Life Less Complicated LLC is a team of fund development aficionados, champions for youth, and big-hearted individuals who believe there are more efficient, enjoyable, and lucrative ways for schools and non-profit organizations to conduct fundraising.

FUNDRAISING as it should be - Fun. Efficient. Profitable.

FAQs

Who Would Benefit Most?

Our methodology has been intentionally designed to effectively help middle and high school students cultivate financial support across broad audiences, all the while developing 21st-century skills like -

  • critical thinking & problem-solving

  • patience & perseverance

  • emotional awareness & intelligence

  • negotiation

  • empathy & generosity

  • penmanship

  • skepticism & critical evaluation

  • conversation & communication

  • relationship development

  • networking & resourcefulness

  • coping with stress & emotion

  • connecting & relating to others

  • money savviness & budgeting skills

  • delayed gratification

  • stepping outside one’s comfort zone

  • formality & etiquette

  • generational sharing

  • planning / goal setting / focus

  • self-control / self-awareness

  • flexibility & responsibility

  • global citizenship

  • time management

  • curiosity / love for learning

  • accessing/assessing/analyzing information

What Specifically is the Fundraiser?

Taking center stage in our out-of-the-box fundraising methodology is a series of card games developed by the founders of Life Less Complicated. The games are enjoyable for diverse audiences and designed for 3 to 9 or 10 players, depending on the game.  The games are also not sold commercially, and to protect the integrity of our methodology, they never will be.

Yep - our methodology is different, but is it impossible to think that a group of interested students couldn’t pick a date and time, invite people to come and conduct an activity even elementary students could prevail at, possibly share something to eat, and hang out for a couple of hours?!?!  Sounds like the makings of a party to us!

Where Would Fundraising Events Occur?

We’ve developed simple fund development tools that make the best use of amenities all schools already have -

  • a small group of students interested in learning new things

  • a handful of adult mentors to facilitate skill development

  • a nominal amount of seed money to get things in motion

  • a school cafeteria with tables and chairs

Fundraising tournaments don’t have to occur at schools — they can be conducted almost anywhere within your community - businesses, community/government centers, non-profit organizations, fire stations, museums, hotels, convention centers, warehouses, hospitals, etc.

Why Should We Partner with Life Less Complicated?

There are countless ways schools and non-profit organizations can choose to fundraise.  At Life Less Complicated, we believe that our fundraising methodology contributes positively to three key areas in education -

Positive Contribution #1: Most schools face challenges implementing robust and responsive family and community engagement.  Most schools also exclusively conduct fundraisers that are organized and executed by adults. At Life Less Complicated, we believe the two are interrelated and have intentionally developed a methodology that encourages students to engage with members of their communities and actively promote support for their school and others. 

Positive Contribution #2: While not all young people will venture into business after graduation, all youth need an entrepreneurial spirit to succeed in today’s workforce.  Partner with us and provide opportunities for young people to embrace a philanthropic mindset, get exposure to best business practices, and develop entrepreneurial skills.  

Positive Contribution #3: Learning optimally should occur inside and outside the classroom. Most youth would benefit from developing core life skills to manage obligations, personal interests, and/or social relationships successfully.

By promoting student-coordinated and student-conducted fundraising efforts, we would no longer needlessly exclude students from beneficial opportunities to develop real-world interpersonal, executive function, and self-regulation skills.

When Can We Partner?

We would welcome the opportunity to collaborate at any time and appreciate your consideration of us for your fundraising needs. That being said, please consider that fund development initiatives take time to plan and execute, so it might be prudent to consult with our team to determine an optimal lead time for your unique situation and desired outcomes.

Perhaps we’re a fabulous match, especially if you appreciate -

  • a service that is responsibly and purposefully innovative

  • a company that affords superlative customer service

  • and a product that yields benefits many had not anticipated

How Can We Get Started?

We require interested parties to complete our easy two-step process.

If you have a few questions you’d like answered before beginning the process, please email our team directly at:

proficient@HelpingFundWhatMatters.com

STEP ONE: Complete our simple partnership application. Once that has been processed, submit your tax-exempt certificate and a $100 deposit to get things in motion (No worries, we’ll proactively send you the invoice).   

STEP TWO: Complete your team’s information and submit the remaining payment amount (i.e., $500) to have your fundraising kit delivered to your school. (We’ll also invoice you for this.)

Please do whatever -- absolutely whatever - it might take to support the young people in your community.

With all the challenges and obstacles facing young people, their relationships with their peers and community members are hugely important and powerful vehicles for growth. Not least because a promising rapport with a diverse range of adults has the potential to make young people more resilient when things go wrong. Healthy relationships formed with caring adults also encourage young people to stay on track with their academics, direct strengths toward educational goals, attend school regularly, remain in school, graduate on time, and begin to think about life after graduation.

Meet the Founders

  • Lesley Rueb-Gunn

    FOUNDER

    Lesley brings over thirty years of grant writing, fund development, public relations, compliance reporting, and project evaluation experience - from both sides of the border. At LIFE LESS COMPLICATED, Lesley leads the development of collaborative partnerships and the realization of new funding streams for schools and non-profit organizations through inventive endeavors and services. Before LIFE LESS COMPLICATED, Lesley founded the Dalhousie Neuroscience Society while completing her undergraduate degree. After graduation, she was hired by Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to raise funding through grants and innovative funding streams. Her success attracted the attention of the Girl Scouts of the USA. After committing to help with Lesley’s immigration, she moved from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Houston, Texas, where she spent 12 years developing state-of-the-art programs for girls and procuring more than $300M to support programs for youth through grants, foundation support, and corporate funding. Presently, Lesley curates technical proposals for K-12 school districts nationwide on effective ways to conduct high-impact educational programs that increase academic performance and develop 21st-century skills during the school day, after school, and over the summer months. Lesley has a degree in Behavioural Neuroscience and another in Cognitive Development. She graduated from the Entrepreneurial Education program with the CEED in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and completed the Leadership Excellence for Non-Profits Initiative Certificate Program in Sugarland, Texas.

  • Tommy Gunn

    LOGISTICS & FULFILLMENT

    After serving in the US Army, Tommy joined the Target Corporation team, where he’s spent almost a quarter of a century in logistics and warehousing. Tommy brings extensive operational and strategic planning experience to the LIFE LESS COMPLICATED team. With more than two decades of experience, Tommy is responsible for developing and implementing an integrated operations and logistics strategy that supports daily operations - including management where production, inventory planning, fulfillment networking, carrier negotiations, and warehouse operations are primary functions. Tommy has a firm understanding of industry best practices and the application of principles, concepts, and standards. Tommy excels at building collaborative business relationships and exhibits moral and ethical courage in everything he does. Tommy embraces challenges that require high vision or heightened knowledge in solving logistic-based dilemmas or uniting out-of-the-box thinking with practical knowledge into efficient, sustainable, and replicable processes. Tommy is a natural leader and excels at inspiring and motivating others.