Every December, we live with uncertainty. We nervously arrive at the final stretch of our fund drive about halfway toward meeting our critical goal. We plan and budget for the year ahead, assuming the support we need will arrive, but uncertain it will come.
This year is no different. With eight days to go in the 2014 Winter Fund Drive, we’re at $113,348, with more than $85,000 to go toward meeting our $200,000 goal. We hopefully await each day’s mail, knowing that most of our gifts arrive in that final week. We nervously eye our budget, wondering what happens if the gifts don’t.
And every year, there is a rush of support at the end of the drive. It’s like that scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” when the flood of townspeople arrive, and George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, learns that a caring community has his back.
This year, we’re more excited about our work than ever, and we’re grateful for the support that makes it possible. We’ve spent our 20th-anniversary year looking to the future, thinking about strengths and weaknesses and planning for what’s next.
Strategic plans sometimes get a bad rap as documents that provide work for consultants and then gather dust in file drawers. Not ours. We’ve created a plan for 2015 – 16 that taps into our strengths, addresses our challenges and grows the vibrant, effective, organization that our community needs.
Here’s what we’re building on:
▪ More than 300 active vendors every month, achieving success on their own terms and finding the support they need to build a better life
▪ A quality newspaper that keeps getting better. We’re proud of our talented news team and all the volunteer journalists, photographers and artists who make Real Change great
▪ A well-earned reputation for winning advocacy and community engagement. This year, our OutsideIn campaign to make 1,000 unsheltered homeless people safer by 2015 has helped place the crisis high on the city’s action agenda and led to gains for those who are unsheltered
▪ A solid foundation of quality staff, engaged and impressive board members, and a facility that supports our growth
▪ A community of friends who support our vendors and make our work possible. About 60 percent of our annual budget rests upon the generous support of more than 1,800 amazing contributors.
Over the past five years, Real Change has gone from over-extension and crisis to increased effectiveness and long-term stability. We’re rock solid, passionate about our work and ready to grow.
While the finished strategic plan won’t be released until 2015, our vision for the future is clear. Here’s what you’ll see, beginning this January, and watch build over the next three years:
More vendor success: Street papers in the 21st century face two challenges: The growing obsolescence of cash and huge shifts in how people read and get their news. After two years of preparation, Real Change will launch a smartphone app in February to allow cashless payment to your vendor and provide a digital newspaper to read on your phone or tablet. A new website will be unveiled in February that features rich social media integration and brings our community into action. We will extend the work that began last year through new partnerships that promote opportunity for work and access to the help that people need
Race and class at the center: Real Change understands that not everyone has access to the same opportunities, and that poverty and homelessness disproportionately affect people of color. Last summer, we changed our mission statement to include a commitment to racial justice, and we are working to become a model organization working at the intersection of race and class. This means more vendor involvement in every aspect of our organization, internal and external work to meaningfully address issues of racial bias and a pioneering commitment to placing economic and racial justice at the core of all that we do
Taking action, building for power: Real Change is a voice for the poor that supports the broader movement for economic and racial justice. We will amplify our voices and the work of our allies with partnerships that unite us for change. We will adopt new mobilization tools through our newspaper, website and social media to engage the public and build pressure for action. We will help the community understand the challenges that poor people face by building upon our speakers bureau and supporting vendor activism with leadership development and continued organizing that speaks to their pressing concerns
In for the long haul: The work of creating opportunity and a voice for poor and low-income people while taking action for economic, social and racial justice is a long-term commitment that depends upon staying power. That means building diverse leadership across the organization that looks to the future and is accountable to those we serve. It means securing the resources we need to be our most effective and moving with strength into an uncertain future. It means building the foundation that ensures we’ll be here for years to come.
On Dec. 19, Real Change held its annual holiday party to celebrate our success. Amid the gingerbread houses, roast turkey and mashed potatoes, I saw an organization united in love to bring hope, opportunity and dignity to those who otherwise might have little to celebrate.
Our work is only possible with your support. Please make your gift to Real Change by Dec. 31. Visit realchangenews.org and click on the Winter Fund Drive banner or mail your donation to 219 1st Ave. S., Ste. 220, Seattle, WA 98104.
Thank you, from all of us here at Real Change.