IIMPACT Australia Secures Record Donations in 2020!
Half Yearly Report Jul-Dec 2020
Over January-June 2020 our donors contributed over $15,000. So we surprised ourselves with a blowout July-December 2020 during which we raised over $20,000 from repeat donors and many new to the cause. This $35,000 raising is the largest we have raised in 12 months, since establishment of IIMPACT Australia in 2013!
During a difficult year, members continued their outreach to raise awareness and secure support from personal and professional contacts. But new this financial year was a digital campaign that raised 40% of the donations, including from many first time supporters.
The digital initiative was led by professionals from Westpac, volunteering their own time and expertise to revamp our online presence – you may have noticed our new website with crowdfunding of Learning Centres now made easy. This is a journey we have just begun and the IIMPACT Australia Digital team is still looking for professionals – you can join us via our Membership page.
In another first, , we conducted our first fund raising on social media to test traditional giving by the Indian diaspora at Diwali. The ‘Shine the Light ‘ campaign was run by our supporters on Facebook to raise funds from their own networks.
We also featured three Learning Centres in Madhya Pradesh – in Kaloney, Shahpura and Borda Dev – that needed financial support.
We were accepted into the PayPal Giving Fund and have received Not For Profit advertising grants from Google and Twitter. We will be building on these with stronger social media initiatives going forward and encourage you to follow and promote us on these platforms.
I am also excited that we are now registered with a number of corporate matching programs, such as Benevity and Good2Give. Do check with your organisation if they are partners in these programs so you can double your impact!
As a result, our Shine A Light campaign target of $5,000 as well as three featured Learning Centres in Madhya Pradesh, each targeting $2,500 have been fully funded! We are now supporting the education of 366 girls at thirteen LCs in India. This has been possible only with your continued support and encouragement.
The SABERA awards recognise the exceptional work done in India in the development sector and our partner IIMPACT India’s award in the Shiksha (education) category is a recognition of the quality of their work in the education of young girls in rural India.
While Covid-19 still maintains its grip on the world’s population, on the ground in India IIMPACT has adapted to the situation and has successfully transitioned (mutated!) to Alternate Learning Arrangements (ALA). Operating under Covid-safe practices, IIMPACT Learning Centres’ ALA has been welcomed by each Centre’s Management Committee as well as the local community, including local self-government representatives. Starting in the middle of 2020, each Learning Centre has been provided supplementary learning materials and resources for activities and initiatives to restart the girls’ education journey that was interrupted by the pandemic. Assessment of the students is now expected to be carried out in January 2021.
Please have a look at the IIMPACT Educating the Girl Child Inc. Quarterly Report Oct-Dec 2020 received from our partner on Learning Centres funded by IIMPACT Australia. See for yourself the range of activities that have been completed to ensure the education journey continues despite the difficulties owing to the spread of covid-19. These activities range from capacity building – such as teacher training, teacher assessment, field visits and community meetings – to children’s activities on Gandhi Jayanti, International Girl Child Day, Bal Diwas and Samvidhan Diwas.
We are now planning initiatives for 2021 and we’d be delighted to hear your ideas.
Thank you for your support!