Help Robert Ferguson Observatory "Close the Gap!"

A few months ago, Americorps chose the Robert Ferguson Observatory to be a site

partner for their VIP (Volunteer Infrastructure Project) program. Essentially this means that the observatory would employ an Americorps member for a year to work on boosting their volunteer program, including working on volunteer recruitment and retention, capacity building, and fundraising/partnership building. Because the observatory relies 100% on approximately 200 volunteers for all their program development and delivery; having a trained individual help with this would be extremely beneficial to the organization. Because RFO cannot afford the Americorps member full-time, they have partnered with one of their Team Sugarloaf partners – the Sonoma Ecology Center – to split this person’s time between the two organizations. RFO’s cost for the year is $10,000. Donations already received, specifically for this purpose, amount to $6,000, but RFO needs to “close the gap” of funding by March, 2023 to cover the whole amount. We are asking our community of supporters to please donate what they can towards this purpose, as this is a critical need of our

organization. Having the Americorps member help the observatory with volunteer

management will allow the organization to further its reach to schools, youth-related

organizations, and the general public in teaching astronomy and inspiring youth to reach for the stars!