As explained in our last newsletter, Prostasia faces the risk that I will have to resign as Executive Director due to personal financial pressures that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although our generous individual donors and subscribers are covering our regular operating costs, our base of supporters is still too small to pay even a part time salary that would enable me to continue working for Prostasia full time. I had originally committed to do this until the end of 2018 in the expectation that the philanthropic community and corporate donors would step upā¦ but unfortunately they have failed to do so.
So I am calling upon your help to keep the organization running smoothly. The main things that we need volunteers for right now are:
Social media. We need a team of volunteers to contribute tweets to our social media feeds, along with a manager to review and post them. (For now I can remain as the manager.)
Blogging. We aim to publish at least two new articles on our blog every month. We need volunteers to write these articles or to find others who can do so. Token payment is possible.
Podcasting. Ideally, we would like to find an individual who can take over our podcast/vodcast series completely. Failing that, we need someone who can find guests for it.
Newsletter. Every month we put out a newsletter. We need someone who can source or contribute articles and reviews. For now, I can continue to edit and mail the newsletter out.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me and Iāll introduce you to the rest of our volunteer team, and get you started with what you need to know.
Yes! Thatās certainly possible. And really the ED role can shrink quite a lot if there are other volunteers handling daily tasks. Part of the problem is that because we are the first organization of our kind, there are no foundation programs that match our approach. And the stigma is another big factor that turns larger donors away (even though we do offer ways to donate anonymously). But if large donors canāt step up, thatās really an indictment of the state of philanthropy today.
Well, it makes things more complicated for us. We donāt make a policy of asking people about their sexuality before they are allowed to volunteer, but if they come out with it then we need to be transparent to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. We have had a couple of blog posts written from the perspective of a MAP because it was relevant to the article. There was this one and this one. These had to be edited with a lot of care but surprisingly there wasnāt a huge backlash like we were expecting. Having said that, we have made a point of not having MAPs directly represented in leadership, not because their experiences arenāt important to the cause of CSA prevention, but because we have the researchers to represent those experiences in a way that is more demonstrably neutral.
I donāt have any particular idea in mindā¦ yet, but Iāll try and indulge you with a bit of improvised writing:
āWithin the written word known as 'law, what can you see? An oath of sobriety or a means to flee? Whatever is āgainedā or ālossā is up to you and me. Seek to ponder that which is laced in ambiguityā. Thatās what I came up with on a dime. I can explain the meaning behind the stanzas, if you so choose, though Iād understand if it wasnāt to your liking. What do you think?
We never considered poetry but I suppose for the newsletter that might work! If you have a non-fiction writing sample (eg. blog, long-form comment) you can email it to me. Thanks!
I would love to volunteer, however, I am a MAP and a reformed sex offender. I donāt know if that is something you can allow. My crimes were as a juvenile (so only a federal background check would say I have a criminal history) but I feel the need to be upfront about these things. If you would be willing to allow me to volunteer I am on twitter @serra_starr and my DMs are open