Dear ENGin Volunteer,
I'd like to start by thanking each of you who has already supported our annual campaign! Over the past two weeks since launching ENGin: The Power of a Conversation, we've received $5,200 in donations - THANK YOU for believing in us and pitching in to keep our program going!
At this time, nearly all of our funding comes from our wonderful volunteers - this is why your participation in our campaign is so important. And, as we humbly ask for your support, we are also working hard to line up other complementary sources of funding to ensure that we remain financially sustainable.
On April 15th, we will be making a big change to our program. We will begin requesting a one-time contribution of 750UAH (~$20) from all NEW ADULT students (18+) at registration. While this donation covers only part of our total costs, we chose this lower amount so that the program remains accessible for most Ukrainians. This will cover the onboarding process, initial match, any needed rematches, and support from our team for up to a year.
At this time, we will not make this request of children age 9-17 as well as current students. We will also waive this for new students serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and veterans, as well as their spouses, children, and parents. In the future, if we are able to secure enough grant/donation support, we will institute a broader scholarship program.
As ENGin's leader, my primary responsibility is to secure the resources we need to stay open. As some of you know, ENGin is a new organization initially funded by one generous donor. Each year, this initial funding decreases and we are responsible for covering a greater share of our program costs. This year, our fundraising target is $450,000 - a 50% increase from last year's fundraising goal.
To reach this greater target, we are counting on your support AND supplementing it with revenue raised from student contributions. Along with my leadership team, I have been considering this move for the past year, while also exploring every other possible option for securing funding.
At this point, we are confident that asking for contributions from students is a necessary step. What's more, we anticipate this change will bring several major benefits:
-
We will better balance student demand and supply - currently, we have many more students applying than we can serve.
-
We will be able to screen for motivated students - today, even with overwhelmingly high demand, many accepted students do not take program responsibilities seriously, skipping sessions, failing to respond to volunteer emails, or simply disappearing shortly after starting the program. This is disappointing to us and to volunteers, but it has proved impossible to identify more/less motivated students in advance; student donations at registration will help ensure that students are motivated to fulfill program responsibilities.
-
We will empower students to see themselves as change agents - students will become active participants in their learning, investing in their own future.
-
And the most exciting piece: we will be able to remove our student age limit (35 years old)! Potential students and partners in Ukraine have been asking us to make this change for years, and we are so happy to finally be able to do so. By removing our age limit, we can make English fluency and international connections accessible to even more intelligent and ambitious Ukrainians, amplifying our overall impact.
We appreciate that any major change can be difficult, and we are doing our best to make this transition a smooth one. We will be carefully evaluating and learning from experience as we implement this change. Thank you in advance for your patience during this adjustment period!
If you have any questions or concerns about this update, I invite you to share them in a Zoom session with me at one of these times (please register here).
- Tuesday, April 9, 3:00PM Eastern Time
- Thursday, April 11 8:00PM Eastern Time
- Friday, April 12 9:00AM Eastern time
Thanking for your support as we take this big step to ensure ENGin stays open to serve many more deserving Ukrainians and change the world one conversation at a time!
Sincerely,
Katerina
