Pueblo West Laptops

This is a follow up to a post written last week. For quite a while now we have been discussing with Pueblo West High School the possibility of receiving some of their used student laptops. They are Dell laptops, not XO, and we plan on transitioning the older students in Lesotho to these computers to help them attain marketable computer skills using Windows-based programs. A few weeks ago we found out that Pueblo West will be donating 25-50 Dell laptops to the L2L project! The computers are to be used for students in the Nohana School. Pueblo West students have raised over $1000 to pay for shipping the laptops to Lesotho - they want to be sure the laptops get to the school. The Dell laptops will be stored temporarily until there are sufficient solar panels in place at Nohana Primary to charge and use the laptops efficiently.We are currently working on figuring out what programs to install on the laptops for students to use and learn.

50 Dell Laptops Received Today

Today, Sherrie Howey picked up 50 Dell laptops from Pueblo West High School, in Pueblo West, Colorado.  PWHS is replacing all their student laptops and donated 50 of the old ones to Laptops to Lesotho. 

A very special THANK YOU to Principal Martha Nogare, the Pueblo West Board of Education, and the students of PWHS who helped raise over $1000 to ship the laptops to Lesotho.

FW: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

The following is an email conversation I'm having with a representative of a foundation funding our project which wishes to remain anonymous.  The emails are about possible grant-writing training for the teachers at Nohana Primary School.  Right now, we're looking into bringing a trainer to Lesotho so more people can participate in the training.  The foundation rep is interested in having principals at schools in the Mt. Moorosi/Quthing area take the training as well and might be able to help with funding for the training. 

This is all in the early stages of planning.  I just wanted to give you a heads-up of what we're working on.

Janissa

---

---

From: Janissa

Sent: 28 March 2011 05:57 PM
To: foundation rep
Subject: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

Hi Cecily,

I have a quick question for you.  We've gotten a grant from the Maseru Rotary Club for M10,000, and the teachers have decided they want to use at least part of it to send two of them to a seminar in grant-writing training.  Do you know any place in South Africa where they could get this kind of training?  I've heard of a woman in Durban who does this, but I've lost her contact information.  Appreciate any help you can give me on this.

All my best,

Janissa

Janissa Balcomb, President

Laptops to Lesotho

janissa@silverstar.com

jbalcomb@laptopstolesotho.org

http://www.laptopstolesotho.org/

From: foundation

Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:05 AM
To: 'Janissa'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

Dear Janissa

I will ask around but wonder if your best bet wouldn’t be to get someone to come to Lesotho so that this workshop can benefit more people.

Personally I have found that projects go to grant writing seminars etc and get all excited but it doesn’t produce much. It is – as  you know – a long, patient time consuming slog which requires lots of follow up, nurturing and top class communication skills. Too often people think if they write a few letters they’ll get money and when they get the first batch of rejections they lose hope. Far better to create a supportive team of people in situ than to expend time and energy on one or two.

Anyway, I will get back to you.

Meantime I am off to Lesotho tomorrow – meeting principals in Quthing/Mount Moorosi area. Do you have any idea yet of your dates for a possible next visit?

Best wishes

Cecily

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From: Janissa
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:09 PM
To: foundation
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

Hi Cecily,

That's a good point.  I'll look into having the training at Ketane.  We do plan to offer continued long-term support as they learn how to write grants.  Delia has some experience and has offered to help.  And our treasurer, Andrew Dernovsek, who is currently in graduate school, has taken two courses in grant-writing and fundraising.  He speaks fluent Sesotho and talks to Matlabe on the phone fairly regularly, so he'll be able to offer lots of support.

I am planning to be in Lesotho in November and December again.  We've decided to do another intensive computer training course for the teachers in the 2-3 weeks after school ends. 

After that, I will be going with my aunt to Mozambique to visit my uncle's family, probably the week before Christmas.  I would like to visit the teachers at the eSibonisweni school then, if possible, but don't know about the logistics.  You've lived in that area, haven't you?  Do you have any advice?

Thanks for your help!

Janissa

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From: foundation
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:15 AM
To: 'Janissa'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

http://www.papillonpress.co.za/copy/index.asp

this is probably the best known training agency for grant making. They have a pretty good reputation but I don’t know what their costs are. I am also checking Durban contacts.

It might be an idea to look at hosting a Grant writing workshop in Lesotho (closer to Ketane – we use Orange River Hotel in Quthing for a lot of our meetings) and, if so, I have a few folk I’d like to send along as well and could consider contributing to the costs.

---

From: Janissa
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:21 PM
To: 'foundation'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

"The more, the merrier."  That would be FANTASTIC!

