But this year is different.
2018 marked a come-back. We experienced an explosion in readers, viewers, and attention on the closeted, questioning, and stealth communities. Organizations have sought more connections this year than in the past two. The quality of the organizations has also increased.
So in 2019 I'd like to take some time to put forward our plans for the 2019 year,
And it sums up with one word: STRENGTH.
Goal #1: Strengthen our Resource Database
After hiring our resource coordinators Ricki and Charlie we spent a long time discussing the program's future.
So our plan is just going to be to fill it to make it a better resource for all of you.
Then we'll be focusing on increasing the level of partnership interaction we have with these organizations using the closet-friendly program: a program that incentivizes organizations to change the way they interact with their audiences and make it more amenable for people who want to remain anonymous for any reason.
We don't collect much user data. But we do have a ticker that counts enters and exits.
So we know for a fact that we get between 150-200 hits on the database per day and each lasts between 3-6 minutes. That means the database, in its current incomplete format is already providing one resource every 40 minutes on average.
That's useful. That's a LOT of people.
And if we can increase it's accuracy, it's reach, and it's support we could increase the rate at which resources are provided.
You can donate here to help us make this a reality:
Goal #2: More Consistent Support Group Attendance
But it never happened until last year. It took years to get the technology, leadership, and facilitators in place.
So when we did get it into place we were a little taken aback at how little it was utilized.
We know what we did wrong though. Advertising and reducing the hurdles to attend are our number one and number two positions. We have to be careful with these tasks moving forward, but we genuinely feel that these support groups can make for a powerful connection to community for a great amount of people.
So we'd appreciate your help by spreading the word about our support groups.
Support groups are often one of the best ways for people to get over the hurdles that stop them from doing things emotionally. A nonprofit can reach out and provide as many resources as possible, but you can't make a horse drink.
At a support group people can feel more comfortable, and become a part of a community that guides them more, without pressuring them. They are places where you can "feel" your identity - not just express it.
So the more support groups we have for questioning, closeted, and stealth people, the more high-quality support we can put into delivering our resources. They can be an active community.
And there is no way that isn't worth it.
Goal #3: Announcing our Whisper Community!
It's clear that you care a lot about the impact that RESCQU.NET has made in your life. And that is empowering to all of us.
But what we wanted to provide more was a sense of ACTIVE community.
Prior to 2017 our communities were a mailing list. "interaction" happened through our youtube team on Trans Youth Channel, in emails, and private communications and you couldn't really call it empowering.
But this year we are officially launching our upcoming Whisper community, and we'd like you to be a part of it!
It's currently up for you to join at this link, but we will officially launch it around the beginning of march :)