Alexis Khazzam | AppsCo

Tips for Volunteering in The New Year

Alexis Khazzam — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 18:51:52 +0000

As we wind up 2020, we know you are busy setting new year’s resolutions. While popular new year’s resolutions revolve around keeping fit, another brilliant resolution should be volunteering your time in the new year. Setting resolutions is one thing, but sticking to your resolutions is another. Numerous people neglect or abandon their resolutions as the year ages.

In this blog, we will look at tips for keeping the volunteering spirit alive.

Be Precise

Saying you want to devote time to charitable causes is very broad. You need to specify precisely what you want to support. What type of challenges do you want to help in solving? Which agency do you want to work with? Knowing what you want as a volunteer will help you stay committed to your goals.

Develop Sub-Goals

Once you have established a specific goal, narrow it down to subgoals. Let the path to volunteering in the new year be free of obstacles. You may want to volunteer to derive a sense of gratification or to meet new people. Whatever your sub-goal is, make it count.

Be Realistic

Remember, you will be committed to other things, such as relationships, work, and school, to mention a few. Thus, it is imperative to schedule a specific time for volunteering. Avoid overdoing it so that you don’t neglect personal responsibilities.

Be Self-Sustaining

Volunteering goes a long way in fulfilling your inner needs. Committing your time to a noble cause benefits you both mentally and emotionally and helps in career development. Therefore, do it as if you are doing it for yourself.

Get A Friend

Volunteering with a friend is delightful and motivates you. Invite your friends and family to volunteer too. You will spend precious time together and encourage each other. Volunteer agencies will never turn away willing volunteers. For that reason, bring on board as many people as you can.

Enjoy

Engage in something that strikes happiness in your life. Time really flies when giving back to the community. Find a reason to be happy among the energized, enthusiastic people you will be working alongside. Doing something enjoyable will keep your volunteering spirit alive, and it will turn to be the most fun resolution you will ever make.

Whatever your aspirations are in the new year, we encourage you to donate your time and valuables. There is a position you can fill in the agency and perform exemplary.

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Safe Ways to Volunteer During COVID

Alexis Khazzam — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 20:26:02 +0000

Though many countries across the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, it didn’t stop the needs of non-profit organizations. Many non-profits are reporting that their number of volunteers has decreased significantly. Volunteering has a host of benefits, and it is still possible to help while social distancing with these ideas.

Donate to a Local Food Bank

With so many people unemployed, food banks are working hard to keep families fed across the country. They are in desperate need of donations. Gather food and bring it to a local bank or organize a food drive in the neighborhood. Neighbors can drop off non-perishable food at a central location, and one person can drive it all to the bank. Feeding America is a great way to find local food banks that need help in a specific area.

Provide Online Tutoring

Children and teenagers are distance learning from home across the country. Many parents are struggling with trying to help their children learn while also working from home. Online tutoring in math, reading, English, and a host of other subjects is available. UPchieve is a great way to help lower-income teenagers around the country with their math. It is also a good idea to check with local tutoring organizations and schools to see if they need help.

Donate Blood

With so many people hospitalized with COVID-19, blood banks need donations. Donating blood is one way to help those who are hurt or sick and give back to essential healthcare workers. Make an appointment with a local blood bank to donate blood or organize a blood drive at a workplace, church or neighborhood. Contact the Red Cross for more information.

Walk Pets for an Animal Shelter

Many people have been evicted from their homes due to loss of employment and have had to surrender their beloved pets as a result. Give these animals some love by volunteering with a local animal shelter. Shelters are looking for people to walk and play with dogs and spend time with cats. Those who aren’t comfortable going into a shelter may volunteer to become a foster parent for cats and dogs while a permanent home is located.

So many people are feeling isolated during the pandemic, which has led to increased rates of depression and anxiety. Volunteering is a great way to feel a part of something bigger and to get out of the house while staying safe.

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Ways to Give to Charity Without Spending Money

Alexis Khazzam — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 18:20:12 +0000

Many people want to help out their local charities but don’t have any extra income to spare. Fortunately, there are many ways that people can help out their favorite charities without spending money. Here’s how people can donate their time and services to their local charity.

Volunteer

Volunteering is free and requires only a small commitment. A person might volunteer a few hours out of their week to work at the local food pantry or help out with a blood drive. They can help members in the community and make connections that might benefit them in their professional life.