---

From: foundation
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:23 AM
To: 'Janissa'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

http://www.saifundraising.org.za/consultants&serviceproviders.htm

bombarding you now! This is also a useful link but don’t send your folk to this course in May – it’s for professional fund raisers with solid experience already. What may be useful is the list of people registered with SAIF. I do know of Di Milford in Pietermaritzburg and she may be one person to contact and see is she’s willing/able to help. I could liaise with her on your behalf if you do decide you want to get someone to come to Lesotho instead.

Alternatively if you want her to set up something for your people in PMB you can deal directly with her.

Hold off until I find out more about the Durban service providers as well so you have as wide a choice as possible. I am also getting recommendations from local NGOs who have used consultants themselves. It can be a jolly expensive business.

---

From: Janissa
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:21 PM
To: foundation
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

If you are willing to contact Di Milford to see if she would be willing to go to Lesotho for training, that would be wonderful.  I will hold off contacting anyone until I hear back from you.  

If it would be easier for her, or other trainers, to travel to Maseru, we could hold it there.  It's just as easy for our teachers to travel to Quthing as Maseru.

We do have R10,000 from the Maseru Rotary Club we can use for the training.

Library Presentation a Fundraising Failure

I gave my presentation at the Soda Springs Library on Tuesday to an audience of one.  :(  That was a complete waste of time.  I was really discouraged and went out for ice cream and chocolate afterwards. 

I found out today that a group of four of my neighbors had planned to go but got the time wrong.  That makes me feel a little better. 

The one person who did attend was a Library Board Member, and she was extremely interested in Lesotho and our project.  She asked so many questions that my half hour presentation ended up being over an hour long.

On a brighter note, I received a $200 donation from my mother-in-law.  Thanks Adele!

- Janissa

Article for Local Newspaper

I was interviewed yesterday by the author Ellen Carney.  (She has published a number of books about the history of this area.)  She is writing up a nice long article about Laptops to Lesotho for the local newspaper.  Hopefully, it will drum up interest in my presentation/ fundraiser at the local library on October 12. 

I also designed a flyer to post at local area business to advertise the event.  I'll head to town in a few days to put those up.

- Janissa

Fundraising Event - Soda Springs Library on Oct 12 at 7 p.m.

I'm giving a 30-minute presentation at the local library in Soda Springs, Idaho, on Tuesday October 12 at 7 p.m.  I'll talk briefly about Lesotho geography, history, and culture, then talk about the Laptops to Lesotho project. The presentation is open to the public and is free of charge, though donations will be accepted.

A writer for the Caribou County Sun newspaper, Ellen Carney, has offered to write a story for the paper about Laptops to Lesotho and include a notice about the presentation.  The library has copies of our brochure to hand out, and I'll be making flyers to post at the library and businesses around town.

- Janissa

Updates from August & early September

My apologies ... I am long overdue for updating this blog.  It's been a busy time with lots of things happening.  Here's a quick summary:

Team Members

• Delia Helie, a new Peace Corps Volunteer in Ketane, has offered to help.
• Shaun Ilderton, our I.T. specialist from Durban, has resigned due to time conflicts.  He will be returning the two XO laptops he has.
• Matlabe has started using his new email account.  Please add matlabeteba@gmail.com to your address book.

Fundraising & Donations

• Janissa submitted a grant application to EiF (Engineering Information Foundation).
• We've received a number of personal donations, including several online contributions through JustGive.org and Facebook Causes.
• Janissa set up a Laptops to Lesotho table at a local rodeo and raised $60.
• We received a donated XO laptop (nonfunctioning, usable for spare parts) from an unknown person in California.
• Janissa is working on grant applications to Ananda Foundation and an anonymous foundation.
• Craig is working with teachers in the Cincinnati area on fundraising.
• Diane McWethy is working on fundraising through the Goshen Public Library.

Shipping

• Maureen Powell and her husband carried eight of our XO laptops from the U.S. to Maseru.  They had no trouble going through security and paid no customs fees.  The laptops are currently being stored by Deepak Pullanikkatil of Peace Corps/Lesotho, awaiting pickup by someone from Ketane.

Partners & Support
Initial and/or follow-up contact was made with the following people and organizations.  I'll write more about these in upcoming blogs.

• Jane Hale, Family Literacy Lesotho, & Peter Maphatsoe, Family Art & Literacy Center
• Colleen Smith, MindSet
• Angel Knapp, GrantStation
• Andrew Steele & Bill Thompson, BLOOM Africa
• South African representative of a Swiss foundation which wishes to remain anonymous
• Jennifer, I Love My XO
• Nia Lewis & Adam Holt, One Laptop Per Child
• OLPC News Forum
• Adi Nochur, 1Sky.org

Scheduling

• Matlabe is still working on arrangements to have Dr Kasongo of MS STIC travel to Ketane for a needs assessment for our school network and internet connection (no dates set yet)
• Fortunate is still working on arrangements for teacher training at Kliptown Youth Project (no dates set yet)
• Janissa is making arrangements to travel to Lesotho in November and December (approx Nov 2-Dec 7).  Her brother, Craig, will probably travel with her to help with training.
• Janissa has created a Google online calendar for the public to view L2L events and also a private Google calendar for team members to post their schedules on.

