up between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, but the couple has consistently denied those rumors.

You can test your Angelina Jolie Voight I.Q. by playing the Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt Trivia Quiz at Masters of Trivia.

A Child’s Wish is a project of Children’s Charity Fund, Inc. The officers and directors have been providing services and medical equipment to handicapped and disabled children and their families throughout the United States for the past 15 years.

Alaska Conservation Foundation works to ensure that Alaska’s inspiring expanses of tundra, internationally critical oceans and seas, breathtaking mountains, thousand-year-old glaciers, extraordinary rivers and lakes, and spectacular stands of old-growth temperate rainforest will retain their beauty and viability for generations to come. ACF also strives to help Alaska Natives maintain their timeless, rich cultures in connection with the land.

Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) May 18, 2009 — Products for Good (PFG) today announces a new program to facilitate not-for-profit (NFP) organizations marketing of its products.

Products for Good sells a patriot line of products featuring Iraqi coins that were recovered by coalition forces in the bank vaults in Basra. The products are assembled in the US, by physically and mentally challenged individuals, creating up to 150 jobs at peak production. Twenty percent of sales is taken, off the top, and is donated to four charities providing services to military veterans wounded in action.

Says co-founder Lane Ostrow, “We are in contact with NFP organizations every day and what we are being told is that donations and revenues are down, and organizations are having to find ways to cut costs to continue to deliver services to those in need. In response to these challenging times, we have created the Ultimate Fundraiser. In addition to the twenty percent of revenue we send to military charities, a NFP organization teaming with PFG can earn another 20% of revenues by selling our products within their membership, donor or customer base (qualifying military charities can receive the full 40% of revenues from sales they generate). Our fundraiser actually works in this environment for the following reasons:

1. There is a great story involved, not just great products. The Products for Good story, more fully detailed on our website, is a story of good works and helping others.

2. The fundraiser requires no work on the part of the NFP. With NFP staffs being over-burdened as is, PFG takes are of everything involving the sale: PFG creates all marketing materials, creates a website for the members, handles all orders, warehousing, shipping and customer service; thereby allowing the NFP staff to focus on its mission versus working on fundraising.

3. The fundraiser requires NO financial commitment from the NFP. PFG takes care of all inventory costs. The NFP literally need only promote the fundraiser to its constituency…PFG does the rest.

4. Finally, it involves beautifully crafted and meaningful products. No fundraiser is successful unless the membership actually buys the products.”

Adds Ostrow, “We are focused on supporting military charities. This new NFP fundraising program allows us to not only support our military charities, but also provide tremendous revenue opportunities for other charitable organizations at a time where they need revenues the most. This is the ultimate win-win situation….we keep our mentally and physically challenged workers employed, money is donated to the military charities and money is earned by the NFP’s we are teaming with to distribute our products. It just doesn’t get any better!”

For more information on Products for Good and its effort to help those in need, please visit our website at www.productsforgood.com.

After Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd lost his bankroll from the finance industry and hedge funds that kept him in office, he’s now turned to payday lenders to shore up his reelection in 2010. Anyway, that’s what it looks like when he appeared at a fundraising event designed to look like an industry dinner that members of the Online Lenders Assocation (OLA) just happened to be at.

Do you need Fundraising and Fundraising Ideas? It would be impossible to list the endless types of fundraisers and fundraising ideas available today.  There’s certainly no shortage of them.  Many can easily generate enough interest to bring in paying patrons looking for some simple entertainment or who are there, specifically, to financially support your cause through their generous donations.  

Here are some different types of fundraising and fundraising ideas you can branch off from to get you motivated.

Some organizations out there offer specific, specialized opportunities for groups to raise money through donating items in which donors may receive payment for their items at a fraction of the retail price or may donate them outright.  One fundraising and fundraising ideas that fits into this category is the donation of sports equipment to help support a local children’s after school program.  Another example is the donation of cell phones.  Support shelters, such as battered women shelters or halfway houses can then convert the phones for use by those involved in their program or residing in their shelter.  

Food drives are another great way to raise donations.  They’re especially helpful for groups whose goal is to support those in the community living in poverty conditions by providing free meals and groceries as aid.  Check with local churches or grocery stores for sponsorship for this type of great program.

