Educate. Radiate. Elevate. is running an online silent auction to help provide our students with essential tools to grow and succeed in learning. Auctions like ours are an engaging way to bring people together to strengthen the educational achievement of underserved students. In this technology-driven era, online auctions have emerged as a new and preferred means of raising money.
The Problems and Our Solutions
Have you ever wondered how you can personally change the lives of those in need? Have you ever wished there was an accessible way to help uplift underserved communities? Have you ever noticed how empowering a quality education can be? We have too!
When the COVID pandemic hit the United States in 2020, in-person classrooms were forced to quickly transform to online learning. This caused massive learning losses for many students. According to the 2021 STAAR results, there was an average reduction of 4% in reading and 15% in math in grades 3-8; these drops were significantly more apparent in students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
The founder of Educate. Radiate. Elevate. knew that low-income youth of color were among the hardest hit. Historically, underserved students lacked the access to resources and support that higher-income students had. For instance, most parents of underserved students were essential workers who were unable to work from home and assist their children with remote learning. Additionally, disadvantaged students often had less access to reliable wifi and devices, lower quality distance instruction, and less conducive learning environments. These academic losses to low-income students of color widened existing achievement gaps, causing many of these students to drop out of school in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
We empathize with the struggles these students have been facing. We know they are capable of great success and we want to invest in them and their dreams. We also care deeply about these students’ feelings, rights, and safety, and we respect that each child thinks and feels differently. Indeed, though we are a new nonprofit, our teaching approach has already shown excellent results, helping students improve their subject-level mastery, soft skills, and learning methods. You can learn more about our success stories here. We are only able to see these positive outcomes with the help of our partners and valued supporters like you.
You, Too, Can Help!
Do you want to get involved? We have an easy (and fun!) way for you to reach the children who have been hardest hit by the pandemic and provide empowering learning experiences for them. You can participate in our online silent auction! All proceeds from this fundraising event will go directly to supporting a rewarding, personalized learning experience for our students. Your contributions will fund specific aspects of our tutoring program, such as access to technology, training for tutors, and one-on-one lessons for students. Also, you will have fun competing with others to bid on our unique and desirable items and services, donated by local small businesses and active community leaders.
How Our Online Silent Auction Works
Educate. Radiate. Elevate. sourced unique items and experiences for our supporters to choose from. Many of these come from local small businesses – the economic lifeblood of communities. As a supporter, you can start by pursuing the available items in our online silent auction. When you see something you like, simply click the button to bid on it. Bid prices must be higher than the starting price and also higher than those offered by previous bidders.
We know you are busy. So we also set up “Proxy Bidding” to make active bidding easier. You can set the maximum price you would be willing to pay for an item and then allow the computer system to bid for you by the bid increment each time you are outbid. This will continue until someone places a bid higher than your maximum, at which time you will log in to place a new maximum bid. This means you do not worry about tracking each item you are bidding on. The system will bid for you and also notify you if your maximum has been outbid. For example, if you want to win a gift basket, you can enter $60 as your starting bid and $80 as your maximum bid. Since the bid increment for the auction is $5, the system will automatically increase your bid by $5 every time someone outbids you. When the auction comes to a close, the highest bidder wins at the current bid price (not the maximum that was pre-set).
If you find that our mission resonates with your own beliefs, values, and identity, please don’t hesitate to be an Ambassador for our fundraiser. We have set up Peer-to-peer fundraising so supporters like you can join our experience and help us fundraise. You will be able to easily create your own URL for our event, which you can share with family and friends via social media, email, and text. Then anyone who contributes through your unique link will be tracked by the system and brings you one step closer to a cool prize! You can log into your fundraising page and review the results of your efforts at any time. This is an exciting and healthy competition that allows you to actively participate in fundraising efforts and spread awareness for a cause that’s close to your heart. If you wish to sign up as an ambassador, you can fill in your information here. An ambassador can be a single person or a group of people.
If you want the chance to win some money, check out our 50/50 Raffle! You can purchase tickets, and each ticket equals one entry in the drawing for a winner. At the end of the raffle, one ticket is randomly drawn by the system. The winner will get 50% of the money generated by raffle ticket sales, and the other 50% of the money will go directly to supporting E.R.E.’s tutoring programs. With the 50/50 Raffle, not only can you win some cash, but you are supporting a great cause while doing so.
Advantages of Our Silent Auction
You will love our silent auction. It is a win-win event with multiple advantages, such as those listed below.
You can help support our fundraiser by simply sharing the details with your friends and family. Maximize your efforts and make this a healthy competition by signing up as an Ambassador.
Our online silent auction will run for a full 7 days, which is longer than traditional, face-to-face auctions. This allows you more time to explore and bid on the items.
Our auction features many local small businesses, which helps keep our communities thriving. Supporters will have opportunities to learn about these vibrant businesses in detail.
Because the auction is online, support is not limited by time, geographical, or financial barriers. Anyone can participate through their device for free.
Not only will bidders gain access to unique items and experiences, but the funds will support our startup profit, thereby helping make the dreams of underserved students turn into realities.
Our Goals
Our goal with this back-to-school fundraiser is to raise $10,000 to support 10 students for the coming school year. We hope to help students have an excellent start to the new school year, opening the door to a brighter future.
We cannot meet our goal without the help of people like you, and we hope we can count on your support to make this event one of our best yet! Your money will help to create an environment that organizes an equitable, high-quality education for students in our local school systems. Your contributions will allow us to help low-income students of color succeed in the classroom and beyond.
Together, we can help minimize the disproportionate learning loss for traditionally underserved to provide economic, social, and emotional stability for the youth served, their families, and their community. We look forward to your participation in our virtual silent auction
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If you have any questions about our Silent Auction or would like to help in a greater capacity, please contact our auction coordinator. Check out our auction page!
