Zimfest friends and family,
Thank you for participating in the $1,000 matching challenge, from friends and relatives who really know nothing about Zimfest to our long-time loyal supporters. With all of your help we raised $1,500. A big thank you to our anonymous donors for this final Zimfest 2018 challenge. We have met and exceeded our $8,000 fundraising campaign goal for Zimfest 2018.
Much appreciated, from the Zimfest Board!
Dear Zimfest Community,
Just $10 from 21 people to almost reach the $211 to raise to reach $1,000. It costs $160 to house one Zimbabwean at Zimfest for the weekend. There are 3 more days in this $1000 matching challenge for Zimfest. No donation is too small.
To donate, go to https://zimfest.org/about/support-zimfest/.
Thank you for your support! from the Zimfest Board
Dear Zimfest Community,
Zimfest was amazing! We have a $1000 matching challenge coming out of Zimfest from Aug. 12 to 26 (extended). Thanks to some anonymous donors who want to continue to help with the fundraising efforts. We have raised $25 of $1000. No donation is too small.
To donate, go to https://zimfest.org/about/support-zimfest/
Thank you for your continued support! from the Zimfest Board
SEVEN DAYS until Zimfest! We are at 71% of our $8,000 goal. Just over $2,300 remaining to bring in. Thank you to those who have contributed so far. If you have not sent in a gift, please consider donating to help towards the cost of transportation, room and board for the group of talented Zimbabwean teachers; implementing the new festival registration system; and purchasing marimbas to augment the supply of instruments at the festival. Any amount is appreciated.
To donate, go to https://zimfest.org/about/support-zimfest/.
Thank you for your continued support! from the Zimfest Board
Hello Zimfest community,
The countdown continues: 17 days until we meet again in Monmouth! As you probably know, registration for Zimfest housing and dining has closed. Signup for workshops and volunteering will close on midnight August 1. At that time the Organizing Committee will put the final touches on plans and programming for Zimfest 2018 at Western Oregon University August 9-12.
Festival Coordinator Claire Jones
The Zimfest 2018 Organizing Committee
More important now than ever:
Greetings, Zimbabwean music fans,
We have another member of the community who has generously pledged to match the next $500 the community raises from July 3rd-10th. 16 of you came through for our successful previous matching challenge. Sharing the message can also help make an impact. Please help us maximize this match towards our goal by making a donation to Zimfest. No donation is too small!! Here are some ways that your donations help.
Prices of Impact
$9.50 – Dinner at Zimfest for 1 Zimbabwean
$24.25 – Meals for a day for 1 Zimbabwean
$640.00 – Housing for 4 Zimbabweans during Zimfest
$1,513.00 – All weekend meal plan for 17 Zimbabwean teachers
To donate, go to https://zimfest.org/about/support-zimfest/.
Thank you for your continued support! from the Zimfest Board
Update June 6End of $1000 match. Thanks to some of you, we brought in $1080 during this week’s challenge. A big thank you to our generous donor for challenging us to this match, for a total of $2080. We are now at 58% of our total goal, more than halfway there! We hope you have some lovely weather and music to enjoy! Thank you!
— Zimfest Association Board
Greetings Zimbabwean music fans,
Thank you so much for your support, we have raised $2,532 towards our fundraising goal! In addition, a member of the community has generously pledged to match the next $1,000 the community raises from May 26th through June 2nd. Please help us maximize this match towards our goal by making a donation to Zimfest. No donation is too small – just $10 from 100 Zimbabwean music fans will help us get there. Let’s watch the conga get colored in! To donate, go to https://zimfest.org/about/support-zimfest/
Thank you! from the Zimfest Board
Greetings, Zimbabwean music fans!
Zimbabwean Independence Day is April 18th and Zimfest 2018 is only four months away. Help us keep Zimfest and the celebration of Zimbabwean culture strong and active into the future.
Our fundraising goal for this year is $8,000, and we’ve already raised $1,600! The remaining $6,400 could easily be met if each of our 400 participants contributed $16. See the various ways you can donate by visiting https://zimfest.org/about/support-zimfest/.
Thank you!
— Zimfest Association Board
Dear Zimfest Association Friends and Members,
We hope you are doing well and have found this year challenging as well as thought-provoking, given the many newsworthy events both in Zimbabwe and the USA! We write to announce the Zimfest Association’s Annual Campaign and Membership Drive. This will be our fifth year running the campaign, and we are hoping that it will be our most successful ever. While the festival itself provides some income to the association, these funds are simply insufficient to help sustain and grow the Association and the Festival. Here are some ways that you can help.
