Hi Givologists,
Thank you so much for everything! As we celebrate International Volunteer Week, I wanted to reflect upon how each and every one of you has changed our organization for the better and made a difference. We’re 100% volunteer-run, so without you, there would be no grassroots network of partners, no fundraising for student scholarships and schools, no awareness-building events to challenge the wrongful assumption that poverty is an inevitable social byproduct, and certainly, no Givology as we exist today. Volunteerism means everything to us because we believe small hours – not just small dollars – can aggregate into a powerful force to change the world. It doesn’t matter whether you have 5 minutes, 5 hours, of 50 hours to dedicate, we welcome all of you to join our team and help us make education accessible to children around the world.
There are so many beautiful and inspiring individual stories to share that I don’t even know where to start! We have first graders at Fillmore Elementary School in upstate New York holding fundraisers and penny drives to send their peers at the Peace Primary School in Uganda to school. We have creative young professionals in New York City dedicating their time and connections to hold a benefit that raised over $10,000 for ten schools in the swanky Hudson Hotel. We have dedicated high school interns who have written our newsletters, helped us design and run our video campaign challenges, managed the logistics for our “what would you buy for $50?” art exhibition, collected hundreds of pen pal letters for the students we support, and enthusiastically helped us grow our social media networks to over 4,000. We have amazing core team members who have joined us over the years, volunteering countless hours to help us with our budget and financial planning, orchestrate our marketing and media campaigns, induct and mentor our younger team members, research and seek out new grassroots partners, and ultimately, share the Givology story to their friends, family, and community. We have amazing chapters from the University of Richmond and Canyon Crest Academy all the way to Seoul, South Korea and Beijing University in China, all linked by a desire to promote education in the world. In all, we’re a team of 30 core team members, 90+ volunteers, 10 interns at any given time, and 11 chapters strong, and each day, we keep growing.
We take our philosophy of “Learn to Give, Given to Learn” very seriously. Everyone has something to give, and in the process of giving, we discover something unique about ourselves. For us, time is just as valuable – if not even more so – than a financial contribution. We defend our 100% volunteer identity with pride because we know that collectively, we can make a huge impact.
As International Volunteer Week draws to a close, I want to share with you – our volunteers and network – my deepest gratitude. It’s your ideas, your enthusiasm, your spirit, and your passion that has brought us to where we are today, and will carry us into the future.
With Best Regards,
Joyce, CEO, Givology
17 APR 2011