Donate Blood

Donating blood is also free and can help save lives across the country. People can keep an eye out for local blood drives and donate whenever they get the chance. If they want to get paid for their donations, they can visit the local hospital and donate plasma or bone marrow.

Donate Items

Everyone has clothes and belongings lying around their house that they don’t use anymore. If they want to help people in their community, they can donate their old clothes to charities and homeless shelters. Some charities request other items like toys, furniture, books, appliances, and cooking supplies. People can also sell their belongings at yard sales and donate the money to charity.

Raise Money

If an individual doesn’t have money to spare, they can encourage their friends and family members to donate. They can participate in a collection drive or share information about the charity on social media. They can also organize sales and fundraisers to raise money for their favorite charity.

Donate Credit Card Rewards to Charity

Many credit card companies allow customers to donate their rewards to charities. It requires little effort on the customer’s part–all they have to do is sign up for the card and make their purchases as they would normally. Their rewards will be donated to a charity of your choosing.

Become an Organ Donor

To make the ultimate charitable gift, people can sign up to become organ donors. After they die, their organs will be given to people in need of lifesaving medical treatment. The process is free and requires almost no effort.

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Fundraising Strategies for Nonprofits

Alexis Khazzam — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:25:27 +0000

Running nonprofit fundraising is not an easy thing. The hard work involved in putting together a successful fundraiser for a nonprofit organization can be mind boggling. When putting together a successful fundraiser that will attract donors, it is crucial to consider leveraging the following tips.

Investing in crowdfunding campaigns

When fundraising for charity, the last thing you would want to have is a budget-hefty campaign. Reduce the costs involved by running a crowdfunding campaign, which is much more cost-effective. Creating a successful campaign or different crowdfunding platforms increases the chances of getting resources and finances from different supporters.

Engaging the community

As a nonprofit organization, it is recommendable to start your fundraising efforts by reaching out to the immediate community supporters. Organizing community charity events could help you raise some money while, most importantly, get the word out there regarding your fundraising efforts. A local community event will attract the attention of the community supporters and bring your charity fundraiser to the attention of the local administration.

Selling merchandise

Merchandise is a great way of getting a few more dollars’ worth of support for your charity and getting the word out there regarding the initiative. Selling printed t-shirts, magazines, hats, and other attire will bring in some more money while also marketing your charity cause.

Bringing in the corporates

A successful fundraising campaign for your nonprofit organization should bring on board a few corporate organizations. Corporate matching gift programs are a great way of encouraging people to give while also motivating the corporates to come on board. The match gift fundraising strategy can also be used in addition to other strategies, such as crowdfunding platforms, where organizations would benefit by advertising themselves.

Encouraging recurrent giving

Recurrent giving is one of the best fundraising strategies for nonprofits. One of the best ways of encouraging recurrent giving for charity is to bring members on board through monthly contributions. Encouraging partners to subscribe to a monthly campaign where contributions are automatically deducted from their accounts to the charity fund is a great way to keep the funds flowing all year round.

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Change Your Nonprofit For The Better With These Tips

Alexis Khazzam — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 18:10:55 +0000

No matter what type of business you’re a part of, it’s very important to always search for opportunities that can help create a positive change. Nonprofit organizations need to make decisions that will help them stay relevant and true to their mission and goals. To continue growing, leaders will have to take greater risks than the average business. Here are ways leaders can find opportunities the help their nonprofit for the better.

Build Your Network

Growing your network is one of the greatest strategies for nonprofit organizations to grow. Creating relationships with people in your community and other organizations will allow you to have a great support system by your side. These relationships can lead to opportunities that you would have never imagined. Some of your greatest networks could be your greatest competitors. By looking at their work you’ll be able to see what attracts sponsors and donors. There’s not a single person that you’ll come across that you can’t learn from.

Find What’s Missing

Identifying what areas your nonprofit needs help in and determining how you can fix them on time. If your organization has been doing a lot of volunteer work during the current pandemic and has noticed an increase in work, then maybe it’s time to search for more help. Your current employees and volunteers can reach out to people they know who may be interested. With new faces also comes new ideas. By fixing one area of your organization, you might be able to find more things that you didn’t know you were missing before.

