Transition for The Ripple Project in 2012

Dear Supporters,

I hope this letter finds you well and gearing up for a great Christmas season with your friends and family.

As we wrap up 2011, the word that comes to mind is transition. Both for me personally, professionally, and of course with The Ripple Project.

I have been letting out, via Facebook mainly, that there was change coming for the Ripple Project and I wanted to get this out to you who have supported us since 2009 through our funding initiatives before we broadcast it out to the rest of the world.

One of our advisors, and frankly, a big “champion” for our clean and safe water initiatives, John Leland, has been on the board of International Assistance Program, based out of Spokane, WA. As the Ripple Project, we have raised a small amount of funding specifically for their micro finance project in Ethiopia. This Ethiopia-owned and operated micro finance bank is now well on their way to complete sustainability! Throughout that process, I began to get to know other members of the board and was very impressed with their leadership, their commitment to their vision, their integrity, and their work in and around the world, primarily in Africa. We began to connect, and with John’s passion, coupled with our vision at RP, it seemed that collaboration was just the beginning, and that folding RP and merging the clean and safe water initiative as part of IAP (utilizing the phrase Ripple Project as the name of that initiative) was the right move for them, and us.

I am thrilled that such a reputable, strong organization like IAP has chosen to embrace our vision. This means that we will be able to communicate the access to clean and safe water needs more effectively, to more people, become eligible for grant opportunities, and expand our reach to other parts of the world.

The Ripple Project was always designed to be a grassroots organization, committed to working WITH others and championing their projects, ideas, and funding models. Having the opportunity to formally become immersed in the mission and vision of IAP, will only make us better and more effective in reaching those that need it most, the developing world.

What does this mean? Well simply put, we will be dissolving the Ripple Project formally with the state and IRS. We will soon point our website (www.rippleproject.org) to a new landing page for the Ripple Project Clean & Safe Water initiative within IAP’s site. We will be transferring our funds over to IAP. We will keep our Facebook page for a season, but shift the contact info to our new RP email within IAP. All fundraising going forward will go to IAP’s now new water initiative. I personally, am not going to be a board member, but will work closely with John Leland to go deeper on the water issue, as well as help build out the social media and blogging presence of IAP so that we can utilize the tools we have, to be more effective, more efficient, and reach more with our current resources.

Thank you for believing in me, my sister, and the vision of The Ripple Project. It is exciting to be a part of such a great opportunity. This has never been about any one of us, but rather, the MISSION.

Respectfully,

Michael Smith

Executive Director, The Ripple Project