Funding Request to all Inside-Out members

Greetings,

A couple of weeks ago, I emailed our latest newsletter to you, along with the request to consider making a donation to Inside-Out. Thank you to those who have responded so far. This is a follow-up, in the face of all the mad busyness of December, because we honestly need your help.

We are at a really critical juncture. To sustain Inside-Out for the next few months, as we continue to plot a very exciting future, we hope that you’ll consider a donation to keep the program going full-steam in the interim. Can you donate $250, or pool gifts from a few enthusiastic friends or associates to equal that amount or more?

In fact, your gift will pack a double punch. We have an amazing challenge from a donor right now – if we raise $20,000, this person will match it dollar for dollar.

Inside-Out needs your help this winter to make the transition to a financially sustainable program. As you know, the program has grown tremendously in a few short years. Thanks in large part to your work on the ground, Inside-Out has already affected the lives of at least 8,000 inside and outside students.

Yet, just as this growth has opened up the doors to incredible new possibilities, it has also put a real strain on our infrastructure. We are in the midst of a strategic planning process designed to build on our success and expand our impact into the future. To do the planning right takes time: we are working hard to map out the wisest, most comprehensive, sustainable, and productive path going forward.

Due to the economic crisis, we have not received the grant funding we were hoping for this year to carry us through this strategic planning phase and into the future. We have identified several very promising funding possibilities that should be within reach with a few more months of concerted work.

To realize these opportunities while providing continued support to instructors and alumni, we need to raise $50,000 by February 15th. We are turning to you, our core supporters, to help us out. If you – and anyone you know – could donate anything at all to the program, from $50 to $5,000, it would make a huge difference.

We hope you’ll share the appeal and newsletter that we sent a couple weeks back with friends, family, colleagues, former students, and others who might be likely to support Inside-Out as we continue to create new opportunities for dialogue and collaborative education.

How to donate: http://www.insideoutcenter.org/donate.html

In some important ways, we have begun to change lives and the prison system. We want the Inside-Out Center to be able to continue to offer support and community to all instructors and alumni – in fact, we want to offer you more meaningful support and engagement over time, and to push forward our promising new initiatives, which started in such a grassroots way. Please help us keep this program strong, focused on our core values and our mission – as urgent now as it has ever been. Thanks so much.

Have a wonderful holiday,

Lori Pompa