Dec-Jan: If you can write, you can help an Austin student make their college dream a reality

Please consider the following questions:

1. Can you write?
2. Did you go to college?
3. Do you like helping others?

If you answered “yes” to the above questions then you can make a tremendous difference in an Austin student’s life – and their family and their community – by helping Austin seniors write college scholarship essays.

Thanks to College Forward, there are a number of Austin kids who are the first from their families to be accepted to college. But now they have to find a way to pay for it.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t your favorite part of getting ready for college. But you’re different now. You’ve been through college; you know what they’re looking for. And now you can finally put your college years to work! Imagine this for a moment:

Picture sitting at a desk with a student, going over her essay, helping her identify parts of the story she left out. Now picture her saying thank you and promising to let you know how it turns out. Now picture yourself finding out she’d won that scholarship - thanks to you.

How amazing would that be?

You can be one of the 40 volunteers College Forward needs to make all this happen. Here’s some information:

When: Saturdays, Dec. 5, 12, 19 and Jan. 9
Time: 10am-2pm (you’ll attend a short training session before the workshop)
Where: 312 W. Murray Ave. Manor, TX 78653

To learn more and sign up, contact volunteer coordinator Karena Rogers volunteer@collegeforward.org or 512-452-4800 ext. 225 to

P.S. Have you heard about College Forward? They’re an Austin-born nonprofit that helps low-income and first-generation students consider, apply for, navigate and attend college. Since 2003 its helped hundreds of Austin students and this year its students have been accepted to more than 70 colleges and universities  – and that’s just in this past November!

According to Jesse Noyes of College Forward, “We also help students STAY in college. A lot of our students, since they are first-generation college students, need support while they are in college and that’s a big part of what we do, supporting students while in college.”

And here’s where you fit it: These students have come so far, and now they have to pay for it! So please spend a little time this Saturday – or one of the following Saturdays – to help.

Get shopping, save Christmas. An Austin family needs you.

The Tolfree family, helped by Foundation Communities.

PROBLEM:

More than 2,000 Austin families will consider “canceling Christmas” this year because they can’t afford the toys, gifts or even food to celebrate.

SOLUTION:

You or your company can adopt a family and save Christmas.

 

It’s simple. Just visit Foundation Communities to download a family sponsorship form, fill it in to let them know what size family you’d like to sponsor, etc.

Send in your family sponsorship form by December 11.

This is your chance to be a hero, folks. Your donation goes straight to the families with the most need, and you can spend as much or as little as you want. Foundation Communites offers lots of gift ideas for each person in the family, so this is a easy, fun way to share the joy of the season.  

And if you’ve ever seen a child on Christmas morning opening a present and seeing exactly the toy they asked Santa for…  Seriously, it will make your whole year.

What I love about Foundation Communities is that they have an amazing way of helping not just families with the most need but Austin overall because they’re repurposing empty hotels and apartments and condos into affordable housing that helps get families off the streets. They also give them a leg-up offering classes, training, community daycare and other services that give families a solid base for success.

So I don’t feel bad about pulling out my marketing copywriting hat to sell this opportunity to you.

Get the form here.

Send it in by December 11.

Get your co-workers, employees, and family involved.

Save Christmas!

Real progress! East Austin doing something about drop-outs

Imagine having no middle school for your child. That’s the situation for many East Austin families. A new middle school not only fills that void, it creates an innovative learning environment that prepares these kids for college – not just high school but college.

Tomorrow night (November 5), Southwest Key will host an open house for the East Austin College Prep Academy. They’re very proud. And they want everyone to attend.

We had a feature about mentoring and middle school and drop-out rates in AISD in our latest issue (download it here). Frankly, the numbers scare the hell out of me. And if you plan to raise a family in Austin, they should scare you, too.

Great news: Not only can you do something about it, others are doing something about it, too.

Southwest Key has a weird name but you should get to know them because they are the largest Hispanic-serving nonprofit in Austin. They started this middle school where there was none, and it’s going to make a huge difference in Austin’s Hispanic community.

