Whoa, May was an incredible month in the life of Jolkona. We were a nominated for Best Startup Nonprofit in the Seattle 2.0 Awards, our “Kids Give Back” idea was in the Pepsi Refresh Contest, and we hosted our first event, the Jolkona Meet-up.

Thank you for your votes: Seattle 2.0 Awards & Pepsi Refresh Contest

We’d like to send a big thank you out to everyone for helping us vote and get the word out for Jolkona in the Seattle 2.0 Awards. We’d like to congratulate TisBest Philanthropy who won the award.

In April we shared our experience submitting an idea for inclusion in the Pepsi Refresh Contest, and in May our Kids Give Back idea was open for voting. Thank you, again, to everyone who voted for this idea—especially those who voted every day. We finished the month in 341st place.

Jolkona Meet-up: Our First Event

Question: What’s one thing you hope for when hosting an event (especially your first event)? Answer: A packed house.

And that’s exactly what we had the great fortune of accomplishing—a sold-out out event! We were scheduled to host this happy hour event in the private dining room inside Seattle Art Museum’s restaurant, SAM Taste. But after watching the available tickets disappear in the days leading up to the event and counting heads for our staff and partners, we decided an hour before the event that room would have too much elbow-rubbing and not enough comfort. Luckily the great staff at SAM Taste let us move the party to the “patio” which overlooked the foyer of the museum, and provided more space and an incredible backdrop!

The final headcount was between 80 and 90 new and familiar faces. The goal for this night was to introduce ourselves to the community, share what we’ve accomplished in our first year, and talk about our future plans. We also featured our partners from Grameen Foundation, Washington CASH, and Project Concern who shared the impact of their work with attendees.

In my role with Jolkona, the majority of my work is engaging online, so it’s nice to step away from the computer and enter the “real world.” I’m inspired by the impact donations made through our website have around the world. And at our Meet-up, I was inspired by meeting people who have help us achieve that impact and are excited to help us do even more.

While this event was not designed to be a fundraiser, we raised over $1,100 to benefit Jolkona’s operations budget, the Kona Fund. Thank you to all who made this event a tremendous success!

Thank You Sponsors

We’d like to thank our sponsors for their support of Jolkona and innovative philanthropy. We’re proud to be in your community and share our community with you.

Our premier sponsor, Social Creature Media, is a team of experienced branding gurus, integrated media pioneers, conversational marketers, and business consultants.

Our wireless provider, CLEAR, is the new, fast, fresh way to connect with blistering 4G speed at home or around town.

We’d also like to thank the following businesses for donating items to our raffle:

• Clear Awakening: Massage & Bodywork
• Hotel Max
• The Pike Brewing Company
• Purple Café and Wine Bar
• Seattle International Film Festival

Looking for More?

Be sure to waltz on over to our Facebook page and check out the event photos.

We’d love to see your event photos, too! If you have any, please:

• Share them on our Facebook page
• Upload them to Flickr and tag them with “jolkona”
• Post a link in the comments to your blog or photos

Also, we’re editing on a video from the event, which we’ll share it as soon as it’s posted!

I’d like to send one final thank you out to our event team for all of the time and energy they put in to planning and managing this Meet-up. You all did incredible work and we’re looking forward to the next one!

The team that powers Jolkona.