An Interview With Jakada Imani, executive director, Ella Baker Center
One of our newest programs that we rolled out is Soul of the City, which is a hands-on project that engages people. The Ella Baker Center has a broad human rights mission to transform the lives of low-income communities — that's not necessarily work people can do day to day. There are tons of things people can do day to day. One of the projects we did recently was partnering with a small local business that plants edible gardens for folks to plant one for a low-income family here in Oakland. Our volunteers are able to come out and participate in that, which inspires them to become donors, which inspires them to stay with the work and help us fulfill our mission. It's just one project, but it's an emblem of what we're trying to do.
FS: How would you describe your fundraising philosophy?
JI: Our philosophy has been to lead with the work. To present a really compelling story and make a really compelling case for how our work transforms lives. When we started out doing policemen conduct work, it was how our work saved lives. As we moved into juvenile justice reform work, it was how our work transformed lives. And as we moved into doing our Green Collar Job work, it's really how our work can transform the economy. Those compelling stories resonate with people.
FS: How do you reach out to supporters and potential supporters in ways other than purely fundraising? Are you engaged with the social-media sites - MySpace, Facebook etc. - and online social networking?
JI: One of our core principles when we were founded was the use of technology. We started in policemen conduct, and we were one of the first organizations with a database where we could plug in every incident. We kept up with that use of technology and have moved on now to the social-networking sites. We have one of the biggest social justice Twitter followings. We have both a Facebook and MySpace account, and we certainly use e-mail in our Web page, and we've used Internet videos and cartoons to move our message. All those things we feel are really important ways to give our supporters ways to really engage their activism, not just as donors, but as donor activists, as folks who care about these issues very deeply and who want to not only be informed but inform other people and take action. A lot of what we do through the new media is really engage people in action to change outcomes for our constituents.
FS: Can you describe a recent successful fundraising effort?
JI: Last year, our budget was $1.5 million, and we were able to raise more than that. We had one of our best years ever as an institution. I attribute that to the success of our fundraising team and our approach of treating both our institutional donors as well as our individual supporters and donors as partners and allies in this work. The fact we were able to do what we were able to do is a testament to our really strong supporter base, how much our work resonates with people and the strong organization we have.
