Business executives put technical prowess to work helping charities help themselves
CINCINNATI, OH, January 11, 2007 – A group of Cincinnati based social entrepreneurs are tackling the two most significant challenges to the survival of every nonprofit: raising money and gaining donor loyalty. How? By providing the technology and tools necessary to do so in a world engulfed by digital trends.
Possessing all the vim, vigor, and business savvy of business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs are a slight variation of the breed; they measure their success in terms of social impact rather than profit and return.
A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, social entrepreneurs assess their success in terms of the impact they have on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many also work in the private and governmental sectors.
Every year, nonprofits face the challenge of having to work harder and spend more money to raise the same amount of fundraising support as the year before. However, increasing the frequency of direct mail solicitations or telephone fundraising is not only expensive, but involves risks. Overbearing solicitations can drive donors away, and in turn be cost prohibitive to the nonprofit. Therefore, the nonprofit industry needs new fundraising tools and communication methods to enhance their ability to communicate, raise money, and increase donor loyalty.
A local entrepreneur, Christopher Hytry Derrington, CEO of Alta Financial Technologies, set out to help solve this critical nonprofit issue. He assembled a diverse team of Cincinnati executives to explore all possible options using the latest business and technology tools.
“No longer is earning cash rewards income and tax breaks from donations exclusively reserved for the high network individuals,” Hytry Derrington said. “Now nonprofits of all sizes and donor demographics can offer their donors cash rewards for their loyalty.”
After two years of research and development, Alta created a new fundraising tool specially designed to create donor loyalty. This tool enables donors to earn cash rewards from their donations year after year. The team of entrepreneurs took a well-established trust method called a charitable mutual fund, put it on the internet by using the latest technology, and made it available to the general public.
Until now, charitable mutual fund models have required high maintenance overhead that made them available only to large dollar donors. Smaller, or “average,” donations were not cost effective in this trust due to the high costs of setting up and managing the charitable fund. As a result, the general public, or the largest segment of a typical donor base, was not being given the same compelling loyalty reward opportunities as the wealthy.
echoDonations.org, a web site created by Alta Financial Technologies, accepts donations as low as $25 to any U.S. 501(c)3 charity – currently 1.3 million on file with the IRS. All donations, large and small, that come through echoDonations.org™ are combined in an online charitable mutual fund, which is invested and monitored for performance in the market. As the charitable mutual fund builds investment return, annual Lifetime Cash Rewards™ are distributed to donors and charities while building an endowment for the charity. The benefit to nonprofits is exponential by way of the annual cash received and through the increased donor loyalty gained from receiving their rewards.
“The new technology offered through echoDonations.org is an impressive lead to the future of online giving,” said Drew Fink, Board Member of nonprofitSherpa.org, an organization dedicated to helping nonprofits through technology and innovation. “This innovative idea is has enormous potential not only in the realm of nonprofit organizations, but of any educational organization in search of loyal donors for steady financial support.”
About echodonations.org™
echoDonations.org™, the nation’s leading online charitable mutual fund, is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping charities start or grow their online fundraising programs by offering loyalty building cash rewards for donors to give more. More information is available at www.echoDonations.org.
About Alta Financial Technologies
Alta Financial Technologies™, Inc. is a financial services technology company whose patent-pending back-office products and services enables the creation of web based, paperless, mutual funds targeting specific demographics such as nonprofit donors. More information is available at www.altafinancialtechnologies.com.
CONTACTS:
echoDonations.org, Christopher Hytry Derrington, 513.276.4332, ext 102.
chris@echodonations.org .
Monday, January 21, 2008
Social Entrepreneurs Help Nonprofits Solve Critical Business Issues
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tampax and Always Launch Protecting Futures Program
Dedicated to Helping African Girls Stay in School
P&G FemCare brands announce joint program to provide school-based support and feminine hygiene products to girls in Southern Africa through HERO: A UNA-USA Campaign
NEW YORK, November 12, 2007 -- Girls living in sub-Saharan Africa can miss up to four days of school each month because they lack the basic necessity of sanitary protection and other resources to manage their periods. To help give girls in this part of the world a better chance at an education and to raise awareness of this issue, P&G brands Always and Tampax are joining forces with HERO, an awareness building and fundraising initiative of the United Nations Association to launch the Protecting Futures program.
