As director of a mental health oriented non-profit, we have our 501-c3 that allows us to accept donations. In addition, I work with several dialogue non-profits, including the Salt Lake Civil Network, Living Room Conversations, the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation and the Village Square – each of which has their own 501-c3, under which funds can be accepted for dialogue related project below. In what follows, I summarize my three central funding needs for 2018-2019. In each case, finding additional support from generous donors would make us able to expedite our progress in finalizing several key projects:
#1. Suicide Risk Factor Inventory. Our mental health research team is seeking $10,000 to open up more time for me to lead a team of research assistants in finishing a comprehensive Suicide Risk Factor Inventory based on surveys of the vast medical literature. With a goal of reviewing 15,000 studies, the aim would be to distill down key patterns that can be helpful in guiding more multi-factorial prevention efforts (as are being called for by public health leaders). Here are examples of what that would look like when finished:
- Depression Inventory: Exploring The Roots Of Chronic Unhappiness
- ADHD Inventory: Getting At The Roots Of Chronic Inattentiveness
#2. Red Blue Dictionary Update/Expansion. Our politically diverse editorial team is seeking to raise $35,000 to support editors in updating and expanding the Red Blue (All Sides) Dictionary. For details on how exactly the funds would be used, check out our formal write-up: A Proposal to Expand the “Red Blue” (All Sides) Dictionary: Seeking Supportive Partners to Help Us Increase Its Scope, Reach and Impact
#3. Spreading the Word about Mindweather. As a 6 hour online course completely free of charge, we believe Mindweather 101 is one of the best online resources for people facing serious mental/emotional distress. Unfortunately, after investing $50,000 of our own resources (and approximately $50,000 of volunteer hours), we have not had sufficient funds to market this course to the broader public. With additional resources, we would be able to invest more in getting this in front of people. Anything would help!
If any of these funding needs are something you would like to support, we would welcome your inquiry! Please reach out to me on the contact form, and I will get back to you with my number and email. If you would prefer making an anonymous donation (for a mental health project), you can do so at our non-profit donation page here OR (for the dictionary project) at the Living Room Conversations donation page here (specifying “for the dictionary” when you do so).