Future In Our Hands - USA

Our major goal is to be faithful to our vision statement - revised and approved by Board 06/2017
VISION STATEMENT:
Three to five years from now, Future In Our Hands (FIOH)-USA is a Western New York based charitable non-profit organization with national visibility (e.g., feature articles in national news organization, website, etc.) and is highly rated for its charitable work (e.g., Guidestar, Charity navigator, etc.). We have a large and growing donor base funding a significant portion of our activity.
We coordinate with stable and growing FIOH organizations in Kenya and Zambia that includes a board, paid staff and a vibrant network of volunteers that provide time and energy to maximize use of resources. We have a cohesive communication system with our African partners (e.g., email, Skype, etc.). Although our major activities take place in Kenya, we also provide funding for FIOH projects in Zambia.
We have relationships with a variety of local organizations (e.g., churches, etc.) that allow us to share ideas and collaborate in fund-raising efforts. We participate in local community projects (e.g., apple festival, Latin-America event, etc.) in order to raise awareness of our mission and increase our support base. We have multiple people participating in marketing, providing common messages using core, professionally prepared materials. We also have a cohesive internal (i.e., to FIOH-USA) communication system (e.g., using Google docs, Dropbox, etc.) that enables us to share ideas and make decisions in an effective manner.
We have a passionate group of board members with diverse skills, community connections, experience, and cultural backgrounds. In addition we have working subcommittees with specific foci and leadership.
Definition:
• Donor base - individual donors (e.g., Apple Fest committee, buying Bon Ton books, etc.). We have personal contact with them.

We use the following five growth strategies to accomplish our vision:

• Expand our variety of funding sources
• Strengthen our financial position
• Expand quantity and quality of leadership in the organization
• Create increased awareness of our organization
• Stabilize our relationship with FIOH organizations in Kenya and Zambia

1. Expand quantity and quality of leadership in organization.- strategies
• Confirm what work we need to do in moving toward our mission
• Define and clarify the people needs in order to accomplish the work of FIOH-USA
• Develop methods and approaches we use for replenishing the core leadership of the organization (e.g., Board members, sub committee leaders/members, etc.)
• Monitor current leadership capability to assess its capacity to support the mission and implement actions where needed.
• Coordinate between leadership of sub groups to ensure synergy and optimal use of resources.
• Support subcommittees in efforts to expand their leadership capacity.
2. Expand our variety of funding sources: - strategies
• Monitor current and future funding needs in order to ensure plans are in place to meet the financial needs of FIOH-USA
• Continually monitor available fundraising sources to ensure availability of fund raising opportunities (grants, organizations, events, etc.)
• Establish a variety of viable funding sources
• Establish clear policies, procedures, instructions, etc. for initiating fundraising activities
3. Stabilize our relationships with FIOH organizations in East Africa- strategies
• Establish productive communication - Have our African partners properly make us of our proposal and follow-up forms when submitting projects for funding.
• Ensure appropriate use of funds by FIOH organization in Africa- regular follow-up reporting
• Maintain personal contact- Skype, email and Board member(s) traveling to sites at least every two years (at their own expense)
4. Strengthen financial position- strategies
• stay within compliance (government rules)
• manage finances in sustainable fashion
• explore ways to grow our existing money
• identify short, medium and long term financial goals
• ensure proper use of funds
5. Create increased awareness of our organization- strategies
• Go to events and groups to present our organization – e.g.: Newman center, college sororities, fraternities, senior citizens, and youth.
• Educate members of the board about the organization so that members are able to share our mission.
• Encourage each member to pursue a circle of people outside the board to enthusiastically tell the story of FIOH.
• Take full advantage of social media and web technologies that align well with the organization's direction and mission.
• Seek out a corporate sponsors for events – which may give us the opportunity to gain visibility in their media outlets such as the sponsor's monthly newsletters, TV, radio. Redesign our brochure and website.
•Stay aware of the other organizations' accomplishments and activities
•strengthen its profile to make it a more attractive candidate for potential partner organizations
•Establish ongoing communication with other organizations

Our main capabilitiy is our dedicated hard working Board members and volunteers
Our function is mainly to raise funds and awareness of the needs of those we serve. We do this through our Newsletter (Harambee) published 2-3 times/year and distributed by mail to about 1000 individuals and by email and mail chimp to about 500 more.
FIOH-USA also has a website (futureinourhandsusa.org) where people can learn about our organization and donate.
FIOH-USA has close connections with several local churches and community organizations that help with fundraising.
FIOH-USA gives presentations to groups including, Churches, Social groups, Schools and clubs to raise awareness of our work and gain support.
We have developed a fundraising event that can be repeated annually and carry out other fundraising activities on an ongoing basis.

We had a strategic planning event in 2017 where we updated our vision and developed projects and tactics for each of our five working committees as described previously.
-Funded two new wells in Kenya:
-Mawego well and Kisima Cha Amani (Well of Peace)- these provide safe water for hundreds of families
-Expansion of the Usoma School Nutrition Program - provides a garden and a lunch program for entire primary school
-Funded building of Wholesale Shop in Usoma for Women's Sunshine Group in Kenya - provide income for over 100 women
-Repair of roof of Shaibila Primary School in Zambia
Expansion of Stop the Spot program in two schools in Kisumu Kenya providing sanitary pads and health education to over 600 young women. This program also prevent them from missing up to a week of school every month and has improved their grades.
-Sponsored 35 students in 2017 for school. One high school graduate won a scholarship to University. Five students graduated from high school and qualified for college.Three students graduated from college.
- We continue to fund our ongoing projects including HIV/AIDS transportation and Microfinance projects.