Zimfest News Blog

Posts Tagged "non-profit organizations"

AmazonSmile Winding Down

Dear Zimfest community,

Just a note to let you know that AmazonSmile, the charitable arm of Amazon.com that has allowed customers to direct donations to charitable organizations when they shop online, will be winding down as of 20 February 2023. For the past decade, you have been able to choose the Zimfest Association as the organization you would like to receive 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon purchases (see Support Zimfest). At times just pennies, these amounts have added up to significant donations to our non-profit Zimfest Association over the years.

We will be sad to see AmazonSmile go. Perhaps if you have been thinking of making an online purchase, make a point to visit AmazonSmile before Feb. 20th and direct your donation to the Zimfest Association.

Thank you!
Claire Jones, Zimfest Coordinator 

Music Dancing Across Borders

 

 

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The Make It Grow Project

Make It Grow: Supporting community-based food initiatives in Zimbabwe to fundraise using participatory video proposals

[Posted on behalf of Pamela Richardson-Ngwenya and the Make it Grow project]

In an attempt to empower communities to alleviate increasing food and nutritional insecurity, especially during the pandemic, the Make It Grow Project has been running online capacity-building workshops with community groups and NGOs in Zimbabwe to equip participants with the skills needed to create their own video proposals, using smartphone technologies. These video proposals pitch home-grown ideas for community food projects and can be used by the community groups and NGOs as a fundraising tool. The intention is to increase the accessibility of start-up funds for implementing community-based, sustainable food projects, while at the same time building up local video-making and project planning skills.

We devise learning resources for community groups and facilitators, to support straightforward ways of enhancing the social inclusion, production and dissemination of video proposals. We also work with the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility (Small Grants Programme) and other donors to support and pilot the integration of video proposals into their grant management and application process, making it more inclusive for all. Following the workshop series, we continue to support our participants and their fundraising campaigns through ongoing public events and online publication of their video proposals.

We are now asking for YOUR help! Please support our community partners in Zimbabwe to fundraise for their sustainable food projects by donating to their crowdfunding campaigns and promoting their videos on your social media networks. Make It Grow is a Knowledge Exchange project from the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food, supported by the UKRI’s Economic and Social Research Council. You can visit our website at www.makeitgrow.org.

You can see some of the participants’ videos here: Video Proposals :: Make It Grow

Pamela Richardson-Ngwenya
Project Leader, Knowledge Exchange Research Fellow and Learning Facilitator
Make It Grow

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Ubuntu Free School Fundraiser

Posted on behalf of Moyo and Kuda Mutamba:

What: I Am Because You Are is a storytelling event to support the free education of children in rural Zimbabwe at Ubuntu Free School (www.ubuntuearth.org)

When: 20th of December, 2 pm-3 pm EST (11am – 12 pm PST)

Where: ZOOM
Make a suggested donation of $15 here:
https://www.givingway.com/campaign/9f995f
And we will send you a secure Zoom link close to the event date.

Featured Storytellers:

We are excited to have Sage Tyrtle and Dan Yashinsky as our Tellers for our first event.

Sage Tyrtle is a professional storyteller who tells stories all over the world, most recently in India. Her stories have been featured on NPR and CBC radio and she is a multiple-time Moth StorySLAM winner, one-time Moth GrandSLAM winner, who has also appeared on the PBS tv show Stories From The Stage. She is a First Person Arts Story Slam winner and Audience Favourite. She teaches The Art of Storytelling in schools, to individuals, and in corporate settings.
You can learn more about her here:
https://tyrtle.com/

Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller and writer.
You can learn more about Dan here:
https://tellery.com/dan-yashinsky/

Moyo and Kuda will open and close the event with Mbira Music

For more information about Ubuntu Free School, visit our website: www.ubuntuearth.org

Tatenda/Siyabonga/Thank You

Co-director and Facilitator, Bloom Consulting
 
Co-Founder Ubuntu Free School ( Free and Holistic Learning for Children in Rural Zimbabwe). Support the Free School here: Support Ubuntu Free School
 
 
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Marimba Concert Fund-Raiser in Portland April 6

Hello Portland-area marimba lovers,
Put on your dancing shoes and help MyLinda King and her marimba students raise money for Zimfest and four different charities working in Zimbabwe!

When: Saturday April 6, 2019
12:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Where: Alongsiders Church
2830 NE Flanders St.
Portland, Oregon 97232
Why
An amazing raffle and silent auction will benefit Zimfest 2019, offsetting travel costs for Zimbabwean musicians coming to the festival. This year’s Africa-inspired quilt (quilt4africa.com) will benefit Tariro, Ancient Ways, Portland-Mutare Sister City and Unicef, all charities working in and for Zimbabwe.


FIVE marimba bands playing music from Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.
FIVE non-profits working on behalf of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans.

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Seeking New Board Members

Dear Zimfest Community,

Zimfest Association would like to recruit 1-2 additional board members over the coming month or two. If you are interested in joining the board, please send a letter expressing your interest to the board at board [at] zimfest {dot} org. If you have questions, send Alex, the Zimfest Association Board President, a message at alex.weeks [at] gmail {dot} com. Alternatively, if you are aware of individuals who you believe might have the skills and interest in joining the board, please let us know at board [at] zimfest {dot} org. Information on board membership can be found here https://zimfest.org/about/board-members/zimfest-association-board-recruitment/.

