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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAamir Walton - Generosity SolutionsAAMIRWALTON Generosity Solutions, LLC 4440 Preston Lane Iowa, City, IA 52246 • 773-557-3938 generositvsolutions(gDamail.com aamirwalton@gmail.com Mayor Bruce Teague City of Iowa City Inclusive Economic Development Support for Underestimated Businesses and Entrepreneurs 410 East Washington Street, Iowa City Iowa, 52240 Dear Mayor Bruce Teague and the City of Iowa City, I, Aamir Walton, am the founder of a small business based in Iowa City called Generosity Solutions, LLC. Generosity Solutions is a business started to help churches continue to grow and function properly, without feeling the burden of leaving ministry on the table due to lack of resources and funding. As a fundraiser by trade, and having successfully fundraised for several higher education institutions, I have learned valuable fundraising skills and principles that are transferable to other areas of life. In turn, I hope to coach, train, and inspire church leaders on how to secure funding for their churches, and educate people in congregations on the importance of investing in their churches. In turn, there will be more churches with the resources they need to be able to have lasting ministries, more people involved and engaged in ministry, and greater impact on the community. I am submitting this statement of interest for support as an underestimated business and entrepreneur. This application would be for both securing physical space, as well as business support programs. The project that I am hoping to undertake is twofold. The first is to publish a book of 52 weeks of fully prepared offering messages for pastors to be able to use as they talk to their congregation about tithes and offering. This book would not just be available for pastors to use weekly during service, but I would also offer a training or coaching element to be able to answer any questions they may have or help expound upon the content and train them while doing so. I also endeavor to host several weekend long training courses for pastors, church leaders, and others to teach them about fundraising for the kingdom and equip them with what they need to successfully be able to do so. For these projects I would need both physical space (to host trainings) and business support programs. The training would require that I have physical space, an online platform for registration and event updates, zoom capabilities for those desiring to join virtually, lunch, etc. The benefits of hosting trainings would be that there will be more church leaders well-equipped to fundraise for their churches that will in turn create more job opportunities and ministries available, which will then result in the churches being able to better support and help the community. Many churches desire to do the work of helping feed the community, offering daycare and schooling, providing shelters for the homeless and clothes for those without, having ministries that encourage and empowers its members to grow and become the best they can be, but the reality is without funding, resources, and support they have been limited in what they have been able to accomplish. My training will help address this problem and thus allow churches to have a greater, more significant impact on the community, but even better for the Kingdom. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were already (some many churches) struggling to keep their doors open due to lacking resources and funding. During and even after the pandemic, because community and economy has been strained, we are not only seeing that individual households are experiencing an increasing strain from the pandemic, but now even churches are as well. Thus, more churches and ministries are shutting down and closing, and even churches are having to let go of or stop paying people that were previously funded by the church. This impacts the community, because now there are less jobs available and more people in need of work. In addition, there are less ministries available to be able to help provide insight, guidance, direction, community, and resources for people in various stages of their life, as well as going through different seasons as well. This training project will provide community resiliency by providing churches with the resources and tools they need to be able to secure the funding they need to provide the community the with resources they need. My wife, as an avid researcher fond of psychology, knows a lot about resiliency as it relates to development, but it is also applicable to this as well. One big reason children can be so resilient is not just because they naturally adapt, but because there are factors that aid in resiliency. There are protective factors that help children to do better given the fact that they face adversity. In the same way the pandemic, viewed as an adverse event, but there are protective factors or resources that can be provided to the community to help lessen the impact of the pandemic on the community. My training is one of those. Proposed Budget: Expense Amount Requested) Venue 1500 X 2 3000 Patton for Materials 1500 Logo Creation and Patton 2000 Marketing 300 Camera 1500 Mics 500 Website 3 years/50 a month 1800 HostGator Website Domain 3 years/ 20 per year 60 Coffee and Breakfast 600 Total 11260 We currently do not have any funding for these expenses. Our hope is to receive funding from the Iowa City Grant. I anticipate making some contributions from my personal income, as well as using any donations I receive from local speaking engagements for my business. Anticipated Timeframe: • January 2024: release my book, "The Offering Moment", which is a practical guide for pastors to use during offering messages. • January 2024: Release social media content (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Linkedln... etc.) • March 2024: Begin Marketing for Kingdom Philanthropy Seminar, and secure venue. • June 2024: Host the inaugural Kingdom Philanthropy Seminar • August 2024: Host the 2"d Kingdom Philanthropy Seminar • September 2024: Data Collection on impact of the event and offer follow up coaching sessions. • January 2025: Data collection for the churches/ministries 2024 financial performance from January — June 2024 versus July— December 2024 (after the Kingdom Philanthropy Seminar) Grant and Financial Management Robin Campbell (my wife) serves as the CFO for the Help Hope and Love Foundation (local nonprofit organization) in which she has gained experience in managing private and public grant funding responsibilities. She also serves as the secretary for Generosity Solutions, LLC. We would only need an exact explanation of what is expected in terms of deliverables and outcomes from the grant funding. In addition, it would be helpful to always have a point -person to discuss the grant funding requirements with as we execute our project. Work Related to the Project I have delivered weekly offering messages (more than 40) at LifePointe Christian Faith Center, a local church located in Coralville, IA. I have begun meeting quarterly with my mentor and published author as I am working through the drafting of the book, 'The Offering Moment" as mentioned above. In addition, we have secured our EIN number to officially start our business, opened a bank account at a local (Coralville, IA) bank and secured legal representation for all legal matters. As a new business, we do not currently have a business address or address for the project site. This is something we are still in the process of determining. 3