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ANNUAL GIVING FUND | 2024
The Annual Giving Fund is a critical fundraising campaign for Opportunity Knocks. This year’s campaign theme is about roots and growth. We are planting new seeds while we also nurture our roots and admire the individual and collective growth among the trees in our mission. Please read on and consider sowing some new seeds in the Warrior Mission.
On November 15th, we kick off the 2024 Annual Giving Fund. This year’s campaign is about roots, growth and community. We’re sharing stories in the mission through the metaphors of the farm, not just because we have to relocate the Knockout Farm this year, but because the actions of plowing fields, cultivating, sowing seeds, nurturing crops, and harvesting represent the works in progress throughout the Warrior Mission.
This year the Annual Giving Fund has become more important than ever.
We DO NOT have a benefactor to provide the traditional match component in this year’s campaign. We hope that does not diminish your support, as that absence creates an even greater opportunity for support. We ask you to go deep on your giving not to meet a match, but to help us meet our organizational and programmatic goals.
Our mission for this year’s campaign is to raise $150,000 between now and December 31st. We’re calling out to our community to help us hit the mark and we believe with the individuals and foundations that have come around this mission that we can do it! Read on to learn more about how why your support is important and what it creates in the Warrior Mission.
Did you know that many employers match their employees’ donations? A matching contribution could double or even triple the impact of your gift. Past donations made during the year may also still be eligible. Don’t wait-use the search box NOW to see if your employer has a matching program.
This year’s Annual Giving Fund theme is well-suited to summarize active and ongoing endeavors in many areas of the organization. It’s all about roots and growth. We are revisiting well-established partnerships to develop new space-sharing agreements, we are developing new partnerships to relocate spaces where we have been operating. We are also planting new seeds by investing resources in initiatives. Scroll around below to learn more about work done and work in progress.
After 8 years at our current site in Maywood, the property has sold and the farm must move. Conversations are underway to secure a new site that is nearby and offering all that the first farm lacked. This will be a HUGE project for OK, requiring funds, friends and heavy lifting. We expect to be farming new land in the Sprint of 2025.
We are proud to say that we have been granted a provisional license as a provider of community day services. We still have some steps to take before we can accept state funding for service, but we’re getting close and excited to implement this option so that programming can be more financially accessible for Warriors and families.
We have recognized that our development team needs some professional grade support in a very specific area of growth. We believe that grants and grant writing are the packet of seeds that will help us plant the next field at Opportunity Knocks. We’ve contracted with a pro for the duration of this fiscal year and we’re working hard to bring new connections and support to the mission so that we can yield a strong harvest.
The Knockout Pickle product line is well-established and ready to take to market. In October of 2024, we re-launched a new and improved catering menu. We’ve recognized the importance of a human resource to help drive our sales and marketing efforts so that we can keep Warriors at Work in the enterprise. This year we are looking to add personnel to account for this sales and marketing energy.
We understand that this mission is powered by the funds that support it. We appreciate your support. We appreciate the trust and responsibility that come with your support. The value of your donation is tremendous. Here are some important details to express the importance of our work and your support.
We have committed ourselves to the endeavor of overcoming any barrier that keeps Warriors from coming to our program. As an organization, we work together with families to create agreements that overcome financial constraints in order to get Warriors to programs.
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Our approach to programming centers on engagement. Every participant is supported and engaged. This approach requires us to invest in planning and personnel. On average, we have 20 Warriors in a program block. Of those 20, at least 4 require a 1:1 staffing designation to reach the level of engagement we aim to deliver.
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Our approach to vocational initiatives centers on engagement. Every Warrior at Work is supported and engaged in a productive, growth-oriented workplace. That support varies based on the preparation, but always requires significant staffing investments to maximize the mission.
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A typical day in OK Programs includes a communal meal. Warriors will plan, prepare, serve and eat together. The meal is infused with wellness and social growth opps. Nutrition and social connections are absolute essentials in OK Programming
We keep it moving. Programs are embedded with wellness activities in the community and hosted at home in the fitness room at the River Forest Community Center. This year’s facility improvement plan includes upgrades to equipment. New rowers, treadmills, weights, flooring.
Pickling, Catering and farming are in full swing! We aim to employ and support Warriors at Work in all areas of the business with a growth-oriented approach focused on abilities, building skills and growing the business together. We added 12 Warriors to the Knockout work team last year!
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Relias, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Center for Disease Control and Prevention & National Institute of Health, Disability Scoop
Monthly or recurring gifts let you spread your giving throughout the year, easily budget for charitable contributions and make an ongoing commitment to Opportunity Knocks. To set up a recurring donation, click on the Recurring Donation link below. Then select your donation amount, check the box ‘Create Recurring Donation’ and set your donation frequency (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc). It’s that easy!
You can donate some or all of the amount of your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an IRA directly to a charity, tax-free. If you’re eligible to do so, you can use a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD).
Donation of appreciated shares of marketable securities like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds is an attractive, tax-wise alternative to a cash contribution. Benefits to you are many. You will have lower out-of-pocket costs for your contribution. You may avoid capital gains tax by donating the appreciated securities to OK. You may take a charitable income tax deduction, as defined by law, equal to the value of the donated securities on the date the gift is irrevocably transferred to OK through its intermediary Stock Donator.
You can support our effort by spreading the word to your network. Click the button below to take a look at our Annual Giving Fund Outreach Toolkit. This toolkit features instructions for social media fundraisers, a customizable email/letter template, and downloadable campaign photos to enhance those posts and emails.
Opportunity Knocks is a 501c3 non profit organization dedicated to enriching life and community. We exist to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they live, work, learn, grow and connect within their community.
We believe in the strength, power and value in the voice of every Warrior. We value the importance of an interdependent connection between each Warrior and their community, along with the continuous importance of developing healthy relationships and social connections. We approach all of life’s experiences fearlessly, unhinged by abilities. We underscore everything with our belief in Wellness of mind, body and spirit.
As a grassroots organization, thriving in spite of an underfunded system of support from the State of Illinois, we have built OK on a foundation of community support. We rely heavily on a vast network of donors, volunteers, and partners to help support, sustain and grow our mission. We are blessed with a great network, but it is paramount that the network continues to grow. Come get involved.
We are 96% privately funded. Without your support, we would not exist. Please consider supporting the Warriors today.
From program support members to event staff volunteers, corporate groups and internships, opportunities to connect abound.
Corporate sponsorships, program partnerships and all sorts of ways in between to connect your group with our group in mission.