What is ODFL? - Download a printable PDF version of this page.
What is ODFL?
http://www.odfl.org/staticpages/index.php/What_is_ODFL
ODFL is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation founded to address third world poverty while empowering American teenagers to improve their world. It does this by collecting just one dollar from each of millions of US high school students and then channeling those funds into small-scale infrastructure projects in developing world countries.
ODFL works with qualified Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to fund and implement such projects as schools, water wells, irrigation systems, sanitary waste disposal, vaccinations, and other simple, low cost projects. These projects have the potential to dramatically improve the capacity for self-sustenance — or even of life itself — for tens of millions of people.
ODFL was founded in 2006 at Los Altos High School in Los Altos, CA. It is operated by students with the help of teachers in Los Altos, Mt. View, and Bakersfield, CA.
How Does ODFL Work?
The Need in the Developing WorldODFL helps US high schools manage fund-raisers, aggregate their monies, identify qualified NGOs and worthy projects, and oversee the projects’ implementation in developing countries. Conceptually, ODFL’s operation looks like this:
ODFL maintains the highest of standards for both its NGO partners and the projects it funds. It ensures that monies are properly spent and enables students to monitor the way their projects improve lives of thousands of people.
The nexus connecting U.S. students and developing world villages is a web site built with industry standard hardware and software. The site provides training tools to help schools operate fund-raisers, offers profiles of qualified NGOs, and presents case studies of successful projects. It brings together millions of people from the US and the developing world to create a singular humanity working to reduce human suffering.
The Need in AmericaOne billion people live on less than $1 per day. Three billion people — almost half of humanity — live on less than $2 per day. Three million children die every year of dehydration and the pill to cure it costs $.10. Five million people die of malaria and the pill to fix it costs $.25. These and myriad other problems consign these billions of people — and their children — to permanent destitution. Unless they’re addressed, these problems will only get worse. This need not be.
Ironically, American high school students have needs as well. They are hungry to find a purpose larger than themselves. They have an impulse for compassion. And they have a longing for self-efficacy. ODFL allows tens of millions of American students to connect to others through altruism and civic engagement, and to demonstrate a sense of self-efficacy in their lives. It allows them to directly improve their own world while making themselves into “bigger” people.
The Solution
Successes and VisionsSmall Scale Projects
Clean drinking water. Basic vaccinations. Reading materials. Often, the smallest thing stands between destitution and self-sufficiency. Such things cost much less in developing countries than they do in the U.S., allowing small contributions to make such a large impact. It is exactly such low-cost-high-impact projects that allow ODFL to help improve living conditions and the potential for growth in developing world countries.
Small Grain Fundraising
ODFL fundraising is based on a very fine-grained contribution model: only $1 from each donor. The size makes it virtually impossible for any person to not want to participate. Yet it is precisely when all of these minute donations are added together that such small donations become so powerful. ODFL has built a “Fundraiser in a Box” to help U.S. schools organize and carry out successful fundraisers. The process is magical for students and teachers alike!
In its first full year of operation, ODFL:
- Built a school in Kenya for 45 students who had been studying in a horse barn
- Set 452 bicycles to Africa, our “Wheels of Wonder” used bicycle collection drive
- Bought desks for 60 students at a primary school in Malawi
- Raised $3,000 for victims of the China earthquake
- Provided milk cows for 120 orphans in Kenya, feeding them protein for 8 years
- Donated 4,000 pounds of food to the Bay Area Second Harvest Food Bank
- Built a 3-room school in Nepal for 84 students with no school at all
These are the kind of low-cost, high impact projects that ODFL undertakes, helping both donors and recipients, both here and abroad. Bigger people. Better world. That is our mission. Please join us!
More about ODFL successes around the world.
ODFL's Vision, Philosophy & Mission
http://www.odfl.org/index.php?topic=fb
The Essential ODFL Fundraising Kit
& Supplemental Resources
The Overall Process
Stages and Tools of a Successful Fundraiser
If you want to download all documents and media below as one 173 MB .zip file, click here.
1. Organize
| Document/Instruction | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Fundraiser Checklist | Essential checklist. Print this out to manage all facets of the drive. |
| Tasks, Leader, and Teams | Checklist to delegate tasks, leaders, and teams. Print this out and keep with the Fundraiser Checklist. |
| Fundraiser Approval Form | MUST be returned before beginning |
| Order Boxes from ODFL | One for each classroom. Order online. You MUST also submit your Fundraiser ApprovalForm. |
| Order Tri-folds from ODFL | One for each teacher. Order online (same order form as for boxes above). You MUST also submit your Fundraiser ApprovalForm. |
2. EducateYourself
| Document/Instruction | Purpose |
|---|---|
| The Quick 411 on ODFL | High level conceptual view of how ODFL works |
| What We Have Done | A list of projects accomplished in our first three years |
| Partner/Project Standard | How we keep quality control on building projects |
| Sample Project Proposal | A concrete example of a proposal to build a project |
| Three Meanings of ODFL | Deeper explanation of what we're doing. Online audio version |
| Frequently Asked Questions | Commonly asked questions with answers |
| Student Talking Points | Five points of emphasis about ODFL |
| What is ODFL? | Strongly–recommended. This is a six minute student-produced video explaining most facets of ODFL |
3. Enlist Teachers
| Document/Instruction | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Present the drive to every teacher | Very Important! At a faculty meeting, in departments, or one-on-one meetings. Ask for their help encouraging students. |
| Teacher's Letter | Adapt this to meet your school's/club's needs. Back it with either the "Quick 411"or "What We've Done" letter |
| What Teachers Say | Actual quotes from teachers sponsoring ODFL drives. |
| What Students Say | Actual quotes from ODFL student leaders |
| Before and After Photos * | These show actual projects we've completed, Before and After. Find many more of these under Supplementary Tools |
4. Publicize
| Document/Instruction | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Flyers | Print and hang these throughout the school. Or make your own with our ODFL Logo - BW or Colored |
| Dollar Bill Locker Insert | Print on green paper. Use in lockers, on windshields, or hand out individually to students |
| Public Service Announcements | Download these .mp3 audio and video files for daily announcements or create your own with our ODFL Logo - BW or Colored. Or use ODFL on YouTube. Los Gatos HS's PSA |
| Facebook pyramid | Coordinate with other clubs. Get the whole school on board! Also ODFL on causes.com |
| Send photos to ODFL Mail or FTP | School and team members. We'll publicize on our web site! Mail a CD to ODFL or contact webmaster@odfl.org for details on how to FTP photos to ODFL. |
| Press Release - sample 1 | Send a story to school and local newspapers. Usually takes a few weeks lead time |
5. Execute
| Document/Instruction | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Box Label Template | Print and attach one to each collection box |
| Box Control Form | Create a form like this on a spreadsheet to manage collections from each classroom. |
| Public Service Announcements 83MB | Create and/or run these every day throughout the drive or create your own with our ODFL Logo - BW or Colored. Or use ODFL on YouTube. Los Gatos HS's PSA |
| Other | Schools have done car washes, fashion shows, art auctions, dances, be creative! |
| Follow-up with newspaper - sample | Report results, send pictures of student team |
| Follow-up with ODFL | Have school bookkeeper send check for funds to ODFL - address in footer below |
| Follow-up with your school | Publicize to school when pictures of your project start coming back |
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