Niku VIII Funding

[Monty Fowler]

To quote the one thing that almost always guaranteed me getting left by the side of the road during family vacations, "Are we there yet?"

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[pilotart]

Flawless, TIGHAR Banner was seen top left panel on every Amazon order with no extra attention needed. 
Of course the key is that the URL begins w//Smile.

[Jeff Palshook]

Ric,

What is the current status of Niku VIII funding? 

Your previous froum posts (in October) said the first payment of $41,300 for the Nai'a charter was due at the end of October 2014, and this money was raised and the payment was made.  The next payment for the Nai'a was $111,350, due on 10 Dec. 2014.

Your recent (around 15 Dec. 2014) e-mail bulletin said the next payment for the charter was due, $25,000 from two sponsor team members was in hand, and a total of $133,7000 needed to be raised to complete the Niku VIII budget.  Once the $133,700 was raised, the $100,000 pledge from a foundation plus a total of $75,000 in additional pleages from the two sponsor team members would then become available, and the budget would be completed.

Adding this all up:

41,300  Paid in Oct. toward Nai'a charter
25,000  $ in hand from 2 sponsor team members
100,000  Pledged by major foundation
75,000  Pledged by the 2 sponsor team members
133,700  Still needed to be raised

Total of above:  $375,000

I've seen this number mentioned somewhere as the total Niku VIII budget, and it makes sense with the budget for the Nai'a charter being $264,000 plus an estimated additional $12,000 in fuel costs, the remainder of the $375,000 presumably being for ROV rental and operation, scuba diving operations, land operations, and incidentals.

What is not clear to me is what has happened with the $111,350 payment for the Nai'a charter due on 10 Dec. 2014.  I see in the above numbers only the $25,00 total from the two sponsor team members available cash in hand to put toward that $111,350 payment, whose due date has now passed.  Was that full payment made?  If not, how much were you able to pay, and have the Nai'a folks granted you a time extension to pay the remaining amount?

Also, your mid-December e-mail bulletin said you would be issuing a press release at the end of that week discussing the status of the 2-2-V-1 investigation, including an account of your visit to MIT and publishing Prof. Eagar's letter to you following that MIT visit.  I didn't see any press release after that.  Did it happen?

Finally, you always seem to post the contents of any such e-mailed TIGHAR bulletin on the website a few days after you do the e-mail notification.  I haven't seen any sign of such a posting on the TIGHAR website.  What happened here?


Jeff P.
   

[Ric Gillespie]

Expedition budgets are always a moving target. We've been able to whittle the total budget down to $350,000.  Here's an update I just sent to the team.

"As we move into the new year we're in good shape to ride the wave of recent publicity and complete our expedition budget - so get out your surf board and help us find the sponsors. 

TIGHAR received a $40,000 year-end foundation grant to cover TIGHAR operating expenses so that let's us devote attention to completing the expedition fundraising.  Nai'a was okay with us missing the December 10 payment of $111,350 but they asked for some kind of payment by Christmas.  One of our Sponsor Team Members stepped forward and voluntarily paid the $35,000 balance of his pledged donation, which we passed along to Nai'a - so they're happy for the time being.

Of the $350,000 expedition budget we've now raised $216,300 in cash and firm pledges  - $76,300 raised and paid;  $142,484 in firm pledges.  We need to raise the remaining $131,216 as soon as possible.  We're 63% of the way there.  This is do-able.  Still no word on the Explorers Club/ Mamont Foundation grant that Andrew McKenna applied for.  They were originally going to make a decision by the end of November.  Andrew has also applied for support from GoPro cameras. Once the expedition is a "done deal" it should be much easier to secure additional sponsorships and in-kind contributions of equipment (cameras, drones, etc.).

We need to approach potential sponsors who have a logical connection to our work - either to Earhart or to some aspect of our investigation.   I'll be talking to Lockheed Martin, Alcoa, and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.  If you have an "in" with a company or individual who might be good prospect let me know.  If you know "people of means" whom you could invite to a fundraiser dinner let's talk about it."

