Your Generosity Changes Lives: Help ALSO Empower People with Disabilities

In times of economic uncertainty, it’s natural for individuals and businesses alike to reassess their financial priorities. Yet even as budgets tighten, the needs of vulnerable communities remain — and in many cases, grow more urgent. That’s why continued support for organizations like ALSO (Advocates for Life Skills and Opportunity) is more critical than ever.

ALSO empowers individuals with developmental disabilities to lead rich, self-directed lives, providing essential services that can’t be paused when the economy dips. By choosing to give during hard times, donors not only sustain these vital programs, but also stand in solidarity with some of the community’s most resilient — and often overlooked — members.

ALSO Needs Your Help

ALSO is a nonprofit organization that provides support services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) throughout Oregon. Our Mission is:

To promote the full inclusion of people experiencing disabilities in the life of their community.

Our services at ALSO are too important to let economics and limited knowledge about people with I/DD interfere with the superb progress we’ve made in disability inclusion. This is why we’re increasing our fundraising efforts by asking you to help ALSO empower people with disabilities.

Why Your Support Matters

Donor engagement with nonprofit sector organizations that provide human services is crucial, especially during challenging times. They facilitate essential resources that foster inclusivity, independence, and improved quality of life. Without this support, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide the services that have been transformative for people with I/DD, their families, and communities. ALSO best practices include:

• A person-centered approach that capitalizes on the abilities and prioritizes the goals of the person living with I/DD.
• Competitive employment training and services that have successfully achieved an excellent fit for both employers and employees.
• Disability rights expertise that facilitates equitable access to education, employment, and community living.

What Your Support Can do for People with I/DD

Sometimes we forget how easy it is to make life better for others who need our help. Here’s what your financial and in-kind contributions can do to make nonprofit fundraising efforts more successful.

1. Empower Individuals Through Advocacy and Support

Advocacy efforts are vital in increasing awareness about disability issues. Monetary and in-kind gifts enable organizations to advocate for policy changes, promote accessibility, and provide platforms for people with disabilities to share their experiences. Strategic disability advocacy is a complicated process that facilitates access to education, employment, and community participation. Various advocacy efforts include:

• Posts on professional and social media.
• Speaking engagements at the local, city, and state level.
• Collaborative national movements (such as those that resulted in the ADA)

2. Foster Emotional Well-Being and Peer Support

Support groups and community programs create safe spaces and a lifeline for persons with disabilities. Donations to these programs are critically important, providing opportunities to:

• Offer emotional support.
• Reduce isolation.
• Offer practical advice.
• Share additional resources.

3. Promote Community Inclusion and Economic Participation

Inclusive communities benefit everyone. When people with disabilities are supported to participate fully in society, the result is diverse workplaces, enriched social interactions, and broader economic growth. Organizations like ALSO highlight how community inclusion of people with disabilities improves the economic health of the entire system.

4. Enhance Access to Essential Services

Many individuals with disabilities face barriers to accessing education, healthcare, and competitive employment. Donations help nonprofit corporations offer tailored programs that bridge these gaps, ensuring that people with disabilities receive the individualized funding interventions they need to achieve positive outcomes.

5. Drive Systemic Change and Long-term Impact

Consistent funding allows nonprofit corporations to implement long-term strategies that address systemic issues affecting people with disabilities. This includes:

• Developing inclusive policies.
• Creating accessible infrastructures.
• Establishing comprehensive and long-term fundraising campaigns.

These strategies help to ensure that disability rights are upheld at all levels of society. The Disability Rights Fund emphasizes the importance of donors setting clear objectives to ensure that people with disabilities receive maximum benefits.

LEARN MORE: Tax deductions and credits for businesses to tax-exempt organizations such as ALSO.

Why It’s Important to Give Now

The non-profit organizations that do the good work of our society are experiencing challenging times. The difficulties came suddenly; and the advantage of donations over grants or government funding is that they are unrestricted and immediate – thus allowing increased flexibility in meeting nonprofit needs.

Multiple Ways to Give to ALSO

1. Become a sponsor.
2. Become one of ALSO’s recurring donors who sign up for automatic bank account deductions.
3. Make in-kind donations to the Children’s HOME.
4. Participate in in-person or online fundraising events
5. Advocate to political representatives for better disability benefits in Medicaid, and SSDI.

LEARN MORE:8 Tips for Making Charitable Donations.

Help us Change Lives

Gifts provided to tax-exempt organizations such as ALSO are more than simply charity. They are building blocks to a better life for someone in need. Whether you have only a little to spare, or more than that, remember that multiple small donations can make big changes. It’s called the multiplier effect!

Join us to create a better world for all!

Go to our Donation Page

Sources

1. Neils Independent Living Services. (n.d.). The importance of disability advocacy. https://www.neils.org/the-importance-of-disability-advocacy/.   Accessed May 9, 2025.

2. US Department of Justice. The Americans with Disabilities Act Protects People with Disabilities from Discrimination. https://www.ada.gov/.  Accessed May 12, 2025.
3. Fleming P, McGilloway S, Hernon M, et al. Individualized funding interventions to improve health and social care outcomes for people with a disability: A mixed-methods systematic review. Campbell Syst Rev. 2019;15(1-2):e1008. Published 2019 Jul 19. doi:10.4073/csr.2019.3 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8356501/#cl21008-sec-0010 Accessed May 12, 2025.
4. Disability Rights Fund. (2018) Deciding together shifting power and resources through participatory grantmaking. https://www.disabilityrightsfund.org/wp-content/uploads/Deciding-Together.pdf Accessed May 9, 2025.
5. US Department of Justice. Expanding your market: tax incentives for businesses. https://www.ada.gov/resources/tax-incentives-businesses/