Ongoing

• Aaron is still trying to figure out why the USB modems don't work in Ketane.
• Mapesh & Matlabe are working out contract details and what-if scenarios

Pending
Janissa needs to follow up on fundraising through:

• Deepak Pullanikkatil, Maseru Rotary,
• Cindy, Soda Springs Library, and
• Shawnae Somsen, Soda Springs Public Schools.

Janissa needs to follow up technical assistance through:

• Jennifer Getz, eduWeavers (eSibonisweni)
• Indiana University OHOT (One Here One There)
• Seth Woodworth
• Cilliers du Preez
• Malizo Sinono, GCNS Communication

Brochure & Business Cards

•  Janissa has created a three-panel color brochure you can print double-sided on an 8½ x 11 sheet. The brochure was very well received at its first fundraising event, the Grays Lake rodeo. Contact Janissa if you want to receive a copy of the pdf for your own fundraising events.
• Janissa has also ordered business cards for herself. The minimum order size was 250, so she'll have lots of extras if you'd like to have some. They have the L2L contact info including the new website & email addresses.

Support from the Soda Springs (Idaho) Library

I spoke to the librarians in charge of the Soda Springs Library this week to ask about giving a presentation about Laptops to Lesotho at the library and the possibility of using the library to raise funds for our project.  I showed them one of the laptops and told them about our project in Ketane.  They were VERY enthused and thought our organization was a perfect partner for the library. 

They said they would try to get the Friends of the Library involved, though they did suggest I wait until September to give a presentation, because there is less attendance in the summer when school is out and people are vacationing. 

I'll keep you posted.

- Janissa

L2L Partners with BLOOM Africa

BLOOM Africa has agreed to raise $3500 (about M25,000) for Laptops to Lesotho!!!

This is great news! The money will pay for 10 XO laptops, one solar panel and storage battery, and shipping to get the laptops to Ketane. There is no guarantee when they will raise the money, but they've got several fundraising events planned for in the next few months, so hopefully we'll see some of the money soon.

You can see more about BLOOM Africa on their website, BLOOMAfrica.org. Their mission is to help Orphans and Vulnerable Children, so one stipulation of their support is that we must work on HIV/AIDS prevention using the laptops. I've officially added several tasks to our work in Ketane so that we can meet that objective, though most of these goals were already on the drawing board.

Things are really starting to come together for us. We have now received or been promised:

• $3500 for laptops, power, and shipping from BLOOM Africa,
  
• $1436 from Friends of Lesotho for network hardware, internet service for 1 year, construction materials, and office supplies,
  
• $1500 from FIPE for laptops, plus all expenses for a Mosotho team member to travel to Colorado, USA, for a professional exchange,
  
• $2550 from public donations,
  
• donated labor and services from the Ketane community,
  
• donated software from TechSoup.org, and
  
• donated grant research subscription from Grant Station.

There is a lot of work still to be done to make this dream come true. I will be writing more on that soon. But for now, LET'S CELEBRATE!

- Janissa

Craig Balcomb offers to help with fundraising research

My brother, Craig, has offered to help with the research to find possible funding sources for the solar power infrastructure we need to run and charge the laptops. This work is extremely time-consuming, tedious, and boring, so his help is GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks, Craig!

- Janissa

Discounted Accounting Software and Grant-writing Service via TechSoup.org

We purchased the accounting software, QuickBooks Premier Edition 2010, which includes the Nonprofit Edition, via TechSoup.org. It was donated by Intuit, the company that created QuickBooks, so that we were able to get it for just $45. The going rate on the open market is around $315. Thank you, Intuit! Now Andrew gets to learn how to use it.

We were also able to buy a one-year membership to GrantStation.com, normally $599, for just $99. GrantStation is a funding research and grant-writing assistance service. I'm hoping I can use it to find funding for this year if the grant applications we have out now don't get funded, and for next year so we can buy lots more computers, work on the curriculum integration for other grade levels, and do interface translation into Sesotho, among other things. Thanks, GrantStation, for providing this service at a price we can actually afford!

- Janissa

Disappointment - No Shipping by Peace Corps via Diplomatic Pouch

I got some disappointing news today from Deepak. The law prohibits the use of the diplomatic pouch to import goods into Lesotho, so we won't be able to get the computers over to Lesotho that way.

