Roots & Wings International Press Release



High school students take advantage of digital tools to give back


Spokane, WA, July 16, 2013 - This past month, the SeeYourImpact Club at Interlake High School organized an online fundraising campaign to benefit Roots and Wings International. The two-year-old club first launched its interactive webpage in May, through SeeYourImpact.org, a platform that provides nonprofits with the technology to engage their community and share stories about the lives they change. In this case, students at Interlake High School created a page where users can learn about Roots and Wings International, donate and read about the dreams of the children they helped fund.

15-year-old Sumer Rathinam, Founder of the SeeYourImpact Club, says that he first discovered Roots and Wings through connecting with SeeYourImpact. “We were looking for an organization that was big on education as we had made it our fundraising cause,” he said. “Your website...fits perfectly to what we wanted.”

Millennials spend most of their waking time connected to the internet, roughly 25 hours a week1 online, either through a computer or mobile device. 65%2 prefer to learn about non-profits from their websites, and 70%3 have given online through a website. Digitizing the non-profit industry not only helps to engage and bring awareness to younger audiences, but can create transparency. “Stories of change help create transparency in the giving process and make sure each donor can see the impact of their generosity.” says Dylan Holmes, Campaign Manager at SeeYourImpact.

The Roots and Wings fundraising page hosted on SeeYourImpact features a gallery of stories funded by the campaign donors. These stories of change highlight the impact of each donation on the Guatemalan students and their educational goals.  Social share buttons are optimized on the page, allowing donors to share the story of these children as well as the greater need for education in rural Guatemala.

The resulting contributions will support an entire class of children for one year. Last month, the club supplemented their online fundraising efforts with a 5K charity run. Leading up to the run, members pooled together local sponsors for prizes and donations. They also turned to social media to spread the word to peers, creating a Facebook page and selling tickets online. “SeeYourImpact and Roots and Wings have really helped other people in my community see that every little difference matters...Through these two organizations people now see that you don't have to be someone with authority or power to help change a person’s life.” Rathinam says. To date, Interlake High School has raised $3,815, just over the 75% mark to their goal of $5,000.


About Roots & Wings International (RWI)


RWI was created in 2004 to improve the lives of Guatemala’s indigenous population through education, training and technology. Thanks to the support of individuals and corporate sponsors, RWI has been able to develop four different programs – University Scholarships, Computer Literacy and After-School Tutoring, and micro lending– to help the students from rural Guatemala work towards the development of their native communities. To learn more, visit Roots and Wings International.


Denise Chan, Public Relations Manager
www.rootsandwingsintl.org
[email protected]
Phone: 503-564-8831


1 Baby-Boomer Marketers Are Misreading Millennials' Media Behavior”, Ad Age, 5/13/13
2 Millenial Impact Report, 2012
3 Millenial Impact Report, 2012