ChristmasFuture

The Girl Effect

Leif Baradoy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:33:36 +0000

ChristmasFuture is on twitter, where we follow Peter Deitz of Social Actions. In a recent tweet, he shared this video from The Girl Effect. Although some might harbour a little cynicism when they find out the Nike Foundation is largely behind this campaign, I neverthless thought the video and organization was worthwhile sharing here.
I love the way the Girl Effect works to humanize the face of those in need by asking the view to imagine a person, rather than think abstractly about a problem.
Have a look at the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIvmE4_KMNw

If you’re interested in supporting women’s empowerment, check out this project, then this project, then this search.

The Declaration of Human Rights: 60 Years of Good

Leif Baradoy — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:45:14 +0000

(this post first appeared on WorldChanging.org)
In 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt penned the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On December 10 of that year, the document was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly. Read it here.

Sixty years later, less than five percent of the world knows the Declaration exists. To celebrate this milestone anniversary and to help make these rights more accessible (and viral), designer Seth Brau created this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTlrSYbCbHE

Employers who give to causes you choose

Sara — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:32:57 +0000

Did you know that more than 50% of large companies have an employee donation program? Employers are looking for different engagement strategies to retain employees and they offer donations to causes important to their employees as a tactic. Part of my day job is distributing grants to charitable organizations where our employees volunteer. But each year, I am amazed how many people do not take advantage of the funding available.

So, in light of this, here is the inside scoop on how to access this money at your workplace and, as a result, possibly double your support to meaningful causes like ChristmasFuture.

There are primarily two types of employee donation programs:

Matching Funds – The basic idea is a company will match an employee’s charitable donation up to a maximum amount. For example: The “Encana Cares” program grants a matching dollar-for-dollar donation up to a $25,000 gift.
Dollars-for-Doers/Volunteer Grants – This program supports employee volunteer efforts. Based on specific criteria, a donation is given in recognition of the employee volunteer efforts. For example: The “RBC Volunteer Grant Program” provides a $500 donation to a charity in recognition of their employee who volunteered 40+ hours annually.

OK, now it is your turn and it will only take four easy steps:

Check out the employee donation programs at your company. Information may be on your intranet/employee website or call Human Resources, Community Investment or the Communications department for info.
Apply for the grant and direct the funds to ChristmasFuture if your workplace has a program.
Wait for cheque to be sent to ChristmasFuture.
Watch ChristmasFuture put it to good use to create more change in our world.

Since we are talking about accessing corporate dollars, look into the other upcoming campaigns at your company. Often, there is corporate “peer pressure” to give during this time either through a one-time donation or payroll deduction but most companies give employees the option of choosing either the pre-selected charity OR a charity of the employee’s choice (which would be ChristmasFuture – of course!) Look into this program at your company to see if the opportunity is available – you won’t know until you do.

Being connected to the charitable sector, I often hear about the difficulty in finding sustainable sources for operational funding. And ChristmasFuture is no different. ChristmasFuture’s operating budget is funded through donors giving above and beyond their chosen development project or a philanthropic individual donating or a fundraising event specifically designated to ChristmasFuture operations expenses. These corporate employee donation programs will provide additional support for the operational needs of ChristmasFuture as they continue grow and change the world.

Certified yoga instructors needed as demo teachers

Leif Baradoy — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:10:54 +0000

OneYoga needs 20-30 certified yoga instructors to help demonstrate proper poses to participants and to observe participants to ensure they are practicing safely during the 108 minutes of yoga.

All that is require of this volunteer instructors is:
- to read a couple page orientation document so you get a sense of our plan
- showup at 9:30 on Nov. 16th to go through a rehearsal of the practice and then attend OneYoga that afternoon at 1:00pm

Contact Leif to get involved.

Help out with participant intake at OneYoga

Leif Baradoy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:09:26 +0000

We need another 20 people to help welcome and intake OneYoga participants at the event. Ensure participants have signed a legal
Responsibilities:
- Attend training session on Monday Nov 10 from 6:30 to 7:15pm at the Jelly (110-308 11 Avenue SE)
- Attend OneYoga on Nov.16th from 11:00-1:30
- Volunteers are welcome and encouraged to participate in the event.

Contact Leif for more details.

Come to Monday night Jelly and test new website

Leif Baradoy — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:07:16 +0000

As you know, we are about to add a few new features to our website. I am looking for a few people to come to the next Jelly at Ideaca (110-308 11 Avenue SE) at 6:00pm to test out the new site. You will have to bring your own laptop. Ideally, we would have 10 people testing the new function of the site.

If you are interested in testing the new site functions, but cannot attend on Monday, please contact Leif

Jay, ChristmasFuture, and a Huge Announcement

Michael T — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:21:45 +0000

There’s a pretty big announcement brewing for ChristmasFuture… and while the anticipation sets in, I’d like to share a quick quote from Jay Baydala (founder of ChristmasFuture and all-around good guy) with you:

“I believe ChristmasFuture is gaining so much momentum because it is an idea that many of us already subscribe to - that we in North America have enough and we want to share it, and in doing so make the world better. We want to live in a better world and individually we are increasingly taking ownership for making it precisely that. ChristmasFuture is simply providing the tools to accomplish precisely what people already want to accomplish - to create better world.”

ChristmasFuture leverages the awesome power of the Internet to make eradicating extreme poverty a grassroots movement. I think that’s a pretty noble effort. And it seems I’m not the only one. Tons of volunteers keep this little dream afloat. More and more everyday people are discovering a way to realize their desire to help others. And Jay’s a big reason for that.

So, it’s with much fanfare and celebration that I get to announce that Jay has been selected as one of Calgary’s “Top 40 Under 40“. There’s a much more official announcement available (read it here), but I couldn’t wait to get that out there.

Congratulations, Jay!

(Image courtesy of Chris Bolin: http://www.chrisbolin.ca/)

Create survey for School Program users on Tiger Survery

Leif Baradoy — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:37:37 +0000

Create a survey for teachers using our school program. Feedback will be incorporated to improve our offering to teachers. Contact Leif for details. 1-2 hours job.

Create spreadsheet to track media contacts

Leif Baradoy — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:47:43 +0000

ChristmasFuture has a list of media contacts in MS Word format that needs to be organized into a sensical spreadsheet to help us keep track of our various media relationships. Job: Create spreadsheet with relevant fields and add data to it. 1-2 hours job.
Contact Leif for details.

Writer Needed to edit web content

Leif Baradoy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:26:46 +0000

Writer needed to combine text in About Us section of our website. We want to combine our About Us overview, Vision, and Values into a single page on our site.
We need a strong writer to cut out the unnecessary text to clarify what ChristmasFuture is about with power and concision.