We talked to John Turner, the Interim Director of Communications for Southwest Key.

1. This year there were 90 sixth graders that started the academy. Next year you’ll have a seventh grade and then an eighth grade campus. Who are these students and what middle schools/high schools would they otherwise attend?

We are based in the Govalle/Johnston Terrace neighborhood in East Austin, a neighborhood that has not had a middle school for many years. As there is no local middle school, the students were being bused out to middle schools in other parts of the city.

 Our students come from 26 different schools in Austin and have chosen our school because it is based on the highly successfully YES college prep model that has been ranked among the top 100 schools in America by US News & World Report. 

 2. Why a middle school? Wouldn’t a college-prep program focus on high school students?

There’s a number of reasons why a middle school. We canvassed the local community and parents, and they overwhelmingly requested a middle school. Many parents found it hard to get involved with their kids education due to the busing, so housing the school in our community center made a lot of sense.

We also analyzed research about at what stage was the best place to start affecting education and the drop-out rates, and it was apparent that starting with middle school would have a greater benefit and impact for local kids and families. 

3. So at this open house tomorrow, what can we expect to see?

All of the classrooms and facilities will be open, visitors will also be able to talk to the principal Dr. Nellie Cantu, school staff about the curriculum and approach, and hear from Southwest Key CEO, Dr. Juan Sánchez, about our future plans to expand quality education alternatives in East Austin.  

(Editor’s note: I heare there will also be food and drinks….)

4. I want to support your work with this middle school/academy. What are some ways I can get involved?

We always need advocates and supporters for our approach, which is simply providing an alternative quality education for children in East Austin.

Volunteers are welcome for the many after-school and other support programs, (the Boys and Girls Club is also housed here), offering to host field trips for the students service projects, and donations of school supplies are most welcome too! 

For more information, please contact Victoria Gutierrez at vgutierrez@swkey or 512-583-2567.

 

ABOUT THE EVENT:  

Open House
Thursday, November 5, 2009
4:30-7:00pm

6002 Jain LaneAustin, TX 78721

MAP TO EVENT

Appetizers, wine and hors d’oeuvres, performance, and more!

 

Andrea Ball, Sandra Zaragoza and the nonprofit media

Last week, Andrea (Austin American-Statesman), Sandra (Austin Business Journal) and I attended a meeting organized by Erica Ekwurzel of KDK-Harman Foundation and attended by other foundation representatives and Border Media.

Erica’s goal was to get us talking about what we could do as a team to get more information out about nonprofits, foundations, and the needs in Austin in general. What a fantastic idea! A few things have stuck with me from that meeting.

1. The first is that foundations don’t seem to really want media attention. Apparently they want to focus on the need and the cause, and not their magnanimous support of the nonprofits that address those needs. I can understand this… to a degree. The problem is, not many organizations are as knowledgeable as foundations about what the needs are and which nonprofits have the biggest impact.

When I go to a nonprofit to talk about, say, high school drop-out rates, they only have part of the information. They have data relevant to their work, but it’s not necessarily data that’s actionable by the rest of the community. Foundations should have this data – or at least be able to tell me where to go. Foundations, we need you to return our calls!

2. The second – and really, most amazing – thing I heard about was the power of Spanish-language radio and the incredible giving power of Central Texas Spanish speakers. Border Media, which runs three Spanish-language radio stations, really knows how to tap into its audience and get them to take an action, whether that’s attending the 7,000-attendee Feria Para Aprender or donating almost $200,000 to Dell Children’s Hospital … in 2 days. And that’s one person at a time, not huge grants from major corporations.

Attention fundraisers and development professionals: Get some help – I suggest Juan Tornoe, Sebastian Puente, and Mando Rayo from Cultural Strategies - and call up Jerry and Todd at Border Media to get in touch with Austin Spanish-speaking donors. Andale!

