Modest Needs Newsletters

Milestones, Miracles, and a New Matching Grant!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER

Dear Friends and Fans of Modest Needs,

Greetings and Happy (belated) New Year! In the last few months, we've been in touch with most of you primarily via Facebook and Twitter, but today, as we prepare for Modest Needs' 11th anniversary, I wanted to take a moment to send out this long-overdue update to thank you for the remarkable work you did at Modest Needs throughout 2012. Prepare to be amazed – as you'll see below, last year, you really outdid yourselves!

A Modest Needs Milestone: In 2012, You Funded 90% of All Requests for Help!

Just two years ago, in 2010, Modest Needs was able to reach 62% of the people who qualified to apply for our help. At the time, for us to have been able to help more than half of the people who turned to us for assistance constituted a milestone of which I know we all were proud.

Today, however, it is my great pleasure to report that in 2012, thanks to your remarkable support of this very important work, Modest Needs was able to help just over 90% of the qualified persons who turned to us in the midst of a short-term financial crisis last year!

And that’s not the only milestone you shattered in 2012. Thanks to your incredible generosity in the final months of the year, I’m thrilled to report that during the period between 1 October and 31 December 2012, we were able to fully fund 100% of the qualified grant applications we received.

During the final months of the year especially, many people facing eviction, foreclosure, or a similar crisis through no fault of their own turn to us in hopes of a holiday miracle. In the final months of 2012, that’s exactly the gift you gave – and you gave it to every qualified person or household who turned to us for help. Unbelievable!

Hurricane Sandy Relief: An Update

As you know, late last year, and in response to one of the most devastating storms ever to hit the east coast, Modest Needs launched a unique Hurricane Relief program. In January 2013, we launched Phase II of this program and are now working directly with the persons directly impacted by the brunt of the storm who need short-term assistance that organizations like FEMA simply cannot provide, or can’t offer quickly enough.

Thanks to your support, I’m again thrilled to report that, so far, we have been able to help fully 100% of the persons who qualified to apply for a Hurricane Relief grant from Modest Needs. Best of all, the turn-around time on these special grants – all for critical - immediate needs, has averaged just about three days!

We continue to receive an overwhelming number of applications for help from persons still struggling to recover from the storm, and your support of this program is critical to its ongoing success. If you’d like to help us reach more persons affected by this storm, you can make a special one-time gift of any size to our Hurricane Relief Fund.

Your 2012 Tax Receipt Is Ready!

To maximize the amount of funding we have available to help persons in need, we no longer mail out tax receipts to our donors except by special request (these mailings cost thousands of dollars!) Instead, we make it possible for you to print your tax receipt directly from our website. To get your 2012 tax receipt, here’s all you have to do:

•Go to the Modest Needs website, login, and click the ‘My Account’ link at the top of any page.
•From your account page, click the ‘Print Tax Receipts' link from the left-hand menu.
•Using the drop-down menu choose 2012 and press ‘GO.’ Your tax receipt will be instantly generated for you. All you have to do is print or save the form to your computer, and you’re all set!

Remember, your contributions to Modest Needs are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law, and we want you to get the tax break you deserve! So if you have any problems getting your tax form, just drop us a line at donor.support@modestneeds.org, and we’ll get your tax receipt to you right away.

And Finally: Our Best Matching Grant Opportunity Ever!

Aas always, I’ve tried to save the best for last.

Today, I am very excited to officially announce that your generosity in 2012 has earned Modest Needs a $300,000.00 matching grant for 2013, courtesy of our friends at the Herb Alpert Foundation! We’re currently revising our website to accommodate the terms of this year’s match (yes, it’s really that good!), which we’ll be formally announcing on 21 March 2013, just in time for Modest Needs’ 11th anniversary.

Get ready: this one is going to knock your socks off!

***

I hope you’re as excited to learn more about this year’s matching grant (and all that we have planned for Modest Needs in 2013) as I am to share this news with you. You’ll find this information – and much more – in a special 11th Anniversary edition of the Modest Needs Newsletter, which will hit your inbox on March 21, 2013. Please watch your inbox for that update; you won’t want to miss it!

But today, more than anything else, I wanted to thank each of you personally, and from the bottom of my heart, for your ongoing support of the very important work we’re doing together at Modest Needs.Without you, these miracles would not be possible.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this edition of the Modest Needs News. I look forward to hearing from many of you soon, but in meantime, here’s wishing you and your families more health and happiness than your lives can possibly contain.

Modest Needs: Help Us Win $30K To Give Away!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER

Dear Friends,

I hope this note finds all of you well and enjoying these last few days of summer. Normally, at this time of the month, we send you our latest installment of 'Profiles in Courageous Generosity.' This month, we're delaying the publication of 'Profiles in Courageous Generosity' for reasons that will become clear as soon as you see our next - and perhaps best ever - edition of that column. Please look for that the week after Labor Day; you absolutely will NOT want to miss it.

In the meantime, though, we have a quick favor to ask of you. As it turns out, Modest Needs has been nominated for a 'Rare Life' award. If we win this award, Modest Needs gets a $30,000.00 contribution that will use to fund requests for help we might not otherwise be able to reach.

In order to win this grant, all we have to do is get the most votes. That's it. No purchase required. No registration necessary. No voting daily. Just one click and done - unless you'd like to share on Facebook or Twitter, which would be great!

So, if you're looking for a way to support Modest Needs that takes no money and less than a minute of your time, we'd really appreciate it if you'd click the 'Vote Now' button above and help us win this $30,000.00 grant. And if you feel inclined to share this story with your Facebook or Twitter friends, we'd really appreciate that as well. When it comes to a $30,000.00 grant, every bit helps!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this brief update and for helping us to bring home $30,000.00 in grant money that would mean a lot to the persons who have recently applied for our help. Look for a truly spectacular 'Profile in Courageous Generosity' early next month, but in the meantime, here's wishing you and your family a wonderful Labor Day and a joyous end of summer.

See How Far Your Donation Goes!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

A New Matching Grant - Plus, Making Helping Others Easy!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER

Dear Friends,

Normally at Modest Needs, the summer season is our most difficult time of year. Every year during the summer, requests for help from Modest Needs skyrocket - right about the time that people head off for summer vacation. For this reason, support of the important work we do together at Modest Needs, tends to plummet during the months of June, July and August, just at the time that our help is needed most!

This year, our friends at the Herb Alpert Foundation are hoping to help us avoid the 'summer blues' by offering Modest Needs' donors a FANTASTIC matching grant opportunity! From now through the end of the year, the HAF will match any one-time contribution you make to Modest Needs, up to a maximum of $21,000.00 per month!

If we work together - and I know we will - this matching grant will make it possible for us to reach many hundreds of people in need of our help that we wouldn't have the money to assist otherwise, so please consider making a one-time gift in support of this matching grant this month.

And that's not all! Thanks to your suggestions, we've added several new features to our website that make it easier than ever for you to help others. We've highlighted the best of these below. If you have a minute, we'd love it if you'd take these features for a spin and then let us know what you think of them. Your feedback is very important to us!

Especially during this time of year, I want to thank you very much for your support of this very important work. I look forward to hearing from you with your comments and question soon, but in the meantime, here's wishing you and your families a wonderful start to the summer.

	GIVING IS EASIER WITH NEW MODEST NEEDS FEATURES!

Welcome to the NEW Modest Needs!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Our brand-new website is Modest Needs' tenth birthday gift to the Modest Needs community - the applicants who've turned to us for help and the donors who've quietly but generously supported this work for over a decade. We've put a lot of work into the new site, all with a single goal in mind: to make your experience at Modest Needs as user-friendly, fun, and visually engaging as possible.

Here, you'll find virtually every feature persons have been requesting from us for the past ten years - all wrapped up in the most user-friendly way possible. We'll have more for you tomorrow, on Modest Needs' actual tenth anniversary. In the meantime, if you're among the first to preview our new website, enjoy!

From the Founder: Season's Greetings and a Special Request

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

A few short weeks ago, thanks to the generosity of persons from across the United States and the world, Modest Needs made its milestone 10,000th grant. While that big number represents a significant achievement for those who support this work, it is even more important, I think, to remember that behind each one of those 10,000 grants is a real person, a real family, a man, a woman, a child–-someone whose life has been forever altered by your kindness in ways that are almost impossible to express.

Today, before anything else, I simply wanted to tell those of you who participate in the work we do at Modest Needs how grateful I am to you for choosing to be an integral part of this community and for the compassionate hand you've offered to so many of the individuals and families who've turned to Modest Needs in their times of crisis.

On behalf of these persons, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

With that said, today I have a special request for your help. I do not make this request on behalf of Modest Needs. Instead, I write on behalf of the thousands of individuals and families just like those I've described above who will turn to Modest Needs for help in overcoming a short-term financial emergency in the early months of 2012.

As you know, the holiday season is also the ‘giving season,' and so over the next few weeks Modest Needs will be able to reach a very large number of the people who've turned to us for help. In January, February and March, however -- for reasons you probably already understand -- we will generally not be in the financial position to reach as many people as is possible during the final months of the year.

I'd like for things to be different for those individuals and families who come to us in the early months of the new year. That's why this holiday season we're asking for your help in making sure Modest Needs is in the financial position to offer a helping hand to as many people in the early months of 2012 as we were able to reach in the final months of 2011.

It is with this critical goal in mind that I write to ask if you would please consider making a special year-end contribution to Modest Needs. You can help us reach a critical, year-end fundraising goal by making a tax-deductible contribution of your choice securely, and in two minutes or less right here on our website.

If you're not comfortable giving online but still would like to help us reach our critical year-end goal, you can explore these other ways to make a contribution to Modest Needs.

Best of all, you can respond to this special year-end appeal with confidence. For the past four years, from the moment of our first evaluation, Modest Needs has maintained four-star rating from Charity Navigator. We're recognized by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance as a 'trusted charity.' And in addition to our pedigrees, I offer this pledge: any funds we raise as a result of this appeal will be carefully tracked and used only for the purposes described above.

