Radical Restructuring through Grassroots Fundraising

After a quiet past year, Girls Rock NC is bursting with energy this season. We are deep in our fundraising efforts through Rock Roulette, our adult program/fundraiser hybrid. We have a goal of raising $25,000 for our organization and I wanted to share a bit about where this money is going. 

GRNC has been in an incredible time of transition over the past two years. After we learned about the COVID-19 pandemic and it became apparent that in-person gatherings were unsafe, we made the decision to substitute our in-person Summer Rock camp with four weeks of free, virtual programming. 

Prior to the pandemic, a majority of Girls Rock NC’s budget came from camp tuition collected over five weeks of camp. While we never turned down any camper who requested full or partial financial scholarship, 3 in 4 campers paid full tuition. This money allowed us to salary a full-time, year round Executive Director and rent space for five weeks of summer camp in addition to all of our other on-going expenses.

With the deficit in our budget from not collecting summer tuition in 2020 and our Executive Director already planning on transitioning out of their role (unrelated to the pandemic), we were presented with some unique decisions and opportunities.

Our team decided to not hire a new ED and instead pause our programming for the whole of 2021. Our Board of Directors used this time to envision how we can restructure our organization. 

Girls Rock NC is an amazing organization that has positively impacted the lives of countless people. At the same time, this organization was started in 2004. A lot has changed in the world since then and it was time for us to change as well.

Some struggles we have faced in the past included:

• Bulk of responsibilities being placed on one full-time staff person

• Staff and volunteer experiencing burnout from five weeks of camp in the summer

• Lack of communication between staff, board members, volunteers, and campers

• Missed opportunities to provide campers with quality support during camp

• Majority white, middle to upper class campers and volunteers

• Oppression showing up at camp along with lack of time and energy for processing

We take these struggles seriously and have worked hard to address every issue with care and intentionality.

Some actions we are taking to address these issues included:

• Offering two weeks of camp in the summer rather than five with various programs offered throughout the year

• Shifting into a community-led organization where our team makes decisions non-hierarchically and distributes work

• Offering stipends for camp volunteers, workshop leaders, and lunchtime performers

• Increasing stipends for camp directors and hourly pay for staff

• Changing our camp registration to a camp application

• Offering Equity Scholarships to Black youth, Indigenous Youth, youth living with disabilities, and/or undocumented youth

We have now entered 2022 with a Working Board, an Advisory Board, three new volunteer committees, and two paid staff members at 10 hr/week. A majority of our work at the moment is being done on a volunteer basis. We recognize that because of this, our volunteer base is made up of people who can afford to commit unpaid hours to our organization. We have achievable dreams to offer stipends to both adults and young people in our community for their work on committees, leading workshops, managing gear, organizing, and more. We hope to do this while maintaining a sustainable, radical, and affirming summer camp program.

And that’s where you come in! We are raising money now through grassroots efforts. Grassroots fundraising allows us to focus on our community by tapping into our shared connections. With a wide range of donors, we are able to stay committed to our mission and values while ensuring our team gets the resources they need.

You can support our efforts by making a donation to our Rock Roulette Mighty Cause, becoming a sponsor, and/or sharing both with your network. 

The outpour of encouragement we consistently receive from our community gives us hope that we will be able to radically transform our organization in the ways our young people deserve. Thank you so much for your ongoing support and love.

You Rock!

Hema