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We have a question for you, Joseph.

Why is education important to you?  

Maybe you were the first in your family to go to college and pursue all the opportunities that came with your degree. Maybe a book you read changed your life. Maybe your mom was a teacher and instilled in you a love of learning, or maybe you’re watching your own children learn in school and love seeing their faces light up when mastering a new skill. 

We want to hear from you. Will you take a minute to tell us why education matters to you?

We all have a different story about the role of education in our lives, but one thing is constant: education opens doors. When a child gets a quality education, dreams that were once impossible become possible.  

Your belief that all children have the right to a quality education inspires us and keeps our work going. 

We can’t wait to hear what you have to say! Thank you for being with us on this journey to make education for every country, every community, every child, not just tomorrow’s dream, but today’s reality.  

P.S. We're counting down the days until #GivingTuesday, the biggest giving day of the year. Keep an eye out for updates because a generous donor has just agreed to MATCH donations starting Monday, December 2!

Dear Joseph,  

Today, we’re feeling grateful for you. Thank you for following along on our journey to bring quality education to children and communities around the world.

“Library time is my favorite time in school because I love to read! Room to Read books are different from the others we have. They have lots of illustrations which help me understand the story better. They help me with my imagination, too. 

When I grow up, I want to become a teacher and help other children in my community learn how to read.”
- Sasindu, Grade 5 Literacy Program Student in Sri Lanka 

We’re grateful to be able to help children like Sasindu achieve their dreams, dreams that once seemed impossible. And we’re grateful to have you in the Room to Read family. 

With thanks, 

Room to Read 

#GivingTuesday is tomorrow, but we’re kicking off our matching campaign TODAY!  

Feeling like you just can’t wait to help more children access quality education? Neither can we.  

A generous donor has agreed to TRIPLE all gifts today, up to $325,000 while funds remain. Join our campaign to End the Impossible and make education for all not just tomorrow’s dream, but today’s reality.   

Today, your donation of...
$25 will become $75
$50 will become $150
$100 will become $300
$300 will become $900!

Joseph, 

Today is GivingTuesday, an internationally recognized day for giving back. We need your help to make this our biggest GivingTuesday ever, because we are preparing for our most ambitious year of impact ever.  

Because we’ve had the support of people like you, we’ve already achieved great progress toward our goal of ending global illiteracy and gender inequality through education. But there are still 250 million children not learning around the world and 130 million girls out of school.  

These numbers are staggering, but the solution is not impossible, Joseph. With your help we will reach our 20 millionth child in 2020. We know how to solve illiteracy and gender inequality in education, we just need the funding to do it.  

That’s why a group of generous donors has offered to TRIPLE all donations today for GivingTuesday, up to $325,000 while funds remain.  

Joseph, will you give the gift of education today? It will be matched 2:1, and you’ll reach three times as many children who are eager to learn.

This is your chance to help more children, regardless of gender or place of birth, get a fair chance. Please don’t wait.  

Thank you for your support!  

-The Room to Read Team

Dear Joseph,

I am excited to share with you some important updates from Room to Read’s GivingTuesday progress.

Since yesterday, compassionate supporters like you have pitched in an amazing $161,812 to help children around the world access quality education and build brighter futures for themselves and their families. All those gifts were matched 2:1 by a group of generous donors, totaling an additional $323,624. Combined, that's enough to:

• Teach 2,000 children to read and write for a year
• Support 700 girls in our Girls' Education Program for a year
• Train 300 school librarians
• And print 25,000 local language children's books

As ever, I continue to be amazed by the generosity and spirit of the Room to Read community. And I am so proud of what we can achieve together as a result.   

But Joseph, GivingTuesday isn't over yet. 

I'm thrilled to share that the generous investors supporting this match campaign have just committed an additional $130,000 in matching funds! That means we can continue tripling new donations today and tomorrow and make quality education possible for even more children and communities.

One graduate of our Girls’ Education Program in Sri Lanka recently told us,  

One of Yashodha’s dreams is to be able to fund the education of another child in her village who is struggling with financial hardship. This is the ripple effect of our work together. Your gift today won’t just benefit one child, one time. Education changes everything, forever.   

