Hellenic Community of Montreal Launches Internet Fundraising Campaign

HCM uses innovative approach to raise funds while commemorating its Centennial.

HostReview.com
Thursday, June 1, 2006; 12:57 AM

Montreal, QC - The Hellenic Community of Montreal (HCM) is pleased to announce the launch of HCMmosaic.com (http://www.hcmmosaic.com) as part of an innovative Internet fundraising and awareness campaign which aims to eliminate its long-term debt while commemorating its 100 year history.

HCMmosaic.com provides a platform for showcasing HCM’s stakeholders be it local companies who have supported the organization’s programs and services over the years, individual donors, as well as governments from various levels who value HCM’s contribution in today’s multicultural society. Moreover, HCMmosaic.com offers an opportunity for companies who target Greeks in Montreal and around the world to promote their products and services.

“This year represents a great milestone for the Hellenic Community of Montreal. The HCMmosaic.com fundraising initiative is part of a strategy to catapult our organization into its second century,” said John Theodosopoulos, president of the Hellenic Community of Montreal. “We need new people and new and innovative ideas, not to mention a financial boost for our organization, and this project can greatly contribute to all these goals,” added Theodosopoulos.

HCMmosaic.com consists of ten (10) pixel advertising pages each made of ten thousand (10,000) blocks of one hundred (100) pixels. Each pixel is sold for one (1) Canadian dollar. An advertiser/donor can purchase a minimum of one hundred (100) pixels (minimum CA$100 donation). The Web site will be up for at least ten years effective its scheduled launch date.

HCMmosaic.com is managed by Community Ventures Group Inc. ; a private company led by Efthimios (Maki) Papadopoulos who is also behind Community-online.com Inc. and 3comMedia Inc. The Hellenic Community of Montreal incurs no cost for the entire project including Web development, Web hosting, Internet marketing, and online payment processing fees. All these costs along with human and other resources are covered by Community Ventures Group which will be compensated on a performance basis.

The Fundraising Committee of the Hellenic Community of Montreal and the HCM Centennial Committee will also be instrumental in carrying out this campaign. “We are very pleased to present a new way of fundraising in our community and beyond,” said Orpheus Vosniades, president of HCM’s Fundraising Committee. "This campaign, initiated on the occasion of the HCM Centennial '1906-2006', also signifies the willingness of our Omogeneia and friends to support its growth and continuity," added Mr. Demetris J. Yantsulis, HCM Centennial Committee Chair and member of the Fundraising Committee.

Advertisers/Donors are encouraged to make a pledge by sending an e-mail at HCMmosaic.com and include their personal or company information, the amount pledged, and a company logo or personal photo. Once a pledge is confirmed and the pixel ad request is approved, advertisers/donors are asked to pay by check or online. The maximum pledge period is one (1) year. HCMmosaic.com will display ads from advertisers/donors who have supported HCM in the past and made a pledge for this project, as well as from "new" advertisers/donors who have paid 100% of the amount pledged for this project. A donation receipt will be issued by the Hellenic Community of Montreal when the pledged amount has been paid in full. As for people who cannot contribute financially, they are encouraged to spread the word about HCMmosaic.com to their friends, relatives or associates.

HCMmosaic.com features a “live” statistics table informing its visitors and prospective advertisers/donors of the ad space left and the amount raised thus far. “This feature not only makes people curious enough to re-visit the site often in order to see the progress of the fundraising campaign but it also serves as a generic transparency tool and we all know how important this is when engaging in any form of fundraising,” said Papadopoulos. “The total amount pledged for this campaign appears at the top of every page. Moreover, visitors can see how much each advertiser/donor has contributed and who... hasn’t.”

In the Media Area, visitors can find archived photos from HCM’s founders back in the early 1900s to most recent videos from the Theatre Group, HCM’s trilingual elementary school students of “Socrates” participating in Greek Independence Day events, and more.

HCMmosaic.com also includes a blog by Maki Papadopoulos who shares his thoughts about the project’s mission and its progress. “I’m very proud of the legacy left by the first generation of Greek immigrants in Montreal. With scarce resources but a lot of heart, determination and pride they have created a model “Community” for future generations. Apart from being some sort of a progress report or another search engine optimization technique, I hope that my blog will also stir constructive discussions and further encourage people to contribute to this fundraising campaign,” concluded Papadopoulos.

About the Hellenic Community of Montreal

Founded by Greek immigrants in 1906, the Hellenic Community of Montreal (HCM) is a non-profit, membership based organization that acts to ensure the progress of Hellenic culture by preserving and promoting the Greek language, the Greek Orthodox faith and its traditions. Through the generous contributions of its members and the community at large, the organization manages L’Ecole Primaire Socrates - a trilingual school spread over four campuses and teaching the complete French curriculum of the Ministère de l'Éducation du gouvernement du Québec (MEQ). The HCM also manages four of Montreal's Greek Orthodox churches and provides a variety of services to the community including Social Services for the underprivileged, a Centre for Continuing Education, five Daycare Centres, a Sports Centre, and a Senior's Residence.

HCM Web sites: http://www.hcm-chm.org & http://www.hcmmosaic.com

About Pixel Advertising

Pixel advertising is the term given to visual advertisements on the web, which have their cost calculated dependent on the number of pixels which they occupy.

Pixel advertising gained popularity in the last quarter of 2005 when British student Alex Tew created a website named The Million Dollar Homepage, and solicited advertisers to buy ad space measured in pixels on the homepage. The price was set at $1 USD per pixel, and there were 1 million pixels of space available. In approximately five months all of the ad space was sold and Mr. Tew had made over one million dollars. This made news worldwide and gained public and business interest in pixel ads.