A Great Year Ahead!

Expanding to Kajiado County 2023 has started in a big way for Light Up Hope. We have received funding to expand both our feeding and Woven programs while maintaining the 160 beneficiaries for our High School Program.  Given the massive expansion, the organization saw it necessary to involve both the target community and local government in the selection process of schools to benefit from the program. Indeed, by ensuring full participation, we gave the community an opportunity to own the initiative in the hopes that it will increase the impact of the program. Specifically, the organization formed a County Technical Committee, a team bringing together the Light Up Hope’s Staff and representatives of the two levels of government (National and County level) to work together in ensuring a successful implementation of our Programs in Kajiado County. The CTC consists of, The committee’s first assignment was the selection of the 2023 High School Scholarship beneficiaries where the organization benefitted hugely from the members knowledge of the area and its dynamics In the initial stages, it was the work of the CTC to receive all applications from aspirants and forward the same to LUH staff involved in the selection process. Upon the […]

Fundraising During a Pandemic

Kelly and I started 2020 optimistic with our fundraising goals.  We had a great plan in place to try new fundraising adventures, mixed in with our tried a true fundraising events.   Then suddenly, the world closed, COVID hit and like everyone else we were uncertain what things would be like.  We kept optimistic, one month turned to two months, two months turned to three and then we realized COVID was not going anywhere.  We started to lose our monthly donors and were struck with the reality that our fundraising goals would not be met.  At this point we were not sure if Light Up Hope (LUH) would have enough funds through the end of the year.  Like most other non-profits we had to think of fundraising events we could hold that were COVID friendly.  But as we tried to come up with ideas the rules kept changing.  So, we brainstormed ideas that could take place outdoors and thought we would try a virtual fun run.  This was something we had never done before, since usually races can cost a lot of money, but with COVID and everything being virtual the cost was considerably less. When we started to market the […]

How recurring, monthly donations help Light Up Hope to do its work

Why are recurring monthly donations so important to nonprofits, and how do they help us to do our work? Have you asked the question: Why should I set-up a recurring donation? Can’t I just wait for the annual gala fundraiser or the Christmas giving campaign and make a single, lump-sum donation, then? Because we support students and their families year-round, monthly budgeting is key to effectively running our programs. Receiving donations each month allows us to better plan for both the short-term as well as for the future. If we have a significant number of recurring donations, we do not have to wait for the annual fundraiser in the spring to set goals to maintain our programs at current levels, or even, to expand and strengthen the reach and impact of our work, by: accepting and supporting new K-12 students, informing our high schoolers of available spots in our university program, initiating planned, but as of yet, unfunded, services like the community feeding component of our LIFT program. For example, in the fall, our senior high school students are taking their final term exams for graduation. These students will be waiting for word from us before planning their next steps. […]