All of this is simply to say that if you choose to support Modest Needs this holiday season, you can be secure in the knowledge that we will be good stewards of your personal kindness.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this special year-end request for help from Modest Needs – the only such request you'll see from this holiday season. - and for helping if you can. I'll look forward to hearing from many of you soon. But in the meantime, and whether or not you can help us to reach this very important year-end fundraising goal, please accept my personal best wishes for a holiday season filled with more health and happiness than your life can possibly contain.

My very best,

Dr. Keith P. Taylor
President / Executive Director
Modest Needs Foundation

Poised to Hit a Major Milestone!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good morning, everyone!

And it *is* a very good morning at Modest Needs! I've just taken a look, and it turns out that we're on the verge of hitting a major milestone. I hope you'll take just a moment to read this very good news; I know we all have work to do, so I promise to keep it short.

According to our website ticker, over the past several years of our coming together to stop the cycle of poverty and homelessness for America's low-income workers, we have now fully funded 9,950 applications for help!

Given the average number of people living in the households we've served, this amounts to those of you who support Modest Needs changing the course of nearly 35,000 individual people who stood to lose everything they'd worked for and almost certainly would have, but for your personal kindness.

But statistics like these don't even begin to tell the story of the impact your support of Modest Needs has had on the individuals and families who've turned to us for help when there was nowhere else to turn. In just the past few months, for example:

You've put a cancer survivor (and kidney donor) back to work as a teacher by helping her to afford her recertification course and exam;
You helped a hard-working family struggling to care for their son, who requires kidney dialysis and lives in a remote area that is prone to power outages to afford the generator that keeps him alive when the power is out; and
You purchased a small window air conditioner for an elderly retired couple whose air conditioner 'gave out' during the summer's heat wave, leaving it over 100 degrees in their home.

This is just scratching the surface of the good work that those of you who support Modest Needs have done just over the past few months, to say nothing of the past ten years. And now, just a few months shy of our tenth anniversary (a milestone in and of itself), we're poised to hit the very exciting major milestone I mentioned above. With your ongoing support, it is my hope that, sometime within the next week or two, Modest Needs will make its 10,000th grant!

Right now, we have 175+ excellent and carefully-vetted applications for help awaiting funding at the Modest Needs website (the complete list is here. Among them are applications from:

A substitute teacher who was briefly unemployed during the summer and is now scrambling to save the car she depends on to travel to and from the schools where she's employed;
A single mom of four who, after months of looking, finally found a job and is now struggling to keep the water on in her home;
An adult child of a recent amputee who is struggling to afford an electric bill in the midst of the costs involved in caring for her mother; and
A navy veteran who used her rent money to fix the car that keeps her working and is now facing eviction.

Which of these or our other equally extraordinary candidates for assistance receives our 10,000th grant is really up to you. But one way or the other, I know you're as ready to see that funded application ticker hit 10,000 – and we have a matching grant to help us make this goal a reality! In fact, we have ten days left to claim the $14,450.64 left on this month's matching grant from our friends at the Herb Alpert Foundation. The idea of leaving any of that money 'on the table' (especially during these difficult times) - well, I think we'd all hate to see that happen.

So today, in the interest of hitting our 10,000 grant milestone and claiming the whole of this month's matching grant, I'm asking you - yes, you! - to help us fund 50 of the 175 or so requests for help awaiting funding at Modest Needs' website. If you're willing to pitch in, you can make the tax-deductible contribution of your choice securely, in two minutes or less, using our online donation form.

If you choose to make a donation in response to this appeal, you can then select which of our applicants you'd most like to see get the funding they've requested. Or, if you prefer, we can place your donation for you wherever it's needed most.

But, no matter how you like to give, here's what matters most: with your help, by this time next week, I'll not only be able to report that we claimed the whole of this month's match; I'll be able to tell you who got the 10,000th grant, and report that we claimed the whole of this month's match from the Herb Alpert Foundation – which means more funded applications next month (and a better chance of the match's renewal next year!)

I'll look forward to hearing from many of you soon, but in the meantime, thank you in advance for your kindness, your generosity, and your support of these very important short-term goals. Have a wonderful day, take care, and be well!

Warmest Personal Regards,

Dr. Keith P. Taylor
President / Executive Director
Modest Needs Foundation
http://www.modestneeds.org
'Small Change: A World of Difference'
(212) 463-7042

Hurricane Update, and a Special Request

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good morning, everyone!

On Friday, I sent out a brief newsletter to let you know that Modest Needs' operations may be impacted by Hurricane Irene's arrival in the Northeast. I'm happy to report that in New York City, the impact of the hurricane (which was really more like a tropical storm by the time it arrived in Manhattan) was minimal. In our office, we suffered only minor basement flooding, and we never lost either power or Internet access. We expect to be fully up and running again once mass transit has been restored and our employees can get to work, and my first order of business is to thank all of you who sent well-wishes, kind words, and even prayers our way.

Needless to say, I'm very happy that Hurricane Irene's impact on Manhattan was minimal, and I'm grateful to all of you who sent thoughts and prayers our way. Unfortunately, not all of our friends and neighbors up and down the East Coast were so lucky. I'm sure that by now, you've all seen the photos of Irene's impact in North and South Carolina, the low-lying / coastal areas of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and a host of other states. Those photos, I think, are worth a thousand words. In some cases, just as you'd have expected, the effects of the storm were truly horrific.

And that brings me to our 'special request' - a rare fundraising appeal from Modest Needs. Let me explain, as briefly as I can, what we'd like to do, and how you can help if you'd like:

Time and again at Modest Needs, immediately after natural disasters of this nature, Modest Needs sees a dramatic increase in requests for assistance from persons living in areas affected by the storm. The requests that we receive generally fall into one of two categories. First, there are those persons who, on a shoestring budget, had no choice but to go out and buy supplies that they would not normally have needed to purchase - everything from extra food to generators - and, as a result, will have difficulty paying a regular bill next month. Secondly, we have applications from people whose homes and cars were damaged by the storm and who now much pay insurance deductibles in order to complete necessary repairs.

We expect to begin seeing these types of requests for assistance within the week, as soon as power and the Internet are restored to affected areas. And we want to be ready to respond quickly to those requests when they come, as for many applicants, time will be of the essence.

In response to your many requests following Friday's newsletter, today, Modest Needs is launching a 'modest' relief fund to assist people affected by this storm with the two specific types of expenses described above. Our goal is simply to get people affected by this storm back on track so that they can continue taking care of themselves, despite the short-term financial impact of the storm on their lives, and we'd like to raise a 'modest' $25,000.00 so that we can quickly help those persons who apply for assistance to overcome the undue burden posed by these types of expenses.

If you'd like to help people affected by Hurricane Irene with the two types of expenses I've described above, I'm writing today to ask if you'd please consider making a special contribution to Modest Needs specifically for that purpose. To make a secure, tax-deductible contribution to aid those affected by the storm, please just follow this link and make the contribution of your choice. In the box labeled "Please use my contribution,' select either 'Operations' or 'Hurricane Relief' (we'll be adding the 'Hurricane Relief' tag shortly.) We'll add your contribution to the 'hurricane relief fund,' and we'll be working to fund applications tied the hurricane as quickly as possible as they come in, and once they've been appropriately vetted to avoid 'waste.'

At Modest Needs, we have very few 'special appeals.' This is because we know that if you contribute to an organization, the last thing you want is to be bombarded with requests to give. I wouldn't ask now if I didn't know that the need for this specific type of assistance was going to be substantial, but certainly, we'd all hate to have to say 'no' to persons affected by the storm who really need this assistance, simply for lack of funding. I'm certain most of you out there feel exactly the same way, and I'd like to thank you in advance for your support of this special initiative.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this brief update. I'll look forward to hearing from some of you soon - particularly if you have questions about our hurricane relief efforts - but in the meantime, take care, be well, and please know how much I personally appreciate your willingness to reach out to those who were affected by this very significant storm.

Modest Needs Braces for Hurricane Irene

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good morning, everyone.

It's been a very long time since I've sent out a personalized news update. That's because, now that we have such solid Facebook, Twitter, and Blog presences, generally, people who want to follow all the latest goings-on at Modest Needs are able to receive up-to-the-minute news, on demand, almost 24 hours a day (don't you love that?) But today, I wanted to send out a quick note as we at Modest Needs prepare to face our first bona-fide natural disaster.

As you probably already know, Hurricane Irene is slated to hit the coast of North Carolina on Saturday. From there, the storm's projected path takes it straight up the "Northeast Corridor." At present, the eye of the storm is forecast to pass directly over New York City / Western Long Island as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane. NYC's office of emergency services is telling us to expect the worst sometime between 8:00am and 2:00pm on Sunday, and the impact of the storm on New York City itself - not to mention our neighbors up and down the Eastern Seaboard - is projected to be 'extreme.'

As many of you know, I've been in New York almost ten years now. I've seen a lot of warnings and various types of preparations for disasters, real and anticipated. I can tell you that I have never seen anything like this. As I write this, hospitals and elder-care facilities in certain parts of the city are being evacuated. If nothing about the storm's path changes, then sometime tomorrow afternoon, NYC is expected to shut down mass transit - the entire subway system - which will be offline until after the storm passes (this is absolutely unprecedented). And if the subway system itself floods, it is very likely the all of NYC will lose most of its utility services, as here, power lines and such all run underground.

What does all of this mean, for those of you who've applied for help from and support Modest Needs? Simply this: if the storm does not change course or weaken substantially, it is very likely that Modest Needs' office will be closed until the storm has passed and both power and Internet access have been restored.

The good news, of course, is that Modest Needs' website should remain up and running; our servers are located well outside of NYC and away from the worst of the storm, so if you need to apply for help or would like to make a contribution to this very important work, which I suspect we'll need very much after the storm, you should be able to do so (fingers crossed).

But if the storm hits NYC as expected, and with the intensity expected, it's very likely that we will not be able to process applications, answer calls, or respond to email until power and Internet access are restored (Modest Needs' office is so 'connected' that even our phone runs through the Internet.)

Please rest assured that, if the worst does come to pass and the storm hits NYC and its neighbors to the north and south as projected, all of us at Modest Needs will be back in the office and back to work at the very first possible moment. But in the meantime, I wanted first, to alert everyone to the possibility that Modest Needs' office will almost certainly be affected by this storm, and secondly, to tell all of you in the path of this massive storm that we'll be thinking of you as the storm moves through the Northeast Corridor this weekend.