3. Andrea and Sandra are busting their ass to cover as much nonprofit news as they can. Let me tell you, people who don’t already know this: Those “short and simple” stories you see in the papers every week take real work to put together. I don’t blame nonprofits, but… they don’t always have the time or talent to make a reporter’s job easier, you know. Most of them can put out a fantastic press release, but a good reporter wants to go beyond what the PR people put out there. And that takes some homework, some phone calls, some emails… and usually all three to multiple people.

Did I mention there were more than 6,000 nonprofits in Central Texas, all vying for Andrea’s and Sandra’s attention?

I should also mention that KDK-Harman leads the way in a lot of respects, but what I’m seeing is a very transparent, highly collaborative and innovative organization that others in the nonprofit community should emulate. Thanks again, Erica, for a very informative meeting.

PS: I hope to be back with GivingCity soon, so I can help out Andrea and Sandra…

Maybe our last issue GivingCity Austin ….

The issue above – Issue 4 – will be our last issue. That is to say, until we can afford to make another.

I’m beat. My family wants me to come home. My boss is wondering what I’m working on. And my credit card companies are wondering why I can’t pay them off. How do I explain to them that I’m spending the all my free time and extra money on a project that pays me zilch?

GivingCity has paid off in some ways. The praise is very nice, as are the thanks from the organizations and people we write about. From the emails, requests for introductions, and feedback we get, it feels like we’re having an impact. And clients have hired us for other projects because of GivingCity. All of that’s good. But at some point, and especially in this economy, we need to see a financial return.

We haven’t given up all hope. We’d love to see GivingCity return, and so we’re going to stay plugged in to the community. In the meantime, we’re looking for collaborators, funders, angel investors, and/or winning lottery tickets.

Finally a request and a piece of advice:

1. If you are looking for a custom publication – digital or print – and you have a budget, please contact us at http://octobercustompublishing.wordpress.com/

2. If you are thinking about starting an online publication, website, or other form of media and you have no money… be prepared to bust ass, risk your job, and kiss-up to your spouse. Or else make real nice with a millionaire. (Just make it sound like their idea. That works best.)

Thanks for your support!

Monica

GivingCity Austin Issue #4

CLICK HERE to download (takes about 10 seconds)

Inside this issue:

John Thornton launches the new Texas Tribune website, the $4 million nonprofit. Learn how you can help reduce the number of high school dropouts in Austin. Sara Hickman offers the merits of volunteering with your children. Thousands of state employees in Central Texas give millions to local charities every year – who knew? The Lance Armstrong Foundation is a global organization with a local commitment. Just because you’re unemployed doesn’t mean there’s not work you can do. Dozens of small churches are cropping up in Central Texas, ready to serve. Finally understand what all this Obama “call to action” business is about. Alissa Magrum starts a nonprofit with a jersey and a dream.

WIN A WISH LIST JERSEY! We’re giving away a Wish List Jersey to the person who best describes their reason for participating in a “ride for the cure.” Do you ride for someone you care about? Have you participated in a ride that had a particular impact? DOWNLOAD this issue and visit the WIN A WISH LIST JERSEY page to enter.

FEEDBACK! Tell us what you think below. Thanks for your support!

Win a FREE Wish List Jersey!

In 1999, Alissa Magrum and Tammy Stanley met while training for a Texas AIDS ride. Both had HIV-positive family and friends and both were avid “ride for the cure” participants.

“The riders are incredible, and their stories are just so moving,” says Magrum. “We all just bond.”

Wanting to tell their story, Magrum and Stanley reached out to Brian Andreas, a writer well-versed at summing up huge emotions and hope at the same time. He came up with this story:

I wish you could have been there for the sun & the rain & the long hard hills.

For the sound of a thousand conversations scattered along the road.

For the people laughing & crying & remembering at the end.

But mainly, I wish you could have been there.

Stanley, a graphic designer, took the story and, with permission from the writer, designed the Wish List Jersey. They’ve sold thousands to riders who want to honor someone they’ve lost. And all proceeds from the sale of the jersey got to AIDS, cancer, and various other disease-fighting nonprofits in Central Texas.

