Happy Chinese New Year from Givology! When we launched Givology over a year ago, our first partner was the Peach Foundation, which has provided thousands of merit-based scholarships to highly talented, but poor students in rural China.

Click below to support our students and projects in China! There's no better way to celebrate Chinese New Year than to support a village or student in China!



According to the Chinese, the Tiger is considered to be lucky, vivid, brave, engaging, and courageous. The year of the Tiger promises many new milestones!

Few words can express the depth of our concern and sadness for all the communities and families affected by the earthquake in Haiti.

We're doing our best to support the work of our partner, La Valle Community. As lines of communication have been down, it may take a few weeks to receive updates about the status of the students. When we hear back, we will post all updates to our site immediately.

A general update from Anne, our main point of contact: “Our program partners in La Valle, Antonica and Theodore, have been contacted and are safe. Due to the collapsing of many homes and the continued aftershocks, everyone in the town is forced to sleep outside. The weather is cooler in the mountains, so the young and old are in need of tents, blankets, and food supplies. Many of the families have lost children when their schools collapsed in Port Au Prince. The estimates now are that every school in Port Au Prince has been destroyed. Now more than ever, the Haitian community needs our support. We are hearing that relief aid is slow to reach all the communities in need, but that all of the Haitian people are banding together to support their neighbors”

Our team is committed to helping as much as we can and mobilizing our local and online community to raise funding and much needed supplies. With Haiti struggling to effectively deliver the massive influx of aid, we intend to take precaution to make sure that the funding we raise end up helping those who need it the most.

Our prayers and hearts go to the Haitian people.

Join our Holiday Giving Team to start the new year with Givology spirit! For 15 minutes throughout 5 days (within the month), we want to see how fully engaged you can be - blogging, suggesting creative ideas and initiatives, directly writing to students!



Challenge yourself

Winners will be rewarded and recognized.

The past week has yielded record-breaking donor activity, as many new projects have become fully funded. However, we also want to remind you of our other projects, including Teacher and Training projects by one of our newer partners, Sheed Society in Pakistan.

Sheed Society was a tiny NGO when first founded in 1995. It was established to address the lack of education and to create HIV/AIDS awareness among the prostitutes and their children living shunned and oppressed in Pakistan.

Sheed also recently made a special Givology video slideshow, depicting some of the students they work with (below)



Check them out!

Two exciting updates from our partnerships team:

1) Introducing our newest partner - La Vallee Community of Haiti



La Vallee is a village located in the southeastern part of Haiti. The current challenges for La Vallee are many. The recent storms of 2008 have all but destroyed many of their sources of income, including mango and avocado trees and many small gardens. In 1976, the people of La Vallee organized to form a cooperative organization called "Coude a Coude pour le Development de La Vallee" (CODEVA). CODEVA was established to help focus and direct the development of La Vallee. One of the most important issues facing the parents of La Valle, besides access to clean water and food for their children, is the ability to pay for their children’s education. Givology has entered into a partnership with the community to support student scholarships.

2) Emmaus Road Foundation Releases its Annual Report

The Emmaus Road Foundation has released its 2009 Annual Report.



Givology is delighted to support the work of Emmaus Road Foundation and congratulate our partner for its many achievements in 2009 in enabling and empowering communities throughout Colombia.

To learn more about the Emmaus Road Foundation and contribute to the education of the students they support, please visit our partner's page and begin viewing student profiles!

Givology Gift Certificates!



Struggling to find the perfect present for your friends and family? Givology Gift Certificates are a gift that keeps on giving. Givology gift certificates are tax-deductible, easily customizable with festive holiday templates, and most importantly, can change lives of talented students around the world.

Take our Annual Holiday Challenge!



Between December 15th and January 31st, you can register and participate in this challenge by joining our Giving Team. By spending 15 minutes for 5 days supporting Givology, you'll be eligible for some fantastic rewards that make a difference! Click here to learn more about the challenge, join, and invite friends to participate!

Thanks to the proactivity and energy of Lauren Oswald and our new Philly team, Givology is *merrily* hosting its first young professionals holiday happy hour - do join us to mix, mingle, and jingle!

Celebrate to Educate!
What: Givology Charity Happy Hour
Where: Buffalo Billiards & Metropolitan Lounge
118 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
When: Wednesday, December 23, 5pm-8pm
Why: Meet Local Young Professionals

All for a Good Cause!




Make a Minimum Donation of $10 & Receive*:
$3 House Well Drinks
$3 Domestic Bottles
$3 Select Drafts
$5 Glasses of Wine
Chances to Win $50 Buffalo Billiards Gift Cards & Other Great Prizes

*Must have a valid photo ID showing you are at least 21 years of age.

Cheers!

We are extremely pleased to announce a partnership with the Khaya Cookie Company! Perfect for the holiday season, Khaya cookies not only are a tasty treat, but they go a long way to empowering women and local communities in South Africa.

Khaya Cookies has created a special campaign with Givology, in which any online order placed with the coupon code "GIVOLOGY" gives you 20% off AND gives Givology 10% of the sale proceeds!

From Sunday, December 6 through Saturday, December 12, coupon code "FREE" will get you free shipping on all orders!



Khaya Cookie Company has been recognized as an innovative social enterprise! Khaya (K?-ya) is the Xhosa word for home. The company's home is deep in the winelands of South Africa. From the farmers who grow the organic fruits to the artisan bakers who meticulously blend each small batch, the purpose is to make irresistibly great cookies while supporting and creating sustainable opportunities for the local community.

Dear Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving from Givology! This holiday has special significance to our team because we all believe in the power of giving back. As Thanksgiving is a time of celebrating everyone who has made a difference in our lives, we want to take a time to thank you - our fellow Givologist.

Without you, our volunteers, our partners, and our supporters worldwide, we wouldn't have been able to help so many students and schools - to enable so many dreams and aspirations. The gift of education is a gift that keeps on giving!

On behalf of the entire Givology team, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and feasts!




Video created by Alex Martins, our Media Director. We thank her for creating this wonderful video message!

You are cordially invited to join Pileggi Boutique and Givology on Thursday, November 19th to shop for a great cause from 4 PM to 7 PM.



Pileggi Boutique, one of Philadelphia's top shops, will be holding a day-long shopping event at their store, located at 715 S. Walnut Street on the historic Washington Square. From 4 PM to 7 PM, 15 percent of proceeds will be donated to help relocate the Peace School in Uganda, which provides education to orphans and other disadvantaged children who are not able to afford the costs of attending traditional public schools.

Drinks will be provided by Pileggi, and appetizers will be provided by Coco’s as you browse through classic favorites and trendy pieces from labels including Shin Choi, Diane von Furstenberg and Thread Social. We look forward to meeting you at the event!

Please direct any questions and press inquiries to Winnie at winnie.feng@givology.org, or call 573.355.3001.