Thank You for Sharing the Love

Raise the Dough will be closing its doors in June 2022, but there are still ways to support, pray, and adopt. Read more about our decision below, and how this impacts you and your gifts, prayers, and support.

Make a Donation

We will continue to accept one-time donations for our supported families through June 15, 2022.

Want to continue to support adoption after June 15th? Please donate through Lifesong for Orphans.

Read our letter to our supporters, or continue reading for frequently asked questions.

A Note from Our Founder

This message is difficult to write, but I wanted you to hear it from me firsthand. We are closing the doors at Raise the Dough.

This decision comes after a prompting from the Holy Spirit and much prayer. I will share the details of this decision in our upcoming publication, but I want you to know that we are confident in God’s leading. As hard as it is to see Raise the Dough finish its leg of the race, I am delighted to report that this work is not terminated. We are passing the baton to Lifesong for Orphans. We have been partnering with Lifesong over the last couple of years because of their similar mission and superb operational systems. They are ideally suited to meet the needs of adopting families, and we are so thankful to be able to point people to Lifesong for generous, compassionate and reliable support.

In light of our decision to close Raise the Dough, we will not be hosting our annual Doughnut Day fundraiser this year. However, we encourage you to continue to celebrate it with your family and friends. On June 3, pick up a treat and pray for those who are currently pursuing adoption.

We do have a few outstanding financial obligations to meet and a couple of families whose funding we want to complete, so we invite you to consider helping us finish strong. As we cross our finish line on June 15, 2022, we would be grateful for your support.

We will do our best to continue to communicate through social media and email the details of our final months and our invitation to direct future support to Lifesong for Orphans. If you are in the process of completing an application for support, please do not worry. We will gladly walk you through the transition and ensure that you are not without the support that you expected from Raise the Dough.

Lastly, we will be discounting our merchandise in our online store (www.shopraisethedough.org), and we’ll fill orders as long as supplies last. Order now, and grab some memorabilia to commemorate all the work God has done in and through Raise the Dough. In May 2022, look for our publication to hit your mailboxes. We’ll be celebrating the last eight years of God’s faithfulness and sharing the ways you can continue to support adopting families through Lifesong for Orphans.

Thank you for your partnership,

Tobe Forsthay
Executive Director, Raise the Dough

Answers to Your Questions:

Why is Raise the Dough closing?

We believe God has equipped Lifesong for Orphans, a nonprofit and faithful partner to Raise the Dough, to serve families who wish to grow through adoption. Lifesong for Orphans not only shares the Raise the Dough mission, but it has the necessary financial and human resources to support it.

Over the last year, Raise the Dough has not been able to staff our organization as we desired, and so we’ve struggled to offer the robust support to families that we would like. It became clear to the board, through prayer and discernment of our ongoing challenges to grow our organization, that closing Raise the Dough and directing donors and families to Lifesong for Orphans was the best path forward.

We started an application for support, now what?

If you began completing an application for financial support, please notify Tobe Forshtay at tobe@raisethedough.org as soon as possible. Tobe will help with the transfer of your application to Lifesong for Orphans. Please be prepared with the details of when you began your application and when you expect to be finished.

We were promised a financial gift, now what?

If you were awarded a financial gift that has not yet been paid, we will ensure your gift is awarded as reimbursed adoption related expenses are submitted. Your funds will ultimately come through Lifesong for Orphans.

I am a donor. What happens to my gift to Raise the Dough?

Thank you for your generosity. We will terminate our PayPal and Stripe services on June 15, 2022. This will deactivate any recurring gifts pulled by our organization. If you have been giving a recurring gift through your own financial service provider, please terminate that gift. Funds on-hand will be used to fully fund our current families and pay our final operational expenses including rent, production of our final report and contracted services for web and print.

Will you have a National Doughnut Day event in June?

We will not host a Doughnut Day fundraiser this year.

I still want to support adoptive families. Who do you recommend I donate to?

If your heart is postured to help give financially to see families grow through adoption, please consider giving a gift to Lifesong for Orphans. Its operations are fully funded by impact organizations, so every dollar they receive goes 100% to the families they support. You can give to them at www.lifesong.org.

How long are you accepting donations?

We will receive gifts through June 15, 2022. At that time, we will make any final payments due and then terminate payment collecting services. Any excess funds (after paying families and vendors) will be gifted to Lifesong for Orphans.

Can we still buy Raise the Dough merchandise?

Yes, but only for a limited time.. T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs and more can be purchased at a discounted rate through June 15, 2022. After that date, the online store will be closed. You can shop online at shopraisethedough.org.

Raise the Dough’s Final Annual Report:

You may download Raise the Dough’s final year-in-review, featuring our support numbers, donation totals, and the families that we’ve impacted through the prior year.

Download Report