Thanks from the Zimfest Board

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Become a Member of Zimfest Association

Are you a Zimfest member? If not, consider becoming one. We have 62 memberships with 167 members for 2018 so far. Around 400 people usually attend Zimfest. One of the perks is that you don’t have to pay a registration fee if you attend Zimfest. Leave us some feedback about being a Zimfest member. Give us some ideas of other perks and we will see what makes sense with our association. Thank you! Visit the membership page – https://zimfest.org/about/membership/

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Support Zimfest When You Shop at Amazon.com

The Zimfest Association is now registered to receive donations when people shop at AmazonSmile. You can support Zimfest by choosing Zimfest Association as the organization you would like to receive 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon purchases.

About AmazonSmile: AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization.

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Zimfest Annual Campaign and Membership Drive

Dear Zimfest Association Friends and Members:

We hope that you are all doing well and are planning to join us for another amazing Zimfest next year at the University of Puget Sound from July 24 through July 27th. The organizing committee is already hard at work with detailed planning for the festival. In parallel, the Zimfest Association Board has been busy creating a stronger and more sustainable organization. We encourage you to review what we’ve been up to on the Zimfest blog which can be found at https://zimfest.wordpress.com.

Call to Action!

We are writing at this time to solicit your help. No organization can survive without financial support, and the Zimfest Association is no different. While the annual festivals provide some income to the Association, these funds are unpredictable and are insufficient to sustain and grow the Association. For example, in 2013 the festival made less than $1500 in profits, which greatly limited the funds available to pay our Zimfest coordinator, pay our festival musicians and make charitable donations to other organizations which support Zimbabwe. For this reason, we have instituted an aggressive strategy aimed at raising money via other means. With this letter, we are inaugurating our first Annual Campaign and Membership Drive.

Become a Member of the Zimfest Association

This year, we have changed the way that membership to the Zimfest Association is handled. Beginning January 1st, the term of membership will run for a full calendar year until December 31st. Our goal is to have all recurring Zimfest participants be current members of the organization. The minimal fee of $25 will allow a Regular member to attend the festival without paying a registration fee of $12. Members may choose to have their names published on the website and in the Festival Guide. 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.

Provide Charitable Donations to the Zimfest Association

While fees from membership are a great start, if we hope to be an organization that will continue to put on festivals for years to come, it will take more money than membership fees alone can raise. For this reason, we are also soliciting tax-deductible donations to the Zimfest Association. While we would ideally like to see each member who is able to renew their membership also make a donation, we realize that our fund-raising efforts often go no farther than the same group of generous donors. Therefore, we are asking each of you to refer a friend or acquaintance to our donations page. Is there someone in your circle of friends or extended family who is familiar with Zimfest, has enjoyed performances by our Zimbabwean guests, or has seen how enriching your involvement in the music has been? If so, ask that person to make a donation to help support Zimbabwean musicians and assist Zimfest on its path towards a sustainable infrastructure.

We hope that you will seriously consider becoming a member of the Zimfest Association for the 2014 calendar year, as well as making or enabling a charitable contribution. If each Zimfest member can find a willing donor we will be well on our way towards sustainability! Your contributions are tax-deductible either in the 2013 or 2014 tax year, depending on when you make your payment. Please visit our Membership and Donation page on our website at http://zimfest.org/membership for instructions on how to make a contribution.

Thanks for all that you do to make Zimfest a success. Happy Holidays…

—The Zimfest Association Board

P.S. Zimfest Association Donations to Charities

This year, Zimfest is pleased to announce our support for five non-profit organizations working in Zimbabwe. The Savannah Arts Center, based in the neighborhood of Mbare, on Harare’s southern edge, will receive a donation of $500. Savannah Arts Center has a past history of participating in Zimfest, and sent a small group of musicians to perform at our festival in 2000. The other four projects and organizations will receive grants of $250 each. These are MBIRA, Tariro, the Jangano Club for teaching mbira in schools, administered through Ancient Ways, and the Chinhoyi High School Project, administered through Kutsinhira’s Zimbabwe Community Development Project.

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Zimfest Funding Requests Due December 5

Dear members of the Zimfest community,

On behalf of the Zimfest Association board, I would like to communicate with you briefly about our commitment to making charitable donations to other non-profit organizations.

Our history of giving

In the past, the Zimfest Association has frequently disbursed amounts of up to $8,000 in festival proceeds, split between several worthy charitable causes. These organizations have included MBIRA, Ancient Ways, Tariro, Patience Chaitezvi’s Chinhoyi High School Project, the Dispatch Foundation, and the Portland-Mutare Sister City organization.

Our unique current circumstances

As the festival continues to evolve, each year brings both new promises and new challenges. This year, the Zimfest Association has committed to putting more of the festival’s proceeds toward ensuring our long-term stability and sustainability. This effort has taken several forms, including the hiring of a new part-time festival coordinator, as well as small payments for evening performers. Combined with last year’s festival, which did not result in a large profit, this decision has meant that the Zimfest Association has significantly less money to contribute to other non-profit causes this year.

Reaffirming the principle of giving – a call for proposals

At our recent board meeting, the Zimfest board made the unanimous decision to continue making charitable contributions this year, reaffirming our commitment to the principle of giving back to Zimbabwean communities through development efforts. However, we wish to advise applicants that available funds are very small this year. As a result, we may offer funding to a single organization alone, or give much smaller amounts to a number of applicants.

Applicants who wish to be considered for charitable donations must submit a formal proposal by December 5th for consideration at our next board meeting. This applies equally to all organizations, regardless of prior history as a Zimfest Association grantee.

For further information, please feel free to email me:
jennifer [at] zimfest {dot} org

Sincerely,
Jennifer Kyker

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