Expanding Your Mission Statement

If your nonprofit is experiencing challenges in getting donors and sponsors, it might be time to sit down and expand your mission statement. For example, if an organization that focuses on advancing education for girls is struggling with fundraising, it can try to focus on helping girls and boys of a certain age group with their education. By opening doors for more groups, you will create more opportunities for the organization. This does not mean you should go against your mission, but you should always be open to exploring new tactics.

Always Keep An Open Mind

Opportunities walk by us every single day and the more open-minded you are, the more you will succeed. Don’t be hesitant to sit down with people and talk about opportunities, no matter their past work and organization size. Nonprofit organization leaders should always be open to creating new values and markets.

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What is Corporate Philanthropy

Alexis Khazzam — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:59:36 +0000

One of the most significant marketing areas that medium to large corporations tend to focus on heavily is corporate philanthropy. This is because data has shown it to be the most effective in building a brand and seeing positive growth. In addition, focusing on corporate philanthropy is a great way to have a win-win situation with your community. You can provide resources and funds to those in need while still benefiting from providing your time. But, are the benefits truly work it? The following includes detailed information about the process of corporate philanthropy and the advantages that come with it.

Brand & Charity Connection

One of the most common mistakes made by business leaders is associating with charities that both don’t compliment their business and aren’t passionate about. This is why you are often going to see corporations align themselves with similar charities in terms of value or agenda. For example, suppose your company produces family products such as toys and educational material. In that case, you may find it beneficial to align yourself with a charity or non-profit organization that seeks to provide certain services for families. This allows you to remind within your company’s industry and market yourself to the right demographic.

Corporate Philanthropy Expansion

Wanting to start your own philanthropy project within your business is a great way to grow your brand. However, many business leaders tend to run into not getting charities to work with them but getting their own employees to care about it. Expanding your philanthropic efforts is critical to the survival of your program. This is why it is essential to conduct an employee survey to gather data on what type of charities they want the company to give back to. Doing so can provide you with a plethora of options and ones that your team is going to be excited to work with in the future.

The Benefits

Providing free facilities, funds, and time can seem crazy from an outside perspective, but corporate philanthropy comes with a good amount of benefits. Business leaders will often focus much of their attention on this part as they understand the incredible benefits that come with it. Free media attention, new relationships, and public approval are just a few of the benefits that make corporate philanthropy extremely worth it.

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Sales Pitches – Save Our Stadium Campaign

Alexis Khazzam — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 17:45:32 +0000

To help with the S.O.S – Save Our Stadium campaign, the team at AppsCo is working hard to sell advertising slots for the new stadium sign. The entire S.O.S campaign came to fruition due to the impending demolition of the local Peoria stadium. AppsCo students did not want to see the area turned into a large shopping center that would impact the surrounding neighborhoods and community. Tearing down the stadium and replacing it with a shopping center meant increased traffic and costs. The students put together a plan that would save the stadium and generate revenue at the same time.

A major part of this is pitching sales companies on purchasing slots on the stadium sign. Many pitches have been successful so far. When giving the pitch, AppsCo students explain the campaign and the reason behind saving the stadium. They make sure to explain the benefits of having a digital sign on the stadium grounds. Additionally, the students make sure to go over the benefits of using the stadium sign over other companies. Pitching local businesses in the Peoria community is giving AppsCo students real-life experience with sales. This allows students to gain valuable presenting and selling skills through interaction with real-life companies. They are also working hard to practice their closing skills.

About AppsCo

Founded by serial entrepreneur Alexis Khazzam, AppsCo is a not-for-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that provides an integrated business learning curriculum for public school students. With close ties to the Peoria Public Schools, the organization strives to provide a safe environment that both challenges minds and fosters mentorship via local business leaders. Students receive real-life and business experience through internships with local businesses.

By working in tandem with local businesses and students, AppsCo invests in the future health of the Peoria community. Through fostering student relationships with local leaders, the not-for-profit boosts confidence, and the hope of opportunity. Their goal is to keep students in the program local to both help themselves and the community thrive in the future.

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AppsCo Save Our Stadium Campaign

Alexis Khazzam — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 18:03:35 +0000

Local landmarks have an important meaning for those in the community. They serve as a special place for gathering and honoring local history. This is the exact reason why AppsCo launched Operation S.O.S (Save Our Stadium). AppsCo students wanted to start a campaign that would prevent the demolition of the stadium altogether. Plans to tear down the stadium and develop a Walmart Supercenter spurred the students into action. Let’s take a closer look at what they did!

