A Focus on Fundraising
Since our founding, VictimsFirst has relied on generous donors and the challenging work done by our committed volunteers. However, right now, we could use a little extra help.
As we begin our 2025 fiscal year, VictimsFirst is launching a renewed fundraising campaign to sustain our essential programs.
This includes replenishing and restructuring the National Mass Shooting Victims' Fund, where 100% of funds will always be given directly to victims and survivors in need to help ensure no one falls through the cracks.
To make this fund sustainable, our Board has determined that, we can only provide a limited number of emergency grants each year as funds allow. We aim to fundraise so that $50,000.00 is available each year.
With our new model for the National Mass Shooting Victims' Fund, we will distribute a pre-specified number of grants, offered in amounts of $500 and $1,000, every quarter to ensure direct financial assistance is available throughout the year.
To ensure fairness and the longevity of the Fund, applicants will only be eligible for one grant per year.
While we collect funds through new fundraising avenues, including our first charity auction held earlier this month, we have paused all applications and distributions for the National Mass Shooting Victims' Fund.
We will notify our community on our website once funds become available, at which point we will resume accepting applications.
We recognize that these changes limit the assistance we can provide, however, they enable us to budget more effectively, plan for the program’s future, and reach as many mass violence victims/survivors as possible who are in need.
Pause on Starting Location-Specific Funds
In addition to temporarily pausing the National Mass Shooting Victims' Fund, we will also no longer start location-specific funds in response to each new mass shooting or incident of mass violence.
The demands of this work are extensive, and with mass shootings happening so frequently, we simply do not have the capacity. Instead, we stand behind the Mass Violence Survivors Fund to do this work.
The Mass Violence Survivors Fund is the only other nonprofit that we know of that similarly is comprised of mass shooting victims’ families and survivors and commits to giving 100% of donations to victims. It has a comprehensive, transparent, and publicly-engaged process that we fully endorse.
This means that our response to the mass shooting that occurred at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia will be the last location-specific victims' fund that we manage, administer, and distribute until further notice.
Make New Memories Program and Care Coordination Continue Uninterrupted
While we focus on fundraising this year, we will continue to accept applications for our Make New Memories program and pursue our educational and community preparedness initiatives guided by our Best Practices for Mass Casualty Crime.
Victim advocacy and care coordination remain core components of our mission, and we are committed to supporting survivors nationwide through these efforts.
Consider Donating to VictimsFirst
Your donations to the National Mass Shooting Victims' Fund are vital to helping us rebuild this resource for future distribution. Also, we continue to collect for our organization’s other programs, operational costs, and future salaries separate and apart from any money we collect for victims/survivors. This kind of transparency, accountability, and the refusal to comingle funds is central to our values.
So, we thank you for your continued support as we work to strengthen our programs for the long term, adapt to meet ongoing needs, and build our organization as a whole.
Together, we can make a lasting impact for those affected by mass violence.
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