Looking Forward
NCEP is committed to continuosly improving our operations. Heading into 2011, we plan to focus on four key areas:
1. Charitable Status
Despite the huge success of our fundraisers to date, we recognize that this has been largely predicated on the incredible generosity of our many donors who were willing to give, often large amounts, even though they would not receive a charitable tax receipt. Thank you for allowing us to accomplish all that we have so far, and supporting us as we get off the ground. Rest assured, we realize things have to change. Attaining our Charitable Status is NCEP’s top priority for 2011. This process can take time, but we hope to be offering tax-exempt receipts before 2011 is through. We appreciate your patience!
2. Quality, Sustainable Growth
The more students we can support, the better, right? Well, maybe. We could give a dollar to 4000 children, but that is not particularly meaningful for anyone. Another possibility is to spend all the funds we raise in one successful year, support 100 students, then find ourselves forced to drop half the students next year due to lack of funding. In the first case there is growth but it lacks quality; in the second, there is growth lacking sustainability. Clearly, neither of these option is desirable. We believe strongly in providing our students with full, comprehensive scholarships tailored to their needs. Our goal is to grow responsibly, ensuring that before we add any new students we have the capacity – both in terms of funds, and in terms of established team members in Nepal and Canada – to maintain a long-term and holistic support program for every NCEP scholar. We know this approach may result in slow growth, but to us, this isn’t a numbers game.
3. Strengthened Field Capacity
Our Field Volunteers in Nepal are the cornerstone of the success of our organization. These dedicated members of NCEP Nepal are paired with one or more NCEP scholars and are responsible for visiting with each student and his/her teachers at least four times a year to address challenges that the students may be facing, and nurture particular interests. If a student is struggling in math, for example, his/her NCEP Field Volunteer would indicate this in a Progress Report, and recommend possible remedial options, such as enrolling the student in supplementary tutoring. Building and strengthening the capacity of our Nepal team by adding more dedicated and passionate Field Volunteers is a necessary precursor to any growth and a primary goal for NCEP going forward.
4. Diversified Support Network
They say it takes a village to raise a child. At NCEP, we want to strengthen our ties to this diverse “village” of support. In addition to our Field Volunteers, we know that parents, teachers, principals, tutors, and community workers all play a role in supporting our young scholars. Our aim is to strengthen our relationship and establish more direct lines of communication with all these groups.
In the seemingly small field of education initiatives in Nepal, there are many different groups doing a lot of great work. Some build schools, some train teachers, others offer university scholarships. Our goal at NCEP is to reach out to these groups and find meaningful ways to work together in pursuit of a common goal. We believe that by collaborating to form integrated, community-based programs, we can have an impact much larger than the sum of our individual efforts.