Auctions are another wonderful way to raise money for your charity.  Whether you hold them locally or online, you can easily accept many different types of donations from willing contributors, such as vacation packages, services from local businesses, antiques, other items, free meals, and the list goes on.  If you need a host for your online auctions, visit IDonateToCharity.org for information on how you can set up your auctions with zero upfront costs or membership fees!  You don’t even have to pay listing fees for your first 1000 items!  Sign up FREE now to enjoy the host of benefits available, all designed to assist non profits like you in reaching their ongoing fundraising goals.  

Direct item sales, such as t-shirts, food treats, hats, tea towels, candles, catalog sales, or other items provide a great approach to fundraising.  Oftentimes, in this case, you’ll need to have some money upfront in order to purchase the items your charity wishes to sell.  With catalog sales, however, you can have people place and pay for their orders, initially, and use that money to then fulfill and deliver orders to recipients, keeping the profits for your charity.  

Who doesn’t love a great meal?  Using food as fundraising and fundraising ideas to raise money is always a terrific way to boost donations.  Charitable banquets or dinners are one way to accomplish this.  You can also opt to hold a relaxed meal, such as a buffet-style meal, pizza party, public breakfast, barbeque, baked potato dinner, or other food-related event, in which you can invite the local community or select group of people to attend.  Simply charge a small participation fee at the door and welcome your guests.  

You can also raise a ton of money by hosting a special activity in your area.  Gather your group members and put on a local charitable dance or game night.  Carnivals, tent events, contests, and games are all ideas that the public will love.  Providing a needed service for a donation, such as a car or dog wash, house cleaning, window washing, or other service is something that can also easily be put together with a few volunteers willing to offer their time and energy.  

No matter what fundraising and fundraising ideas appeal to you and your organization, remember to charge on with enthusiasm and motivation, so you can get people inspired to participate.

For more fundraising and fund raising ideas and tips, visit the IDTC Home Page at Fundraising Ideas!

For less than a buck each, Silicone Wristbands are ideal for business and marketing, fundraising campaigns, trade shows, camp souvenirs, school functions, sporting events, awareness movements, family gatherings, remembrance tokens, and more! There are so many uses and advantages of custom wristbands that you simply can’t go wrong with this trendy and tailored concept.

Many businesses purchase silicone wristbands to help promote their website, local store, and services—thus furthering sales and generating profit.  Some wristband corporations allow clients to even add their company logo to the wristband at no extra charge.  When ordering bulk produced wristbands, the cost is very minimal compared to the revenue that the product could create for any certain business.  This is also a reason why silicone wristbands serve as an excellent fundraiser. When purchasing 10,000 wristbands at $0.20 each, the total purchasing cost would be $2,000.  Subsequently, if the same wristbands were sold to the public for $3.00 each, the potential income could be as much as $30,000!  That would be $28,000 dollars of funds raised, which would calculate to be a 93.33% profit!

Custom wristbands also make excellent camp souvenirs and prizes!  Everyone likes to have something to remind them of the fun times they had at camp.  Silicone bands make a great daily keepsake and kids just love them; even to the point where some wear them 24/7!  It is also common to purchase wristbands with the name of a loved one that has passed away that is either debossed or imprinted on the band. Some, again, may do this to serve as a fundraiser for the family or simply to have and give to others as a remembrance token.

Furthermore, custom silicone wristbands can be used to increase awareness about certain issues, diseases, or causes.  Some examples of this are Drug Free bands, Breast Cancer Awareness wristbands, bands that symbolize the fight against HIV/Aids, wristbands that support a candidate for an upcoming election, or perhaps wristbands that increase the awareness of a missing person.

Schools and colleges love to take advantage of the low cost of silicone wristbands.  Many schools use the bands for sporting events, identification purposes (such as on field trips), dances, school promotion, spirit week, fundraisers, awards, admission bands, and drug free awareness.   Another great use for the wristbands is for company and/or family gatherings. They again, serve as a great memoir and identification tool for such functions.

There are so many advantages of silicone wristbands!!!!  Wristbands can be customized anyway you want, for any purpose you want, and you can order however many you need.  The best part of it is that custom wristbands can be purchased for under a dollar each

Does your nonprofit organizations fundraising ideas have what it takes to be successful? Without the ability to raise money, non profits would not exist.  Financial contributions from supporters are the life blood of any charity, making successful fundraising campaigns imperative to their longevity.  Keep in mind, though, that it’s not simply a matter of coming up with an appealing fundraising event.  The key to victory is understanding your donors, what makes them want to give to your charity, along with what desires they may have regarding your organization.  It’s also extremely important to thank them for every donation, no matter how large or small.  

