Flora Family Foundation Final Report

Introduction

In 2003 Free Geek received it's largest grant ever, $185,000 from the Meyer Memorial Trust. Combined with $75,000 in grants from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Collins Foundation and the Yuan Joung Trust, Free Geek embarked on a very ampitious expansion of the entire program. The goal of the expansion was to make Free Geek a self-sustaining organization by the end of 2005. This goal has been mostly acheived, but not without some substantial setbacks along the way. It was during the aftermath of the problems that we had experienced that a member of the Flora Family Foundation approached us and quite simply asked "how can we help?". Free Geek received $10,000 in August of 2004 and applied the money to our general operating costs that were still in the red, giving the organization crucial additional time in which to further increase income. As the end of 2005 approached, Free Geek began operating in the black and the first quarter of 2006 was an entirely self-funded quarter. We believe that this is the beginning of a trend that will make Free Geek somewhat unique amongst non-profits - sustainable.

The Program Expansion

Free Geek planned a large organizational expansion project designed to increase our impact in the community and increase our operational income to the point that all of our core programs are financially stable and self-sustaining. Four grants were obtained totaling $250,000 (Meyer Memorial Trust - $185,000, Collins Foundation - $35,000, Oregon DEQ - $20,000, Juan Young Trust - $10,000.

PHASE I: Facility Expansion – increasing capacity for all major programs by improving the existing facility, adding additional classroom space, expanding recycling, production space and the thrift store (This phase funded by Oregon DEQ and the Meyer Memorial Trust).

PHASE II: Long Term Capacity Building - stabilizing and expanding our current programs to take advantage of increased facilities and increase revenue generation to the point of self-reliance (This phase funded by the Collins Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust).

PHASE III: Programs Expansion - funding two new projects that will help distribute the increased production of refurbished computer systems in ways that increase both our impact on the local community and our income stream.

1. Collaborative Technology Project - Provides consulting services so that local non-profits can access to Open Source technology and training, reducing their technology costs (This phase funded by the Meyer Memorial Trust).

2. Computers For Kids - Provides computers and education to "At-risk" youth in the Portland Metropolitan Area (This phase partially funded by the Juan Young Trust).