STUDENT WORLD ASSEMBLY

AT A GLANCE
A GUIDE FOR PROSPECTIVE SUPPORTERS

2 West 64th Street, Suite 408, New York, NY 10023

Phone: 1.212.580.3800 Fax: 1.212.580.3808 Mobile: 1.917.345.1694
Website: www.studentworldassembly.org Email:info@studentworldassembly.org
STUDENT WORLD ASSEMBLY
STUDENT
WORLD
ASSEMBLY

Dear Prospective Supporter:

Founded only a few short years ago in 2003, the Student World Assembly has grown
into the largest organization in the world representing student activists. From our
humble beginning of several students gathered in a small classroon at California
Polytechnic University, we have expanded to almost 15,000 members from nearly
every nation on this planet. These committed students are debating genocide and
gender issues, raising awareness of AIDS and educational policy, and taking action
to address human trafficking, healthcare concerns, and hundreds of other related
problems facing humanity today.

The Student World Assembly has seen greater expansion in the past year than at any
other point in our history. This expansion is demonstrated by the hundreds of new
members joining every month, by the chapters students have created in more varied
regions than ever before, and by the diversity of events and activities our members
are initiating around the globe.

Unlike other similar oganizations, our commitment to providing a truly democratic

experience for our students means that we will never charge a potentially prohibitive
fee for membership. Therefore, we depend on the generous support of donors like
you to keep up with our rapid expansion and ensure that we continue to provide the
best assistance possible to our committed activists around the world.

We have enclosed in this packet a description of our organization’s mission and

work, a short budgetary summary, and a list of the ways in which you can contrib-
ute. If you deem Student World Assembly to be an organization worthy of your
support, we hope that you will consider making a significant donation. Thank you
for your time and consideration. We hope to hear from you shortly, and don’t forget
to tell your friends and family to consider donating as well!

Sincerely,

Shahram Hashemi
Executive Director
Student World Assembly
Promoting Global Democracy, Human Rights and Activism
Shahram@StudentWorldAssembly.org

2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
Letter from the Executive Director ..........................................2

Introduction to SWA...................................................................4

SWA’s 3-year Business Plan

...........................................................8

Budget .......................................................................................8

Growth .....................................................................................9

Levels of Support
.............................................................................10

Other Ways to Contribute

.......................................................................12

A Guide for Prospective Supporters 3

 Introduction to SWA
STUDENT WORLD ASSEMBLY
Throughout recent history, student ac-
tivists have been initiators of dramatic,
progressive social change as they have re-
peatedly demonstrated their passion for
justice, democracy, and human rights.
With the new year bringing more urgent
global challenges such as devastating
genocides, environmental degradation,
and extreme poverty, young people need
our help more than ever before as they
prepare to lead our communities and !Human Trafficking Discussions at the Labor
nations towards sustainable solutions. Ministry of Liberia (Monrovia, Liberia)

It is for this reason that Student World Assembly (SWA) exists. While students have
the power to make a difference even as individuals, their power is far greater when
they act collectively. Thus, our mission statement is the following: The Student
World Assembly is a non-governmental, nonpartisan organization created to repre-
sent students globally. It provides a deliberative assembly where students around the
world exchange views, vote on global issues through online discussion forums and in
annual international conventions, and translate these views into meaningful action.

When this next generation of leaders rises to power, it is imperative that they be
inculcated with a strong social conscience and educated about how to act to uphold
it. After this is achieved, their efforts to bring their knowledge and a sense of justice
to the wider public will help to create a general shift in global attitudes: a shift away
from indifference towards impassioned defense of those whose rights, liberties, and
basic dignity are trampled. SWA seeks to build concrete venues of democratic par-
ticipation and provide resources to guide action following this deliberation for youth
around the world.

