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Funding — Outreach Drafts

Working email drafts for funder and sponsor outreach, kept alongside Funding & Grant Opportunities. [HYPOTHESIS] These are drafts, not yet sent — review and personalize before use. Only public funder/program-officer contacts appear here; private contact records stay in the CRM.

TGKVF — intro to Todd Dorcas (Economic Development PO)

  • Status: draft, not sent.
  • Goal: open TGKVF's invitation-only process and learn the 2026 cycle dates — a conversation, not a proposal.
  • Send-from: Big Nerd Idea (Kevin); consider a warm intro from / cc to Octavia Cordon, Aspire Achievement Project (the eligible 501(c)(3) applicant).
  • Earmark: Boot Up device-refurbishment pilot.
Subject: Intro — Boot Up, a Kanawha County workforce + device-access pilot

Hello Todd,

I'm Kevin Crump, founder of Big Nerd Idea here in Charleston. We're launching
Boot Up, a program that refurbishes donated and surplus laptops on free,
open-source software and awards them to people who complete a hands-on
digital-skills course — focused on neighbors in recovery, reentry, and
transitional housing, delivered with local makerspaces and libraries.

We're at the pilot stage and fiscal-sponsored by the Aspire Achievement
Project (a 501(c)(3)). Boot Up's workforce and career-technical focus seems
to line up closely with TGKVF's Community Economic Development priority.

Rather than send a proposal cold, I'd welcome 20 minutes to introduce the
program, learn how your 2026 cycles work, and hear whether you'd point us
toward the invitation-only or the annual open-call path. Would a short call
in the next couple of weeks be possible?

Thank you for all TGKVF does in the Valley.

Best,
Kevin Crump
Big Nerd Idea — fiscal sponsor: Aspire Achievement Project
kevin@bignerdidea.org

Notes before sending: keep the honest pilot framing (no outcome claims); a warm intro from Aspire carries more weight with a Program Officer than a cold approach.