Confidence to Give
Frequently Asked Questions about giving to Okipe:
Q: How many organizations facilitate funding directly to the orphanage?
A: Essentially Three. Shine, Global Partners and Extollo. Each organization plays a specific role. Bill Cody, Okipe’s Chairman and the Director of Shine, keeps track of the activity from each organization so there are no redundancies in funding.
Q: Who are Shine, Global Partners and Extollo?
A: Something about each one:
- Shine is a non-profit organization based in Northern California and focused on serving the extremely poor. Bill Cody is the Executive Director. Shine’s new website is due out in March.
- Global Partners is essentially the “missions” arm of the Wesleyan Church. http://www.wesleyan.org/gp
- Extollo, International is the non-profit organization in charge of the design and construction of the Children’s Village http://www.extollointernational.org/
Q: What’s the difference between giving to “Join the Village” and giving to the “Housing Project/Children’s Village”?
A: Donations made to “Join the Village” help pay for daily needs the children have. This includes food, water, shelter, clothing, school teachers and supplies, adult caregivers and security. Donations made to the “Housing Project/Children’s Village” help pay for the building of the children’s new safe housing. This includes site development, utilities like solar power, water and sewer systems, housing units, a multipurpose building for laundry cooking, eating and school classrooms and more!
Q: Who keeps track of the different types of donations to Okipe?
A: Each of the organizations mentioned above records the donations they receive and also the provision of these funds to the orphanage.
Q: How is the money received by the organizations involved?
A: Each organization mentioned above have their own systems for receiving donations. The Okipe website is supported and provided by Shine. All donations received through this site are accounted for by a bookkeeper which Shine hired. In the case of “Join the Village” donations, funds are given to Mme Soliette as she manages the daily operations of the orphanage. In the case of “Housing Project” donations, funds are ultimately used by Extollo as they are the organization managing the construction of the Children’s Village.
Q: How does the money make it to the orphanage?
A: In the case of “Join the Village” donations, funds are given to Mme Soliette directly as she manages the daily operations of the orphanage. Matt Smith, Okipe’s representative on La Gonave, generally handles this transaction. In the case of “Housing Project” donations, funds are ultimately used by Extollo as they are the organization managing the construction of the Children’s Village.
Q: “How can I have confidence that my “Join the Village “ sponsorship money is spent on the children’s needs and not being diverted for other purposes?
A: We have been building a close working relationship with Mme Soliette. This has been possible due to people like Joy Irvine and Matt Smith. Joy lived on La Gonave for years and knows Mme Soliette personally. Matt moved to the island 8 months ago to walk closely with the orphanage as the Okipe Representative “on the ground”. We are helping Mme Soliette develop financial management systems for the administration of the orphanage operation. This gives us firsthand insight into the specific income and expenses she manages.
Q: What percentage of my donation is used on administration and how much actually reaches the children?
A: 100% of every donation given through the Okipe website reaches the children! 0% of donations are being used for the cost to administrate these funds. This cost is paid for by Shine as part of their contribution to Okipe.
Q: Are financial reports available to show the money coming in and going out?
A: Yes. Each organization is committed to complete transparency regards their role in facilitating funding for the orphanage.
Q: Who manages this accounting?
A: Most of the funding for both “Join the Village” and for the “Housing Project” gets routed through the accounting services Shine provides. Bill Cody manages these processes.
Q: Who pays for these accounting services and all related fees?
A: Each organization mentioned above pay for their respective accounting services. All costs related to the Okipe website and the funds raised therein are paid for as a gift to the Okipe co-op by Shine.
Q: Who can I contact to ask questions about how donations are managed?
A: Bill Cody can be reached by email: micahsix8@yahoo.com