Support the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program… at Home

NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program works with more than 100,000 students and educators to help students develop a love for writing.

As many educators and students prepare for the challenge of learning during a pandemic this coming school year, we’re preparing to partner with them. Please help us support these thoughtful, hard-working teachers and the students they’re guiding. From July 8 – 17, we’re aiming to raise $10,000 to support NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program.

Donate $25 to the Young Writers Program.

Your $25 donation will help us prepare our Young Writers Program as we anticipate more young writers and educators than ever to use our website outside of the classroom.

From July 8 – 17 only, you’ll also receive a special pack of “school supplies”, including a pencil, eraser, sticker, and button.

What is NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program?

NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program supports young writers and the educators who guide them. We help young writers learn how to set their own goals and work toward them, develop a deeper understanding of the practice of writing, and give them access to a community of writers—in their classroom and online.

Young writers are actively engaged in their own learning. Our website helps students set their own writing goal, track their progress, and celebrate their achievements. They can do this in the classroom, from home, or wherever they might have internet access.

Young writers become a part of a greater writing community. Students receive pep talks from published authors, learning from and about writers like Sharon G. Flake, Gene Luen Yang, and Walter Dean Myers. They choose what they want to write about, practicing their writing, creativity, and imagination alongside an international community of young writers.

Young writers are taught by well-supported educators. We provide free Common-Core aligned curricula and workbooks for teachers. Our website provides online classrooms for educators, including progress-tracking tools for their students, a discussion platform, and a messaging system.

What is the Young Writers Program focusing on right now?

We’re anticipating more students and educators using our site, and spending even more time on it than they usually do, as many schools are figuring out how they will adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in countries that continue to see rising cases, like the United States.

In preparation, we’re building new features for the site, adjusting the classroom kits we usually mail to educators (at no cost to them) so they’re better suited for distance learning, and preparing our budget for rising server costs.

We’d also like to translate our materials—in particular our workbooks—into Spanish for greater accessibility, both here in the United States and internationally.

All donations made from July 8 – July 17, 2020, will be restricted to the Young Writers Program at NaNoWriMo. This means that we’ll only use those funds for budget items associated with the Young Writers Program, including staff pay for employees who work directly with the Young Writers Program, costs for managing and hosting the YWP website, and costs for resources like the YWP classroom kits.

(Usually, any donations made through our store go toward our general operating costs—this is also incredibly valuable and appreciated. We’re restricting donations for this campaign to prepare YWP to both help educators and young writers through the unique challenges of this year, and set up YWP for long-term success!)

Donate $25 to the Young Writers Program or share the news about YWP!