Yesterday we received a $15,000 grant from The Asia Group, a Washington-based consulting firm. That brings our still-to-raise balance down to $116,216. We're two-thirds of the way there.

[Jeff Palshook]

Thank you for the funding update, Ric.


Jeff P.

[Monty Fowler]

Definitely doable.

And kudos to Andrew for going after foundation funding, I know how unrewarding that quest can seem much of the time.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[Andrew M McKenna]

Monty

Thanks, I'm just going after what funding seems available to me.  We all know people of means or organizations who might be able to grant funds, so I encourage everyone to think about who they know - from high school on - who might be able to help us raise some funds for the expedition. 

You might be surprised by the interest in this project, and who might be willing to support it.

Best

Andrew

[Ted G Campbell]

Where do we stand Ric?
Ted Campbell

[Ric Gillespie]

Where do we stand Ric?

So far we have raised  67% of the $350,000 Niku VIII budget.  We need to raise the remaining $116,000 as soon as possible.  We're pursuing a number of leads that could result in major sponsorship but nothing definite yet.
This expedition is a "must do" for TIGHAR.  We need everyone to contribute what they can. It will be great if we can land one big sponsor who will cover the entire shortfall, but if we have to piece it together from smaller contributions we will.
Ted, you have been very generous.  Monty Fowler has also been steadfast inches support.  Andrew McKenna has been generous and tireless in his efforts to find sponsors. Please follow their example and donate today at http://tighar.org/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=43
or send a check payable to TIGHAR to
TIGHAR
2366 Hickory Hill Road
Oxford, PA 19363

Some readers of the forum are business owners. For a gift of at least $1,000 we'll put your company logo on the TIGHAR homepage as a hot link to your website.  On an average day the TIGHAR website gets over 2,000 visitors.  When we're making news, as we will in June, we get upwards of 56,000 visitors per day. 

[Krystal McGinty-Carter]

Tax time is here! If you're getting a refund, consider kicking in a little. I have my check ready as soon as my refund hits my bank. Unfortunately, us lowly airline serfs dont bring in the kind of money to just knock it all out in one whack but Ill continue to contribute when I can.

[Brian Ainslie]

Ric - Around the Holidays there was some discussion of Amazon Smile as a potential avenue for income. I'm not sure how that works from your end (logistically how & when they pay out, etc.) but any updates from that stream?

[Ric Gillespie]

Ric - Around the Holidays there was some discussion of Amazon Smile as a potential avenue for income. I'm not sure how that works from your end (logistically how & when they pay out, etc.) but any updates from that stream?

We're set up with Amazon Smile and a number of people have said they use it, but Amazon hasn't sent us any money yet.

[Monty Fowler]

That's odd. If TIGHAR did it part by sending Amazon the info needed for electronic fund transfers, TIGHAR should be getting checks quarterly: https://org.amazon.com/ref=smi_se_spd_org_org under the Receive Donations tab. And surely we've gotten at least $5 by now ...

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[Brian Ainslie]

Ric - Around the Holidays there was some discussion of Amazon Smile as a potential avenue for income. I'm not sure how that works from your end (logistically how & when they pay out, etc.) but any updates from that stream?

We're set up with Amazon Smile and a number of people have said they use it, but Amazon hasn't sent us any money yet.

Should have done  my research first:

"100% of the donation amount generated from your eligible purchase on AmazonSmile will be donated. The donation amounts generated by your purchases are combined with the donation amounts from all other customers that selected the same organization, and each quarter the AmazonSmile Foundation makes donations to registered charitable organizations by electronic funds transfer. Donations are generally transferred approximately 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter. "

So I guess sometime by late Feb. there ought to be the first trickle of funds...

[Ric Gillespie]

So I guess sometime by late Feb. there ought to be the first trickle of funds...

We'll watch for the trickle.