Peace Corps Polyglot

Everybody Wins when Burkina Faso Wins!

Friends of Burkina Faso just announced their participation in the Everybody Can Win! competition that can help them raise at least $2500 and up to $15,000 for their Noon Meal Improves Girls' Learning project.  The competition is sponsored by Global Giving and the Kellogg Foundation and promises $2500 to any organization participating that can raise at least $5000 from 50 unique donors by December 15. 

Burkina Faso's Noon Meal Project provides a lunchtime meal for girls who attend middle school.  This meal is essential to students' learning, particularly as they have little or no breakfast and walk 6 km to and from school and have no other source of food during the day.  For the 2008-09 school year, Friends of Burkina Faso is supporting noon meals for about 500 students at the College Modern de l'Amitie, at a cost of $.41per day per student.  In the 2007-08 school year, the noon meal contributed to an impressive 81% of students completing coursework successfully. 

In addition to potentially winning $2500, there are bonuses Friends of Burkina Faso could win.  If they generate the most unique number of donors, they can win $15,000 and if they generate the greatest amount of donations, $10,000!  

So don't delay--donate now and help students have the food they need to concentrate on their studies.
 

Hard Work Pays Off for Everyone

Well the (still unofficial) results are in, and the Friends of Burkina Faso project, Lambs for School,  ended up in the top four of the America's Giving Challenge.  In a matter of five weeks--most of it in the last ten days--they raised $41,400 from 1,635 donors, meaning they will receive an additional $50,000.  You can see the AGC leaderboard here.

Can we say WOOHOO!?

That the Friends of Burkina Faso successfully took advantage of an amazing opportunity is an impressive accomplishment, a testament to the Peace Corps community and a stellar example of the Third Goal in action.

It's also another example of the value and importance of the National Peace Corps Association to our affiliate groups and to individuals in the Peace Corps community.   

NCPA worked with GlobalGiving for almost two years to develop a framework that would enable returned Peace Corps volunteer group projects to tap into new online resources far beyond what groups could do through the Peace Corps' partnership office or on their own.  NPCA identified several groups--FoBF among them--to participate in a pilot of the program.  Since then NPCA has heavily promoted this partnership and individual projects to our group leader listserv, the NPCA Facebook group Peace Corps Connect,in our monthly e-newsletter, on our website and numerous times on this blog.

Clearly the message got through to our community.  And we're thrilled that these interlocking partnerships yielded such a wonderful result. 

Down to the Wire for America's Giving Challenge

NPCA affiliate group Friends of Burkina Faso made the big time today, with the group's treasurer being quoted in a The New York Times article:  "Charities View for Prizes in Online Giving Experiment."   America's Giving Challenge is being underwritten by the Case Foundation.  The contest has caught the imagination of non-profits and is being seen by philanthropists and non-profit professionals as a test of online giving tools by small, grassroots organizations.

This morning Kristie McComb, President of Friends of Burkina Faso, sent out this message to her fellow group leaders:

Thank you so much to all of you who have rallied on behalf of the Friends of Burkina Faso (FBF) in America's Giving Challenge!  We have been so impressed by the outpouring of support that has kept FBF climbing up the donation ladder for the race to be awarded $50,000 for our "Lambs for School" project. 

Though we know that there are many good charities to support in this challenge, we really believe strongly in our community-driven project to educate 900 young girls in rural Burkina Faso.  Therefore, we are reaching out to you again in hopes that you'll mobilize your members to support a sister organization such as FBF!

Our top competitor has rallied a whole university campus but I think we can do more by rallying the ENTIRE RPCV Community!!!!!!   

And we are the only Peace Corps-affiliated group in the running for $50,000!  We'd like to both succeed in winning the $50,000 for our fellow Burkinabe, and meet the Peace Corps' 3rd goal by putting Burkina Faso on the map in the eyes of many Americans who don't realize that a primary and middle school education aren't a given in some parts of the world like our little corner of rural West Africa.

So what can you do?  Please donate $10 and please encourage your members to as well.  We need as many individual one-time only $10 donations as we can generate before 3pm EST on Thursday, January 31.   

