As a not-for-profit, we relay on grants and donations to move forward in our mission to connect seriously sick kids to their school. Taking action and building momentum has meant that over the last year, MissingSchool received donations of $2,861 while not actively seeking donations from the public. Here are some of the ways we took action. The Funding Network: In May 2015, MissingSchool submitted an application to the The Funding Network in response to an invitation to their Canberra event.
The application was not successful but was the catalyst for developing a later proposal for a telepresence robot solution to keep seriously sick kids connected to their classrooms. Google Impact Challenge Australia: In June 2015, MissingSchool developed a proposal for submission to the 2016 Google Impact Challenge Australia, which offered a substantial prize pool of up to $750,000. The proposal was to set up an Australian-first telepresence robot pilot in the Australian Capital Territory. I
n the reporting period, MissingSchool developed the proposal concept and proposal, and set up a partnership including VGo Robots (USA), ARACY as an evaluation partner, and Dentsu Mitchell as a media partner. We garnered political support for the proposal and support from the ACT Education and Training Directorate as a major partner. This is a critical first step in achieving this solution. Pro Bono Contributions MissingSchool acknowledges that it has been able to achieve a lot with very little because it has attracted high value contributions via pro bono work. These have mainly been provided by its volunteer Management Committee, but also others.
Examples include Maggie Lanham Public Relations through a heavily discounted fee structure for the public relations activities on the launch of our national research, and efforts by Dentsu Mitchell Media in developing a Communications Strategy for MissingSchool free of charge. As part of a renewed fundraising strategy, MissingSchool applied for Google Charity Advertising – enabling up to $10,000 USD in in kind AdWords advertising every month – along with oversight from a Google advertising specialist. MissingSchool committed to initiating a website redesign to achieve greater outreach and advocacy, including fundraising.
This kind of action is helping us to build, grow and be in a better place to serve seriously sick kids and their families.