Our student membership follows our

foundational principles to educate, par-
ticipate, and take action. Through our
online resources and chapter events such
as presentations by distinguished speak-
ers, our members educate themselves
about the various political, sociological,
economic, and environmental issues
about which they are passionate. Our
members next participate in the dis-
Party Against Poverty course on our online forums, in chapter
!
(Dupon Okafoor, Ghana) events such as panel discussions, and at

4
 INTRODUCTION
our annual international conventions.
Finally, students take action to address
these issues. For example, our members
in Accra helped enact anti-child traffick-
ing legislation after the Ghanaian Min-
istry of Women and Children honored
SWA as a partner in combating child sex
trafficking. Here in the U.S., our Florida
members initiated a local GED tutoring
program for low-income adults, and in
Pakistan, our members recently held a ! Seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility
pro-democracy rally denouncing the (Peshawar, Pakistan)
government’s emergency rule. These are
only a few of the hundreds of events and projects our members regularly launch in
their communities.

At the rate of our current growth, we expect to have an even greater impact in the
future. Although we began with only a handful of students at California Polytechnic
University, we currently have over 15,000 members attending approximately 1,400
schools in more than 150 countries. In the beginning 2008, we saw chapters created
in more diverse areas of the world than in any previous time, including areas in which
we have never had chapters before such as Moldova, Nepal, and Zimbabwe. Our cur-
rent rate of growth is 500 new members per month.

Most students are introduced to Student World Assembly through our website
(www.studentworldassembly.org), the main portal through which communication
among our members takes place. A main feature of the website is the international
discussion forum, in which members debate current events and issues and consider
potential action strategies to address these problems. We are very excited to launch
an updated forum in the upcoming months. Also on the website, members can view
a list of chapters around the world on the chapter webpage and view recent events
which they have held on the events webpage. The website also features a plethora of
educational resources on human rights, global politics, activism, and other topics of
interest to our members; a list of top news stories and links to reputable online news-
papers; and information about and links to other organizations performing similar
work.

University chapters are the backbone of SWA. Students who have registered on the
website and wish to take their involvement to the next level can establish a chapter at
their college or university. This process entails recruiting a faculty advisor, registering
with the school’s council of student organizations, and electing officers to lead the
chapter. Once official, chapters are eligible for school funding to finance their activi-
ties. Chapters are also free to address any issue of their members’ choosing in any
manner they deem appropriate. The chapter system not only informs students of the
advantages of collective action and the means of overcoming difficulties of communal
A Guide for Prospective Supporters 5
 decision-making; it also allows them to
STUDENT WORLD ASSEMBLY
form meaningful and lasting connec-
tions with other like-minded youth.

Finally, the Annual International

Convention marks the culmination
of the activities of the previous year and
launches the upcoming year’s issue of
focus. A few months before the
convention, our membership votes on a
Ending Human Trafficking Event pressing global issue to be the primary
! focus of the convention and of the
(Lome, Togo)
activities of chapters around the globe
during the upcoming year. The international conventions further serve as an oppor-
tunity for representatives from all of our chapters to discuss strategies and events with
which they have found success.

Our members have sponsored essay contests on human trafficking, participated in

HIV/AIDS walk-a-thons, served on environmental sustainability taskforces on cam-
pus, worked closely with government officials, hosted leadership training seminars,
and held dozens of panel discussions, conferences, and film screenings on topics as
diverse as human trafficking, corporate accountability, responsible space exploration,
and the crisis in Darfur.

Our organization has already reached a global scale, but we will not be content until
we achieve a strong presence on every continent. In order to help with this effort, we
recently established an SWA Advocacy Team charged with recruiting new members,
forming new chapters, and spreading the mission and philosophy of SWA to new
communities worldwide. This strategy has been tremendously successful thus far, as
we have already recruited advocates in nations such as Malaysia, Morocco, Scotland,
South Africa, Mexico, France, and Somaliland, in addition to nations in which we
already have a strong presence, such as Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana, and India.