Your support helps children develop the skills they need for success in the long-term, and as we’ve seen with Yashodha and so many others, educated women are healthier, earn more income for their families, and are greater contributors to their community and country.   

There’s still time to triple your impact today. If you’ve already contributed, thank you so much. We truly can’t do this work without you.  

Warmly,  

Laurie McMahon  

Chief Development & Communications Officer, Room to Read

Joseph,

The momentum we’ve seen for our match campaign over the last two and a half days has been truly incredible – far more than we’ve ever seen for GivingTuesday!  

Nearly 700 people have contributed since Monday, and we’ve just had a new match sponsor come on board to offer an additional $150,000 in matching funds!  

Joseph, there is still time to have your gift tripled.

Every dollar you give means two more dollars from our match sponsors. Any amount helps us put books into a child’s hands, train teachers and mentors, support girls as they develop the life skills they need to determine their own futures, and get closer to a world where illiteracy and gender inequality are problems of the past. 

Click here to pitch in and triple your impact today.

All of us at Room to Read are deeply inspired and motivated by the amazing outpouring of support we’ve received from people like you around the world who believe that every child deserves an education.

You make our global community even stronger.

Thank you so much, 

-The Room to Read Team 

Joseph,  
 
We set out to make this our biggest GivingTuesday campaign ever, and thanks to you, we are thrilled to share that that’s exactly what happened. 

Over the last three days, 796 members of our amazing global community donated a whopping $281,136! 

Combined with the funds we received from a group of generous donors matching every donation 2:1, that’s $843,408, which is enough to: 

• Teach 5,000 children to read and write for a year 

• Support 1,000 girls for a full year in our Girls’ Education Program 

• Provide 100 schools with a trained teacher and a trained librarian who will both receive ongoing coaching and support as they help their students develop their skills and habit of reading 

• And print 43,000 local language children’s books! 

Joseph, this is powerful evidence of our collective determination to create a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality, and proof that when enough people come together, real change can happen. 

When even one child is educated, that child’s whole family can be lifted out of poverty. Her whole community benefits. She becomes a role model for other children. And she can use the power of her education to chart her own path and lift others up along the way.

And with your help, we're transforming the lives of not one child, but millions.  

Next year – 2020 – is Room to Read’s 20th anniversary. It also happens to be the year that we hope to reach our 20 millionth child with our life-changing Literacy and Girls’ Education Programs.  

It might seem like a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality is impossible. But we know how to solve these problems through quality education, and thanks to your support this GivingTuesday and all year long, we can. The more support we have, the faster we can make progress. 

To give you a glimpse of your donations at work, we took this video of our team member Sanjay, who is happy to show you around one of our busy school libraries in India. Click here to watch the video and meet our students.

Thank you so much for supporting Room to Read. 

Dear Joseph,? 

I am thrilled to be writing to you from Vietnam where I am with our team to host a special delegation of the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, including Michelle Obama, Julia Roberts, Lana Condor, Ngô Thanh Vân, Liza Koshy of YouTube, and the TODAY Show's Jenna Bush Hager.

This inspiring group of women will be visiting one of our partner schools in Long An Province tomorrow to meet with graduates and current participants of our Girls’ Education Program (who are, as you can see in the above photo, very excited!), along with representatives from other local organizations working to promote adolescent girls’ education in Vietnam.? 

This special visit is part of our partnership with the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, whereby we are collectively highlighting the need for gender equality in education around the world. I could not be more excited to work with these dynamic women to underscore the importance of educating girls.?Click here to learn more about this exciting partnership and tomorrow’s visit in Vietnam.

Joseph, anything is possible with the power of education. I invite you to tune in to the TODAY Show on December 9, 10 and 11 to view coverage of the trip and share in the magic of this important occasion for Room to Read and Vietnam.??? 

Sincerely,? 

Geetha Murali? 
CEO, Room to Read? 

P.S. I’m also excited to tell you that our generous donors Anne and Susan Wojcicki have offered to help us create endless possibilities for more students by matching donations to Room to Read starting today!?Click here to?make a donation?and double your impact while funds remain.?

