Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ) about our Foundation and How to Get our Funding for Your School

• What is the "Build a School-Leave a Legacy" philosophy when doing charity?
  We believe in the long-term "hand-up", not a short-term "hand out" such as feed a meal or give a shirt (we do recognize how important it is to be fed, clothed, and many groups are doing this very well.) Build=Construction jobs for the locals, and the pride of being involved. School=Education is the best long-term ROI for generations. Legacy=Opportunity for dutiful children to pay tribute to their parents and leave an everlasting tribute in their honor.
• What is the process of getting a school funded and built?
  Please follow this simple Check List:

  1. Get in touch with the head of UBND commune/ward, or District's Office of Education & Development. Knowing the local officials, who are passionate about educating under-served children, is the key.
  2. Ask them to identify a village, commune that has 30-40 students/1-2 teachers but no school or has very rundown school that need to built/renovated, respectively.
  3. Help them filling out this application package Request Form and sample package to guide the locals to collect/prepare a simple proposal.
     1. A Request for Funding letter (must be signed by a leader)
     2. A budget (material, labor, permit, taxes, etc.) to build/renovate a 1-3 classroom school within $5K USD from LFA + whatever free land, cheap/free labor from local parents, villagers, caring adults. The key is cost-sharing for their pride of ownership so they can keep up with annual operation and maintenance later.
     3. A sketch, diagram of the architecture. Pictures of existing land, building, etc. will be helpful.
     4. A schedule of construction: Funding, ground preparation or “Dong Tho” ceremony, foundation, walls, roof, windows/doors, stucco, paint, decoration, grand opening.
  4. Our team will review, decide, and raise fund to support, negotiate, or decline (one asked for 4-6Bil VND to build a 10-room, 2-story school, which is beyond our scope.)
• How I can help or get involved?
  We welcome you to take part in one or all of these activities:

  1. Project Lead: Help us scout and locate a remote, rural region that needs a small school to be built for existing children. Then follow the Check List process mentioned above.
  2. Foundation Ambassador: Share our cause with your friends by asking them to LIKE our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/BUILDaSCHOOLfoundationINC
  3. Fundraising Lead: Help raise fund to build schools with a goal of $5K USD per school. Learn to develop a network of donors who are passionate to bring education to less-fortunate children of VN.
  4. Train-the-Trainers Lead: Promote our innovative, thought-provoking training program/courses to develop confident speakers, communicators, leaders, presenters, managers, customer service officers, supervisors, teachers, lecturers, professionals. More details at our LFA website
  5. Media Lead: Introduce us to TV, radio, magazine, newspaper hosts, writers, editors who care about VN education. We will try to secure interviews to promote our great cause.
  6. 5K Walk/Hike-5 Friends-$5 Donation Leader: We can mentor you to lead, plan, and execute this friendly and fun event in your city. We do this once a year.
• "Leave a Legacy" Recognition Program and Compassionate Leadership Benefits
  There are five levels of benefits:

  1. Level 1 - Volunteer: Receiving Certificate of Participation after completed key events such as 5K Walk, Walk For Dream.
  2. Level 2 - Team Leader: Level 1 benefits + invitation to Leadership and Communication training by Founder, Board of Directors, Chapter/Country Leaders.
  3. Level 3 - Vice Leader, Fundraising Ambassador, Centennial Donor (target $500 USD): Level 2 benefits + selection to participate in Inaugural Ceremony of BaSF projects + social media name recognition.
  4. Level 4 - General Leader, Fundraising Leader, Millennial Donor (target $1K USD) - Level 3 benefits + partial Dedication Plaque for individual or team's donation + one-on-one coaching from Founder.
  5. Level 5 - HQ BoD, Founder's Circle Sponsor (target $5K USD) - Level 4 benefits + own Dedicated Plaque for your company or family's donation + speaking opportunity at Inaugural Ceremony + selected invitation to Appreciation Dinner party with headquartered Board of Directors hosted by Founder.
• What is your priority and budget allocation for a school?
  Our target to donate is $5K USD for each 2-3 classroom school, and the rest will be donated by the local government and people. Why do we care about this cost share? Because we believe the locals will take care the annual maintenance and upkeep better when they paid for part of the total cost.
  Priority 1 – Schools for regions with kids/teachers but no facility (aka. Absolute NEED):

  • 2/3 Build a School Foundation + 1/3 local
  • Again, roughly... but not absolute b/c we need to be flexible, especially for poor Central VN. They do their best and we will do our best to achieve the Vision.

  Priority 2 - School-related facility such as kitchen, toilets, yard, fences (aka. NICE to HAVE):

  • 50% Build a School Foundation - 50% local.
  • The local can get funding from local enterprises. Like School #5 in Tan My, Ba Tri, Ben Tre….Viking Rubber VN funded 100%.

  Priority 3 - School related infrastructure such as bridges (aka. IMPROVE Quality of LIFE):

  • 1/3 Build a School Foundation + 2/3 local plus VN MTQ
• Why our Foundation is different from others?
  We get 200% Return on Investment(ROI) from your donation. Our goal is to have 100% of your donations go toward construction. For each project, we expect the local government, enterprises, and residence to match 100% if all possible.
• Where does the money come from to pay teachers and provide for ongoing expenses?
  The local District's Office of Education and Development is responsible for the teacher's salaries and provides for ongoing expenses. Our objective is to build schools for regions with teachers and students already existed.
• Does this Foundation only work with Vietnam government?
  Our Vision is to build 100 schools globally by 2025 and our mission is to provide educational opportunities to remote, rural regions of Vietnam and other countries as well. With this long-term investment in education and children, we will work with Director’s Office of Education and Development, local community leaders, Churches, Temples, volunteer organizations in the USA, Europe, Vietnam, and other countries to achieve our goal. Together we will accomplish more than any one organization. In short, we work with everyone who is passionate about education and compassionate about serving the less-fortunate children.
• Are donations to Build a School Foundation tax deductible by the IRS rules?
  Absolutely. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has granted us deductible contributions under IRC Section 501 (c) (3) with Public Charity status 170 (b) (1) (A) (vi). Our NTEE code is Q30: International Development. EIN: 81-2295849 as a California non-profit charitable corporation.
• How can we organize a 5K Walk - 5 Friend - $20 Donation in our city to raise funds for the Foundation?
  Very simple as we do it annually for San Diego, Houston,Washington DC/Virginia, and Vietnam. Here’re the check list to plan and execute:

  1. Form a leadership team with 5-10 good friends who enjoy outdoor, fitness activities, and charitable giving.
  2. Select a park or hiking trail that has a 5 Km (~ 3 miles) course. Since participants can range from 6-60 years young, an easy to intermediate-level of difficulty is recommended for family focus.
  3. Contact the park’s ranger or website to see if any fee or reservation is required. Last 5K event, we got San Diego’s Hilltop Park at no charge. In Washington DC, we paid $90 for a day use.
  4. Reserve the date (e.g.: our next 5K Walk will be on June 02, 2019) for 100-200 participants. The final heads count will be up to the team’s networking and circle of influences.
  5. Set up an Event Page on your FaceBook, MeetUp, LinkedIn, Google+, ect. Social media. You can share the main Event Page “5K - 5 Friends -$20 Donation. Raise $10K. Build 2 more schools” on our Build a School Foundation FB page.
  6. Participants can fill out the Pledge Card (a copy is online at our FB page), donate online via PayPal at BaSF Paypal, or cash/check to your team.
  7. Make sure you designate a Treasurer who will keep track of donor’s name, address, phone #, email, amount, cash/check/PayPal, etc. We will provide you with a simple Excel Tracker file.
  8. Designate a Fundraiser Lead/Media Liaison. Network with local sponsors to feature on your local flyers. Seek media sponsor and coverage as well T-shirt sponsorship from businesses and individuals. Youth groups, high school clubs, other charitable organizations are good partners to team up.
  9. Designate a Safety Lead. The week before the actual event, the leadership team must walk the course to familiarize yourselves with the surrounding, notice any obstacles, challenges that the bigger group may face. Always think Safety First. Prepare multiple First Aid kits just in case.
  10. Designate a Logistic Lead who will be in charge of stocking water, snacks, fruits, T-shirts, banners (banners will come from San Diego HQ).
  11. Finally, on the final day… show up early, set up the site, prepare to register, check-in, collect donations, walk together with friends, family, and have fun… knowing YOU are making a difference in the lives of 1000’s underprivileged children in Vietnam and globally. We don’t need perfection. We welcome compassion!

If you still need more support or have other questions, please Messenger us via FB main contact: Jimmy Thai DTM or [email protected]

Dự án “Xây một Ngôi trường-Để lại một Di Sản”

Nhằm giúp các cộng sự của chúng tôi đưa ra quyết định đúng và kịp thời trong việc gửi thông tin của “Dự án Xây dựng Trường học’ đến các nhà tài trợ; kêu gọi sự quyên góp; phân công người quản lý Dự án LFA tại địa phương. Quý vị vui lòng cung cấp đầy đủ thông tin như đề nghị bên dưới. Chân thành cám ơn sự hợp tác và tấm lòng nhân ái của Quý vị dành cho trẻ em Việt Nam- những nhà lãnh đạo tài năng tương lai của Việt Nam.

1. Mô tả về Trường học (dự kiến xây dựng)

   1. Địa điểm (xã, huyện, tỉnh):
   2. Tổng số em học sinh tham gia học ngôi trường mới:
   3. Tổng số giáo viên sẽ tham gia giảng dạy tại ngôi trường này:
   4. Thông tin người liên lạc tại địa phương (Họ và Tên, email, Điện thoại):

2. Ngân sách dự kiến và Kế hoạch thực hiện/Lịch trình

   1. Chi phí Xây dựng tổng cộng gồm: chi phí lao động, nguyên vật liệu, thi công, giám sát. Ngoài ra, gồm chi phí bản vẽ (nếu có), cung cấp rõ thêm thông tin về đất xây dựng ngôi trường (Cơ quan NN sẽ tài trợ đất, hay thuê, HĐ thuê đất,,,);
   2. Sự hợp tác từ cơ quan chính quyền địa phương và người dân địa phương/Quý phụ huynh;
   3. Tổng số tiền (VNĐ) đề nghị từ các nhà hảo tâm và người quyên góp;
   4. Một kế hoạch lịch trình chi tiết về ngày dự kiến khởi công, nơi chuẩn bị khởi công, kế hoạch hoàn tất xây tường, mái nhà, trát vữa, sơn, trang trí, hoàn tất, và cả ngày dự kiến khai trương (tính từ ngày tổng số tiền được chuyển hoàn toàn). Một lưu ý quan trọng là cần dự trù những lý do ảnh hưởng đến tiến độ thi công như thời tiết (mưa nhiều, bão, lũ lụt) hay thiếu hụt nguồn lao động địa phương do thu hoạch mùa màng

3. Yêu cầu giấy tờ

   1. Ngân sách dự kiến chi tiết như mô tả ở mục (II);
   2. Bản vẽ thi công/kiến trúc;
   3. Hình ảnh địa điểm dự kiến xây trường, điều kiện vị trí xây trường;
   4. Thông tin về người quản lý xây dựng trường học-người sẽ chịu trách nhiệm về cung cấp tiến độ thi công và hình ảnh được cập nhật hằng tuần.