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Three Extraordinary Announcements | 2008-07-22 13:49
Greetings, everyone! I realize that it has been more than a month since you last heard from me. But, as always, there's been good reason for my 'radio silence,' and I hope you'll agree that this newsletter was well worth the wait! It's a little longer than usual, but after a VERY busy summer, I'm thrilled today to announce three extraordinary Modest Needs updates. Without further ado, starting today, here's what's new for you at Modest Needs:
First, I'd like to introduce you to a brand-new system we've developed for social workers and the hardworking families they help.
In the past, even though many social workers have been able to use Modest Needs to apply for help on behalf of their clients, our system has made that process more difficult for them than it ever should've been.
To fix this problem, we've created a new type of registration enabling social workers (who will be vetted just like families are) to create and manage applications for up to 5 of their clients - people who genuinely need and would qualify for Modest Needs' assistance, but might not be able to access our services otherwise.
So, if you're a social worker or client advocate, and you're employed by a non-profit organization or a state / federal organization that often makes referrals, I'd like to personally invite you to register with Modest Needs as a social worker so that you can offer your clients the kind of assistance that Modest Needs is designed to provide.
You can learn more about our new Social Worker registration via our FAQ sheet for social workers, and you can register with us as a social worker simply by following this link.
Secondly, I am thrilled to announce the launch of Modest Needs' first new grant program in more than six years! Starting today, you'll notice a new type of Modest Needs grant that stands to make all the difference in the world for OTHER nonprofit organizations. Yes, you heard me correctly. OTHER organizations. Let me explain:
When I started Modest Needs back in 2002, we were (like all non-profits are in the beginning) a fledgling little grassroots organization struggling to stay afloat on a shoestring budget. And finding the funding to help our applicants was hardly our only obstacle.
In those days, if Modest Needs' ONE printer broke, or our ONE computer went down, or we didn't have the funding to buy a simple piece of software, we literally risked going 'out of business.' Frankly, it was only through creative problem-solving, the personal generosity of our donors - people just like you who believed in the importance of this work - and more than a little bit of luck that Modest Needs made it through those early rough patches.
The sad fact, though is that most start-up non-profit organizations, even those with the best ideas and the greatest potential to do good, often find themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to serving their communities. On the one hand, the 'modest needs' of these small non-profit organizations really are too small for conventional grant-makers to consider them a priority.
But on the other hand, while many of these organizations' donors would happily contribute to help an organization they believe in through a short-term rough patch, most small non-profits aren't lucky enough to have the technological capacity that Modest Needs always has had, and the ability to let our donors know - quickly - exactly what short-term crisis we were facing, and exactly how they could help us.
To make a long story short, a few months ago, it finally dawned on me that the rough patches we faced in the early days of Modest Needs very closely resembled the difficulties faced by the low-income population that Modest Needs itself exists to serve. Like those hard-working individuals and families, we worked diligently to stay afloat, made ends meet by the skin of our teeth, and felt especially vulnerable in the face of one-time hardships.
But more importantly, like the population we exist to serve, because Modest Needs' own needs at the time were so very small, there really wasn't a major grant-marker we could turn to for the help we sometimes needed, for example, to fix the computer that, at the time, Modest Needs just couldn't have lived without.
These days, I spend a lot of my time looking for ways to do what I can to foster a much-needed spirit of cooperation (as opposed to competition) within the non-profit community as a whole. And I can't think of any better way to foster that spirit of cooperation than by opening up the tremendous grant-fulfillment system we've created over the years at Modest Needs to exactly the types of small, community-based non-profits that I've described above: non-profit organizations that do terrific jobs on shoestring budgets but just haven't had a way to request from the people most likely to support them - members of the general public - the short-term help that THEY need if they're going to continue to serve their communities.
And so, it is with great pleasure that today, I am announcing the launch of a new grant type at Modest Needs: the Modest Needs 'Non-Profit Grant.' The goal of this new, long term grant program at Modest Needs is simple: it is designed to empower our donors, not only to help individuals and families struggling through a short-term crisis, but to invest directly in small non-profit organizations who need your help to fund the small, program-related expenses that will enable them to stay 'in business' and happily serving our neighbors and our communities.
Just as we do with family applications, Modest Needs will perform a rigorous screening process to ensure that only nonprofits with government-decreed charitable status are eligible for these new grants. We'll accept applications from small charities of all kinds (whose funding doesn't exceed $500,000). And we'll supply you - our donors - with the tools to search for nonprofit applications based on their causes. Our long-term aspiration is to connect individual donors with these charities, but also to attract grant-making foundations in search of worthy causes to support.
I hope it goes without saying that this important new arm of Modest Needs could never have been possible without your support. You've made what I'll always consider "our little nonprofit" more successful than I ever dreamt possible. In keeping with our mission, please know that Modest Needs' primary commitment will ALWAYS be to the population who first inspired us: hard-working, low-income families neglected by traditional philanthropy.
But if we can work together through Modest Needs to harness the enthusiasm, hope and generosity our donors have always shown and pass it onto other good causes and the communities they serve, then as far as I'm concerned, our new 'Non-Profit Grant' will have been a smashing success!
Representatives of non-profit organizations who'd like to register with Modest Needs and apply for this new grant type can do so here. And once your organization has been registered with Modest Needs, it'll take you less than five minutes to complete our short, non-profit grant application. So to all of you non-profits out there struggling to carry out your missions, know that Modest Needs and our donors are here to help you. Welcome aboard!
And now for the grand finale!
As you know, I firmly believe that our donors deserve an intimate experience with the people they're helping, which is exactly why I've made certain that YOU determine which applicants we fund by allocating your Modest Needs points. But I also realize that browsing through specific applications to make these decisions can be a time-consuming process. That's why, in the past, so many of you have simply asked us to allocate your Modest Needs points for you, wherever we thought they'd do the most good.
While we've been happy to allocate our donors' points for them, there's just one problem with that system: the vast majority of our donors never know EXACTLY where they've invested their points or receive the first 'thank you' note from a family they've helped.
I want to change that, so today, I'm thrilled to tell you that we've added a fantastic new component to our website - one designed specifically for those of you who just don't have time to read through all of Modest Needs' applications to determine who you'd most like to help. Here's how it works:
Starting today, right now, if you log in to Modest Needs and click the 'Update My Profile' link from your Personal Page, you'll be given the opportunity to choose whether or not you want Modest Needs' help to allocate your points and, if so, to set 'point allocation preferences' - for example, the types of Modest Needs grants you most like making, and the specific causes (e.g. 'Urgent Health Care,' 'Imminent Loss of Housing') that you'd most like to invest in.
Once you provide your preferences, every night, our system will allocate a very small portion of your points to the KINDS of applications you've told us you'd most like to fund so applicants don't wait around. Your dollars (and your say!) make an impact at Modest Needs every day. You'll be able to see exactly which grant applications you've helped to fund, and you'll receive testimonials from every applicant who benefits from your points via email, unless you opt-out of these emails on your personal page.
And if you'd prefer to maintain complete control over your points and designate individual applications to which to donate, that's fine too -- just select that option via the 'Update My Profile' link on your personal page instead.
So please, I'm asking ALL of you to take only 2 minutes (really!) to visit your personal page, click the 'Update My Profile' link, and set your preferences for funding applications. With just a few clicks of your mouse, you'll make your voice heard, and you'll ensure that we help deserving families more quickly than ever before.
Thanks for taking the time to read this longer-than-usual but very important update and, as always, for your kindness, your generosity, and your support of Modest Needs. Until next week, take care, and be well!