WIN THIS JERSEY: It’s easy to enter: Just comment on this post and tell us why you participate in a ride, run, or walk for the cure – any cause or organization will work, as long as it’s a race that benefits a health-related nonprofit.

We’ll review the entries and pick a winner. Please make sure to leave a valid email address.

Get more information about the Wish List Jersey (valued at $100).

DEADLINE TO ENTER: November 20

GC4 Cover Preview: John Thornton of Texas Tribune

We’re experimenting with some great photography by Joel Salcido of John Thornton, the founder and chairman of Texas Tribune, the soon-to-launch, nonprofit, news website. He’s our cover story this month, and we’re thrilled to have snagged an interview with this super-busy guy.

GivingCity Austin Issue 4 to come soon. Facebook fans will get the message first, so if you haven’t yet, please visit our page and fan us now. (Did I just say that?) Or just sign up to get the email here.

If your nonprofit message matters, design matters

This post is for nonprofit boards and the nonprofit staff who love them.

I was reading this blog post from Good magazine, and it made me think of those board meetings, when everyone’s sitting around listing all the to-dos for the annual fundraiser. This is for those of you who, when you start to wonder how you’re going to promote the fundraiser, think, “Do I know anyone who can design the invitation for free?”

Don’t. Cheap. Out.

Here’s why:

1. Cheap shows. When you get an intern or a junior designer or even a design firm on pro-bono (which, by the way, uses the project to keep its interns and junior designers busy) to design your collateral for really cheap or free, it shows.

And please, do not call in your nephew on this one. InDesign and a Mac do not a designer make. Just because you have a hammer, some nails, a measuring tape, and some wood doesn’t mean you should be building your own deck.Get a pro. They’ll make it right.

2. Cheap, in the end, can cost you more. When you get an inexperienced person to create your collateral, they may not know enough about production, printing, mailing, materials, etc to save you money.

So the invitation might look great from the printer, but now you’ve got an odd-size envelope to mail, which means extra postage. Or you’ve got signage for an event that looks exactly like the hotel signage – and you have to start from scratch. A million things can go wrong. An experienced designer knows how to avoid them.

3. Cheap is not what your donors – or prospects – want to see. Think of it this way – if all your donors, volunteers, prospects, and supporters were in a room, would you send the intern or junior member of your staff to talk about your fundraiser? While you might think the professionally designed invitation makes it looks like you blew money on a fancy designer, from the recipient’s perspective, it looks like you’re an organization that’s going places.

If you’re unemployed and broke, you don’t show up to a job interview in tatters. You bust out the good suit, shine the shoes, and try to look like a million dollars.

Besides, the pro is a better value every time. Good design is worth every penny.

Just another Alan Graham story from another Alan Graham fan

I’m telling you, someday someone is going to write a book about Alan Graham, founder of Mobile Loaves and Fishes. No, a book isn’t right. Too flat.

They’re going to make a movie about him. He’s just that charismatic of a guy. But it’s beyond charisma; it’s the way he uses his brain.

Alan Graham has the rare ability to find the shortest path from problem to solution. You won’t spend 10 minutes talking with the man before he says something so fresh and so startling that the only possible reaction you could have to what he just said is, “Duh.”

Not in an “Everybody knows that,” way but rather in a “Well, shit, why didn’t anybody else think of that?” way.

For example, a couple years ago a short-lived ice storm hit downtown, closing office buildings and reducing traffic to almost nothing. The shelters and soup kitchens were closed, but people still needed food that day, probably that day more than others. Alan Graham got a phone call. Could he bring a truck down?

No, he couldn’t bring a truck down. But he could send some pizzas. How many pizzas did they need?

He called pizza delivery, made them a deal, and had several dozen pizzas delivered downtown. Couple hundred bucks. Lots of people fed.

Maybe that sounds obvious now, but who else thinks to deliver pizza to homeless people during an ice storm, when no one else can come up with a way to help them? Duh.