Here are some great nonprofit organizations fundraising ideas tips when it comes to preparing for your next fundraiser. 

Planning Your Budget

Unbelievably, this step in the fundraising process is often overlooked.  Before you can come up with a sound, strategic idea for your fundraiser, you must first know what exactly your budget will be.   If you don’t have a lot of money to spend, then you’ll need to come up with a fundraiser that has very little or no upfront costs or be able to find volunteers and others who will donate resources or time that you need.  If your ideas require you to purchase products in advance, you’ll need to determine how much those products will cost and add it into costs for other things you may require.  You can do all the planning in the world for your nonprofit organizations fundraising ideas , but if your plans don’t fit within your budget, you won’t be able to accomplish your goals. 

Organizing Staff

It’s time to get organized.  Gather up your fundraising staff.  This includes board members, volunteers, and anyone else who will be assisting in the development and execution of your fundraiser.  Have a meeting to discuss what your event will be, specifically, as well as what date you plan to hold the event.  Be sure that your staff is given plenty of advance notice so they may plan accordingly.  Divide responsibilities between staff members, taking into account every individual’s strengths and weaknesses, so people are well-suited to their roles.  By giving everyone specific responsibilities and plenty of time, you will more likely have a fundraiser that will run smoothly and efficiently.  

Set a Fundraising Goal

Once you’ve determined your budget and come up with a plan, you now need to set a realistic fundraising goal.  Consider your ideas, your audience, how exactly you plan on raising money from event partakers, and so forth, to get an idea of the amount of money you might be able to raise.  Setting a specific target lets event participants and staff know exactly what you need to raise and will inspire them to reach that goal. 

Advertise Your Fundraiser

No matter what type of nonprofit organizations fundraising ideas fundraiser you throw, whether you’re hosting it online or locally, no one will come if they don’t know it exists.  Use every resource available to advertise and promote your fundraiser, from flyers to internet ads, emails, posters in store windows, bulleting boards, newspapers, and so forth.  You can also contact your local television and radio stations.  In many communities, they will publicize your campaign in the community event portion of their broadcast.  If your event requires participants to purchase tickets ahead of time, you’ll want to start advertising at least a month in advance and make sure people know where they need to go to purchase their tickets.

Successfully marketing your campaign is essential to your success!  This step should be given much attention and may be the most important consideration in your campaign. 

Get Motivated

You can get your group even more motivated by setting up incentives, such as prizes or enjoyable activities for their hard work.  You can also create a competition between staff members, offering rewards to those who bring in the most donations, and so forth.  The more excited they are, the more willing they’ll be to put forth their best efforts in your fundraiser and the bigger your nonprofit organizations fundraising ideas will become. 

Follow Up

Always make sure you show appreciation for donors’ support and contributions.   No matter how large or small their donation, every dollar or item they donate to your cause counts.  Let your supporters know how important they are to your cause and keep them updated on future campaigns.  A simple thank you can go a long way ensuring their continued loyalty. 

For more information on Nonprofit Organizations Fundraising Ideas!

Approximately 90% of all fundraising activities are those produced by not-for-profit organizations, groups, and charities.  Not only do they use financial contributions from others to support their cause, but most also rely on donations to cover all of their operating costs.  For this reason, the ability to come up with successful fundraisers and non profit fundraising ideas is crucial.  Without them, these charitable groups fail in their mission and may cease to exist because they no longer have the resources or funds necessary to continue working towards their objectives. 

Raising money on a consistent basis can be challenging, to say the least.   One explanation for failing to achieve good results is the lack of a solid, pre-planned strategy.  Taking the time to discuss and organize a workable plan that your group can put into place can make a tremendous difference in the outcome of your fundraiser and non profit fundraising ideas. It’s important to set realistic goals as well as create a team of reliable volunteers or board members.  Strong management of your staff, along with an organized plan of attack, outlining each step of your fundraising operation, will also lead you towards a triumphant experience.  Also, remember that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.  With your non profit fundraising ideas find out what methods have worked for similar organizations and follow their lead.  Keep an open mind, though, as well, and don’t be afraid to think outside of the box in your fundraising approach.

Along with having a well planned strategy, you also need to constantly market your organization.  Let people know what your organization is about, what you’ve done in the past, plan on doing in the future, and what they can do to help.  Remain in close contact with the community and supporters.  Generate excitement about your mission and get people involved.  Inform local newspapers and media of your association to see if they’ll cover your event or run a story about ways you’re trying to help your cause. 

