Game Changer

     There are times where I have been accused of being overly dramatic and apocalyptic.  I prefer to think of it as calmly utilizing my communications gifts to express the torrent of panic/rage/desperation that is echoing in my head with a certain linguistic flair.  Upon reflection I may agree that sometimes the world is not ending when I thought it was.  The future of my children may not actually depend on whether they arrive at school seven minutes late or not.  The eternal fate of a soul may not rest solely upon whether they agree with me or not.  Sometimes things are amplified in my head...

This is NOT one of those times!

     Joel's Place is coming to a fork in the road with two very different futures staring us in the face.  Allow me to explain.  Next August...as in twelve short months from now, we owe a balloon payment of $300,000 on our building.  For the past five years we have been able to pay $1,800 per month to mostly cover interest.  Even those payments have been hit and miss, depending on how things were going at the time.  We have been caught up since December but at one point we were over 9 payments behind.  One option is that we extend our loan for another 5, 10, 20 years.  We could approach a bank or a number of charitable benefactors and ask for them to take over our note and work out conditions for paying off the building over the long term.

     The other option is that we pay it off.  This year.  All of it.  Before you call the authorities, this option has nothing to do with robbing a bank or anything else illegal...but almost as audacious.  I want to use our annual fundraiser, Ramp It Up, to raise the money.  One of my old mentors used to talk to us about BHAG's: Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals.  This definitely falls into the BHAG category.  When I consider that last year we made $25,000 at Ramp It Up...and that was the largest amount ever...by, like $10,000...it gets a little overwhelming to try and think about raising 12 times that amount.  But hear me out.  

     What if we divide that $300,000 number by the thirty tables that we have at our event?  That equals $10,000 per table.  What if we say that there are 8 people per table?  That means each person would be responsible for  $1,250.  Not unreasonable for some people, but trying to find 240 people who would do that sounds crazy.  What if I found corporate matching sponsorship?  What if each table sponsor (or multiple table sponsors) were willing to match the donations of those 8 people?  That brings each person's share down to $625...let's round that off to $600.  That is $50 per month.  Could we find 240 people who would be willing to support us at $50 per month for one year to pay off our building?  It's very ambitious, but I think we could.  Could we find enough corporate/business/grant partners to match their contributions?  It's very ambitious, but I think we could.

     Say this entire plan came together and worked.  What would that mean for Joel's Place?  That would mean we are growing up.  Raises for all the staff so they can work for a fair-market wage.  Freedom from the fear and doubt that accompany that debt.  For the past five years we have stayed open because of the generosity and graciousness of our benefactor.  Instead we could own this marvelous building outright, knowing that we are championed not by one person, but by an entire community of partners who said with their money and support that what we do is of value...that we are an asset to the youth...that Joel's Place needs to stay open.  I cannot tell you how much this would touch the hearts of the staff who work here and they youth who come through these doors.

     So that's my vision:  1 year.  240 donors.  $50/month. Corporate partners.  $300,000.  1 building.

Who's with me?