Non-profit organizations are trying to change the world, but they continually face a big challenge. They can't hire and maintain the most talented people because those people could make a lot more money in the for-profit world. Many (if not all) non-profits suffer from a lack of operational funds to help support staff and the operations of their organization.
This is Agness. She was rescued from a life of poverty and neglect in 2009 and now lives in a home for orphans in Lusaka, Zambia. Several years before, a group of donors gave money to build a house for 14 orphans. That's an easy sell: give us money to build a house for 14 orphans!
Agness is not the only orphan in Zambia. In fact, there are one million orphans in Zambia alone. So while one house changed Agness' life forever, there are millions of kids just like Agness around the world. So now we need to build more houses. A lot more houses...
Now we need a lot more people to tell others about how Agness' life was changed forever. And then when enough people decided they want to change lives too, we need some people to take donations to build these new houses. And we need some people to keep a budget so we're not wasting that money that is going to change lives. And we need more people to help us build these houses and make sure that there is electricity and water in the houses.
And most importantly we need these people to be good at what they do, because we are changing lives and there's a million orphan in just this one country and if we don't do something quick then they may not be around when it's their turn to move into these houses.
This is the harder sell, but the work that is being done is too important to waste time.
Help support the less sexy operational needs of non-profits. Your donations will go towards helping a non-profit bring in the talented people who can help them change lives forever.
Your donations will be made to Family Legacy, a non-profit that works with orphans in Zambia. Your tax-deductible donation will go towards helping them get and maintain the talented people who can help change the lives of orphans in Zambia.
More about Family Legacy »
I joined Family Legacy in 2008 as the Director of Technology after several years of hi-tech consulting. As a way to keep administrative costs down, Family Legacy asks all of it's employees to raise their salary on their own from outside donors. It was a difficult decision to leave a very high paying job, but I felt it was the right thing to do and we altered our lifestyle accordingly.
In 2011, I was forced to make a decision a year after the birth of our first child. I left Family Legacy in order to make enough money to provide for my family.
If the option was available, then Family Legacy would have happily paid me for the work I was doing. Donations were soaring, but they were designated for very important things such as building houses for orphans. In order to take their work with orphans to the next level, Family Legacy needed people and, more importantly, the right people.
I promised to help them raise the less sexy operational fund necessary to expand their reach. Your donation will help them get and keep the talent they need to bring hope to the one million orphans who live in Zambia.
