2,000
Meals provided daily
Introduction
Far too many children remain vulnerable to trafficking, violence, hunger, and hopelessness today. Human trafficking alone ensnares 40 million people worldwide. While on her church’s mission trip to Thailand, Brenda Tenison saw that something more needed to be done.
Aiming to give a future to kids who otherwise have no hope, Brenda and her husband Dave co-founded their nonprofit, Bbright, in 2021. The organization's mission is to help the world’s most vulnerable children meet basic needs, get an education, discover Jesus, and build a future they wouldn’t have otherwise.
At first, Bbright focused on supporting refugees from Myanmar. Together with Faith House, they provide food, clothing, shelter, education, and discipleship to over 50 young Burmese women who have been displaced to Thailand.
Next, Bbright set its sights on Kenya. Today they serve 900 children across two schools, one of which sits in the middle of the slums of Mathare. The school provides the students’ only access to electricity, clean water, education, and a protected space to learn and grow. The second school offers faith-based education and helps adolescent girls escape forced marriages to elder tribesmen.
It doesn’t take much to make an impact. “In Thailand, you can send a girl to university for $3,500 a year. In Nairobi, each family lives on 30 cents a day, which is $100 annually,” said Brenda. “I knew my local community could come up with funding that it takes to help these children rise above poverty.”
Setting up an intuitive donation page
As a new nonprofit, one of the first things Bbright needed to do was facilitate giving. “A lot of people don't have extra disposable income these days to give to charity. Our challenge was to make it seamlessly easy to give and then track that information,” shared Brenda. If website visitors were moved by the pictures and stories, they needed a way to donate right then and there.
Eliminating the manual work in tracking donations
Looking to move beyond Excel sheets, Bbright came across Donorbox. “A friend recommended Donorbox. It had all the features I wanted, seemed easy to use, and I never considered anything else,” explained Brenda. Bbright uses Donorbox’s fundraising platform to track donations and send automatic receipts. They also use it to centralize and quickly access supporters’ contact information.
Adding more payment options was also important. “Monthly donations matter a lot to us. We want to make it easy for people to give in a variety of ways, whether it’s a bank withdrawal or credit card or check. One of the things I liked about Donorbox was this capability, which makes it easier for me to run the organization and for donors to donate.”
Monthly donations are important to us. We want to make it easy for people to give in a variety of ways, whether it’s a bank withdrawal or credit card or check. One of the things I liked about Donorbox was this capability, which makes it easier for me to run the organization and for donors to donate.
- Brenda Tenison, President & Founder, BbrightDelivering change that can be measured
Since signing up for Donorbox in 2023, Bbright has brought in over 430 donations. Each of these go towards helping nearly a thousand children around the world. According to Brenda, “In the places we work, you can do so much for so little. For just $80 a year, you can send a student to high school.” To date, nearly 60 teens have graduated from high school thanks to Bbright.
In Thailand, girls are achieving educational milestones. According to the UN, only 3% of refugee children earn a post-secondary degree. Despite the odds, Bbright has proudly sent 15 girls to college, most of whom are the first in their family to attend.
To raise money for its programs, Bbright hosts numerous creative events throughout the year in the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania area. Themes range from Galentine’s Day wine tastings to their annual Fall Celebration Dinner. Each event has its own form, and Donorbox records how much money is raised from each one, part of its Events feature. In just over a year, Bbright has raised well over $2,400 from fundraising events alone.
The Future
What’s next for Bbright? Building a high school and dormitory for 400 Kenyan girls, providing safe housing and rare access to education. Donorbox is proud to support Bbright in their efforts to make a difference, one child at a time.
Donorbox is a one-stop-shop. We can put campaigns out there – on social media, direct mail, or elsewhere – and easily track donations that come from them.
Together we can make a difference, one child at a time.
- Brenda Tenison, President & Founder, BbrightDonorbox features used
- Donation Form
- Recurring Donations
- Suggested Amounts
- In Memory Of Designation
- Campaigns
- Events
- Mailchimp Integration