We'll have to go back to Plan B and ship them via USPS or DHL, which means I have to find funding for that too.

Another option for getting a few of the laptops to Maseru would be to ask people who are traveling over to carry one or two with them on the plane. We might be able to find PC trainees in the June 2010 CHED group, PC/L staff, and/or Friends of Lesotho associates who are willing and able to help.

We'll get them there one way or another.

- Janissa

64 XO laptops and counting ...

I've just bought 11 more XOs, these for the amazingly low price of $57 each, with free shipping! That brings us up to a grand total of 64.

That gives us:
35 - one for each grade 6 student
10 - one for each teacher
15 - for shared use by the other grades(2-4 students sharing one XO laptop at a time)
2 - for Shaun (I.T. use, fundraising)
1 - for Andrew (fundraising)
1 - for Janissa (fundraising)

Nineteen have been paid for with donations. Now I just need to find money to pay for the rest.

- Janissa

Grant writing - next steps & anybody want to help?

Now that I've got the grant application for FOL under my belt, hopefully I'll be able to crank other grant applications out a little (lot) quicker. Next in my sights is Oprah's Angel Network. I've got the application requirements, so now I just need to get writing.

I have a list of a dozen or so other places to submit grant applications. The next step is to get the application requirements for each of those. Then, more research on other organizations and foundations to approach for money.

Anybody want to help with this?

- Janissa

Fundraising: Friends of Lesotho funding application submitted

Today, I submitted an application for funding from Friends of Lesotho. Several of the FOL board members have expressed support for our project, so let's hope that support will translate into real money.

The FOL Donation Committee should meet tomorrow. If they like the application, they will recommend it to the full board, which meets next month.

- Janissa

Fundraising - Training, Presentations

Janissa has signed up for two fundraising seminars:
* signing sponsors in a lean economy (webinar, Feb 16)
* grant writing basics (at Boise Idaho, Feb 23)


She's also started putting together a powerpoint presentation to give for local groups as part of her fundraising effort.

Andrew has given several presentations in Colorado.

- Janissa

Big Changes, part 2 -- moving ahead with OLPC

I contacted OLPC by email on 29 January 2010 to see if they might make an exception for our project and give us a grant based on:

• the size, dedication, and diversity of skills of our team,


• the amount of pre-planning, preparation, and fundraising we've already done,


• the existence of the computer school and solar power already in Ketane, and


• the support and enthusiasm of the students, teachers, and the community.

They saw it will take about a week or so to get a reply because they are so busy with inquiries and applications. If I haven't heard anything by Monday, 8 Febrary, I will send an additional inquiry. I'm going to keep pestering them so they know we are serious and intend to succeed with or without their help.

Depending on the response we get, I will next ask OLPC if 1-2 members of our team can attend the OLPC training even though we aren't grant recipients. We will, of course, have to find our own funding to do this, but I think this training is of critical importance.

-- Janissa

Filing for tax-exempt status with the IRS cont.

I'm still plugging away at the monstrous IRS form required to get our official nonprofit tax-exempt status, but I've made significant progress and hope to have it out in a couple days. In addition to the 14-page form & one 2-page schedule, I've written 7 pages (!) of narrative for the many "If you answered 'Yes', explain in detail" questions.

I've been asked why this is so important. Most grant foundations and donors require an organization to have IRS 501(c)(3) status in order to apply for funding. It's also required in order for us to use websites like Facebook Causes and JustGive.org to collect individual donations online.

-- Janissa

Conduit - giving & donation campaign

Once we get our nonprofit status, I'll apply for this ...

"New Giving and Donation Campaign from Tech Company
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 9:51am — Kevin Lo

Conduit, a company that helps content publishers distribute content using browser add-on technology, unveiled a year-long campaign to donate money to U.S.-registered nonprofits, and at the same time help them connect with their constituents. Using their Conduit Platform, every time someone clicks on the "Conduit Gives" button on a particular nonprofit's "conduit," the company will donate some money to that nonprofit.

Adam Boyden, president of the company, noted that they wanted to make a difference in these tough economic times, and has dedicated a team of experts to help nonprofits use this platform for outreach and fundraising. As they've seen success in enterprises of varying sizes, Boyden believes that the nonprofit sector can benefit from this technology as well.

As many as 100 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit organizations would be chosen (without NTEE restrictions), and the deadline to apply is February 15, 2010. For more details check out their website and their application form.

TrackBack: http://blog.techsoup.org/trackback/1088"

-- Janissa

no luck with 'Help Lesotho' funding

I contacted 'Help Lesotho' in Canada to find out about funding, and unfortunately they don't fund third-party projects. Otherwise, still plugging along ...

--Janissa