According to research, 1 in 10 school-age African girls do not attend school during menstruation or drop out at puberty because of the lack of clean and private sanitation facilities in schools. And, if a girl has no access to protective materials or if the materials she has are unreliable and cause embarrassment, she may be forced to stay at home while menstruating. This absence of approximately 4 days every 4 weeks may result in the girl missing 10 to 20 percent of her school days. The Protecting Futures program will provide products and services to help keep girls in school as well as help foster the overall health and well-being of every child in the targeted school communities.
“Working with HERO, the Protecting Futures program brings together the brands’ global resources to help make a positive impact on these young girls by improving access to feminine hygiene products as well as education and health services,” said Michelle Vaeth, Protecting Futures Program Director for P&G. “Through this program, Tampax and Always will help build an infrastructure that – with support from local and national governments - can give children in these communities the chance to reach their full potential.”
“Protecting Futures is making a positive and direct impact in the lives of children living in HIV/AIDS-affected communities in sub-Saharan Africa. This program also helps support two of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – promoting gender equity and ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling,” said Gabrielle Armand, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing for the United Nations Association of the USA. The UNA-USA’s HERO Campaign provides comprehensive school-based support to children living in HIV/AIDS-affected communities in Southern Africa.
Protecting Futures, a ground-breaking five-year commitment was born out of a pilot program Always launched in Kenya two years ago through a partnership with the Girl Child Network (GCN) and is a part of P&G corporate cause, Live, Learn, and Thrive which has helped over 50 million children in need.
Protecting Futures is a comprehensive care program which will bring puberty education, traveling health educators, nutritious feeding programs, educational support services, a pad distribution program, and significant construction projects to nine schools in the first year.
* Launched this year in Namibia, Protecting Futures is providing over 200 children with improved access to education by building and outfitting classrooms, dormitories, kitchens, and toilets, at two school sites. The program will also fund teacher training, uniforms for all students, and a year-round feeding program.
* Protecting Futures is also dramatically improving the sanitation, health and hygiene for the community in this region by building a four-kilometer-long water pipeline to 2 schools in this region. In addition to providing direct access to clean water at these schools for all children and teachers, this project allows girls to remain in class all day without having to walk long distances to obtain water for their fellow students.
* This Winter 2007/2008 support will expand to HERO schools in the KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa where Protecting Futures will provide sanitary protection to young girls at nine regional schools to help them overcome the obstacle of attending school during menstruation. These girls will also benefit from an Always funded Health, Hygiene, and Puberty education program taught by a traveling health educator. In addition, Protecting Futures will fund a traveling health care provider for all of the children at these schools.
* In addition, Tampax and Always help sponsor the HERO Youth Ambassador program through their teen-focused website, Beinggirl.com. Twenty-four teens from across the U.S.A. were selected to become Youth Ambassadors and traveled to Namibia and South Africa this summer to work on the Protecting Futures program. Their personal experiences were documented in a series of webisodes airing on beinggirl.com/hero to help encourage and empower all teens to become global citizens.
In support of Protecting Futures, Tampax and Always will launch a dedicated advertising, in-store and online campaign in the US and Canada beginning this Fall 2007.
“There are lots of reasons kids miss school”, said Ms. Vaeth. “Being a girl shouldn’t be one of them.”
For more information on the Protecting Futures program and ways to be involved and help make a difference too, visit www.ProtectingFutures.com.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sikhcess™ Announces Launch of Sikh Community’s Global ‘Feed the Homeless’ Campaign in March 2008
Sikhcess™ to launch worldwide ’Feed the Homeless Campaign’ on March 1, 2008 with volunteers in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Chicago, IL
Today, Sikhcess™, a community service organization, unveiled definitive plans to feed the homeless worldwide through its ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign on March 1, 2008. Sikh communities throughout the globe will participate, with efforts to feed the homeless and needy in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.
“There has been tremendous interest from people across the world hoping to reach out and help those in need,” stated Mr. Amit Singh, Executive Director of Sikhcess™. “My phone has not stopped ringing and my email inbox is always full. Volunteers are clearly eager to help feed the homeless, a founding principle of the Sikh faith.”
The Sikh institution of ‘Langar’ was started by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. It is the only free kitchen of its kind in the world, collectively serving millions around the globe each year, regardless of gender, social standing, caste, color, religious affiliation, or beliefs. Through this ideal of equality, the tradition of ‘Langar’ expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness, and oneness of all humankind.
