This past weekend, I visited my parents in Lima, Ohio. Somewhere between cookie-baking and merry-making we got onto the topic of my job. I found myself explaining how interesting I find working simultaneously with tech companies and nonprofit organizations. "The tech companies are obviously, well, quite tech savvy," I said, "And more often than not, they are also quite profitable. In contrast, the nonprofits we assist often struggle to cover their expenses, and tend to be a far less tech savvy."
Listening in to the conversation from across the room, my 10-year-old son chimed in, "and you bridge those two worlds."
I smiled and told him he was right.
That is what we do at Grassroots.org.
With thanks to our well-connected board and our experienced staff, we are poised to leverage the resources of tech companies (most often Internet companies) for the benefit of our nonprofit clients and, ultimately, the greater social good. And I'm pretty darn proud of how successful we've been at utilizing this position to garner new corporate sponsorships for the benefit of our clients.
Our in-kind sponsors provide services that directly benefit our clients. For example, our free web hosting is provided by Tierra.Net); our free server space is provided by Parking Panel).
We have also solicited several financial contributions from Internet-based tech companies. Overall, the support and positive feedback from the corporate tech community has been phenomenal.
To give just one example, Ammar Kubba, Cheif Operating Officer of TrafficZ sent me the following: "We are proud to support such an altruistic and socially-conscience organization, and we hope to maintain the TrafficZ-Grassroots.org partnership as an ongoing, long-term and symbiotic relationship. One of our core principles at TrafficZ is to 'empower your domains,' and, in conjunction with Grassroots.org, we want to help 'empower your domains for change.'"
It's wonderful to have powerful, positive companies like TrafficZ supporting our work. That said, while I very much enjoy talking to tech companies about what we do, I am a bit jealous of the direct interactions other Grassroots.org staff members have with our nonprofit clients.
For the most part, I live vicariously through the Grassroots.org team, and eagerly await positive quotes and emails forwarded from our clients.
Katie, our Director of Outreach and Development, recently passed on the following quote from Luna Ranjit, Executive Director of Adhikaar:
"The website designed by our Grassroots.org volunteer has made our website more navigable. It has attracted more visitors to our website, which has resulted in some unsolicited donations. Also, the assistance provided through the mentoring program has helped us with financial management and donor tracking, freeing up precious time for program work."
Hearing from folks like Luna is what really makes me love my job. It's in being able to provide these services to people making a difference in their communities -- in being the bridge between the nonprofit world and the technology-related business world that I find I can make my most powerful personal contribution.
I accepted the position of Executive Director at Grassroots.org believing strongly in the organization's mission and perceiving an immense potential for growth. As I type this here today, on the fifiteen-month anniversary of my hiring, I'd like to think we have begun to realize that potential.
