When people hear that my wife and I run a nonprofit, they sometimes assume we have donors, corporate sponsors, and a budget to cover the work.
The reality is that Arlett and I pay for most of what we do at Reyes Mora Youth Centers International ourselves.
We help because we know the needs of the children and families we serve. But caring about the work does not make funding it easy. We have our own bills and responsibilities, so we have to be thoughtful about what we spend and how far we can stretch it.
Finding donations can become a job of its own
For a small nonprofit, asking for donations takes time. You explain what you do, reach out, follow up, and hope something comes from it.
Our experience, especially in the Dominican Republic, has been difficult enough that my wife and I eventually stopped actively trying to find donations. We were spending a lot of time asking for help and seeing very little come from it.
We kept helping. We just started relying more on what we could manage ourselves.
On one occasion, we were offered merchandise to distribute, but there was a condition. We were expected to put a politician’s face all over it.
To us, it felt more like a political promotion than an effort to meet the community’s needs. What was being offered was not particularly useful for the work we were doing either.
We appreciate support, but we also have to consider whether an offer will actually help the families we serve.
Sometimes the clearance section makes the difference
One of our best purchases came from a Walmart clearance section.
I found 103 backpacks for two dollars each. That was 103 backpacks for $206.
And these were not ugly bags or flimsy ones nobody wanted. There were Disney backpacks, Bluey, and other characters children would be excited to carry. Some even came with headphones.
A find like that makes a real difference when you are working with your own money. It allows us to help more children while giving them something nice that they can feel good about taking to school.
My wife and I spend plenty of time checking clearance sections, both in the United States and the Dominican Republic. We look for things the center needs and buy when the price makes sense.
We put rewards points to work too
We also use a lot of our Staples rewards to purchase supplies for the nonprofit.
For example, when an eligible ink or toner promotion offers 20 percent back in rewards, a $500 toner purchase I need for work can generate $100 in rewards. We can then put those rewards toward school supplies.
The offers and conditions vary, but we take advantage of them when we can.
That gives us another way to purchase notebooks, pencils, and other materials without paying for everything out of pocket each time.
It takes planning. We watch prices, keep track of rewards, and think about what will be useful before buying. When you have limited funds, those small decisions matter.
We do what we can and keep going
I wish getting support were easier. I wish we could spend less time figuring out how to afford things and more time helping.
But this is how Arlett and I have managed to keep going. We use our own funds, shop carefully, take advantage of clearance prices, and turn rewards from necessary purchases into supplies for children.
There are limits to what we can do, and we have to respect those limits. Still, we would rather make a thoughtful purchase that helps a few more families than wait for funding that may never arrive.
Behind a school supply giveaway, there may be weeks of checking prices, saving rewards, and waiting for the right sale. People do not always see that part of running a small nonprofit.
For us, it is part of the work. And when those supplies reach a child who needs them, we know the effort was worth it.
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