Sustainability Plan and Funding Request

Why a Financial Sustainability Plan for Noolaham Foundation?
As the tasks carried out by Noolaham Foundation continue to increase and as our institution grows fast, we need to find financial and human resources that are necessary to sustain Noolaham Foundation. Our focus on sustainability, however, should not undermine the fundamental principles of our institution. We need to continue to function as a non-profit organization and as a social institution. Similarly, we should make sure that our efforts are not controlled by donors, governmental and non-governmental agencies and groups that act with sectarian goals. We need to identify local sources that can offer us small-scale financial support. Moreover, the financial support that is necessary for us to meet the operational costs of our institute should come from our communities. Thus, the participation of the communities is crucial to sustain our institution.

What is Noolaham Foundation? Noolaham Foundation was created with a view to documenting, preserving and disseminating texts and sources that speak about the social, economic, cultural and political discourses related to the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities. In the post-independence Sri Lanka, sites of knowledge production and knowledge preservation of the Tamil speaking communities such as the Jaffna Public Library has been lost. Therefore, it is important that we create alternative, virtual platforms where this knowledge could be preserved. Such platforms can also cater to the needs of local and international researchers who are interested in studying the various aspects of the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities. Noolaham Foundation is one such platform. What has Noolaham Foundation achieved so far? Digitized over 15,000 documents related to Sri Lankan Tamil communities. Created a vast digital library (www.noolaham.org) with special collections such as Muslim Archive and Malaiyaham Archive Digitized collections of various individuals and institutions such as Jaffna Hindu College, Colombo Royal College and Vembadi Girls’ High School Digitized 24 sets of rare palm leaf manuscripts Created a virtual learning platform for school students with thousands of resources (www.epallikoodam.org) Conducted the first Tamil Documentation Conference and many other seminars and workshops on documentation, digitization etc Collected datasets on people, places and institutions (1,000+ entries) What will be achieved utilizing the funds? We will achieve the following each year About 2,000 publications will be digitized at internationally accepted archiving standards and sufficient back up procedures will be followed. All digitized publications will be cataloged at our digital library and Table of contents will be added for each document to enable enhanced access. We will continuously update our library collection so that the users will have access to sufficient information source and provide Reference services as needed. Oral history documentation of about 20 personalities. Once the financial stability is achieved, we can also carry out specific documentation projects supported by grants of individuals or institutions

How much is needed to sustain the Noolaham Foundation? As per the Annual Budget for 2015 and we expect about Rs 5,000,000 (about $ 50,000) is needed each year to sustain the institution. Why should anyone donate? Noolaham Foundation is all about documentation, preservation and dissemination of the cultural heritage and knowledge base of the Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities. Supporting Noolaham Foundation enables the knowledge production and knowledge preservation of these communities and in the long run supports the communities to develop and prosper. During May 2015, Noolaham Digital Library was accessed by 9,465 different users from 664 cities in 73 countries. If each one of those users donate just Rs.45 per month, there is no need for a funding appeal. But 33% of the users are from Sri Lanka and 28% and most of them cannot actually afford to donate. That is why we are requesting the diaspora and wealthy to donate. The expenses of one year collection development is equivalent to buying the same collection for 10 physical libraries excluding excluding the salaries and overhead expenses. To match the reach of Noolaham Digital Library, around 200 libraries will have to acquire the same collection just in Sri Lanka. We are not comparing the public libraries to the digital library as both are needed for their own advantages, but the impact of digital libraries is great. Computers and browsing enabled mobile devises have reached every nook and corner. But communities cannot make use of the Information Age if there are not enough information sources readily available in digital formats. Those who want to support the knowledge based development of Sri Lankan Tamil communities can do that by supporting Noolaham Foundation. What is the fund raising plan? Noolaham Foundation has started the Friends of Noolaham initiative to meet the above goals and vision. We have planned to fund any contingencies through Sponsorship of Digital Library Site, Annual Fundraising Events and “Money Box” initiative. ‘Friends of Noolaham’ is a membership based initiative. Individuals or small organizations can become a member by paying annual subscription. All we need is 50 Preserving Members who can donate $ 1000 annually. Or 500 Community Members who can donate $100 annually. We expect that about 250 Friends of Noolaham members at various membership levels should be able to sustain Noolaham Foundation. See Friends of Noolaham page for more details.