Frequently Asked Questions

In this page, you can review the answers to the questions we received from our supporters frequently.

How did you raise the resources to finance all those events and school repair projects?

Why did you open a Volunteer Center?

Are any of your volunteers, advisors, or board members paid for their service?

I live away from Mountain View. Can I still volunteer for Friends of Anatolia?

How do you select the schools that you will renovate or send educational materials?

Do you have projects in places other than Anatolia, for example, the European (Thrace) part of Turkey?

Are there other ways to support Friends of Anatolia, other than cash donations?

What is a matching gift?

What is a challenge gift?

What does "philanthropy" mean?

What does "donor advised fund" mean?

What percentage of the donations go to your operational expenses?

Q: How do you raise the resources to finance all those events and school repair projects?

A: We organize community building activities and support for education events several times a year where we receive donations from our supporters. We also search for grants, matching gifts and challenge gifts to raise funds. In 2005, most of our funds were received through individual donations. We are expecting more resources in 2006 from the grants we applied for.

Q: Why did you open a Volunteer Center?

A: Our Volunteer Center in Mountain View, CA is not only a base where we run our administrative operations, but also a great location to train and work with volunteers. In fact, only 20% of our Center space is used as an office, while the rest is reserved for volunteer trainings and community building and cultural activities. In addition, a significant portion of our rent is paid by our fundraising activities in the Volunteer Center, which we leased below the market value in the region. The importance of having a solid address and having all the files and documents at one place is another plus.

Q: Are any of your volunteers, advisors, or board members paid for their service?

A: No. Even though, our 2005 budget was including a salaried Executive Director position, we were not able to raise enough funds to create that position. Since a full-time employee would make an enormous contribution to our organization, in 2006 we are planning to employ at least one person only if we raise enough funds.

Q: I live away from Mountain View. Can I still volunteer for Friends of Anatolia?

A: Yes. In fact, we have volunteers from all over the world. Simply contact us and we can talk about many volunteering opportunities that you can do in your area, or even at home.

Q: How do you select the schools that you will renovate or send educational materials?

A: We have several school selection criteria to evaluate schools. We mostly look for elementary schools that are from geographically isolated and economically poor regions. We also look for volunteers and supportive teachers and local officials located in the area. If you think of an elementary school that is in poor conditions, please contact us.

Q: Do you have projects in places other than Anatolia, for example, the European (Thrace) part of Turkey?

A: Since a part of our mission is to support the education and nonprofits in Turkey, we consider all schools and nonprofits located in the country, as long as they fulfill our selection criteria and our resources permit.

Q: Are there other ways to support Friends of Anatolia, other than cash donations?

A: Yes, there are many other ways to support us. You can volunteer for us, attend our events, spread our name, use services which donate a portion of their revenues to us. To learn more, please click here.

Q: What is a matching gift?

A: Matching gift is a way of financial support which is provided by many companies. These companies match their employees' donations to nonprofit organizations, enabling their employees to multiply their support. Matching gifts can be made through cash or pledges. To find out whether your company has a matching gift, contact your company's Human Resource Office.

Q: What is a challenge gift?

A: A Challenge Gift is a large gift that comes from an individual, corporation, or foundation that will challenge others supporters to give a gift to the same organization at a certain level and then will make a donation if the "challenge" is met. Friends of Anatolia received three challenge gifts in 2005 and was able to meet all of them. You can find the reports of these challenge gifts at our Financials page.

Q: What does "philanthropy" mean?

A: "Philanthropy" is the voluntary act of donating money or goods or providing some other support to a charitable cause. Friends of Anatolia is currently working on a publication to introduce philanthropy and to promote philanthropic figures in our society. To learn more about this project, please click here.

Q: What does "donor advised fund" mean?

A: A Donor-Advised Fund (Fund) is a charitable way of giving under the tax umbrella of a public charity. A Donor-Advised Fund gives the opportunity to create an low cost vehicle for grants as an alternative to direct giving or creating a private foundation. Donors enjoy administrative convenience and tax advantages by managing their charitible giving through a Donor-Advised Fund.

Q: What percentage of the donations go to your operational expenses?

A: If there was no condition on the donation, we do allocate a small portion of the donations for our operational costs. In 2005, only 6% of our expenses were administrative related, which is way below the acceptable threshold of 20%.

We would also like to make it clear that if you make a conditional donation, 100% of these donations go to that cause specified.

Friends of Anatolia is also in the process of qualifying for the BBB Charity Standards, which sets the standards for the nonprofit sector.

To see a brief summary of our 2005 financials, please click here.

You've got questions? Please contact us to send us your questions about anything related to Friends of Anatolia or volunteerism in general.