We’ve written a brief, honest, and urgent assessment of our current situation.
This year was planned to be a time of great expansion for Arrive. Typically, a spring of fundraising events followed by a summer full of hosting volunteers puts Arrive in a financially stable position to provide holistic care to the children who depend on us for their wellbeing. By fall, we begin looking for the following year’s projects and opportunities. It has always been Arrive’s internal policy to maintain a minimum of one year’s operating costs in the bank to support our children and partner organizations.
We are not at this point right now. Like other non-profit organizations, Arrive is struggling to make ends meet during this COVID-19 pandemic. Without volunteer income to support our childrens homes, our financial struggle is compounded as we are currently incurring unforeseen costs. Enduring this pandemic in a developing country without the institutions which the rest of the world relies on, while at the same time remaining 100% committed to providing for the most vulnerable children in the local communities, has dwindled Arrive’s resources to a dangerously low level.
Arrive currently has enough money for three additional months of operating and general costs. Twenty-six children depend on Arrive for a safe place to live, access to a quality education, food, and medical treatment to a range of other benefits like interacting with global community members, opportunities for travel and higher learning, and encouragement to explore their individual interests. Without increased fundraising, we will be forced to limit the support we can provide to these children by August 2020. That would break our hearts more than it would break theirs.
Our successes over the past seven years speak for themselves. We have welcomed many of you into our homes and project-sites in rural Kenya, and for those of you who haven't made the physical journey (yet), we've kept you in the loop through our website and social media updates. We have remained committed to transparency and honesty - both locally on the ground and to our esteemed donors. We have held many fruitful fundraising campaigns both in person and online. This memo, however, is not one of those campaigns. This is an honest and humbling plea. This is a request to help us be able to help the children we love, as we weather this storm, together.
With only three months left of operating costs in the bank, our goal is to raise $54,000 by July 31st 2020 to ensure Arrive and our local partner organizations have the funds and resources needed to continue to provide the best and most holistic care to our Arrive children for the next six months. These funds will be used for:
essential operating costs (food, clothes, soap, sanitary pads, other basic needs etc.)
taking precautionary measures against the various effects of the coronavirus (enhanced sanitation equipment)
assisting our children in continuing their education online by giving them access to laptops and Wi-Fi connection to attend remote classes
enabling us to continue paying our caretakers on-the-ground who rely on Arrive as their source of income for their own families
As the world slowly rebounds from our current situation, Arrive will also reassess how to increase financial self-sufficiency to be better prepared for future unpredictable events.
If you can give. The Arrive team and the children who depend on our care are forever thankful for your support over the past seven years. We sincerely ask you now, in this volatile time, to help us again. Donations remain tax-deductible (EIN#: 462565243) and can be made online, by mail, or on Venmo (@ArriveKenya). While any amount helps, 504 individual donations of $100 would give Arrive - and the children who depend on us - a financial cushion upon which to successfully restore full operational functions for six months. Even in these uncertain times, we believe this is an attainable goal. In fact, it may just be that in the face of a faceless enemy, your proven commitment to selflessly supporting those in need through Arrive will shine through brighter than ever before.
If you have a few minutes. We want to hear from you in an effort to create a relationship that is of mutual understanding and trust. Hearing your feedback directly impacts our decisions as an organization. The best way for us to get to know you better is through this anonymous six question survey. By taking just a few minutes to answer a couple basic questions, we feel it will be highly effective - to both you as the donor and to us as the steward of your contribution - to remain on the same page.
We appreciate your consideration to contribute, we appreciate your sacrifice, and we sincerely thank you. Thank you for allowing us to be your bridge to impact.
Please direct anyone who may be able to assist to this webpage www.arrivekenya.org/covid. This call to action is urgent; we need and appreciate your help.
9 July 2020
Thank you so much to those of you who received our email last month and have generously given to, shared, and supported our Covid-19 campaign thus far. Tunashukuru sana (We are very grateful).
Since our last email, you have raised $16,254.00 from 84 different donors, which is just over 30% of our goal of Arrive's Covid-19 campaign! If you missed our first email call-to-action, it can be found here. The money you've raised has purchased food, clothes, household items, school supplies, and sanitation products for some of the most vulnerable children of this local community in rural Kenya.
A very generous donor* has pledged to match all donations, starting today, up to a total of $7,500.00. If you contribute now, your donation and your impact will be doubled!
We want to welcome you into our home with this short 3 minute video update of life in Kenya during the Covid-19 pandemic. Enjoy!
~ Thank you for allowing us to be your bridge to impact ~
* Our generous donors are Jason Mayer and his mother Joanne Posner-Mayer. We are proud that Jason is a former volunteer with Arrive. Like many volunteers who return to their life abroad, Jason wanted to continue supporting the children he came to know and love in Kenya. We thank Jason and his mother for supporting Arrive and the children we care for by matching donations up to $7,500.00.
