Most recent activities are listed first.

2022 to the Present

I began supporting the work of Atlanta Grade School Friends in Atlanta, Texas at the end of the year 2021. My focus has been on helping a strong but all-volunteer (no staff) nonprofit create and modernize its organizational infrastructure in preparation for major gift fundraising. In brief, today nonprofits cannot expect major gift donors to respond to requests for significant funding based upon a casual conversation or note. Internally strong, reputable, professional, forward-thinking organizations with “staying power” rank higher on the list.

I work primarily remotely from my dedicated home office in Central Texas. My partner is long-time friend and professional colleague Toni S. Turner, former Executive Director of Friends of the Texas Historical Commission. I am a former Trustee of the nonprofit organization.

We have secured the “gold seal” for public transparency from Candid GuideStar each year since 2023, and we update our profile regularly. In tandem, we have a polished profile (and reviews) on GreatNonprofits, and we secured several glowing written letters of support, which are available to the public on ISSUU. Our new website is hosted on WordPress (I created it to start on my WordPress account, then moved formal ownership over to the nonprofit). We continue to produce monthly newsletters on MailChimp to ensure regular e-communications (since 2022 – the archive is available on the website). Online giving has been made possible via our new database on BetterUnite (I created the database by hand – the nonprofit’s data is now consolidated in the cloud from myriad separate charts and handwritten lists of prior fundraising activities and donations going back to approximately 2017). Our new YouTube channel @atlantagradeschoolfriends is helping Atlanta Grade School Friends tell its story visually and engage the community in conversation. Our logo and other graphic designs are courtesy of Adobe Express.

To review annual reports since 2022, visit the new website.

The ultimate aim is to restore historic Atlanta-Miller Grade School and create a modern community center with multiple spaces for meetings, events and perhaps even office space. We have begun a relationship with Google Maps, which has given us a fresh, updated street view. We also have a Google Workspace with all the capabilities provided (full documentation of all my work is being saved in Google Drive, organizational photos are being stored in Google Photos, and we use Google Meet to host video conversations). We have developed a long-range plan; a campaign case statement (currently under review by VIPs and prospective donors); we are in the midst of developing a sustainability plan; and we have hired highly regarded historic preservation experts at Architexas to guide the restoration.

In 2023, the historic school was removed from the “most endangered” Texas historic sites list by Preservation Texas, and Atlanta Grade School Friends received a 2023 Honor Award from Preservation Texas (nominated by me). Architexas has researched and is submitting a National Register for Historic Places marker application to the National Park Service (decision expected in 2026).

Public presentations about the scope of our activities have been sought and given. For me, Atlanta Grade School Friends is another example of a “polishing the diamond” concept for nonprofits. So often, truly worthy nonprofit organizations simply need a little “polish” to shine in the eyes of potential partners and donors. To read about a prior “polishing” project, follow the link to my recap of work for the Port Aransas Art Center.

Just for fun: in December 2025, I worked with a member of the Board of Directors on a “Twelve Days of Christmas” contest on Facebook @atlantagradeschoolfriends. It was an engagement monster! Sharing our project overview. If you have questions, reach out by email.

This project is showing that what many would consider a small nonprofit in a rural, “small town” is in fact quite capable of being “high tech” and competitive in terms of sleek, uncomplicated efficiency and advanced fundraising and communications capabilities. And a new job (or two) has been created for an interested person(s) in Atlanta, Texas in 2026! Stay tuned.

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I enjoyed helping financial literacy nonprofit Rock The Street, Wall Street (based in Nashville, Tennessee and expanding in Texas and across continents), with its SXSW Edu Expo display in March. I did some work with the organization in 2020, but COVID kept us from moving forward very far in Texas. Things are looking up, though. If you have an interest in this financial literacy program for young women in high school, I am happy to connect you. To read a former blog post about the organization, follow this link.

2021

I was busy writing and teaching during 2021. See my Media Room for updates and links.

I also helped Bee Cave Arts Foundation lay the groundwork for an outdoor tech art festival, BuzzFest. Other projects included the installation of Qgiv online gift processing (and silent auction platform), cleaning-up MailChimp and preparing e-blasts (see the newsletter page), and cleaning-up a former GoDaddy platform. I also did some photo documentation and provided social media support via my own channels. This work was done part-time and as a volunteer, a combination of both.

During 2021, I wrapped-up my longtime volunteer work for Nonprofit Tech Club Austin. To read more, see my community and volunteer overview on Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog. I was the lead volunteer organizer from 2016 through the end of 2021. Based on the strong club infrastructure I developed, the chapter became the TechSoup Connect Texas Chapter (fall 2021 – and today, it is called the TechSoup Connect Austin). Each year, I created a promotional video to thank our partners and guest speakers. See my YouTube channel @CarolynAppleton.

2020

During 2020, I worked part of part-time for two nonprofit organizations, focusing generally on grant research and writing, infrastructure improvements, and online communications. One of these is based in Nashville, Rock The Street, Wall Street. To read more from my perspective about this successful and innovative financial literacy program, follow the link to my post. To learn more about my work during 2020, see my Media Room.

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Following-up on my work last year with TechSoup on a nonprofit disaster preparation and recovery course for Hurricane Harvey-impacted regions of Texas, the curriculum team and TechSoup staff hosted a one-day workshop in Houston on February 13. Right after this workshop, COVID-19 lockdowns began – undaunted, I continued working remotely from my dedicated home office.

The online course has been refined and is now available to the public. To see more Instagram photos from the event, follow this link to Carolyn’s Tumblr.

Thank you for your help in the workshop last Thursday in Houston! The participants, to my observation, were able to get useful information and network with each other as we hoped. They benefited a lot from the insights that you shared about disaster planning and recovery. 

It was a great pleasure to work with you all on the CDP Disaster Preparedness project. Thanks to all your input and contribution, we were able to create the online course track and host the live workshop to help the Gulf Coast nonprofit organizations get better prepared for future emergencies, and as a result, become able to serve more people in need on those special occasions. That was a big achievement together during the past year! Your expertise and dedication are genuinely appreciated.

We wish you all the best moving forward, and hope our paths cross again in the future!

Thanks, Shuya Xu and the TS Courses team