News Release
Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) Participating in NativeGiving.org Initiative
Oklahoma City, OK (September 16, 2015) – The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) announced today that it is one of seven Native American organizations invited to participate in the NativeGiving.org initiative. This initiative is a project that aims to attract donors to smaller Native nonprofits to help them expand their services in their local communities. Sponsored by First Nations Development Institute, this project offers fundraising assistance and an online giving portal at www.NativeGiving.org.
ONAC was selected by First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) to participate in the project to assist the organization with its fundraising efforts. Besides ONAC, the other participants in the project are College of Menominee Nation in Wisconsin, Oyate Teca Project in South Dakota, S.T.A.R. School in Arizona, Sust'ainable Molokai in Hawaii, Zuni Youth Enrichment Project in New Mexico, and the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute.
“The NativeGiving.org project is a great way for us to enhance our ability to raise funds and awareness of our work here in Oklahoma,” said Christy Finsel (Osage), Executive Director of the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition. “We’ll be promoting the new site in addition to our normal fundraising activities, and First Nations will also be actively promoting it on behalf of all of the participants. We certainly hope it will generate more awareness of and resources for our work and mission, not only in our own area and region, but from other parts of the U.S.”
The NativeGiving.org website is now up and running. On the site, people can research the organizational profiles and financially support one or more of the nonprofits. First Nations will incur all processing, administrative and handling costs. Thus, 100% of the gifts made to the participants will go to furthering that organization’s mission.
All of the participants in NativeGiving.org are current or previous grantees of First Nations, which is a 35-year-old national Native organization that works to build Native economies and communities. Further, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is supporting First Nations’ work on the NativeGiving.org project.
First Nations also will provide training and technical assistance to the participating organizations through coaching, webinars and an online learning community to share resources and build the group’s collective knowledge and best practices from their own organizations. It will also facilitate a dialogue between project participants and Native grantmaking tribes and other funding entities in hopes that mutually beneficial partnerships can be established.
About ONAC:
The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) is a nonprofit Native asset building coalition that works with Oklahoma tribes and partners interested in establishing asset-building initiatives and programs in Native communities, for the purpose of creating greater opportunities for economic self-sufficiency of tribal citizens.
The mission of the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) is to build and support a network of Oklahoma Native people who are dedicated to increasing self-sufficiency and prosperity in their communities through the establishment of comprehensive financial education initiatives, Individual Development Accounts, and other asset-building strategies.
For more information about the coalition, go to http://oknativeassets.org.
Media Contact:
Christy Finsel, Executive Director
(405) 401-7873, cfinsel@oknativeassets.org
