This is my first blog entry for Umoja Orphanage Kenya in the role as founder for our future children’s home, which I have a goal to open early 2013. This blog will bring you updates on my progress, and will also work as a tool for reflection and as a historical record of my journey.
Since I returned from Kenya on the 11th July, after volunteering in an orphanage, I had not been able to let go of the untapped potential of so many children in need. I reflected on my own life and how fortunate I have been and how fortunate we are in Australia. I booked my return airfare back to Kenya for January to volunteer once again; this upcoming trip is funded from the sale of items I never use.
So, I started ringing, e-mailing, and asking anyone I could that might know how to start a charity, or knew anyone who had started an orphanage. I would have loved to have asked the founder of the orphanage where I volunteered, as Kerry is from England, but she was extremely unwell with malaria. In order to reach my goals of buying my land and a van, in January when I go back, I had to get cracking. Amazingly through the people I rang, other people rang me and gave me advice, phone numbers etc. and it all started falling into place.
Finding Sarah from Castle Design was like finding gold! What an amazing help Sarah has been. She advised me what I needed to do first and in relevant subsequent order. Last Saturday—my 53rd birthday—we talked by phone and discussed what else needed to be done, and also prioritised things for the website, logo etc. I also found out Sarah was to give birth on 11 August, so time was of the essence.
I was in overdrive trying to think of all the tasks that had to be done while juggling full-time work and taking care of my two grandchildren—and throw in a school fete to boot. Somehow I managed, and with many e-mails back and forth to Sarah, the writing and editing assistance of my niece Shanyn, and the opinions of my friend Lesley, the to-do list began to shrink. I also appreciated the patience of my many family members and friends whom I ran things by several times a night until they were ready to ignore my e-mails. I value their opinions and feedback immensely. All this support made the many style decisions I was faced with much easier to make.
So for future charity beginners, this is what the last week has entailed, as I took my first steps to conquer the mountain ahead of me:
• Deciding on a name—how did I want it to represent what I am trying to do for the future children of the orphanage?
• Deciding on a vision statement—what did I want it to stand for?
• Planning the logo—it had to be visual symbol of what I was working towards.
• Choosing the colours—the colour scheme has to encompass my vision.
• Register an original charity—this involved search the charity register in Australia to make sure the charity name was not already registered.
• Decide on my domain name—this must be a website name that incorporates the name and that people can easily locate online.
• Decide what I wanted to have on my website—what pages, what order, what links etc.
• Write my mission/goal statement—the message should be clear yet descriptive.
• Write the content for the website—this included an about me section, about the organisation, and the goals. Choose colours for the website
• Edit and proofread the content—we are not always the best editors of our own work.
• Choose a website design—I had to look at websites I liked and let Sarah the designer know what types I liked.
• Decide on fundraising targets—how much money would I need to raise before my return to Kenya in January?
• Prioritise the steps—take a step back and realise what had been accomplished, but what was yet to be done to bring the project to fruition
• Meet the legal requirements—I had to contact either an accountant or a solicitor and get on the Fair Trading website to see what I had to do to begin my charity.
• Choose photos—for the website and brochure.
• Design brochure—choose the wording to highlight important information and include photos.
• Get printing quotes—don’t be afraid to ask for a discount.
• Decide first fundraising initiative—what was I going to sell to raise the first round of funds?
• Design letterhead and business cards—in order to be create a professional profile.
• Set up vimeo account—a community of people who share videos inline.
• Create social networking links—use Facebook and Twitter pages to promote my charity.
Needless to say I have not slept a lot the past week. I can’t wait until the website goes LIVE this week. Next comes the task of promoting what Umoja Orphanage Kenya is all about, and networking. But it is only the beginning and what a lovely way to start—by meeting Sarah my website designer.
Till next time, I’ll see you on the flipside.
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