2016 has been a huge year for imagine1day, the communities we work with, and the children we impact.
In Ethiopia, we will spend more on our program activities in 2016 than in any previous year. The impact is obvious in the numbers; with 11 schools inaugurated, massive investments in teacher training and leadership development, and a quarter of a million children benefiting from our work.
Not only are we working with more schools and communities, our impact is being felt beyond the districts we operate in, through the growing recognition of our program.
We are being championed by government agencies and large international organizations. We’ve fed into the development of an early childhood education curriculum, helped coordinate education efforts at a national level, and received an ‘A’ ranking by the Ethiopian charities regulator.
None of this impact would have happened without the incredible support of our donors across the world.
This year, we’re projected to raise $2.7 million – our highest amount ever. This is double what we raised two years ago.
Our second annual imagine1day Gala surpassed expectations, raising $351,000. New fundraising events – creatributions, as we call them – proved successful, and existing creatributions, such as RIDE vs ONE and Lipservice, raised outstanding sums. Our donor trip to Ethiopia surpassed its goal and was widely praised by the participants.
Fundraising for the imagine1day USA Foundation has been reignited by projects, such as the Irma Lyons Legacy Project and the 2017 Lightyear Leadership training.
Finally, this year we made a significant effort this year to identify a new framework. The result is a Strategic Plan, which we will conclude in early 2017. It will allow us to take what we know works in Ethiopia and pair it with projects to achieve even greater impact
While it remains a work in progress, the Strategic Plan has already been instrumental in providing direction to imagine1day and acting as a guide for transforming our organization to a model which is both effective and scalable. We look forward to sharing more with you next year
Thank you again to everyone that contributed to our mission. Your support is transforming children, communities, a nation and the world.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas (or Melkam Gena in Amharic, Ethiopia’s national language).