Hovnanian Foundation to Fully Fund Birthright Armenia

YEREVAN - Transitions come and transitions go. And then some transitions are large enough to change the entire playing field. It is the latter for Birthright Armenia. Since sponsoring its very first volunteer group to Armenia in 2004, the organization's active alumni base is up to 800+, representing 32 different countries, and its donor base hit 1,500. Birthright's founder, Edele Hovnanian, who has covered about 50% of the organization's annual operating budget since its inception, explains something big is in store for the organization.

"As we are closely approaching our 10th anniversary, I could think of nothing more fitting or meaningful than announcing to the Birthright Armenia team that I had secured a commitment from our family foundation to cover 100% of the annual operating costs of this program come January 1, 2014, and moving forward," she shared.

Birthright Armenia has been actively fundraising support from the general public for the last eight years. The organization's forward-thinking vision and mission attracted the attention and support of thousands of people on multiple continents who understood the post-independence reality on the ground in Armenia and the importance of youth engagement. "We cannot express our thanks enough to our team of supporters who advocated for our work and contributed generously of their time and financial resources to help make Birthright Armenia the success it is. We've enjoyed a multi-generational level of involvement, and without all of our supporters, there really would have been no Birthright Armenia," explains Linda Yepoyan, executive director in the U.S. "The Hirair and Anna Hovnanian Family Foundation has supported us since day one, and we graciously welcome this generous commitment of support they have made to us going forward, which will now enable us to focus our resources on marketing and growing our program as well as a meaningful activities in support of our alumni".

One of the challenges Hovnanian has put before the Birthright Armenia team, now that there is no need for active fundraising, is to focus on recruitment without sacrificing quality for quantity. "At community events, I regularly get approached by people who want to talk about Birthright's success, or by an alum who has done Birthright, and they want to share with me stories about the impact it had on their lives. Inevitably, every conversation ends with ‘we need thousands of youth to experience the Homeland annually, not just hundreds, so the ripple effect of our impact is that much greater'. And I believe we can grow this program by making it a household name, a rite of passage that all of our youth should pass through at one point in their young adult lives," she adds.

"I gave the staff a specific goal of doubling the number of participants in 2014, our 10th anniversary year, and then tripling our numbers by the end of 2015, without compromising the high-quality program for which the Birthright Armenia program is widely known. And I know they can achieve these goals," she says confidently.

Although any amount contributed to Birthright Armenia is still fully tax deductible, the organization sent out letters to its entire donor base stating that they'd like to see whatever was traditionally donated to it go instead to another Armenian charity in need. Yet another change to the traditional playing field!

Birthright Armenia offers a full service volunteer program to young diasporan adults 20-32 years old from all over the globe, who are interested in volunteering their services in Armenia. In addition to a rewarding job placement in the sector of their choice, for the length of their stay volunteers are provided with intensive language training, weekly excursions, educational forums on current event topics, and can opt for homestay living accommodations.

In exchange for their service, participants with a stay of over 14 weeks of service successfully completed receive 100% of their roundtrip airfare back in the form of a travel reimbursement. Similarly, those who complete at least nine weeks up to 14 weeks of service receive a 50% of their roundtrip airfare travel reimbursement. The organization offers a variety of post program benefits to its alumni including professional networking, Next-Step grants, quarterly newsletters and most recently a Pathway to Armenia program for alums interested in finding employment in Armenia after their volunteer service is completed.