If you live in a hurricane evacuation zone (as I do, unfortunately - I have to prep my 'go bag' the moment this is published), please take every precaution to protect yourself and your loved ones, and please know that all of us at Modest Needs are thinking of you.

Here's hoping this storm changes course and we're all back to work on Monday. But in the meantime, to everyone in the Modest Needs family, and especially to those of you in the path of this massive storm, take care and be well.

Warmest Personal Regards,

Dr. Keith P. Taylor
President / Executive Director
Modest Needs Foundation
http://www.modestneeds.org
'Small Change: A World of Difference'
(212) 463-7042 x114

Double or Triple Your Power to Change a Life at Modest Needs!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Happy Friday the 13th, and welcome to the May 2011 edition of the Modest Needs Newsletter.

I know, I know. Friday the 13th isn't usually a lucky day. But at Modest Needs, this Friday the 13th is everybody's lucky day! After a three months of hard work and a lot of negotiation, I'm thrilled to be able to announce that for the remainder of 2011, Modest Needs is going to be able to offer - not one - but TWO fantastic matching grant opportunities!

First, from our friends at the Herb Alpert Foundation, we have a matching grant designed for those of you who love what we're doing at Modest Needs but haven't yet made at least a one-time contribution to Modest Needs in 2011. If you're in this group - and I know there are many of you out there! - the Herb Alpert Foundation wants to encourage you to tap your inner philanthropist. So they've pledged to match the FIRST contribution that any person makes to Modest Needs in 2011 - up to a maximum of $30,000 per month - for the rest of the year!

Simply put, thanks to this grant, the first time you make a one-time contribution or pledge to Modest Needs in 2011, you'll get double points for that contribution. Make a $25.00 contribution, get 50 points to allocate among the applications that matter most to you. Make a $100.00 contribution, get 200 points, and so on, with no limit on the amount they'll match up to a maximum of $30,000.00 per month.

Better yet, this match applies to everyone - even people who already make recurring contributions to Modest Needs. Let's say you're currently giving $25.00 to Modest Needs per month. If, in addition to your pledge, you make a one-time contribution to Modest Needs of any size, the Herb Alpert Foundation will match that contribution as well - so you'll get double points for the first one-time contribution you make in addition to your pledge!

This is obviously great news, but wait. This great news gets even better!

In addition to the matching grant we've received from the Herb Alpert Foundation, we've received a very generous grant from a (for now) anonymous family foundation that wants to encourage you to reach out to others through Modest Needs on a regular basis.

These folks have pledged to match any new monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly pledge you're willing to make to Modest Needs, not just once, or twice, but EVERY month for the first SIX months your pledge is active! So, for example, if you make a new $30.00 pledge today (that's $1.00 a day), you'll get 60 points now and 60 points a month to spend on the requests for help that matter most to you from now through December 2011. Amazing!

Best of all, these grants can be combined to TRIPLE the power of your giving! Let's say you haven't given to Modest Needs in 2011. If, instead of making a one-time contribution, you make a new monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly pledge, that first pledge payment will be matched by BOTH the Herb Alpert Foundation and our anonymous friends. You'll instantly get triple the points and triple the power to change a life forever!

I know we all love matching grants, but friends, these grants couldn't come at a better time. Right now, we not only have one of the largest application pools we've ever seen at Modest Needs; we have one of the best. Here's just a taste of what we can achieve right now at Modest Needs, for almost no money - especially if we all pull together:

For 100 points, we can provide a bed for a single mom who has just recovered from temporary homelessness, who is caring for an autistic child, and who - right now - is sleeping on the floor of their apartment. You can get this person off the floor for a one-time contribution of $50.00, or by making a monthly pledge of $35.00!
For 200 points, we can help a woman who has fled an abusive relationship and is starting over to afford the first month's rent on her 'modest' new apartment. You can fund that application in full right now for a one time-contribution of $100.00 or a monthly pledge of $70.00 - and still have points left over to help someone else.
And for 300 points, we can replace the batteries in a wheelchair that keeps one of our applicants productively mobile - something Medicare actually refused to do (can you believe that?) With a one-time contribution of $150.00 or a $100.00 monthly pledge, you'll literally put this person back on the road to self-sufficiency by the end of the day today!

This is just the tip of the iceberg - we have dozens and dozens of terrific requests for help just like these that we're ready to fund immediately. Your support, doubled or tripled by the power of these matching grants, will help us to do just that, and together, we can make this Friday the 13th the happiest day many of our applicants have seen for a very long time indeed.

Opportunities like these don't happen ever day, so what are we waiting for? If you'd like to double or triple your power to change a life, both today and - in the case of a new pledge - for the rest of the year, you can make the contribution or pledge of your choice securely, and in a minute or less using our online contribution form.

I hope you're as thrilled by this news as I am and that you'll do what you can to make sure we don't leave any 'free money' on the table this month or for the rest of the year (just FYI, that's how we'll get these matches renewed for 2012!) And of course, if you have questions about these matching grants or how you can best take advantage of them, I'm happy to help. You can reach me directly either by responding to this newsletter or by sending mail to , you can write to me personally sending mail to kptaylormodestneeds.org.

I'll be back with even more good news shortly - including an update on our brand-new website - but in the meantime, thank you, not just for taking the time to read this very special edition of the Modest Needs News, but for your kindness, your generosity, and your ongoing support of Modest Needs. Until next time, take care, and be well!

Glimpsing the Future of Modest Needs

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

It's true that March 21st - the first day of spring - is Modest Needs' actual 'birthday' - the anniversary of Modest Needs' launch as a personal project.

But April 1st is also a special day for Modest Needs. It's the anniversary of the day that Modest Needs was 'discovered,' thanks to small post to the Metafilter website. And today, in celebration of Modest Needs' 'public' birthday, I have something very special to share with the Modest Needs community: a glimpse into the future of Modest Needs!

For some time now, all of us at Modest Needs have understood that, despite our website's technical excellence, Modest Needs' website is less than attractive and can be difficult to use. Most of Modest Needs' visitors - from loyal fans to first timers - seem to understand this as well. At least once a week for the last two years, I've gotten at least one letter that can be summarized as follows:

"I love what you're doing, but your website has too much text to read and is hard for me to use. Why can't you make your website look / work more like Kiva's, or Donorchoose.org's'?"

Well, to date, there has been a simple, one-word answer to that question: money.

Because organizations like Kiva and Donorschoose.org do more 'conventional' types of non-profit work than Modest Needs does (those orgs address poverty in developing nations and education, respectively), they have long had access to funding sources that Modest Needs simply does not.

Additionally, because these two organization have, for example, been featured on Oprah (which is legendary for accelerating the growth of non-profit organizations), their donor bases have naturally grown more rapidly than Modest Needs' donor base has.

As a result, organizations like Kiva and Donorschoose.org have been able to invest enormous amounts of money into their websites. When it comes to the cost of Donorschoose.org's website over the ten years they've been operating, for example, I've heard figures ranging from a low of $5 million to a high of between $7.5 and $8 million - and that's just for the website!

Holy Smokes! When an organizations get to the point that they can spend this kind of money on their websites and still do good work - well, it's no wonder that organizations with pockets so deep have such amazing websites! And for between $5 and $8 million, a website darn well better be amazing, right?

By contrast, until 2008, the cost of Modest Needs' website was exactly zero - and not because we didn't want to give this work the public face it deserves or think having an attractive website was important. It's just that, every time we received a grant and had the option to spend that money on projects (like a website redesign) or funding applications, we opted instead to fund more applications for assistance than would otherwise have been possible.

But Modest Needs' time has finally come. In 2009, we finally acknowledged that if Modest Needs was to remain a force for good in a Web 2.0 world, we were just going to have to 'bite the bullet' and find the grant funding necessary to get Modest Needs' website up to speed.

That's been easier said than done, let me tell you - but finally, we've done it! Thanks to both a very generous grant from a private foundation and a web designer whose reputation is second to none and who has given us a tremendous discount on the work involved, Modest Needs is now well into the long-overdue process of radically redesigning Modest Needs' website! And the results so far?

Well, in this case, I think a picture is worth a thousand words.

Today, on the ninth anniversary of Modest Needs' public unveiling, and without further ado, I'm proud to present to you this 'sneak preview' of a pretty-close-to final draft of what Modest Needs homepage will look like when we relaunch our website on 1 November 2011:

So what do you think of our work so far? Do you find the website design and color scheme attractive? Is this the kind of homepage that you think would make you want to spend more than a couple of minutes at Modest Needs?

I'd really love to hear your comments because this website redesign is the most important project we've undertaken at Modest Needs in - well, the history of Modest Needs. If we get this one right, then for years to come, we should be more help to more people more quickly than has ever been possible for us before.

If you'd like to take a minute to share your comments or suggestions about the overall appearance and design of this draft of our new homepage, you can write to me personally sending mail to kptaylormodestneeds.org. I'll do my best to respond to every comment that you're kind enough to take the time to send me. And your feedback here really matters. It's a chance to help shape the future of the work we're doing together at Modest Needs.

Believe it or not, we're not through with our ninth birthday celebration yet! We still have two more big gifts to give, and I'll be back on 18 April to tell you about those. When you hear this last bit of celebratory news, I think you'll agree that it was well worth the short wait!

In the meantime, though, I'd invite you to take a look at some of the applications we've recently received from hard-working people in need of a short-term hand up, many of which can be funded in full, right now, for $100.00 or less.

If you'd like to offer one or more of these good folks the hand up they need to remain self-sufficient, you can do so in a minute or less by making the contribution of your choice and then telling us who you'd most like to see get the help they've requested.

This month especially, nothing would make me happier during this, our anniversary month, than to be able to fund a few more of the persons who've turned to us because they've nowhere else to go.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this special edition of the Modest Needs Newsletter and, of course, for your ongoing support of Modest Needs.

Take care, and be well!