AppsCo students recognized what replacing the stadium with a shopping center really meant. It would have a negative impact on nearby residents via increased traffic and rising costs. This demolition would also erase a place where a lot of history and memories have been made. The students put together a plan that would save the stadium and generate revenue for its renovation. To get the ball rolling, the students have proposed replacing the current wooden football sign with an L.E.D. digital sign that will feature advertisements for local businesses. AppsCo students will then work to sell the advertising spots and reinvest the earned revenue back into improvements and revenue-generating opportunities for the stadium.

After creating their proposal, the AppsCo students had to present their Save Our Stadium proposal to the Peoria City Council, neighborhood residents, and Peoria Public Schools administrators. The plan outlined some new changes to the stadium area including:

- - Moving the baseball and softball fields further north on the property.
  - Using the land along War Memorial Drive for soccer and lacrosse fields.
  - Creating cricket courts.
  - Adding concessions and restrooms near the baseball fields.
  - Constructing a fitness trail and multi-use domed building (for potential use by a negotiated tenant).

AppsCo hopes that the renovation will help to transform the stadium and surrounding property into a community-centered facility. You can learn more about the proposal here.

About AppsCo

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AppsCo Success at the Congressional App Challenge

Alexis Khazzam — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 19:27:23 +0000

In December of 2019, an AppsCo team from Richwoods High School won the Congressional App Challenge in the IL-18 District. Students Cassidy Miles-Coleman, Katrina Crawford, Aditi Tripathi, Brianna Hill, and Rachel Bousek designed an app for the Wildlife Prairie Park under the guidance of their advisor Brian Michael. The goal of the app is to enhance the visitor experience at the wildlife park. Some features of the app include:

- - Guest list
  - Loyalty program
  - Geo-fencing
  - GPS interactive maps
  - Coupons
  - Push notifications
  - Direct lodging reservations
  - Events calendar

The application is not only beneficial for the visitors but also for the operators of the park. An online analytics dashboard allows Wildlife Prairie Park to gain real-time insights and information on visitors.

The AppsCo team was required to submit a video explaining the application they created. It was then chosen as the winner by their 18th congressional representative Darin LaHood. According to LaHood, “Not only did these students display exceptional coding and technical skills in their application, but their innovative design will provide an important resource to individuals exploring Wildlife Prairie Park.” The AppsCo team will now head to #HoseofCode in Washington, D.C., where they will get to celebrate their achievements and network with winning teams from other congressional districts.

About AppsCo

By working in tandem with local businesses and students, AppsCo invests in the future health of the Peoria community. Through fostering student relationships with local leaders the not-for-profit boosts confidence and the hope of opportunity. Their goal is to keep students in the program local to both help themselves and the community thrive in the future.

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All About The Wildlife Prairie Park App

Alexis Khazzam — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 19:19:10 +0000

Recently, AppsCo partnered with a local park located in Peoria. The Hazel & Bill Rutherford Wildlife Prairie Park, also known as the Wildlife Prairie Park, offers just about 1,700 acres for the community to explore. Through the partnership AppsCo was able to create an all-access guide to the park. Let’s take a closer look at some of the features!

A Resource for Visitors

The primary goal of the application is to provide visitors with information they need about all the park has to offer. A built-in GPS and map allows visitors to choose different trails to hike, preventing anyone from getting lost! You can also look up what seasonal activities are available thanks to the calendar. If you’re looking to stay at the park longer you can also book lodging directly from the app. This takes away the worry of having to find places to stay; all of the information you need is right in front of you.

An Excellent Learning Experience

AppsCo students did extensive research to find out what was needed to create a resourceful application for the WPP. They took the time to figure out what would really help park visitors during their visit. After the application was developed, the students went to WPP every weekend over the summer to market the app and encourage visitors to download the app. The students enjoyed this experience and became fond of the animals and park staff as well.

About AppsCo

By working in tandem with local businesses and students, AppsCo invests in the future health of the Peoria community. Through fostering student relationships with local leaders the not-for-profit boosts confidence and the hope of opportunity. Their goal is to keep students in the program local to both help themselves and the community thrive in the future.

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