Another exciting new program on the horizon is SWA’s Youth Activist Leadership
Training. This program will pair qualified students with academics, politicians, and
experienced activists in a unique mentorship. The students will attend training ses-
sions on activist strategies, media outreach, and fundraising to aid in the development
of yearlong action plans that address pressing issues of their choosing. We are already
applying for funding for this program in various regions of the United States as well
as in Liberia and Moldova. Additionally, we are currently designing a variation of this
program in collaboration with the prestigious Salzburg Seminar. Students in this
training program will be invited to travel to Austria for a week to participate in Salz-
burg Seminar’s weeklong Global Citizenship Education and Engagement Initiative.
Finally, in addition to expanding our membership and strengthening their activisit
efforts, we seek to provide basic material resources such as office supplies and internet
6
access to our chapters, particularly those
in underdeveloped regions.

Our success will be measured by a

rigorous Evaluation Plan. First, we will
measure our expansion by the number
of members, chapters, and countries
represented, as well as by attendance at
the International Convention and the
number and diversity of events hosted
worldwide. We will use the number of

INTRODUCTION
! The Role of Democracy in Moldova
website hits and the level of activity on (Chisinau, Moldova)
the discussion forum to evaluate the state
of our website. Finally, the success of our leadership training programs will be mea-
sured through assessments by the participants and mentors, as well as through the
achievement of the objectives of the students’ yearlong action plans. We will gladly
provide you with such evaluations as frequently as requested.

In order to supplement our existing fundraising efforts to match the scale of our
international expansion, we have created a Program Development and Growth team
in charge of fundraising. We have already achieved preliminary success in this regard:
we received grants from UNICEF, Google.org, and the Dreitzer Foundation; we
recently held our first major fundraising event; and we are actively courting corporate
sponsors. In addition, the team is responsible for working with regional representa-
tives to develop fundraising strategies uniquely situated to their locations. Lastly, all
of our chapters are partially supported financially by their universities of origin.

The last section of our fundraising program is reaching out to individual donors,
such as you. Individuals provide around 80% of charitable funding in today’s non-
profit sector, which makes them more generous than foundations, corporations, and
national governments combined. Our student activists are hard at work around the
world and rely on this generosity to strengthen their efforts. If you believe in the
work and mission of SWA and recognize our enormous potential for growth, please
consider making as much of a contribu-
tion as you are comfortable with. We
will be happy to answer any questions
you have in regard to Student World
Assembly. We look forward to hearing
from you and sincerely hope you will
offer your support. Thank you for your
time and consideration.
! International AIDS Candlelight Memorial
(Patna, India)

A Guide for Prospective Supporters 7

 SWA’s Three Year Plan
STUDENT WORLD ASSEMBLY
SWA is able to continue operating thanks to grants from foundations, partnerships
with businesses and corporations, and, most importantly, the generous support
of individual volunteers and donors. We are currently operating on a budget of
$385,420, which is allocated as follows:

Operating Costs:
Staffing, Rent, Travel, Etc.
13%

International
Convention: Venue, Programs and
Operating Costs:
Speakers, Outreach, Etc. Development:
Staffing, Rent, Travel, Etc.
Programs
5% and Regional Offices,- 53%
Development Action
13%
Toolkits,Action
Regional Office Support, Web Resources,
Toolkits, Web Resources,
Outreach, Etc. Outreach, Etc.
d 53%
ernational
Events - 29%
ention: Venue,
Supplies, Publications, Fees, Etc.
Operating for Chapter and Regional
Costs:
s, Events and Activities Programs and
nalOutreach, Etc. Staffing, Rent, Travel, Etc.
5% Development
Venue, Operating Costs:13%
Regional Offices, A
ach, Etc. International
Staffing,
Convention
Rent,
- 5%
Travel, Travel,
Etc. Accomodations,
Venue, Speakers, Outreach, Toolkits,
Etc. Web Reso
13% Outreach, Etc
53%
Operating Costs - 13%
Taxes, Etc.and
Personnel, Rent, Travel, Accounting andPrograms
Development:
Regionaland
Programs Offices, Action
8 Toolkits, Web Resources,
Development:
Outreach,
Regional Offices, ActionEtc.
 SWA’S THREE YEAR PLAN
Because of our recent advertising grant from Google ® and our new outreach strat-
egy, SWA’s membership is currently expanding at a rate of 55% per year. The values
from 2008-2010 are based on a continuation of this trend.
Total Number of Members by Year

