A Message From Idealist.org

Posted: February 5, 2010

By: Stefanie

I’d like to share part of an email from the Executive Director of Idealist. Idealist is an interactive website where people and organizations can exchange resources and ideas, locate opportunities and supporters. Here is Idealist’s message:

Over the past ten years, most of our funding has come from the small fees we charge organizations for posting their jobs on Idealist. By September 2008, after years of steady growth, these little drops were covering 70% of our budget.

Then, in October of that year, the financial crisis exploded, many organizations understandably froze their hiring, and from one week to the next our earned income was cut almost in half.

There are two ways you can help. First, if you can, please make a donation at http://www.idealist.org/donate.

Some people in this community are not in a position to contribute right now, so if you are, please give as generously as you can. Thank you!

Second, please spread the word about this appeal by sharing this message with friends and colleagues who may have benefited from Idealist over the years. Since 1995 Idealist has touched hundreds of thousands of lives. If in the next week or two we can reach everyone who'd give us a hand if they knew we are in trouble, I believe we'll come out of this crisis even stronger than before.

I believe this because while this has been a tough stretch, I've never been more optimistic about the future. The content on Idealist has never been richer, our traffic is surging, we are building a whole new Idealist.org that will be released later this year, and the potential for connecting people, ideas, and resources around the world has never been more urgent or more exciting.

Every day, Idealist helps connect 70,000 people with 90,000 organizations around the world, in English, Spanish, and French. In addition to our work online, every year we also organize a series of events across North America, including 10 Nonprofit Career Fairs, 20 Graduate School Fairs, and 5 Global Volunteering Fairs.

Thanks so much for your support. Idealist has always been a community-driven site, and we can’t do this work without you.

Thank you!

Ami Dar

Executive Director

http://www.idealist.org/donate

For more information contact Launch into Boston or go on to Idealist's website at www.idealist.org.