My name is Raven. I design and market visual advocacy tools for an NPO start-up in Chicago, IL.
Yellow is my favorite color.
Photo Credit: babelita @Flickr
During open gallery hours, L is talking to a woman about the Congo Women project. She came in after seeing a sign detailing our exhibit in one of the space’s windows.
L is telling her about all the other work she hopes to fund, specifically, our forced labor initiative.
The woman calls L a few days later. Over the phone, she tells her that someone is interested in funding the work needed to produce the case studies and the photography. It turns out that the woman is a donor advisor to an anonymous family.
Now, as a result of learning about AWP, the family will donate $50,000 to our Human Trafficking project.
Will $50,000 finish the work?
No.
But, it will give us a great start.
At tonight’s meeting, L says the bank called her to confirm the address of our organization. So, it’s real. Really real. No applications, no forms or LOI’s to muddle through.
Earlier on the phone with the donor advisor, L asks, “Just like that?”
Yep. Just like that.
No knock on wood. No crossed fingers. Not one piggy flying in the sky. In a world where balance sheets can dwindle to zero in the blink of an eye, it’s more than miraculous to believe that money can fall out of nowhere… and right into your lap.
Opportunities arrive when you most need them or when least expected. So, just to keep yourself sane, hold out a little expectation for serendipity as well. And when that happens, you can feel a lot better about what luck truly means.
Just like that.
Update: Our Human Trafficking Project (recently renamed “At what cost“) got additional funding from the International Labor Organization – so we are fully funded to pursue and finish the case studies and photography. I’ll keep you updated on what happens next…
