Tripling Agriculture Production

The Ministry of Agriculture plans to triple agricultural production in Rwanda next season, the Minister of Agriculture Christopher Bazivamo told the Senate Thursday...Read more

The Business of Fundraising

Anything you do, whether it is completing a homework assignment, working hard to get promotion, or simply cleaning up your room, takes effort. Effort comes in all different shapes and sizes. Some people exert the tiniest amount possible in order to get by, while others push hard to stand out and get recognized for going the extra mile. For me personally, I enjoy what I like to think of as “closet effort.” I enjoy being reticent and working on my own, quite contrary to the collectivist point of view. This past year I learned what kind of job it is to fundraise for a meaningful cause. I learned exactly how much effort I had to exert in order to get a return on my investment (fundraising efforts). I learned more by doing than I have ever learned while sitting in a classroom. Learn by doing (Cal Poly’s slogan).

I have indulged myself in many different types of businesses over the past 10 years. From mowing lawns to managing small groups of people behind a bar, setting up events, and organizing my finances, and I have never had a more difficult time than I did while fundraising. Fundraising is something everyone should be required to do before they enter the real world of business. It opens up people’s minds about how other people think. Should I target only wealthy people? What about everyone else? I learned that in order to be successful at fundraising you literally have to put yourself in the shoes of those whom you target. Why in the world would they want to give you money versus anybody else?

The first step I took was typing up an outline:
• What am I trying to say?
• Who am I targeting?
• What am I trying to accomplish?
• What is the cause?
• Why donate to me versus others?
• What is my strategy?
• How am I going to word my pitch?
• Opening statement?
• Funny? Serious? Little bit of both?
• Et cetera…

After clearly laying out exactly what I needed to do I was able to begin my introduction. The introduction is the most important part of any letter. I had to make sure to strategically word, and emphasize exactly what I was trying to do. After several rough drafts I finally concocted the perfect letter, incorporating both humor and sincerity into it. The next step was to add a personal touch to each individual letter. Depending who the letter was going to, I hand wrote a small message, usually being sarcastic and witty. Finally I concluded by enveloping and sending out each letter.

Within days I received my first response, by far the most essential ingredient to my success. It was a matching funds offer, good up to 50% of my target goal of $5,700. After a week or so of dull responses I decided to email everyone whom I sent letters to informing them of the matching funds offer. Along with informing them of the matching funds offer I also incorporated a deadline. I decided a deadline would be a good strategy to make people act quickly versus putting off donating till the last minute. It was quite apparent my strategy worked well, a torrential rainfall of letters and checks began pouring into my mailbox (umbrella not needed).

In concluding I would like to mention one more crucial element to a successful fundraising campaign; never force people to donate or even encourage them to, simply informing them is enough. I put in the effort and I helped poverty-stricken people on the other side of the world acquire hope. Hope is by far more important than anything

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US troops focusing on humanitarian goals in Africa

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti (CNN) -- U.S. Marines at Camp Lemonier -- the only American military base on the African continent -- spend much of their time vaccinating livestock, repairing schools and giving medical training. Read the rest of the article HERE.

How awesome is that!?
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Deforestation in Africa

"Africa is losing more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) of forest every year -- twice the world's average deforestation rate," according to a statement by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) about the 400-page atlas, prepared for a meeting of African environment ministers in Johannesburg, South Africa. Please read more HERE.

Silent Auction for Laos

On Thursday, June 5, 2008 there will be a silent auction at the Coda Street Gallery. Over 150 photographers donated pieces of their work to help raise money for people in Laos. The people in Laos have been affected by natural disasters, malnutrition, and so much more. If your in Santa Barbara, California, make sure to stop by the gallery and bid on some beautiful photos.

5-8pm 27 East Coda Street. 

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Hey Everybody!

Hey everybody! Finals were fierce and I am finally getting back into the routine of daily posting. I realized Room 224 hadn't exactly posted what we accomplished this past semester! I will do a short summary--
First off, we worked in conjunction with Network For Africa--which is a UK based nonprofit. After listening to multiple speakers express both empathy and sympathy for those in Africa, including Becky from N4A, we were motivated to help make a difference. The next step was to figure out what we, on the other side of the world, were going to do to help. We realized a class trip to Rwanda was not going to work and instead focused on fundraising. Our goal was set around $6,000.
We had multiple class discussions about what events would raise the most money and would generate the most amount of people. After breaking into different groups, we focused our attention on each of the individual projects--Pangea Days, Ocean Swim, Miss California Talent Show, Apparel, Screenings, Wristbands and more. Literally everyone in our class was intensely involved in a project (some in multiple projects).
At times some of us were skeptical about what was going to work, but realized there was no way the students involved in each project would fail. After weeks/months of preparation it was time for action! Each event had a great turnout of people, everything was organized, gift baskets, games, children drawing tables, jumpers, live bands, and so much more!
Upon reflecting over the semester, Room 224 realized, "you know what? not only did we make a difference for the people in Africa, but we made hundreds of people more aware of the tragic circumstances which is so important. if more people get involved, more students especially, we can solve literally any problem!" Room 224 became friends, our teacher became a parent and motivator of each individual, and we made a difference. We raised well beyond the $6,000 goal, and in turn were able to not only build a Child-Headed Household, but also were able to send an orphan to college for a year! This event and awareness, and each person involved had definitely affected everybody for eternity. We will continue on our quest to help different causes around the world. We are Active Youth Making A Difference! Join us! Feel free to email united224@yahoo.com for any questions.

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We Got Amazon!!!

I equipped Room 224 with an Amazon search box. Basically if you search amazon's listings through the search box on Room 224 and purchase something up to 10% of the sale price goes to Network for Africa!

This is another way active youth can make a difference!

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