Tuesday, December 3, 2013

#GivingTuesday: My very first fundraising appeal


Dear Friends

Thank you to everyone involved with #GivingTuesday ! It's the perfect motivator for me to write a fundraising appeal too. I am writing on behalf of Digital Promise, a nonprofit in WA state. http://www.digital-promise.host56.com/

Lots of things are in transition at Digital Promise. That is why this appeal is on my personal blog. Plus a nonprofit about to have RantWoman as President needs help by definition! The donations link http://www.digital-promise.host56.com/DONATE.htm  goes straight to our Digital Promise treasurer, a much better professional bookkeeper than RantWoman. Presenting a more polished face to the world, including tidier-looking links is only one goal as our board looks forward, but first some acknowledgments.

For close to two decades Digital Promise has been involved in creating partnerships between building managers, community technology resources, and residents of low income communities. At present Digital Promise's most consistent activity has been in support of public computer labs at two Seattle Housing Authority communities the STAR of Seattle and the Westwood Heights Technology Center; this year we were also pleased to connect residents of Pike Market housing communities with computer help provided by volunteers from Microsoft through the Day of Caring. More about these community technology centers in a moment.

First, we need to thank longtime Digital Promise board President Joe Diehl. Joe's list of connections among people involved with affordable housing is so long I hardly know where to begin. I have no idea how he finds time to do all he has been doing. Even he realizes he cannot keep up with everything and is more than ready to step down as President. I am writing in transition, with deep gratitude for all I have learned and for many connections. So give generously with heartfelt thanks to Joe and all the other Board volunteers!

Next there is the story of people involved with the STAR Center http://www.starofseattle.org/Pages/default.aspx  ,  the community where I first met Joe and Digital Promise. The STAR Center originally arose as a partnership between Seattle Housing Authority and residents with a number of disabilities. These founders worked to create a computer lab equipped with a number of different assistive technologies, both to meet the accommodations needs of staff and to provide a place where people might explore what technology and teamwork can enable them to do.

It's the technology that plays the video or reads the audio book; sometimes it's the teamwork that helps someone with mobility difficulties insert the CD or find broadcasts streamed in languages other than English. It’s the high-contrast video that helps one customer who is also deaf with social networking or all of the services one increasingly can only access online; it’s the teamwork that provides staff able to direct this customer to the most direct route to meet key needs. It’s the technology that helps blind people read on the computer; it’s the teamwork that helps people who have lived their whole life with challenges and people adjusting after life-changing medical events learn from each other, about ordinary things like running and organization, and about new horizons like online music or accessibility every time we try a new tool.

 The STAR Center has provided a wide variety of classes for adults and has also run projects partnering with Seattle Public schools to help youth with disabilities explore the horizons of adulthood. That is one project I personally really hope to continue! So give generously to help open doors for youth, to help people adjusting after life-changing medical events, and for all the other people who use our resources too.

Finally give generously so that we can explore new ways to grow our efforts. We do not know quite what form this will take but the need is clear: 30% of people in low-income housing also have disabilities. Digital Promise hopes to continue to help create partnerships, whether through visits from Day of Caring volunteers or new horizons of online learning, or helping communities like Pike Market create places in their community where people can come together and connect both in person and online.

Right now Digital Promise needs to work at some basic: some financial reserves so that we can pay our staff on a reasonable schedule, some services we might need on more precise timelines than our dedicated volunteers can achieve, appropriate compensation for people who train and direct our many volunteers, ways to refine our planning and budgeting based on experiences with past projects, ways to share our unique experience with residents and other kinds of housing communities.

$5000-$10,000 would be an excellent reserve and allow us to cover some expense board members are now just personally absorbing.

$15,000-$25,000 would allow us to immediately resume our program with Seattle Public Schools.

I would be humbled to meet these targets; if this appeal generats more money than that figuring out what to do with the money would be more of a good problem to have than I expect, but I love surprises!

With warmest wishes and grateful hope as Digital Promise evolves in our rapidly changing technology environment.

Sincerely,

Dorene Cornwell

PS There is another Digital Promise. We like them and this is our fundraising appeal. In fact as I contemplate the future of this digital Promise, we may have to think about ways to reduce confusion. But here again is the donation link for the Digital Promise I am writing about.


 

 

 

 

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