Book of Dreams: Our holiday charitable effort opens the world to giving with genuine joy
We asked an AI platform to tell us what are the key philanthropy trends for 2024. With Book of Dreams, our annual holiday charitable effort now in its 37th year, we realize we’re tapping into a changing world.
Interesting response — it said one of the trends is charitable groups using AI to leverage donations.
“With AI, you can obtain accurate, rich data to build custom predictive models around acquiring, segmenting, reassigning, and retaining donors,” states the consulting CCS Fundraising site provided by our AI query. “AI can also create a targeted list of major donor prospects, identify which donors to upgrade based on their donation history, and personalize donor communications by segmenting their interests.”
Obviously, we’re on the cusp of new ways to gather and leverage information, and that would apply to how we help others. That AI response, though, seems amusingly self-serving in terms of how to go about seeking the greater good: What’s the trend in helping others? Well, using our AI tools.
Of course, targeting donors more productively and efficiently, to raise more money to help more people, is a worthwhile goal. And that’s now and the future, and a smart one at that. Why not use all the tools you can to help others?
So where does Book of Dreams fit into this new landscape? Well, this tool may seem antiquated, but it is still a genuine way to provide comfort and assistance. Ours is more of an AI in that we’re “asking intently.”
For now, we would still like to appeal to you in a simple old-fashioned way. What we do is provide you, as we have for decades now, a series of stories about people and organizations in need. We hope, with a well-informed sense of how generous the Sacramento Bee audience is from past years, to appeal to your heart.
What is book of Dreams?
We started earlier in the fall by asking you to nominate those you felt would benefit greatly by an infusion of good will. These are the entities who provide “dreams,” sometimes simple practical means to overcome obstacles and find joys in life. We have selected 10 stories to highlight how they want to help, and we unfurl them between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
With stories and images, we part the curtains on a variety of efforts to help those in need. This year, for example, we hope to help you see how volunteers are helping children read, how an organization is aiding those without sight in how to cook and how others are providing ways for those with MS to cope.
Our first story is about Placer County’s Sight Word Busters, which teaches 3,000 students in 128 classrooms how to recognize frequently used “sight” words such as “the” and “said,” helping young readers achieve fluency. The program has 10 schools on its waiting list and is looking for $5,000 for materials and means to expand.
“It is pretty good,” one student said. “It helps me with words. I don’t do really hard ones. I’m like a normal reader, but I want to be a good reader.”
Good readers become good students who better comprehend the world they will eventually enter. And the program gives the kids invaluable one-on-one time with adults who can guide them.
You can see inside this world through Patricia Macht’s story, our first this season, and one of many she has written for us. Last year she brought you a slice of kids’ world, too, with a story about the Sacramento Food Literacy Center’s program to promote healthy eating. Last year, you also helped pay vet bills for dogs, repair houses for veterans, pay for baby swings for a neonatal unit and buy bikes for foster children.
Who we are
You will find joy in our stories, even those that spotlight the plight of the needy. Part of that results from the enthusiasm our writers, visual journalists and partners bring to making dreams come alive.
We work with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation to administer the funds you provide after reading our stories. These stories are sensitively reported by Macht, one of our Book of Dreams veterans as well as: Lori Korleski Richardson, a former member of The Bee newsroom; Tony Bizjak, a former Bee reporter; and Graham Womack, a Bee correspondent. The visuals are produced and coordinated by our editors Lezlie Sterling and Nathaniel Levine.
Bob Shallit, a former editor at The Bee, steers and edits the coverage, and Terri Yamagata collates the requests and works closely with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.
Our team of Book of Dreamers has provided simple mechanisms for you to donate money. For information and to see past stories, you can go to our page, sacbee.com/bookofdreams.
Please enjoy your holiday, find some peace and, if you find it in your heart, help others to do so, too. There’s nothing artificial about that.
This story was originally published November 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
%20copy.jpg)