My very best,

Dr. Keith P. Taylor
Founder and President
Modest Needs Foundation

Celebrating Nine Years of Paying it Forward!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Today's a very special day for all of us at Modest Needs. It's not just the first day of spring. It's also Modest Needs' birthday! And given how time flies, it's hard for me to believe that it was nine years ago today that I launched Modest Needs as a personal project - a website I meant to be a tribute to the people who'd helped me through hard times in the past, and the best possible way I could think of to 'pay it forward.'

Many people who've discovered Modest Needs over the past few years don't know the story behind it. They don't realize that when I launched Modest Needs nine years ago, I did so without a 'business plan,' any press, or any sources of funding whatsoever beyond the $350.00 a month that I personally pledged to people in need of a short-term hand up through Modest Needs, and which comprised 100% of Modest Needs' whopping $4,200.00 initial annual budget!

For these reasons - and not surprisingly - in Modest Needs' earliest days, the handful of people I told about what I hoped to achieve through Modest Needs thought I had lost my mind. "You know," they said, "you're wasting your money." "People are just going to take advantage of you." "And really, how much good can you do for others with $350.00 a month anyway? You'd be better off saving that money and using it to help yourself."

But what these well-intentioned nay-sayers didn't understand was that, for me, Modest Needs wasn't just about finding a way to 'pay forward' the help that other people had offered to me at the lowest points of my life. For me, launching Modest Needs was also about taking an important step towards living what I'd call an 'authentic life.'

Did you ever notice that, these days especially, people love to talk about everything they wish were 'different' about the world we live in, but that most of those people never actually *do* anything to bring about the changes they say they'd like to see? Well, prior to Modest Needs, I was one of those people. I loved to complain about how unfair I thought it was that people who worked hard and were struggling with short-term emergencies didn't have a social safety net designed just for them. And I loved to talk about all the things I'd do to change the world for people in need - when I had more time, or when I was more financially secure - the list goes on and on.

Finally, having spent my adult life complaining about the state of the world but doing almost nothing to change it, I had what some people would call a 'moment of clarity.' I realized that if I wasn't willing at least to *try* to do my part to address the injustices I saw in the world, I had no right to gripe when everyone else in the world did exactly what I was doing to address those issues: nothing. So, nine years ago today, I launched Modest Needs, not only because I wanted to help people through short-term emergencies I understood from experience, but because, for me, the time had finally come to stop running my mouth and start doing whatever little I could, to quote Ghandi, "to BE the change I wanted to see in the world."

What I could never have expected was that from the very beginning of Modest Needs, so many of you would join me in doing whatever YOU could to be the change YOU wanted to see in the world. And I hope you're as proud of what we've achieved over the past nine years as I am.

Today, thanks to you, the ongoing success of Modest Needs - the 'little charity that could' - stands as a testament to the power that we all have to achieve what people once said was impossible when we choose to set aside our differences, join forces, and take whatever actions we can to remind our neighbors facing short-term crises that the world is full of people who care for them and are willing to do whatever is necessary to help them overcome a difficult time in their lives, just because we know that's the right thing to do.

I'm confident that Modest Needs' ninth year is going to be our most exciting year yet! As I write this, we in the midst of a massive redesign of Modest Needs website based largely on the tremendous feedback about our website that many of you sent to us earlier this year. Our new design isn't just more attractive; whether you're a donor or an applicant, it's going to make your time at Modest Needs both easier and a lot more fun, and when our new site goes 'live' later this year - well, I think it's going to knock your socks off!

And that's not all. Sometime this year, Modest Needs is going to hit yet another major milestone when we make our 10,000th grant (as of today, we're only 398 funded applications from reaching this milestone!) And, on Friday, 1 April 2011, I'm going to have the thrill of breaking some news that, if all goes well, will make it possible for the Modest Needs community to help more people in 2011 than we've ever been able to reach in a single year.

This is just a taste of what we have in store for you at Modest Needs in 2011, and of course, I'll have much more exciting news to share with you in the weeks and months to come. But more than anything else, today, as we celebrate Modest Needs' ninth birthday, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who support Modest Needs for offering the world nine years of proof positive that, so long as we are willing to act together on the kindness and compassion that are the very best parts of who we are as people, we ALL have the power to pay it forward - one handful of 'small change,' one random act of kindness at a time.

And if you're not yet regularly supporting Modest Needs, I'd like to invite you to join us in our mission. You'll be amazed when you see just how much you can achieve with a willing heart and a few extra dollars. If you'd like to help us reach that 10,000 grant milestone a little more quickly, you can do so by making a donation of any size and then telling us which applications you'd most like to see us fund. I promise you this: the first time you get a 'thank you' note from a person whose life you've changed, you'll be hooked, and you'll never look back.

After all, what feels better than knowing you've made a life-long difference to someone who both needs and deserves the help you've been kind enough to offer?

Again, thanks so much to all of you for the ongoing support that has made Modest Needs the very best charity of its kind in the world. I'll be back on 1 April 2011 with that promised 'big news' and look forward to hearing from some of you before then, but in the meantime, here's wishing all of you more health and happiness than your lives can possibly contain. Take care, and be well!

Final Thoughts on a Well-Fought Battle

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good day, everyone! I hope you're enjoying this last official day of summer and preparing for a wonderful fall season.

Over the past few weeks, many of you have written to ask when / whether we planned to publish a 'final update' about the outcome of our participation in Pepsi's 'Refresh the Gulf' grant challenge. Honestly, I'd been waiting to send this update for two reasons.

First of all, as many of you noted, Pepsi's website was notoriously difficult to use, and I'm relatively certain that a number of you had problems actually registering your votes. We were hoping that Pepsi might find some way to take that into consideration when calculating the final vote tallies.

Secondly, as many of you suspected, Pepsi's 'Refresh the Gulf' competition was plagued by a very large number of - what's the nicest way to say this? - 'voting irregularities' that, if addressed by Pepsi, would've drastically altered the outcome of the competition in both the $50K and $250K grant categories.

Over the final two weeks of grant competition, we and multiple other organizations meticulously documented and reported these 'voting irregularities' to Pepsi. We did everything we could to urge Pepsi to take decisive action against the organizations who were working to alter the outcome of the grant competition by engaging in proxy voting, 'unsportsmanlike conduct,' and other types of behavior specifically prohibited by Pepsi's Terms of Use.

Unfortunately, despite multiple promises from the 'powers that be' at Pepsi that they were 'actively investigating' these issues, Pepsi ultimately opted to take no significant action. That was Pepsi's 'last word' on the issue, and in a grant competition of this type, the 'last word' of the corporate sponsor is law.

Thanks to these voting irregularities, I really don't know who actually won Pepsi's 'Refresh the Gulf' grant competition. In fact, nobody outside of Pepsi actually knows who really won their 'Refresh the Gulf' grants, as no one outside of Pepsi has access to the actual vote tallies, and Pepsi isn't sharing this information with anyone.

I can only tell you that, tomorrow, when Pepsi officially announces the recipients of their $250,000.00 'Refresh the Gulf' grants, one of the recipients will be a terrific organization that I genuinely respect and admire.

The other grant will go to an organization who received a $250,000.00 'Refresh Everything' grant from Pepsi earlier this year, who achieved their standing in the 'Refresh the Gulf' campaign directly as a result of a proxy voting scheme in which they knowingly and actively participated, and that - if the persons in charge of that organization are to be believed - were actually invited by Pepsi to apply for a second quarter-million dollar grant during Pepsi's 'Refresh the Gulf' campaign.

After working your hearts out for a month, I know many of you were disappointed to learn that Modest Needs would not be receiving a $250,000.00 'Refresh the Gulf' grant. I was too - for about five minutes. And then, I started to consider all of the good that came out of our participation in this competition.

First and foremost, I'm proud of us - all of us - for the way we ran our grant campaign. We did everything strictly 'by the book.' We played by the rules, even when playing by the rules was hard. We didn't enter into partnerships that would've given us tens of thousands of additional votes by proxy - a practice specifically prohibited by Pepsi. And we didn't engage in the kinds of 'smear tactics' in which some other organizations unfortunately engaged throughout the grant competition.

To me, the reputation that Modest Needs has earned over the years is worth a heck of a lot more than a quarter million dollars. So even though we didn't win a $250,000.00 grant from Pepsi, we came away from this competition with our reputation for ethical behavior in tact. As far as I'm concerned, that's something we can be proud of. It's an unqualified 'win' for Modest Needs, and for those of you who support this work.

Secondly, our experience with Pepsi's 'Refresh the Gulf' campaign caused me - a lot of us, I think - to 're-think' the wisdom of participating in competitions of this type. Initially, like many of you, I figured there wasn't any harm in submitting a grant proposal to Pepsi. The worst thing that could happen would be that we simply wouldn't get the grant, right?

Wrong.

Now that we've actually participated in a grant competition of this type, we've learned that, in the immortal words of Han Solo, 'No reward is worth this!' I'm all for additional funding, but this competition took much more time to manage than we ever imagined. What's more, it required us to spend an entire month competing against our friends in the non-profit community and marketing Pepsi's products for them.

I think we can all agree that there are better, more effective ways to fundraise. So while I'm not sorry we entered this competition, I can promise you that having done this once, we'll never do it again. To avoid competitions of this type - that's an important lesson we learned from participating in this competition, and you just can't underestimate the value of wisdom that comes from experience.

But best of all, participating in Pepsi's 'Refresh the Gulf' grant competition really brought the Modest Needs community together in ways I've haven't seen in a very long time. I can't tell you how much it meant to all of us at Modest Needs to see so many of you become 'activists' for Modest Needs, to hear from you as you were voting, and - best of all - to read the very kind comments all of you left about our work on Pepsi's website. Those comments, in fact, meant more to all of us than I could probably express.

And as for the daily reminders we sent out during our month-long grant campaign (thank you for tolerating those, by the way)? Well, it turns out that they inspired some people to become new supporters of this work, brought former supporters of this work back to us, and encouraged some of you who already support Modest Needs regularly to do just a little more for those persons in need of our help during the month of August.

So, if nothing else, this grant competition had the result of pulling us together in pursuit of a common goal. And you know what? As a result, in the month of August - normally our slowest month of the year - we funded more requests for help than we were able to fund in June and July of 2010 combined. And that, my friends, is truly a 'win' for all of us.

