Fundraising Basics
Fundraising
Be brave. Be courageous. Make your first ask to sponsor a Congolese woman for a year. It only costs $27 a month + a $30 initiation fee. In a country without infrastructure, for a woman suffering from debilitating war trauma who has no other resources, the healing, business skills, and seed money to start a business received through sponsorship literally translates to lives saved among the woman and her remaining children.
If someone cannot ask them to be a Sponsor at this time, please ask them to make a special one-time contribution to help Congolese women survivors of war and conflict.
Make the Ask
Host a Congo Gathering, do fundraisers, send emails and ask everyone you know!
Why sponsor a Congolese woman?
Since 1998, gang rape, torture, sexual slavery, and being forced to watch family members and neighbors being brutally murdered have been daily realities for Congolese women. Those who survive often require surgery to heal the physical damage and are abandoned by their husbands and community. Without means to support their own remaining children, 40% of the women we support have taken in orphans — a testament to their courage, immense compassion and character. These women have no other resources, which adds to the staggering death toll among children under 5 (6 out of 10 children die before the age of 5).
What a sponsored woman receives.
In a country without infrastructure, a one-year sponsorship provides $10/month in cash, healing group work with other women with similar experiences, women's rights and business skills training, and $60 in seed money to start a business. That often literally translates to lives saved among the woman, her surviving children & orphans she has taken in.
Women for Women International.
A 501(c)3 non-profit that assists heavily war-affected women to rebuild their lives. Rated a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator, Women for Women International received the 2006 Conrad N. Hilton Award.
Writing to your sister.
Your letters are an emotional lifeline to your sister. You cannot know how much it means to a woman who has been made to feel completely worthless to know that someone half a world away cares whether she lives or dies. When someone signs up to sponsor a woman Women for Women will send instructions on writing your sister.
Cost.
Sponsorship costs only $27 a month with a $30 fee paid at sign-up. You can also pay by lump sum of $354 for the year.
A one-time donation in any amount can be paid to support Women for Women International's Congo program.
Special Note:
Set a date by which you will collect your pledges or ask that donations are sent in directly, let them know what it is, and call to follow up with all donors if you have not heard from them. Please send in your collected pledges promptly.
Send sponsorship enrollments and donations to:
Please indicate which run you are participating in or supporting — for example, Run for Congo Women — New York.
Women for Women International
Global Support Center
Att. Run for Congo Women
PO Box 9224
Central Islip, NY 11722-9224