45000

40000

35000 41000

30000

25000

20000 26000

15000
17000
10000
9121 11259
5000 7534

0 77 1120
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

To keep up with this growth in membership, we are planning to expand our budget
as follows:

2008 2009 2010

Programs and $204,420 53% $239,584 50% $298,189 45%
Development
Events $111,200 29% $162,659 34% 246.976 37%
International $19,400 5% $28,847 6% $41,259 6%
Convention
Operating Costs $50,400 13% $50,718 11% $75,132 11%
Grand Total $385,420 $481,807 $661,556

In order to meet the needs of our expanding budget, SWA needs your help! Your
support is invaluable to our efforts to cultivate young leaders around the world,
provide them with a truly democratic experience, and support them as they address
the pressing issues facing humanity.

A Guide for Prospective Supporters 9

 Levels of Support
STUDENT WORLD ASSEMBLY
In the past three years, Student World Assembly has grown immensely in terms of
the number of members, our global reach, and our goals and ambitions. As we will
never charge our students a fee for membership, SWA needs your support to keep up
with this growth. Contributions help ensure that all of our members can experience
a true democracy and reach their full potential to address the issues affecting their
communities, nations, and planet. Please review the various levels of giving listed
below and make as significant of a contribution as you see fit.

$15,000
$15,000 - Sponsor International Convention
Your donation of $15,000 will fund our Annual International Convention. This
event, continually growing in both size and impact, allows SWA members from
around the world to discuss the issue voted as the most pressing and decide what
action they should take to address the issue. You and/or your organization will be
formally recognized at the event and in all associated materials.

$10,000 - Youth Activist Leadership Training

Your donation of $10,000 will fund our “Youth Activist Leadership Training” pro-

$10,000
gram. This yearlong program pairs 30 qualified students with professional activists,
politicians, and academics serving as mentors. The students attend two weekend
leadership training sessions and work with their mentors to design and implement
an action strategy to address a specific issue. You and/or your organization will be
recognized at all events and in all publications, including those organized by the
students. Please select an issue of focus for the program on the donation sheet.

$5,000 - Support a Regional Office for 1 Year

$5,000
Your donation of $5,000 will support a regional office for one year. Regional offices
serve as a hub for SWA activity, providing a meeting place, activist resources, Inter-
net access, and other tools to help SWA chapters around the world function to the
fullest of their abilities. You and/or your organization will be commemorated with
a permanent plaque in the office and at the next regional event. You will be updated
on the event and semi-annually on the efforts of your region. Please select an issue
of focus for the event on your donation sheet.

$2,000 - Fund a Major Initiative

$2,000
Your donation of $2,000 will fund a major chapter initiative for one year. These
initiatives are complex, ongoing projects of SWA chapters and regions, and you
and/or your organization will be recognized at any related events or in any related
printed materials. One recent example is SWA-Dartmouth College’s “India Educa-
tion Initiative,” an ambitions partnership program with Indian primary schools that
aims to provide instructional materials, student teachers, and curriculum assistance
from Dartmouth’s Department of Education. You will be sent semi-annual progress
reports on the initiative.

10
 LEVELS OF SUPPORT
$1,000 - Computer for Regional Office

$1,000
Your donation of $1,000 will purchase a computer for one of our regional offices.
This will give hundreds of members access to our discussion forum and online
resources, as well as the rest of the Internet. You will be sent a description of the
region. You and/or your organization will be commemorated with a permanent
plaque in the office.

$500 - Sponsor a Regional Event

$500
Your donation of $500 will fund a regional event and accord you and/or your orga-
nization formal recognition both at the event and in any related printed materials.
Regional events regularly attract hundreds of participants, media attention, and
government officials: a recent example includes a Ghanaian Human Trafficking Es-
say Contest (co-sponsored by UNICEF). You will be sent a description of the event
afterwards. Please select an issue of focus for your event on the donation sheet.