We may not have received a $250,000.00 grant from Pepsi, but we did have the opportunity to show the world our true colors in the way we handled the grant competition. We learned some important lessons about the best uses of our limited time. And best of all, we came together for common good and helped a lot of people in the process.

That kind of team work, our solidarity, is worth a lot more than $250,000.00. It's the reason Modest Needs is so much more than 'just another charity.'

Again, thank you so very much for your support of our grant proposal in Pepsi's 'Refresh the Gulf' promotion, and, of course, for your support of Modest Needs. I look forward to hearing from many of you soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the first days of fall, and above all, be well.

Make Sure Your Pepsi Vote Counts for Modest Needs

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Hello, folks!

Since announcing that Modest Needs is in the running for a 'Refresh the Gulf' grant from Pepsi, we've gotten a lot of notes from people who want to make sure their votes are being counted for Modest Needs.

I know you want to make sure your vote counts for Modest Needs, and truthfully, Pepsi's website, while it's really pretty, is not all that easy to use. So here, in less than 300 words, is how to make SURE your vote for Modest Needs' grant proposal counts:

Follow this link to go to Modest Needs' Pepsi Refresh webpage.
When you get to this page, on the right side of the screen, you'll see a vote button. Click that button.
If you're already registered with Pepsi, you'll be prompted to login. If you're not already registered, you'll be prompted to register. Registration is SPAM free and takes about two seconds.
When you log in, you'll hear a sound like a Pepsi being poured into a glass. This doesn't mean you've voted. It means you're now logged in to Pepsi's site.
Now, click the 'Vote' button again. When you do, the vote button will change to display a message like 'Sweet!' or 'Right On!' and you'll get a message that says 'Now, why not promote this idea?' If you see those messages, you'll know you've voted correctly and that your vote 'counted' for Modest Needs.

That's it! Once you've registered with Pepsi once, you can click the direct link to our grant proposal, log in, and vote once per day. And remember, every vote counts!

One last thing: For some bizarre reason, the special 'Gulf' grants" cannot be accessed via mobile phone - none of them. So in order to vote for our proposal, you'll have to use your desktop or laptop computer. I'm going to write to Pepsi to see if they can fix that problem but for now, if you couldn't get to our grant page because you're on an iPhone, for example, that's why.

I hope this information helps all of you who may have had trouble voting or wondered if your vote counted. I'll be back next week to let you know where we are in the rankings, but for now, please, let's work together by voting, and voting often, for this very important grant.

Together, we can do this!

One for the Fathers . . . .

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

You know what I learned the other day? The male sea catfish father carries the eggs of his young in his lower lip for several weeks during gestation. Not only that, after they hatch they stay in his mouth for a while before being released into the water. Because he's using his mouth as a nursery, this doting dad can't eat for a long, long time.

Now that's what I call fatherly dedication!

And it isn't just dads of the sea who work hard to give up a lot for their young. In fact, as Father's Day nears, I thought it would be fun if Modest Needs devoted this week's newsletter to our dads: the guy who shows you how to build things, the one who makes you laugh after you've had a really good cry, the man who works a little extra so you can have a little extra.

With strong arms for the best hugs and big hands to hold you up when you need it, fathers are fantastic, and as their calendared day of honor approaches, I say we give them a hand.

With this in mind, I want to share with you the stories of three fathers who've turned to Modest Needs for help, and are still awaiting the help they need:

Application 154540

Sometimes it's simply getting from Point A to Point B that is the problem. The first featured father is having car trouble, which, if not rectified, will spell bigger trouble down the road:

Hello Modest Needs donors. I need help getting my Buick fixed, I just got an estimate saying my lower ball joints and inner tie rod ends need to be fixed ASAP.

Due to the economy I don't make very much working as a delivery driver, but to continue working and making the money I do to support my son and his mom, I do need my car fixed before it breaks while I'm driving. It's very dangerous to keep driving it the way it is. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Help this dad get to work.

Application 151148

This Dad has a modest need after a very serious accident put him in a coma (and out of work):

Hello, and thank you for your attention. My husband was recently hit by an 18 wheeler. After a coma and months of hospitalization, he is going through recovery. He goes to therapy 3 days a week. His old high school buddy volunteered to move in to help our family, and help get my husband to therapy. Unfortunately the vehicle used, broke down and needed some repairs.
  
In addition, my personal vehicle used to get to work, also needed some unexpected repairs. These unexpected costs have caused us to miss the payment of several household bills. Any help that can be offered is greatly appreciated.
  
Thank you for your consideration.

Send this Dad to the doctor.

Application 151358

This father's long-term suffering from aggressive cancer forced this family to close their small business. Now they've gotten way behind:

January 2009 my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Treatments were very aggressive including 72 radiation treatments, 16 chemotherapy treatments not to mention the overwhelming doctor bills and medication costs. He is a self-employed electrician who was immediately forced to no longer maintain the business; resulting in lack of income.
  
I closed up this business and terminated his employees. Moving all materials into storage, which is an added monthly cost. I have two boys of which are 17 and 13. Watching their dad through these 15 months has been devastating but coping with this situation. My 17 year old will graduate in June with top 7% of his class. I have not been able to purchase graduation announcements nor senior pictures due to lack of fund availability. I would like for you to consider assisting me in paying my property tax bill, as it has been delinquent since January.

Help this family keep their home.

As you read about the plight of these families that so closely resemble my own (and no doubt some of you feel the same way), it is difficult not to appreciate the fathers and grandfathers and stepfathers who sacrifice so much to touch our lives on a daily basis.

So I was thinking, wouldn't it be terrific if by Father's Day, we could assist at least these three dads who are struggling to make ends meet? You can help to fund one or more of these applications just by clicking the relevant link above.

But even if these none of these three causes appeal to you, don't worry: in a quick search of the Modest Needs website, I found dozens of prequalified applications with the keyword “dad” or “father” posted in the last 30 days, all of which are still waiting to be funded.

Try it yourself! You can browse requests by keyword at the Modest Needs site by using the search feature.

Try a term that appeals to you--“stepdad” “grandpa” “daddy”—and see how you can help a struggling father well before Father's Day arrives.

One last thing: Whomever you choose to celebrate this Father's Day - a mentor, a foster dad, your pop, your great-grandfather, the daddy to be - remember the gift of giving. Because while ties are the number one gift given each and every Father's Day, the last thing your old man needs is another tie.

Because sharing the joy of helping others just doesn't go out of style, this year, perhaps a Modest Needs Gift Certificate would be more his speed. You can give the special man in your life the power to change someone else's.

I hope all you dads out there have a fantastic Father's Day, regardless of how you may choose to celebrate. I know my Dad will likely spend his in the recliner—just as he should if that's what he wants. It should be a time for fun and a time for joy, so enjoy. And to all the dads out there, thank you for all that you've done – and continue to do – for all of us. We love you.

Modest Needs Comes Full Circle

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good morning, everyone!

Today, I have the pleasure (finally!) of telling you what we've been up to at Modest Needs over the last month or so - a month during which you haven't seen a newsletter, a 'Profile in Courageous Generosity,' a blog post, or heard so much as a Twitteriffic 'tweet' from Modest Needs.

Most of you who've been a part of the Modest Needs Community for any period of time already know that when we're quiet, it's usually because we're working on something big, and usually that 'something' has to do with closing a grant, or raising a significant amount of money. Well, in this case, you'd be half-right. We have been working on something big, but this time around, the news I have to share with you doesn't have anything to do with money. It has to do with a development that I think will finally bring Modest Needs 'full circle' in a way that will fundamentally and positively change what it means to be a part of the Modest Needs Community for a very long time to come.

In order to understand why the news I'm about to share with you is so important, so exciting to me personally, it's important for me to share some information about Modest Needs that many of you, particularly those of you who have come to Modest Needs in recent years, may not know. As briefly as I can, I'd like to share that information with you now:

If you've read anything about the history of Modest Needs, then you probably already know that when I launched Modest Needs in 2002, my intention was that Modest Needs would be a purely personal project, funded solely by me the tune of $350 a month or so (about 10% of my gross personal income), with the power to help perhaps 1 or 2 people a month. And that's all I really ever thought that Modest Needs would be: my personal and very quiet way of paying tribute to the people who had shown kindness to me in the most difficult times of my own life.

Well, needless to say, Modest Needs didn't remain my 'personal project' for long. Within a month of Modest Needs going 'live,' what I had meant to be a personal project was suddenly exposed millions and millions of persons by way of stories about Modest Needs that ran - much to my surprise - on the Today Show, CNN, in USA Today, on NPR, and in dozens of other 'major media' outlets. As you might expect, thanks to these stories on Modest Needs (which you can still see on our media page), though many people did turn to Modest Needs to ask for assistance, an equally large number of people sent me letters, cards, and emails (tens of thousands of emails, actually!), all saying something to the effect of 'This is what our country has needed for a long time - an organized way for us to help each other as best we can. Where can I send you a check'?

As a result of all of these letters and cards and comments, I quickly came to understand that I wasn't alone, that there were tens of thousands - maybe hundreds of thousands or millions of people - who, like me, were hungry for a way to reach out to people in need in a meaningful and personal way. And in light of this response, my vision for Modest Needs changed. I decided that I would do everything I could to transform Modest Needs, not just into a charity that people would be proud to support, but into a bona-fide online community - a place where people who needed help, or who wanted to participate in this kind of personal philanthropy could 'connect,' not just by making a request for help or a contribution, but by truly getting to 'know' one another.

For nearly four years - from 2002 to 2006, and in the interest of fostering this sense of community that I think is so important to Modest Needs - every week, I sent out a newsletter, just to let people know what was going on at Modest Needs. I wrote a 'Profile in Courageous Generosity' at least twice a month as a way of highlighting the extraordinary impact of the work our donors were doing at Modest Needs. We maintained a Bulletin Board where donors and applicants alike could 'converse' about Modest Needs. So in its early years, Modest Needs was much more than a charity or a website. It was a 'social network' - long before there was Myspace, or Facebook, or Twitter - and I have to admit that I loved logging on to the website every day to see what people were saying, not just about the latest newsletter, but about what was going on in their lives. I actually used to know every one of our donors and applicants by name.