Our goal is to have all Zimfest participants be members of the organization. It is our hope that a healthy dialogue about the festival and Association can emerge from a membership that feels a sense of ownership in the Zimfest Association. Membership covers the calendar year January 1st through December 31st. Membership dues are an essential part of keeping Zimfest alive and vibrant. From as little as $10.00 per year for our Youth/Student membership, there are membership categories to fit any budget and situation! Consider Regular, Family, Couple, Teacher, Lifetime, and Lifetime Family, memberships. Members may choose to have their names published on the website and in the Festival Guide as a public display of support for Zimfest. Membership fees are also 100% tax deductible, for now at least! Please refer to the membership page to renew or initiate a membership. If you renewed or took out a membership early in the year and did not hear from us, it may have been due to a glitch on our website signup form. Please write us at if you want to clarify your membership status.
While Membership dues are a great start, Zimfest needs a wider base of support to ensure long-term stability. For this reason, we are asking for everyone who can to make a tax-deductible donation to the Zimfest Association. These donations have been essential for the festival in the past, and your support of Zimfest now will help secure the future of the festival and sustain our financial well-being. If your company supports matching donations or in-kind work, find out from your supervisor or Human Resources department how your company can match your contribution—often dollar for dollar!
If you are a regular attendee of the festival, this is the perfect year to donate. Without a festival this year, we hope that you consider donating even a small fraction of what would normally go towards travel expenses, workshops, meal cards, etc. to help keep the momentum in this gap year. Your contributions really do make a difference and help the Association continue its efforts to put on the best Zimbabwean music festival in North America! To donate, go to the Support Zimfest page.
Finally, we’d like to remind you of three completely painless ways you can donate and help Zimfest on an ongoing basis. Go to the Support Zimfest page for information on Giving Assistant, AmazonSmile and eBay Giving.
If you’d like to learn more about this festival and what goes on during the other 360 days a year, please contact us at or review our recent activities on our blog .
Thanks for all you do to help make Zimfest a success. Best wishes for the holidays and new year, and we hope to see you at Zimfest 2018!
–The Zimfest Association Board
Greetings,
You can now earn money back for yourself plus donate to Zimfest while shopping online at more than 3,000 stores. 
Sign up now for Giving Assistant. You can give up to 30% of your purchase price to Zimfest Association! It only takes a minute to set up your account with Giving Assistant, and Zimfest will automatically be selected as your charity of choice if you use this link.
During Giving Week from now until December 3, when you shop at participating brands and donate to the Zimfest Association, Giving Assistant will double your cash back earnings which automatically doubles your donation amount to us. Eligible online brands include Etsy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples and Barnes & Noble.
Don’t forget we are actively looking for volunteers to work on organizing Zimfest 2018. See our previous post for jobs and e-mail me directly at , or our Volunteer Coordinator at .
Zimfest 2018 – Music Dancing Across Borders
Regards,
Claire (Zimfest Coordinator)
Dear Zimfest Association Friends and Members:
We hope that you are enjoying your summer and that you are finding ways to enjoy Zimbabwean music and culture despite the lack of a festival this year. The Zimfest Board is making great progress on our off-year activities including: identification of a more sustainable and easier to maintain registration software system; broadening our approach to Zimfest marketing to reach new participants while ensuring strong attendance at future festivals; reviewing potential changes to festival structure in the interest of Zimfest sustainability; and considering new sources of income for Zimfest. We hope that you have already marked your calendars for August 9-12th, 2018 for next summer’s Zimbabwean Music Festival which will once again be held at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon. Over the coming months, our Festival Coordinator, Claire Jones, will begin the process of recruiting an organizing committee. We hope that you will consider volunteering! Please reach out to by writing , or directly to Claire at if you are able to help.
As we’ve noted in the past, no organization can survive without financial support, and the Zimfest Association is no different. We need your help to survive! Towards this end, we would like to announce the start of our off-year fundraising campaign which will continue through the end of the calendar year. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue to put on the best Zimbabwean music festival in North America. A strong fundraising campaign will help ensure that we go into our next festival in a strong financial situation. The funds raised will be used to help bring Zimbabwean teachers and guests to the festival, to help grow our endowment, and to raise operating funds for specific needs such as supporting the transition to our new registration software. If your company supports matching donations, please don’t forget to complete the paperwork which would allow your company to match your contribution – often dollar for dollar.
We hope that each of you will consider a donation – no amount is too small (or too big)! We would like to appeal to bands in particular to consider raising funds for Zimfest during your summer performance season. In addition, if each of you can find a willing donor within your extended network it will greatly assist us in strengthening our financial position. Contributions are tax-deductible in the 2017 tax year. Please visit the Support Zimfest page on our website (https://zimfest.org/about/support-zimfest) for instructions on how to donate. You may also wish to initiate or renew a Zimfest Association membership on the Membership page (https://zimfest.org/about/membership).
Thanks for all that you do to make Zimfest a success.
Best wishes from the Zimfest Association Board