$200
$200 - Start a Chapter
Your donation of $200 will cover outreach materials and the cost of the kick-off
event for a new chapter of SWA. You will be sent a description of the chapter and
the opening event, as well as semi-annual updates on your chapter for as long as you
wish. You and/or your organization will also be foramlly recognized at the event.

$100 - Sponsor a Chapter Event

$100
Your donation of $100 will fund a chapter event and accord you and/or your orga-
nization formal recognition both at the event and in any related printed materials.
Examples of recent chapter events include campus clean-ups, benefit concerts for
victims of natural disasters, and lectures featuring prominent guest speakers. You
will be sent a description of the event afterwards. Please select an issue of focus for
your event on the donation sheet.

$50 $50 - Translate and Print Outreach Material

Your donation of $50 will cover translating and printing costs of our chapter start-
up kit, membership manual, and tri-fold pamphlets. These supplies will go to new
members who wish to recruit other student activists in their community.

$25 $25 - Supplies for a Regional Office

Your donation of $25 will purchase general office supplies for one of our regional
offices. These supplies will create materials for outreach, chapter events, and other
necessary projects.

A Guide for Prospective Supporters 11

 Other Ways to Give
STUDENT WORLD ASSEMBLY
Employee Gift Matching
Many companies support the philanthropic interests of their employees by offer-
ing to match any gifts made to non-profit organizations. Check with your human
resources department, or tell us the name of your employer so we can check for you.

Pledges
If you’d like to make a bigger contribution than your bank account currently allows,
consider paying in installments. Let us know what your total contribution will be
for the year and what percentage of that each pledge should constitute, and we’ll
send you reminders each time a payment is due!

In-Kind Contributions
The Student World Assembly is happy to accept gifts of any goods or services you
wish to donate. This includes office supplies, stock gifts, artwork, or anything else
you can think of ! Even those gifts we cannot use for our members or offices can be
auctioned through our eBay ® Giving Works account.

Giving Challenges
This is an excellent way to get other donors motivated! Specify the amount up to
which you will match gifts and the length of time your challenge will last, and we’ll
find donors to match you!

Bequests
Support human rights and student activists by making SWA a beneficiary of your
will. Once your closest friends and family are provided for, thousands of students
around the world will benefit from your foresight and generosity.

Get Involved!
At SWA, we value your involvement as well as your money. Visit our website to
view recent events our members have held, post a comment in the discussion forum
(you don’t have to be a student!), and educate yourself through our resources.
Encourage any students you know to start or join a chapter at their school, and pass
this pamphlet on to anyone else you think may want to make a contribution!

For more information about contributions to

Student World Assembly, please contact us at
contributions@studentworldassembly.org

12
 OTHER WAYS TO GIVE
As an advocate for international democracy and a catalyst for pro-
gressive change, SWA depends on your support for its mission.

Yes, I want to support student activists around the world by contrib-

uting the following amount to Student World Assembly:

e $25 e $2,000
e $50 e $5,000
e $100 e $10,000
e $200 e $15,000
e $500 e Other _______
e $1,000

For donations of $100, $500, $5,000, or $10,000, please select one of

the officially recognized issues of Student World Assembly to be the
focus of the event or program that your donation will fund. (Circle
one)

• Poverty
• Human Trafficking
• HIV/AIDS
• War
• Environmental Sustainability
• Genocide
• Gender Issues
• Drug Trafficking
• Education
• Terrorism
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Imbalanced Effects of Globalization
• No Preference
!

Send a check to:

2 West 64th Street
New York, NY 10023
Phone: 1.212.580.3800 Fax: 1.212.580.3080
(Payable to the Student World Assembly)

To pay by credit card, please visit studentworldassembly.org/contribute

The Student World Assembly is organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes
under section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code. All donations are tax-deductible.

A Guide for Prospective Supporters 13