$1,000 Club A Peek Behind the Curtain:
Is the term “paid volunteer” an oxymoron? If yes, it would be an apt description of the ACW model. We are a collective and many people contribute to our success — pure volunteers, staff who are paid small stipends (paid volunteers), private donors and grant funding. This is the time of year where everyone feels pinched while we wait to hear if we won any grants. This is the time of year I have to ask people for money. I loathe this part of my job. People don’t like people who ask them for money. Sigh….
The American Rescue Plan money is no longer available and the current atmosphere at funding agencies is very competitive. We are having NO problems finding programming money (see below) but I am determined not to go back to expecting the artist/leaders in ACW to work for nothing. Currently, we need $9,000.00 of operational money to get us to June 31 without reducing monthly stipends to over 10 people.
I was sharing with Owen Brown that while waiting for news on grant requests, it would reduce my personal stress considerably if I could get $9,000 in the bank. Then I can spend the winter focusing on finding us recurring corporate funding for operations as we go forward. He declared, “I will give you $1,000 towards that need. Why don’t you start a $1,000 Club?” What an idea! I am thrilled to share that the following people have joined Owen in the $1,000 Club: Dave Dvorak, Lucy Schroepfer, Lynn Olson, Layl McDill, Pat Rogers, Kelly Frankenberg, and Barbara Bridges. The donor benefit will be a solar powered river cruise next summer with Captain Corey Parkos who helped us with our Mississippi River Pearl project. https://mplswatertaxi.com/
Join me in thanking these generous ACW members.
Do you have any suggestions for a corporate entity who might be interested in the work ACW does and might understand that contributing members deserve to be compensated for their contribution? We pay artists!
Interested in joining us on the river boat? Reach out drb@bridgescreate.com
https://www.arttochangetheworld.org/product-category/support-us
2024 Attendees Dave Dvorak, Lucy Schroepfer, Lynn Olson, Layl McDill, Pat Rogers, Kelly Frankenberg, and Barbara Bridges, Mike Helgesen, Karel Helgesen, Own Brown, Tom Fulton, Apollo