Man, those were the days . . . .

And then, to make a long story short, Modest Needs started to grow, really to grow, and the amount of time it took just to make sure the charitable element of Modest Needs was running smoothly just exploded. Even once we had the grants in place that would allow me to hire what many of you know to be our wonderful staff - without whom Modest Needs just couldn't exist at this point - I found myself working ten or twelve or fourteen hour days just to make sure that applicants were getting funded on schedule, or that we were properly performing our due diligence, or that our financials and government filings were up-to-date.

Because there are only so many hours in the day, something had to give - and unfortunately, for me - and by extension, for many of you - that 'something' were these community-based elements of Modest Needs that have always been my favorite part of Modest Needs.

In shifting my time to focus almost exclusively on the day to day operation of Modest Needs, together, Modest Needs' donors are now helping more people than ever before in the history of Modest Needs. But that growth has come at a cost. Over the last couple of years, you've watched as our Bulletin Board has disappeared, simply because we no longer had time to maintain it properly. We haven't published a Profile in Courageous Generosity yet this year. Our blog has virtual cobwebs on it. And the newsletter comes sporadically - maybe once a month - unless, for example, we're in the middle of a matching grant initiative.

I'm happy that Modest Needs is now able to help so many people, but speaking for myself, I miss feeling as if I'm a part of a community at Modest Needs. I know many of you feel the same way. And for a long time now - at least two years, really, I've been looking for a way to bring Modest Needs full-circle, a way to continue to grow while restoring the sense of community that has always been so important to the work we do at Modest Needs.

Today, I'm happy to tell you that Modest Needs is at last coming full circle - thanks to, of all things, Facebook. Last month, while attempting to update Modest Needs' Facebook page (which I hadn't done in more than a year!), I got a 'friend' request from a person named Brittney Gilbert - a long-standing friend of mine who I met more than a decade ago, back in my Nashville days, and long before Modest Needs launched. She also happens to be one of the premiere social media experts working in the United States today.

Back in the 1990's, she was one of the first people to have a 'blog,' back before people even knew what blogs really were. She's the first person to have ever been paid by a news agency (first by ABC in Nashville, and then by CBS in San Francisco, where she currently resides) to 'blog' the news. She is a tremendous writer whose work has been featured, not just all over the web, but in major media outlets throughout the United States. She's been honored twice honored award for her work with CBS and ABC for having the web's best 'serious blog.' She's been profiled for her work in publications the likes of Forbes. And she lives, eats, drinks and breathes the 'new media' - social networking.

I've always admired Brittney for her work. But she's also always had a place in my heart because, whether you realize it or not, you wouldn't know about Modest Needs if it weren't for Brittney. Back when I launched Modest Needs as a personal project, Brittney was one of the first people I told about what I was planning to do. About a week after Modest Needs' original website actually went live, without my knowing, she made a tiny post to a website I'd never even heard of called 'Metafilter.' Overnight, thanks to that well-written and well-placed post, about a thousand people wrote to ask me how they could become involved in Modest Needs. A week later, largely as a result of that post, I was invited to appear simultaneously on The Today Show and CNN to talk about Modest Needs.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Outside of myself, there is no one in the world more qualified to tell you what's going on at Modest Needs than Brittney. She's been following this work from the very beginning and knows as much about it as I do. More than this, she is a student of the 'new media' - social media. She knows how to keep you informed, engaged, and excited about the work we're doing - and in 200 words or less! She's a remarkable writer and genuinely cares about this work. And more than any of this, she's a wonderful person, one of the very best friends I've ever had.

I never dreamed that Brittney would leave a high-profile job at CBS to work with us to restore and maintain the 'community elements' of Modest Needs that have meant so much to so many of us. But that's exactly what she's done. Today, I am thrilled to announce that Brittney has joined the Modest Needs team and, starting today, will be taking over the parts of Modest Needs that I no longer have the time to maintain in the way that they deserve to be maintained - our newsletter, blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts. Thanks to her, before long, the Modest Needs Community will begin to 'feel' like a community again.

I asked Brittney if she'd write just a small blurb for this newsletter to introduce herself to you. Here's what she had to say:

***

To say that I am excited to be joining the team at Modest Needs in order to foster a community of like-minded individuals would be putting it mildly. Rather, I am extremely passionate about it. By using tools like Twitter, Facebook and blogging, I want to spread the word about the amazing work that Modest Needs does far and wide, and whether you're a donor, an applicant, or just a person who cares about the lives of others, I would love it if you joined me in the fun.

It's time for us to start talking about the joy that comes with giving, that even small change can change lives.

So starting today, let's get personal. Let's share our stories. Let's make each other laugh. Let's get together and make something special. Let's create relationships that will touch and inspire people in new and awesome ways for many years to come. I'll have my first post to the Modest Needs blog up by 2:00pm this afternoon.

Join us--it is going to be great, and I can't wait to meet you.

***

I hope that many of you will join me this afternoon at the Modest Needs blog to welcome Brittney and to see what she has to say. But in the meantime, whether you're a long-standing supporter of Modest Needs or someone who has discovered our work only recently, I'd like to welcome you *back* to the Modest Needs Community! You can't know how long I've wanted to write those words . . .

Matching Grant Update: Deadline Extended, Rules Simplified!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good afternoon, everyone!

In this month's edition of the Modest Needs News (which comes to you two days later than I'd promised - sorry!), I want to give you a much-requested update you on the status of our 2010 matching grant challenge. I think you'll be thrilled with the information I have to share with you, and I hope you'll take the time to read this quick newsletter and - if you feel it would be appropriate - to 'pass on' this information to persons you think might be interested.

First, a quick re-cap:

As you probably know, on 23 March 2010, I announced a new and VERY generous matching grant program at Modest Needs. This matching grant program - which has a guaranteed minimum of $250,000.00 and maximum value of $500,000.00 - originally had some pretty complicated rules and a very tight deadline. Essentially, under the original terms of the grant, Modest Needs' donors had just about eight days to contribute the $50,000.00 that would've entitled us to claim maximum value of the grant.
The good news, of course, is that Modest Needs' donors rose valiantly to this challenge, exactly as I knew they would. In just eight days, Modest Needs' donors contributed a whopping $27,598.00 (an average of nearly $3,500.00 per day) in support of this challenge grant. As a result, our donors already have secured a matching grant valued at $275,980.00 for Modest Needs in 2010. That we were able to achieve this much on such short notice- and at tax time yet! - is something to celebrate in and of itself.
All the same, I did hear from many donors / potential donors who suggested, first, that the original 'terms' of the match were just overly complicated, and secondly, that it was unrealistic of any grant maker to ask individual persons to raise such a large amount of money in so short an amount of time.

Today, I am THRILLED to report that, thanks to your comments, we were successfully able renegotiate the terms of our 2010 Matching Grant with our anonymous donor. First of all, you'll be happy to hear that our 'deadline' to claim the entire match has been significantly extended. We now have until 30 June 2010 - about 45 extra days - to claim the whole of this $500,000.00 match.
Better still, the 'terms' of the match have likewise been simplified. In order to help us qualify for these matching funds, all you have to is either:

Make a monthly pledge of $20.00 or more (if you don't already have a pledge with Modest Needs); or

Increase the value of a pledge you currently have with us by 10% or $5.00, whichever is greater.

Every time you make a new pledge (or increase your pledge) as described above, you'll get a 100% match to spend right away. At the same time, Modest Needs gets - are you ready - TEN TIMES the value of your pledge in 'credit' towards the remaining '$225,000.00 or so in matching funds that are still 'on the table.'
For example, if today, you sign up for $20.00 monthly pledge, you'll get the 20 points you would normally receive for that pledge, plus 20 points in 'matching funds.' Simultaneously, Modest Needs receives $200 credit towards the (almost) $225,000.00 in 'matching funds' that are still 'on the table,' waiting for us to claim them.
The matching points that you're entitled to receive under this program will be credited to your account on the Monday following the date that you make your pledge, and you can get down to helping twice as many people who've requested help to overcome a short-term financial emergency from Modest Needs.
What could be simpler?
Best of all, under the new terms of the grant, you help us claim the maximum value of this matching grant, even if you already received matching funds last month! Essentially, this means that even if you made a $100 one-time contribution that was matched last month, this month, you could now sign up for, say, a $30.00 monthly pledge, get another 30 matching points, and move us $300.00 closer to claiming the full, half-million dollar value of this matching grant.
And as if all of this were not enough, our donor was impressed enough by your comments to offer us a 'bonus' just for acting quickly. Bottom line: if we are able to claim the whole of this match by 30 April 2010, we get a $50,000.00 'bonus.' If we just can't make that deadline, then if we are able to claim the whole of this match by 31 May 2010, we still get a $25,000.00 bonus.
So, just for showing that we're all committed to the work we're doing together at Modest Needs and demonstrating that commitment by acting as quickly as we can to claim these funds, we end up increasing the value of the total match to a maximum of either $550,000.00 or $525,000.00, respectively.
Thanks to your comments and our grant maker's willingness to address your concerns, we now have a much easier job in front of us. In order to claim the whole of the match, Modest Needs' donors simply need to make new pledges (or pledge increases) valued at roughly $22,500.00 total over the next 45 days or so.
We could achieve this if just 1% (or 750) of the people 75,000+ people who receive the Modest Needs Newsletter were willing to commit to giving a dollar a day ($30.00 / month) in support of the work we're doing together at Modest Needs - perhaps in lieu of making larger, occasional donations . And if we achieve this (or its equivalent) over next 45 days, we take home half a million dollars (or more, if we act quickly) for our applicants.
Clearly, thanks to your comments, we now have a matching grant goal that we really CAN reach. And if you'd like to help us reach this goal, you can make the pledge of your choice right now, in two minutes or less, by using our online contribution form.
You can always make a difference with your 'small change' at Modest Needs, but with this revised (and much better) matching grant challenge in place, your 'small change' has more power than ever to change a life. I hope that you'll do all you can to help us reach this all-important goal for 2010. I'm confident we can reach this goal, but we'll definitely need your help to do it!

