It's Giving Tuesday! Thank you all for your support so far! Between our donations through the website and on Facebook, we've raised about 800 dollars. We're aiming for $2000 for the giving season to shore up the rest of what we need this year. Anything above that will go toward 2020!
As always, thank you for any consideration of Esther's Echo and Esther's school, the Women in Action Development Project...which is now Projects plural!
Hello Echoers!
Giving Tuesday is coming up on December 3rd. Over the last few years, we have really benefited from the generosity that you’ve all shown during the Holiday giving season. Giving Tuesday Canada is part of a global movement for giving that follows Black Friday each year. It’s a day for organizations to rally their Holiday Season donations. For the last two years, Esther’s Echo has joined a community of non-profit organizations based out of Vancouver for a campaign called #VanGives. Be sure to visit the Esther’s Echo Giving Tuesday Campaign Page!
Esther’s Echo Profile Page on Giving Tuesday Canada Site
We’re getting the word out now in anticipation of this upcoming Giving Tuesday which has been our biggest fundraising day of the year in the past. Giving Tuesday serves as a great way for us to not only catch up on fundraising for the current year, but also get a head start on fundraising for next year. Here are some things that we are fundraising for:
Opening of the Second Location:
As mentioned in last month’s blog post, Esther has started a second location! Because we are renting the location part time from another non-profit using the building, the rent on this new location is quite low compared to the main site which gave Esther a foothold into the rural region of Port Loko. The new site provides access to young women and girls who wouldn’t otherwise be able to make it all the way to Freetown. The site also came with a supply of computers that are available to Esther to use.
Operation Costs on the Original Location
Each year we help offset the costs for the Women in Action Development Project. This ensures that funds raised by the organization itself can go to upgrades, teacher’s salaries, and reducing student fees at the school. Our biggest expense each year is rent on the building. For the last several years, we have also been putting aside amounts of what we fundraise to help open a new school that belongs to Women in Action to help offset rent entirely.
Thank you all so much again for your support this year. You all helped another cohort of students graduate from the Women in Action Development Project. Since our founding in 2012, we have seen over 350 students graduate from Women in Action. YOU made this happen! Let’s get 2020 off to a strong start. Keep an eye out for our campaigns on Facebook too and be sure to check out the Giving Tuesday campaign video below.
-Matthew
Hey Echoers!
Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday!
Giving Tuesday is a global movement for giving and volunteering that follows Black Friday each year. Considered the start of the giving season, it is a day for organizations, like Esther’s Echo, to rally its donor community, YOU! Giving Tuesday was celebrated in over 150 countries last year and generated over 21.7 billion Twitter impressions. Tomorrow we’re celebrating Giving Tuesday here in Canada, specifically Esther’s Echo will be part of the local Vancouver chapter of Giving Tuesday called VanGives. We’ll be joined by other local organizations who are all telling their story throughout the day and raising money for their causes.
Last year’s Giving Tuesday was our single largest donation day in the history of the organization at $2,300 CDN. I am hoping we can match and surpass that record this year! Esther has already begun work on constructing their own building. While we don’t have the funds to complete the school yet, she does want to complete the foundation as soon as possible and any amount of funding sent helps. Construction is FAR CHEAPER in Sierra Leone. Every dollar goes a really long way.
Building Esther her own school is a dream shared by both Esther and myself. With their own building, Esther and Women in Action wouldn’t have to rely on making rent payments that could otherwise be reinvested into growing the school, reducing student fees, and paying teachers and the work has already begun with Esther at the helm. We still have rent to cover while doing the construction, so donations will be prioritized there while Esther also begins saving portions to continue the construction project.
Let’s ensure that Esther’s dream can be realized and let’s break that fundraising record! I’ll be updating tomorrow from the VanGives headquarters in Vancouver during Giving Tuesday!
You can find our Giving Tuesday profile on the Giving Tuesday Canada mainsite here:
https://givingtuesday.ca/partners/esthers-echo
Also check out the Giving Tuesday Canada Promo Video below and please consider giving us a shoutout on your social networks with hashtags #VanGives, #GivingTuesday, and #GivingTuesdayCanada
-Matthew