Working to address homeless hunger, Sikhcess has taken ‘Langar’ (or ‘Free Kitchen’) to those on the streets. On November 17, 2007, Sikhcess launched its first large-scale ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign with great success. Volunteers throughout North America successfully distributed nearly 50,000 individual food packages to the homeless and needy in just one night - the largest campaign of its kind.
“There are homeless and hungry people across the world, many of whom consume well below the daily food requirement to live. Sikhcess™ is working with Sikh communities around the globe to help alleviate their suffering through the simple act of delivering a nourishing meal. We will do everything we can to help donors and volunteers make that happen,” says Mr. Singh.
Inquiries for donations of food and supplies for distribution to the homeless should be directed to Donations@Sikhcess.com or to Mr. Amit Singh at 248-990-1245.
About the Sikhcess™ ‘Feed the Homeless’ Campaign:
The ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign began in January 2007 in Vancouver, Canada. The campaign’s initial goal was to distribute 15,000 food packages to Vancouver’s homeless population within 12 months. The entire Sikh community rallied behind the program in Vancouver, and within only 9 short months, more than 20,000 packages were delivered. Now 70,000 food packages have been distributed throughout the United States and Canada.
Through the efforts of this campaign, food packages have been delivered to homeless communities in Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Boston, Newark, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Fairfax, Houston, Atlanta, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Miami.
Every month, the homeless and needy receive thousands of food packages generously donated by the entire Sikh community. In exchange, Sikhcess™ volunteers receive countless hugs, smiles and a heart-felt “thank you”, many times over. Sikhcess™ thanks all those who contribute to the ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign with their charitable support of time, effort, food, and kitchen facilities.
Sikhcess™ does not accept financial donations of any kind. Inquiries for donations of food and supplies to the homeless should be directed to Info@Sikhcess.com or to Mr. Amit Singh at 248-990-1245.
Contact: Sandy Sangha
Media@Sikhcess.com
630.479.3022
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Contact Information
Sikhcess
Jatinder Singh
604-866-5432
info@sikhcess.com
www.sikhcess.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Foundation Provides New Shoes for Needy Children
Barefoot Kids Foundation and Payless ShoeSource Inc. have teamed-up to provide $25. Footwear Shopping Cards for America's Kids in Need.
San Diego, CA, December 15, 2007
This Non-Profit organization exclusively provides new footwear to Kids in Need through their National Distribution Network currently in 20 cities throughout the USA. Childcare organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Salvation Army and Court Appointed Special Advocates provide Payless ShoeSource shopping cards to underprivileged Kids.
The National Center for Children in Poverty reports that 17% or 12.7 Million of our children live below the poverty level. Footwear is often not on the list after the bills, food & medical care are paid. Many of America’s Kids are in desperate need of new footwear.
Everyone can relate to the pride you get when you buy new footwear. Remember those early years when you were fitted for new shoes and sneakers, it was a great moment. You couldn’t wait to show them off. Share this thrill with a Kid in Need.
More Kids will participate in physical activity, and be healthier when wearing proper fitting footwear. They need to feel comfortable and need to fit in with their peers. The distraction of foot pain during class may affect the Kids ability to focus on learning. Studies published in Medical Journals conclude that proper footwear can improve your health. Kids in America need your help.
Their free donation program is now available by making online purchases with participating retailers. Each purchase you make generates a donation from their retail supporters. Go to www.barefootkids.org. Supporters and buy Airline, Hotel, Car Rental, Flowers, Electronics, Office Supplies, Event Tickets, Gifts and everything that eBay and Amazon.com offers. To make a free Donation, just Point, Click and Buy.
Barefoot Kids Foundation has different ways for you to donate. Individuals and Corporate donors can use Credit or Debit Cards on their secure PayPal website: www.barefootkids.org. Donate or send a check payable to: Barefoot Kids Foundation, 7040 Avenida Encinas, Suite 104, Carlsbad, California 92011-4653. Everyone can contribute and improve the life of America’s Kids in Need.
For additional information contact Dan or Lorett Ross at (800) 285-3993 or visit www.barefootkids.org.
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Contact Information
Barefoot Kids Foundation
Dan Ross
800-285-3993
donation@barefootkids.org
barefootkids.org
danross@barefootkids.org