Two last notes:
First, if you already have a pledge with Modest Needs, and you increased your pledge last month, please don't worry if you just can't do anymore to help us reach this goal. Those of you who contribute to Modest Needs on a monthly basis are the lifeblood of this work, and we all understand if you've reached your limit. Our grant-maker included the option of further increasing a pledge that you already have because that person didn't want our most loyal donors to be 'left out' of the match under the new terms of our grant. That's all.
Secondly, some of you (many of you actually) have expressed concern that it's difficult for you to manage a pledge at Modest Needs once you've created at. We've heard you, and we're addressing that concern right now. By 30 April 2010, we'll have installed a software update that will make it possible for your to manage your pledge with Modest Needs on your own, as you see fit, in a completely 'self-service' environment.
If you have any questions or comments about the new terms of this match or anything else of interest to you, I'd enjoy hearing from you. In the meantime, though, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and to tell you - in advance - how much I personally appreciate your willingness to help us claim the whole of this very generous matching grant as quickly as we can.
For those of us who support this work and for our applicants, this is truly the opportunity of a lifetime!

A New Matching Grant - and a Very Special Request

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good morning, everyone!
If you've visited Modest Needs lately, then you've noticed that, on the homepage, we've been alluding to some big news to come in March. I've delayed making this big announcement until I could work out all of the details surrounding it, but now, everything is in place, and we're finally able to bring you our first really big news of 2010. I hope you're sitting down - this one is going to knock your socks off!
I am thrilled to report that, in response to the generosity of Modest Needs' donors, and in honor of Modest Needs' eighth anniversary (which fell on Sunday, 21 March 2010), Modest Needs has been awarded its first matching grant of 2010! Now, we've had matching grants before at Modest Needs, and we know that people love it when the power of their giving is doubled. But this matching grant is VERY special - perhaps the most generous single match that we've ever been able to offer. Here are the details:
This new matching grant, which will be in effect for all of 2010, or until the entire value of the matching grant is exhausted (more on that in a second), will double the value of the following three specific types of contributions:
If you haven't already made even one contribution to Modest Needs in 2010, this new matching grant will double the value of the FIRST contribution to Modest Needs this year. So if you haven't given to Modest Needs yet this year, the first time you make a contribution, that contribution will be matched dollar for dollar.
If you're not already one of our monthly donors, and you decide to make a pledge of $15.00 per month or more to Modest Needs (that's a minimum of just $0.50 a day - an amount our matching donor felt that most interested people could probably afford), the entire value of your first pledge payment will be matched, again dollar for dollar.
If you already have an active pledge with Modest Needs, and you replace that pledge with a NEW pledge that increases the amount of your recurring contribution by just $5.00 or more, the ENTIRE amount of your first new pledge payment will be matched. For example, if you currently have a $30.00 monthly pledge with Modest Needs, and you increase your pledge from $30.00 to $35.00, then your first $35.00 pledge payment will be worth 70 Modest Needs 'points.'
In each of these three cases, we'll have your matching points deposited into your Modest Needs account within 48 hours of your making an eligible contribution. In other words, if today, you make a contribution of $100.00, and that contribution qualifies for a match under the terms of this new matching grant program, then by Thursday morning, you'll have 200 points in your account, which you can immediately allocate to the requests for help that you'd most like to see funded.
Now, as if this weren't enough great news for a Tuesday, let me tell you how much this matching grant is actually worth (and this is the element of this matching grant that has generated the most excitement for us at Modest Needs):
This matching grant has a minimum value of $250.000.00 in 2010 - and I don't think I have to tell anyone how much $250,000.00 in matching funding would mean to the thousands of people who turn to Modest Needs for help to remain self-sufficient in the midst of a short-term financial crisis. But - in a twist for a grant of this type - our matching donor has put the maximum value of this matching grant into the hands of Modest Needs' donors themselves.

For the rest of March 2010, the terms of this matching grant require us to carefully track the exact dollar value of all contributions that fall into one of the three categories listed above. On 31 March 2010, we've been asked to tally the total dollar amount that people have given in response to this matching grant challenge. At that point, the maximum dollar value of this match will be increased to TEN TIMES this amount, up to a possible absolute maximum value in 2010 of $500,000.00!
Let me put that another way:
If, between now and 31 March 2010, people make $15,000.00 worth of contributions that are eligible to be matched under the program I've described above, then the total value of this matching grant in 2010 would be our 'minimum guarantee' - $250,000.00. If over that same day period, persons make $30,000.00 worth of eligible contributions, the total value of this matching grant would increase to $300,000.00 - ten times the $30,000.00 worth of eligible contributions persons make over the next eight days.
But, if in the final eight days of March 2010, those of you who support Modest Needs (or would like to) make eligible contributions in response to this challenge grant totaling $50,000.00 or more, then Modest Needs' donors and applicants hit 'the jackpot,' and the value of this challenge grant increases to be worth half a million dollars in 2010!
Of course, I know we're all thrilled when Modest Needs has a matching grant in place. But, speaking personally, I'd like to tell you why I'm especially happy about the timing of this very special and very generous matching grant:
Since Modest Needs received significant exposure on CNN at the end of 2009, we've not only been flooded with requests for help; the requests we've been getting are simply some of the most meaningful that we've received in the eight-year history of Modest Needs. These applications - most of them for very 'modest' amounts of assistance - speak very clearly to the difficulties that people are facing at what is a very challenging time for a large number of people.
But some of the applications we've been receiving - well, there's just no word to describe them other than 'heartbreaking.'

Take, for example, this request for help, which we certified for donor review yesterday. It comes to us from someone who has given his life to public service. Let me share with you what this person wrote in the details of his application, in which he requested help to purchase - of all things - a tombstone (you can read the application here):
"My wife passed away in January of this year, and left me with a void. I did not realize how unprepared we were. I had to get a loan to pay for her funeral but could not get enough to cover cost for a tombstone. I am only getting by on what the government sends me. If I could work I would so I could buy her a tombstone, but no one wants to hire an old guy like me.
I was born and raised in Lakeville, Indiana. I am a retired 25 year Marine, and retired Town Marshall of Lakeville of 24 years. I married my high school sweet heart in 1954 and we had 4 children (all grown). I miss my wife everyday, and I know she is with me until I see her again, but my heart still aches, and the pain of not having her here is so hard. We dated in high school, and this year would have made 60, but she did not make it. My wife was an amazing woman and I will miss her more then she knows. I hope you understand, and you can help me. Thank you."
This is but one of many hundreds of pre-qualified requests for help that we've received in 2010. So far, Modest Needs' regular donors have been generous, and we've been able to help quite a few of the persons who have applied for Modest Needs' assistance. That's great news, of course - every person we're able to help is great news - but truthfully, given the volume of requests we've seen to date in 2010, too often, we've had to say 'no' to persons who we knew both needed and deserved our help, simply because the money wasn't there to fund their applications in time.
With this new matching grant in place, together, we have the power to change the lives of many hundreds of people over the coming months whom we would not otherwise be able to help - particularly if we are able to increase the value of this matching grant to its full half-million dollars. And it is with this goal in mind that I'd like to ask you - whether you're a first-time donor or regular supporter of Modest Needs - to please consider making an eligible contribution today. Indeed, your immediate action is especially important, since we only have eight days to receive the $50,000.00 worth of eligible contributions that would bump the maximum value of this grant to its full half-million dollar value.
You can make a contribution to Modest Needs securely, and in two minutes or less, right here on our website.. Your contribution is fully tax-deductible. Eligible contributions will be matched and points available for you to distribute within 48 hours as described above, and - of course - if we work together, by the end of the month, I'll be able to announce that, together, we've earned an extra $500,000.00 for persons who have come to Modest Needs seeking the assistance they simply can't find anywhere else.
Over the next eight days, I'll keep everyone posted as to our progress on this unique matching grant via the Modest Needs homepage and our blog. In the meantime, though, if you have questions about this remarkable challenge grant or comments of any other kind, I'd enjoy hearing from you. You can contact us directly simply by following this link.
Thank you so very much, both for taking a few moments to read this very special edition of the Modest Needs News and, of course, for your support of Modest Needs, particularly in light of this remarkable challenge grant. I'll look forward to hearing from many of you soon, but in the meantime, take care, and be well!

Office Closed due to NYC Blizzard

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Today, 26 February 2010, New York City is experiencing blizzard-like conditions. To ensure the safety of Modest Needs' employees, we've closed our office for the day.

Don't forget: even though we aren't in the office, you can still apply for help, make a contribution, or correspond with us via our website, which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The snow in NYC is expected to end some time tonight or tomorrow, and we plan to be back in the office on Monday, as usual.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this very unusual 'snow day' at Modest Needs. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Have a terrific day!

Tax Receipt are Ready to Go!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good afternoon, everyone!
We wanted to post a brief edition of the Modest Needs Newsletter today to let you know that we've just updated the Modest Needs website so that, from this point forward, Modest Needs' donors will be able to print IRS-acceptable tax receipts directly from our website!

If you contributed to Modest Needs in 2009 and would like to print a receipt for your contributions for tax purposes, here's all you have to do:

Log in to the Modest Needs website with your user name and password. This will take you directly to your Modest Needs Personal Page.

Scroll down to the section of your personal page called “My Contributions' (on the left-hand side of the screen) and click the link that says ‘Contribution Details.'

At the very top of the ‘Contribution Details' page, you'll now see a box that says ‘Print Tax Receipts.' All you have to do is select the year for which you'd like to print tax receipts (you can select any year from 2006 to 2009) and then click the button that says ‘Generate Tax Receipt.'

And that's all there is to is! When you click ‘Generate Tax Receipt,' a new window will open containing your tax letter. The contribution amount shown on that letter has been balanced against our actual books and is correctly reported for tax purposes. Just click the button in that window that says ‘print,' and you'll have your tax receipt for 2009 (or any other year that you choose) for your records.
One quick trouble-shooting note: If you click the ‘Generate Tax Receipt' button and nothing happens, this is probably because you have ‘pop-up blockers' enabled in your web browser. Just turn off your pop-up blocker, create and print your tax receipt, and then turn your pop-up blocker back on. That should fix this problem for anyone who encounters it.

