Welcome to the #RiseTogether campaign! Due to COVID-19 The Ashford Rise School of Dallas and The TouchDown Club of Dallas (Rise's auxiliary group) were forced to cancel all 2020 events and have seen a significant decline in foundational support. Several of our Rise families, staff, and friends in the community have asked how they can help the school.  Please take 10 minutes to build a campaign page and pull together a social media post, send an email, and/or craft a text message using the information provided below.  A quick call or message to someone in your network could render a gift that allows the school to provide anything from financial support to staff salaries! The purpose of this essential campaign is to offset the loss of revenue Rise continues to face as a result of COVID-19. Let’s Rise Together to support this incredible school! If you have any questions please reach out to Caroline Snabes, Rise’s Director of Development, at CSnabes@YMCADallas.org.  To see how The Ashford Rise School of Dallas is doing, click here!

To get started, please create your campaign page here (click on green button that says “Become a Campaigner”). The team you will join is “Moody Family YMCA – Rise Preschool.” Setting up this page should take no more than 10 minutes.  Sample page here!

FAQ’s + Talking Points

What is The Ashford Rise School of Dallas?

The Ashford Rise School of Dallas provides the highest quality of early education services to children ages six months to six years with and without disabilities in an inclusive environment. Rise delivers comprehensive education, intervention and therapy to our students during their formative years. Master's level educators and on-staff speech, occupational, physical, and music therapists help us to meet each students’ individual needs, resulting in a tailored educational and social experience for each child. Please visit RiseDallas.org for more information.

Who will your donation support?

Your donations will directly support the students, with and without disabilities, at The Ashford Rise School of Dallas.  Donations will be used for the greatest need at the time the donation is made.  Current needs with the highest priority include but are not limited to financial assistance and teacher salaries.

Why give now?

The Ashford Rise School of Dallas is continuing to provide its programming to our students during the hard times of COVID-19.  While expenses continue to increase, including financial assistance awarded to families effected by COVID-19, Rise has had to cancel several fundraisers and has seen a significant decline in foundational support.

How to set up your goal?

Consider what it costs Rise to provide comprehensive programming for all of their students.

$10,000 Supports a Rise student for one year

$5,000 Provides new therapy equipment 

$1,200 Covers tuition for a Rise student for one month

$1,000 Provides two classrooms with necessary technology 

$500 Provides curriculum supplies for one class space

$250 Provides one day of therapy for Rise students

$100 Allows for one teacher to update program supplies seasonally 

Available Media

Photos Available Here

Kotschi Family Video Here

Rise School Video Here

Sample Social Media Posts/Emails

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Please join me in making a donation to The Ashford Rise School of Dallas! This incredible local preschool offers a unique program of inclusivity serving children with and without disabilities from all over the metroplex. Like several local nonprofits, Rise needs our help to continue to serve the 60 students still attending their year-round program! To learn more on how you can support, please visit [insert personal link here]!

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The Ashford Rise School of Dallas needs us! Please consider making a donation to help them continue to serve their students with and without disabilities.  To donate please visit [insert personal link here]!

Please use the hashtag #RiseTogether in all social media posts! We will repost all features on our Rise pages.

Narrative Language

I am writing you today in hopes you will join me in supporting The Ashford Rise School of Dallas! While COVID-19 has shifted the way Rise has conducted business, it has not stopped them from serving their students. Before returning to school a few weeks back, this incredible nonprofit had been offering their families one on one video conference tutoring, on demand educational videos and a full resource library of relevant information for continued learning. They are finding their students are continuing to hit developmental milestones and reach all individual goals set at the beginning of the school year! Rise is proud to say they’ve continued to be able to be there to provide their students with what they need, when they need it.  

That to say, several events benefiting Rise have been cancelled and foundational support has hit an all time low, both of which are important parts of their fundraising model.  It is my goal to remind our friends of how important it is to continue to support this incredible school!  In addition to supporting their annual operating expenses, the loss of revenue generated by events and from foundations will affect families impacted by COVID-19.  Each Rise student costs the school around $2,400 per month, but to stay competitive with local preschools Rise offers tuition at a monthly rate of $1,200.  To make their school even more accessible, they never turn away a family due to their inability to pay tuition.  As a result, 46% of Rise students currently receive financial support. In some cases, Rise covers up 80% of their tuition costs! But the need for financial assistance as a result of COVID continues to grow.  In the past month they have had several families apply for financial support so their children can continue to attend Rise.  

The students who attend Rise need our help to continue to reach those critical milestones and stay in school.  Please consider supporting the school today – every dollar counts! To learn more about how you can help please visit [insert personal link here].

Helpful Tips

• Use personal stories and anecdotes to help donors understand why they should give.

• Include photos and videos of the school (if you have personal photos/videos/artwork, even better!).

• Reach out to all family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. At times like these people are open to hearing about causes that need their support!

• Follow up on all social posts, text messages, emails, and calls.  People often forget to make the donation right when you ask, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to support!

• Note that you will be receiving communications from our parent organization, the YMCA!