Below are some non profit fundraising ideas that your organization can employ and build upon as you set forth on your next fundraising mission.

Desktop and Laptop Computer Auctions

You can set up your own computer and computer accessories auctions at Charitable-auctions.com by signing up free now.  Deeply discounted computers are also available through our wholesale drop shipper than you can auction and sell with no out of pocket expense.  We also carry Mp3/Mp4 players, camcorders, PDAs, video games, along with many other brand name, discounted, popular electronics. 

Remote Control Cars

Have participants donate by purchasing remote control cars that you can offer for auction or for sale.  Set up monthly races where contestants who have purchased the cars can enter their car into a variety of fun, wild racing events that can easily be set up in a cement lot or a location with dirt paths or a dirt field.  People in your community can come to watch and donate money to your cause while they enjoy exciting races.  Offer prize ribbons to winners in each race.  This is an event you can easily do on a monthly basis that provides great entertainment.  Remote control cars are available at wholesale prices through Charitable-auctions.com.

DVDs, CDs, and Book Sale

Throw a DVD, book, or CD sale.  You can purchase these products wholesale online and/or ask citizens to donate them to you for your event.  Let people know why they should purchase your items by explaining the importance of your charitable cause and how their money will support those in need. 

Trunk Sale

Purchase or have people donate items for a trunk sale.  Drive around your community, stopping so people can browse your items and buy them at garage sale type prices.  Remember to always announce that proceeds go to a good cause! 

Short Film Contest

You can hold a contest either online or within your community where people can use their camcorder to create and submit their own short 5 to 10 minute or longer videos.  Set up an area where people can vote on their favorite film by submitting a small donation.  Whichever film ends up with the most donations in the end wins the contest.  You could also have different categories, such as funniest video, most artistic, best drama, and so forth, and have a winner for each.  Offer small, but exciting prizes to winners.  If you’re holding the contest locally, you can set up a night where people can view everyone’s films and place donations towards their favorites.  If holding it online, you can use youtube.com or myspace.com to host the videos and accept donations through Paypal. 

Whatever you decide for your fundraiser or non profit fundraising ideas, make sure it’s well organized, thought out, and planned for in advance.  Keep it interesting and get people excited about your event so your non profit can enjoy ongoing success!

For more information on non profit fundraising ideas!

Motivating the individuals in the group is the key to success in any venture like fundraising. Rewarding the group members are found to be very effective motivating tool but should be judiciously used as enunciated below:

1. Intangible rewards with no cash value are proven motivators and found to be of great entertainment value. Some of them are-

     Camping out somewhere in a awkward place, in case of any achievement , is a     good idea and normally enjoyed by one and all. Declare bigger goal and              extended days of camping tagged with it. 

      The group may be given the option to choose some change in their activity to        overcome the monotony of every day’s schedule. 

1. For fulfilling targets, the achiever’s name may be rewarded by putting his name in the raffle for various merchandise. More they sell and fulfill their targets fixed, their name gets entered more number of times in the raffle, increasing thereby the chance to win the coveted prize of the raffle announced.
2. A grand prize may be awarded to the top seller. It should be attractive enough to enthuse other members. Prizes like computers, motor bikes, digital cameras, TV or even attractive cash offerings, are normally the choice for such awards.
3. The team or group formed should have some competitive spirit imbibed in them. A very constructive way is to reward a team whose group performance has topped the list . The reward obviously should be such that the team can enjoy together like a free pizza party in a good restaurant or a field party outing to a place of their choice, and let the team be asked to pick up their choice which gives them a feeling of involvement.
4. There may be individual completion prizes which is given to an individual who raises a certain amount of fund and become entitled to receive the incentive gift. The gift may be in the form of cash award or gift certificate to a music, video, book or sports store of repute.  
5. Few prizes may be given to the early birds who reach their specific target within a certain deadline.        

The most important aspect in awarding such prizes is that it should be relevant to the members age group and that what interests him. Better to ask the individual or group what they would like to have within certain budget.

The organizer may solicit sponsors for prizes and may get the same free. Such soliciting may be made to local reputed restaurants, sports/ music/video/book stores or even local retailers. They must be told explicitly for what it is all about and their name will be highlighted in the letter head as well as in the campaign program. Usually, there is no dearth of sponsorship these days when every business is looking for novelty in marketing.

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