We created the ability for donors to print their own tax receipts for two reasons. First, of course, this functionality should be much more convenient for those of you who support Modest Needs. You'll never have to check the mail for a tax receipt again, and you'll be able to print your tax receipts as many times you as you need to. No more having to call us if you've lost a tax receipt or need another copy of your tax letter!

And, of course, giving donors the ability to print their own tax receipts saves us literally thousands of dollars a year in postage and stationery costs, as well as the dozens and dozens of hours we've spent in the past preparing annual tax receipts.

We hope you're as happy with this new programming as we are, but if you encounter problems or have questions, as always, we'll be happy to help. Just contact us with any problems, questions, or comments you may have, and we'll respond to your note right away.

We'll be back next week with some VERY big news (here's a hint: it has to do with matching grant money – a favorite for everyone!) but in the meantime, here's wishing you and your family more health and happiness than your lives can possibly contain.

Take care, and be well!

Humbled Beyond Measure . . .

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Dear Friends,

Those who know me well would tell you that I'm a man of many words. Yet, I find that I have no words to express the depth of my gratitude to the many thousands of you who discovered and began supporting our work at Modest Needs yesterday, largely via a beautiful story that was posted on CNN.com.

In response to your overwhelming support of Modest Needs yesterday, CNN has already posted a follow-up to yesterday's piece. I don't want to repeat here what I've already said there. All the same, I want to tell you how much it has meant to see so many of you embrace the simple but powerful principle behind Modest Needs – that of reaching out, altruistically, to our neighbors in need – particularly when those persons have no other avenue of support available to them.

All told, in just the past 36 hours, people from across the nation and around the world have come together to provide assistance to (at latest count) nearly 45% of the individuals and families who had applied for Modest Needs' assistance prior to the Christmas holiday.

And your kindness has not gone unnoticed.

If you haven't yet, I would strongly encourage you to read some of the hundreds of ‘thank you' notes left for you – Modest Needs' donors – by the people whose lives you continue to change via your support of Modest Needs. Those notes, I think, drive home the very personal nature of this work, and I know these heartfelt letters will inspire you beyond measure.

But most of all, I want to thank the hundreds of you who took the time to send personal notes to me. I appreciate your willingness to share your own stories, your personal thoughts, and your well wishes with me, and I intend to honor your kindness by working twice as hard to ensure that your contributions are received – quickly – by the persons you've chosen to help.

Strictly speaking, Modest Needs' office is closed today, tomorrow, and Friday in observance of the Christmas holiday. Thanks to an understanding family, however, I'm in the office today cutting checks, working to get as many of the miracles that you've made possible ‘in the mail' as I possibly can by the end of the day.

The checks I just cannot cut today - along with any funding our donors authorize between now and the end of the week - will go out when we return to work on Monday, 28 December 2009.

Again, on behalf of the individuals and families whose lives – and outlooks - you continue to change at Modest Needs please know how profoundly grateful for and humbled I am by your support of this very important work.

I'm hopeful that, by year's end, we'll have joined together to help every person who has applied for help from Modest Needs over the past eight weeks. In the meantime, though, here's wishing each of your families a joyous and richly blessed holiday season.
This is the best Christmas I've ever had.

Warmest Personal Regards,

Dr. Keith P. Taylor
Founder and CEO
Modest Needs Foundation

The Modest Needs Cyber Monday Special!

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Good day, everyone! In yesterday's blog post, I mentioned that today, we'd have a big announcement at Modest Needs. And as promised, just in time for 'Cyber Monday,' here it is: the project that has kept me quiet for nearly a month.

I'm thrilled to report that, thanks to the generosity of the Zegar Family Foundation, and just in time for the holiday season, Modest Needs has been able to secure an enormous, last-minute matching grant. This new matching grant will double the value of any contribution that you make between now and the end of the year up to a maximum possible value of - are you ready? - $300,000.00!

What's more, in the spirit of the season, the Zegar Family Foundation has specifically requested that each of you - the individual donors who will ultimately help us to claim the whole of this very generous match - be the persons to decide how these matching funds are spent.

In other words, every time you make a new pledge or one-time contribution to Modest Needs between now and 31 December 2009 (or until the whole of the $300,000.00 match is claimed) you'll see double points post to your Modest Needs account for INSTANT distribution. With these matching points, you can help three or four times as many people facing a short-term financial crisis, buy three or four times as many gift certificates for your friends and family members - whatever you like!

But that's not all! In honor of Cyber Monday (when many of you will be doing your online shopping anyway) we're going to do something very special - something we've never been able to do before. Modest Needs is actually going to PARTICIPATE in Cyber Monday!

Today ONLY, from 9:00am to midnight, we'll give you TRIPLE points for any one-time contribution that you make to Modest Needs, up to $10,000.00. And if you make a new weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly pledge of at least $25.00 (or if you increase the amount of a current pledge by at least $25.00) then today only, we'll give you QUADRUPLE points the second you make your first pledge payment.

Yes, you read that right. Today only, if you make a contribution to Modest Needs of, say, $100.00, your Modest Needs account will instantly be credited with 300 points. If you make a new pledge of $25.00, your Modest Needs account will instantly be credited with 100 points.

The Monday after Thanksgiving - is traditionally the biggest online shopping day of the year, and there are huge bargains to be found all over the net. But today at Modest Needs, your tax-deductible contribution has more power to change a life of a hard working individual or family than ever before.

Together, and with this special 'Cyber Monday match' in place, we have the power to help hundreds of struggling individuals and families with nowhere else to turn. All you have to do is visit Modest Needs, make the contribution of your choice, and then decide how many lives you'd like to change.

This much I can guarantee: when you receive the 'thank you' note from the person whose life you've changed today, you'll agree that your quick stop at Modest Needs was the best investment you made on Cyber Monday. And together, for hundreds of individuals and families who aren't doing any shopping online today, we can make this the best Cyber Monday ever!

I'll report tomorrow via the Modest Needs Blog on how many people we were able to help on this, Modest Needs' first official Cyber Monday. Until then, have a wonderful day, happy bargain hunting, take care, and be well!

A Credit Card That Cares

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Modest Needs Newsletter

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A Credit Card That Cares

We are so thrilled to announce a brand-new way for donors to show their Modest Needs support, for free. It's our first-ever Modest Needs credit card, courtesy of Capital One!

With this new fundraising program, you can effortlessly contribute to Modest Needs and spread the word about our cause every time you make a purchase on your card. 1% of every purchase -- plus a $25 first-purchase bonus -- will come directly to us. I invite those of you in the market for a new credit card to learn more about this unique opportunity at Capital One.

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Profile in Courageous Generosity

For Gina, a Modest Needs applicant in Delaware, falling in love with a little girl in foster care would come as an enormous surprise. Almost more shocking, however, would be Gina's realization that a $398 fee, hitting right at the worst time, might actually prevent her from adopting the baby who'd so quickly stolen her heart.

I hope you'll take a moment to read this wonderfully touching story of a most unusual application.

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For One Mom, a New Future Unfolds

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Modest Needs Newsletter

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Profile in Courageous Generosity

A few months ago, Paige was an unhappy mom of four, feeling trapped in minimum-wage positions due to her lack of education. She was embarrassed to admit to her kids -- all good students -- that she hadn't even graduated high school.

When her husband's hours were reduced and she was laid off, the vicious cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck became even more crippling. But that harrowing experience turned out to be just the catalyst Paige needed to make a drastic change. Now, a few weeks later, this high-school dropout is on her way to a college degree.

Read the full story in our new Profile in Courageous Generosity.

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Application Spotlight

Whether you've got a soft spot for special needs children, teachers, or stressed-out parents, we've got an application for you this month!

MS: Must See the Doctor!
Are You Crying, Mommy?
Single Mom/Teacher Needs Repair
Help Autistic Girl Play Outside
Family Needs Help w/Rent
Chair Lock for Handicap Van
Hot Water Tank Ready to Blow!
I Am Receiving Treatment for Cancer

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Our Most Amazing June... Ever!

I just wanted to congratulate all of you on a ground-breaking month of June. You might remember our mad dash to reach $100,000 -- the amount we needed to claim an extremely generous matching grant. It was an incredibly lofty goal, but we did indeed reach it, right in the nick of time!

As a result of your EXTRAORDINARY generosity in the month of June, we now have a remarkable $200,000 to disburse to low-income families.

So thank you, and congratulations again. We couldn't have done it without so many of your support!

Life After a Layoff

5/21/2013 10:30:47 AM

Modest Needs May Newsletter

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New Profile in Courageous Generosity

When this single mom from Illinois approached Modest Needs in April after a devastating layoff, she and her children were only a few hundred dollars away from eviction. What a difference a month -- and a Bridge Grant -- can make! Today she's employed, making her apartment payments on time, and on her way to graduating college. It's a heartwarming Modest Needs success story, all for $650.

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Your Donations at Work

"I can't thank everyone enough for your generous contributions to my medical bill. I was struck with a brain tumor in 2008, and the way your hearts have reached out to me has been incredible. I am well on the way to full recovery, and without this debt I will have no burdens of how sick I was. I have true joy and am so very grateful for my life, each of you, and modestneeds.org."

Read More Testimonials

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Application Spotlight

For so many of our donors, selecting which applicant to fund is a reward in and of itself. But we recognize that not everyone has the time to search through our applications. So we've come up with a handful to share with you every month. Enjoy!
Mother and Daughter Hanging Tough
A New Leaf - Keep Me in My Home
How Kidney Failure Changed a Family
Help in Burial of My Mother
We Need Closure and a Grave Marker
No Room for Error - Help Repair Car
Loving Family Needs Some Love

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Big Workplace Giving News

Listen up, public servants! I'm thrilled to report that in 2009, all government employees (including military personnel) will have the option to donate straight from their paychecks to Modest Needs via the Combined Federal Campaign -- the largest annual workplace charity campaign in the world. The Combined Federal Campaign will run from September 1st to December 15th. We'll provide more information later this year.

Interested in setting Modest Needs up as a charitable beneficiary at your company? Contact us, and we'll do whatever we can to help.

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