Program areas at Invested
Each fall, the organization provides an initial round of program funding directly to secondary schools to make funds available for immediate use with minimal bureaucracy. With input from those who are closest to the students - their teachers, counselors or coaches - the school's local team funds items that specific students need, but cannot afford, allowing them to participate fully in school. Specific needs include activity fees, musical instrument rental, uniforms or clothing, or test fees. Initial funding for fy22 was $373,450.
The organization was selected as the non-profit partner for all in wa digital equity initiative. Funds collected by the campaign were used to provide urgently needed computers, tablets, and online access for students lacking essential tech tools due to the covid-19 pandemic. The campaign distributed $30,000 in funds to districts during the school year.
The organization has a challenge matching program to encourage schools to grow local support for the Invested program and student equity thru every donation program to allow donors to designate funds to be used at specific schools. The organization provided $125,410 in matching funds and goods and $67,448 in student equity thru every donation funds during the year.
In response to the covid-19 crisis and closure of public schools, the organization responded immediately by launching the covid-19 student fund. The funds provided to districts targeted two critical areas exacerbated by the covid-19 crisis - nutritional needs and remote learning. Schools provided supplemental food to students, purchased devices, adaptive software and accessories to ensure online learning was accessible to all students. The final $370 of funds were distributed in fy2022.
The organization recruited four schools to participate in a pilot program to measure the impact of focused funding on higher risk students. This pilot program was designed and conducted in partnership with the office of superintendent of public instruction (ospi). This program was paused in fy21 and fy22 due to the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic.