by Kristi Porter

April may seem like a long time away, but trust us; it’ll be here before you know it. Like, oh say, 142 days. And we don’t want you to find yourself wondering how you can get to The Orange Conference 2015. We want you here! So, we’re here to help.

Here are a few suggestions that we’ve put together to help you stretch your dollars all the way to Atlanta.

• Throughout the year, we host contests to give away tickets. Follow this blog and/or @OrangeLeaders on Twitter for those announcements.
• Sometimes our other social media channels offer free tickets through giveaways and contests. You can connect with us in a variety of ways to stay up to date.
• Host a fundraiser. We’ve heard a lot of really clever ideas over the years!
• We love to learn, and we love students. If you’re a student, fax or email a copy of your current student ID for undergraduate, graduate or high school enrollment, and you’ll qualify for student pricing of $229.
• Groups of 15+ and international attendees receive discounted pricing. Please visit the Details page for more details.
• We work with hotels, car rental companies and airlines to make special offers for you. Those can be found at the bottom of the Details page of the website. Helpful hint: The hotel deals go fast, so it’s a good idea to secure those early if you want the lower pricing.
• You can also save in hotel costs by using services like AirBnB and Homeaway.
• We couldn’t get through The Orange Conference without stellar volunteers. So, if you’d like to experience a different side of OC15 for free, consider joining our volunteer team.
• Find a travel buddy. Those of you traveling alone may be able to find someone from a neighboring church that’s headed to OC15 and share the travel costs with them. Sometimes we can even help you find those folks. Or you can use our handy Church Finder to see Orange partners near you.
• It doesn’t hurt to ask! Ask friends, relatives, fellow staffers or church members to help you cover expenses with hotel rewards points or frequent flyer miles, or even monetary donations. You might be surprised by how others want to help you invest in yourself so you can invest in others.

Have another great idea? Please share it with us. We’d love to hear it!

OC15 will take place in Atlanta from April 29–May 1. Register by December 11 to save $60, plus receive bonus content from this year’s Orange Tour. For more information and to register, please visit TheOrangeConference.com.