Dear Joseph,

On Monday, Room to Read Vietnam hosted a special delegation from the Obama Foundation's Girls Opportunity Alliance at C?n Giu?c High School.

We are thrilled to share highlights from this inspiring visit, where graduates and participants from our Girls’ Education Program shared their stories with some of the world’s most influential women, including Michelle Obama, Julia Roberts, Lana Condor, Ngô Thanh Vân (Veronica Ngo), Liza Koshy, and Jenna Bush Hager.

You can learn the amazing stories of our program participants and graduates by checking out People magazine and the TODAY Show, where Michelle Obama, Julia Roberts and Jenna Bush Hager talk about the value of girls’ education and their time in Vietnam with Room to Read.  

Mrs. Obama shares how inspired she was by the young women she met, and how she sees herself in them. “Imagine if we weren’t investing in that kind of talent, that kind of determination,” she says on the TODAY Show, “if we just let that be squandered because of cultural norms or lack of resources.”  

There are more than 98 million adolescent girls not in school today. It's a reality that we're committed to changing and we’re proud to partner with the Girls Opportunity Alliance and Michelle Obama in that effort.  

Joseph, you’re an important part of this work too. It costs only $300 to keep a girl in school for a whole year, and right now all donations to Room to Read are being matched by our generous donors Anne and Susan Wojcicki, so any investment will be doubled! 

Thank you for being a part of this historic moment for Room to Read and for helping more girls get the education – and the future – they deserve.  

-The Room to Read Team  

Dear Joseph,

As you may have heard, last week my team and I had the tremendous honor of hosting a special delegation from the Obama Foundation at C?n Giu?c High School, one of our partner schools in Long An Province.

I lead Room to Read’s work in Vietnam, and in my 23-year career, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited – or so nervous – for a day on the job.

Graduates and participants from our Girls’ Education Program were going to meet some of the most influential women in the world, including Michelle Obama, Julia Roberts, Lana Condor, Ngô Thanh Vân, Liza Koshy, and Jenna Bush Hager. I wanted to make sure it was a positive experience for everyone, and although I was nervous, the moment I met our guests I immediately felt at ease.

All our visitors were incredibly warm, kind and accessible, and it was easy to see how deeply they connected with the girls from our program.

The day was full of intimate discussions, hugs, tears, and meaningful exchanges of ideas and experiences. Our program participants and graduates got to share their amazing stories in depth, and I was so proud of their confidence, poise, and thoughtfulness. They are clearly leaders.

Our program has helped 6,000 girls in Vietnam – and more than 81,000 girls worldwide – with the skills, resources and community support necessary to navigate intensely challenging circumstances, finish school and advocate for their futures. As Mrs. Obama said, “It’s not just a question of one obstacle. It’s obstacle after obstacle, day after day, year after year, and they just persevere.”

I’m proud that through our partnership with the Girls Opportunity Alliance, more people will now see the importance of girls' education in Vietnam and around the world.

On behalf of our whole team in Vietnam, I want to thank you for supporting Room to Read and making this day possible. As our graduates said before they went on with their busy lives furthering their careers, supporting their communities, and chasing their goals, the day was “like a dream.”
 

Sincerely, Nuong Nguyen Vietnam Country Director, Room to Read

Dear Joseph,

This has been a historic and joyful year for Room to Read, as we worked to transform the lives of millions more children.

We know that with education, children are healthier, girls are more independent, communities are stronger, and countries are more prosperous.

But there are still millions of children around the world who lack access to quality education. We’ve proven that a solution is possible. We know how to solve illiteracy and gender inequality through education – we just need the funds to do it.

Joseph, will you make changing a child’s life one of the last things you do this year? All you have to do is click here to make a donation and we’ll do the rest. We’re ready.

Give before midnight on December 31 and your gift will be matched 2:1 by the Burger King McLamore Foundation. That means for every dollar you give, they’ll give two more.

