On behalf of the American Vaping Association, I am proud to announce the final results of the first annual VapesGiving, a program that the AVA hosted at the end of 2017.
In total, we raised $332,183 in contributions for twenty-one nonprofit organizations, including the AVA. This includes $190,000 from Naked 100 and $142,183 from the vaping community at large. Further details on the disbursements can be found at the end of this article.
The idea for VapesGiving came in response to the unprecedented level of legislative and regulatory threats facing vapers and vaping business at the state and local level. Having worked with nearly every U.S. vaping advocacy organizations at some point over our existence, we know the tireless work that their leadership and members put into making their groups so successful.
We also know the one thing that many organizations struggle with the most — fundraising. Government relations and advocacy is a year-round job. While many of these organizations have a statehouse lobbyist who must be paid monthly, few are entirely self-sufficient on member dues or regular contributions, so frequent fundraising is often necessary. With already limited resources, this forces groups to expend time and energy on fundraising when they could be setting up meetings with legislators or planning strategy.
VapesGiving could never have gotten off the ground had Naked 100 not enthusiastically offered to match donations up to $190,000. Hundreds of members of the vaping community — manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and vapers — participated in raising over $142,000 over a period of just over a week. While we did not reach our goal of $190,000, we were thrilled with the energy and interest we saw. Even better, Naked 100 generously stepped forward to offer to fund the full $190,000.
Since the end of VapesGiving, we have received numerous inquiries about the future of the program. While we have nothing to announce yet, we can assure you that there will be future campaigns.
Thank you again to all who contributed to VapesGiving or helped us spread the word, as well as Naked 100 for making this campaign possible.
Sincerely,
Gregory Conley
President — American Vaping Association
Disbursement info:
Naked 100 contributed a total of $190,000 to our twenty-one participating organizations, including AVA.
- Each organization received a minimum of $8,900.
Of the $132,369.97 contributed to AVA during VapesGiving, AVA distributed $120,536.40 to nineteen of our participating organizations.
- Each of the nineteen organizations received $6,344.02. ($6,344.02 * 19 = $120,536.38)
- As a participating organization in VapesGiving, AVA retained $6,344.02. ($120,536.38 + $6.344.02 = $126,880.40)
- AVA incurred $1,500 in legal review costs and $3,989.57 in PayPal fees. ($126,880.40 + $1,500 + $3,989.57 = $132,369.97)
Additional funds of over $9,000 were independently fundraised by the Connecticut Chapter of SFATA in connection with VapesGiving.
- CT SFATA retained the contributions they fundraised, so the organization did not receive a contribution from AVA. As a participating organization, CT SFATA did receive a ‘match’ check from Naked 100 as detailed above.