We are currently in 3rd place but only 70 donations separate the top 4 and #5 is not far behind! 

If you have not already done so, please send a broadcast message out to your membership encouraging them to rally for our cause.

$10.  One time only.  As many new donors as we can get.

Thank you for your support!!!!

Kristie McComb
President
Friends of Burkina Faso

I made a $10 donation -- it's easy!  Have you made yours?

$10 +5 minutes = $50,000 for the Friends of Burkina Faso's Lambs for School Project

Kristie McComb, President of the Friends of Burkina Faso (FBF) got in touch with me today.  She wrote:

I don 't know if you know this but last year, at the encouragement of NPCA, FBF joined into a partnership with GlobalGiving (GG) to promote our community-driven projects via GG's interactive website connecting donors with projects. It has been a great partnership so far in that it has greatly increased our exposure beyond our membership.  We've been able to participate in some fundraising competitions and have actually won 2 out of 2!

Well, GG has partnered up with Parade Magazine and the Case Foundation to set up "America's Giving Challenge" which stands to net $50,000 for FBF if we are one of the top four charities to generate the most unique number of donations ($10 minimum).  We started the competition on December 23 and have generated 98 donations so far. Not bad but we are not yet in the top 4 charities though we are only 23 donations away at the moment!

We really believe we have a good chance to win.  We just need to cast our net wider to get these individual donations!

Interested in helping educate 900 rural girls? 

The minimum donation is $10, and duplicate donations from the same individual will only be counted once. So donate $10 once...and then tell a friend.  Simple.

You can learn more about the project here.

(This Challenge ends January 31st)

Give a Gift in the Spirit of the Peace Corps

It's the season of gift giving and although tonight is the last night of Hanukkah, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out two great sources for gifts for that globally-minded person on your list. You won't find these in any mall!

• Global Giving Gift cards - NPCA has partnered with GlobalGiving to promote high-impact grassroots initiatives in locations where the Peace Corps works.  You can learn all about our partnership by clicking here.  Purchase a gift card or make a donation in someone's name to one of these great RPCV Projects!
• NPCA's Online Store - NPCA is the source for a wide array of Peace Corps-related gifts:  shirts, ornaments, bumper stickers and more. Click here to visit our store. Your purchase supports the efforts of NPCA: dedicated to connecting, informing and engaging returned Peace Corps volunteers, former Peace Corps staff and all who support the values of Peace Corps.

Friends of Burkina Faso Project Ready for its Close Up

NPCA's partner GlobalGiving is holding its first-ever GlobalGiving FilmFest. They've gathered raw footage (photos and video) from more than twenty high-impact projects around the world, then handed the footage over to film makers who have created compelling and interesting videos that tell stories about the projects and the people being helped. 

Now it's your turn. Your vote will determine which videos do the best job of telling the project’s story. Check out all of the finalists’ videos at http://www.karmatube.org/ff and decide for yourself.

However, while they are all great causes, we will shamelessly admit our bias -- because, hey, this is a Peace Corps community  blog -- and urge you to vote for the Friends of Burkina Faso project video, Noon Day Meal. 

Even better, get all of your friends and family to vote too! And even if we don't agree on which video is best, the more people who get to know these projects, the more positive change we can create around the world. Vote Today! You have until June 29th at 11:59pm to make your vote heard. Scholarships for students or a gift to a project will be awarded for the videos with the most votes.

(GlobalGiving FilmFest videos can also be viewed on YouTube.)

Creative Collaboration

NPCA is excited about is its collaboration with GlobalGiving.com to promote high-impact grassroots initiatives in locations where the Peace Corps works.  Dubbed "RPCVs Project!," the initiative uses the power of the internet and interactive tools on the Global Giving website to promote projects near and dear to the hearts of the Peace Corps community.  Last fall three projects were included in a pilot phase which resulted in increased donations and visibility. 

Phase II is now underway and we’re accepting project nominations. Applicants/applicant organizations must be a member of the NPCA and/or a leader of an NPCA affiliate group. The deadline is April 30 (today...yikes!).

Click here for more information from our website.

Click here for the application.  Completed application can be sent to NPCA President Kevin Quigley:  president@rpcv.org