Your gift will support children like Tay Thi, one of our Girls’ Education Program graduates in Vietnam, who grew up with intense family pressure to quit school and earn money to help make ends meet. Her family burned her textbooks twice to discourage her schooling. But with the support of our program, Tay Thi persevered and she is now fulfilling her dream of being a teacher. She teaches 500 students per year!

Joseph, so many of the children in our programs are growing up in extremely difficult circumstances and have to fight incredibly hard for the basic right to an education. But we can do something about that. Please make a gift today as one last act of generosity in 2019.

Thank you for your generous support of our work. By the end of 2020, we aim to reach 20 million children through our programs. We can’t do it without you.

Warmly, 

Dr. Geetha Murali
CEO, Room to Read

Joseph,

Give a gift that will transform a life.
Give a gift that will last forever.
Give the gift of education.

Right now, all donations to Room to Read are being matched by a generous donor.

Dear Joseph,

We’re thrilled to be able to offer one last triple match opportunity this year, thanks to our long-time partners at the Burger King McLamore Foundation.

Between now and midnight on December 31, all donations will be matched 2:1. That means a gift of:

We’re grateful to the Burger King McLamore Foundation for this generous match. To date, the Burger King McLamore Foundation and the Burger King System have contributed over $2.7 million to Room to Read and supported our Literacy and Girls’ Education Programs in seven countries, benefitting nearly 95,000 children!

With your help, we can bring quality education to even more children and communities.

Thank you so much,

Shannon David
Annual Fund Manager
Room to Read

Joseph, make the last thing you do this year last forever.

TRIPLE your impact with a gift before MIDNIGHT TONIGHT and help end the impossible and create a brighter future for children around the world.

Thank you so much for all your support this year. Our work to end illiteracy and gender inequality through education is only possible because of you!

-The Room to Read Team

Children have the power to change the world. But for too many children—especially girls—access to the education they need to transform their lives and their communities is out of reach.

You can change that, Joseph. Thanks to a group of generous donors, if you make your gift right now it will go TWICE as far, doubling the number of children we’re able to reach through our life-changing programs.

Thank you for your support.

-The Room to Read Team

Joseph,

Our end-of-year deadline is here and we still need your help to reach our goal. Tomorrow is the last day to make your gift go three times as far. 

Click here to make a donation that will have TRIPLE the impact for children like Reshmi.

Every child, regardless of their gender or place of birth, deserves an education. You can help us enroll more students than ever next year by donating today for triple the funding.  

Thank you for making a difference in a child's life! 

Shannon David
Annual Fund Manager
Room to Read

Dear Joseph,

This year, as we commemorate Room to Read’s 20th Anniversary, we’re embarking on a bold new plan to greatly expand the reach and impact of our work.

Through our new strategic plan, Vision 2025, we are taking the next big step towards eradicating illiteracy and gender inequality in our lifetimes. We are committing to ending the impossible.

We know that education is the most effective tool for solving the world’s greatest challenges — such as poverty, environmental degradation and inequality. Literacy has the power to inform and uplift entire communities, as they solve the critical problems that they face. Focused investments in girls’ education contribute to overcoming a range of challenges. For example, girls’ education can tackle the global climate crisis — by stabilizing population growth, reducing consumption and increasing family and community resilience to climate change impacts.

Over the past two decades, Room to Read has designed, tested and implemented program models for achieving quality learning outcomes in literacy and gender equality. We have gone “deep” instead of “wide” in our work, and in doing so have developed best-in-class programming.

Now, as we look to the next five years, we are focused on building a path toward greater scale. By the end of 2020, we plan to have benefited 20 million children through our programs. By 2025, we plan to double that number, which will require reaching new children four times faster than before.

Room to Read has always set ambitious goals, and this is our most ambitious yet. But we know we can achieve it because we have the support of people like you.

Click here to watch our new video to see how we plan to double our impact in just five years.

With your help, we are challenging long-held standards of what the world is and looks like with our vision of world change. We have a bold, exciting future ahead of us, and we are so grateful for your support on this journey.

Together, we will end the impossible and create a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that prepares them to be fulfilled and make positive change – in their families, communities and the world.

Warmly,

Dr. Geetha Murali
CEO, Room to Read