MCLC: AAS-CIAC Small Grants fundraiser

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Haiyan Lee <haiyan at stanford.edu>
Subject: AAS-CIAC Small Grants fundraiser
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Dear China, Taiwan and Inner Asia Studies Colleague,

I am writing to you as Chair of the China and Inner Asia Council in an
appeal for financial help for a program that is critical to the support of
research in our field:  This is the annual Small Grants Awards
administered by our Council. (If you have already received this message
from someone else, please forgive the duplication. All the CIAC members
have been encouraged to write to friends and colleagues with this personal
appeal.)

Please see the form that follows this letter for information on how you
can help to make a big difference in the careers of fellow scholars who
need our assistance. You may also go directly to the AAS website for
donations to the CIAC Small Grants Awards fund at:

https://www.asian-studies.org/about/donate.htm#form

Participating in the Small Grants Awards process is one of the most
important tasks we members of CIAC can do. The awards are indeed small:
$2,000 and sometimes even less to support research by advanced graduate
students in completing their dissertations and by faculty for a wide array
of projects. Most of the awardees are young (more faculty recipients have
positions at colleges and universities where research funds are than half
of the awards are given to graduate students) and many of the limited or
nonexistent.

These small grants provide, for example, an air ticket to a research site
in China or the extra funds needed to make possible a workshop for
graduate students on local archives, money for completing a vital
translation project or for building a digital archive. In addition,
receiving one of these grants brings welcome recognition by peers of one’s
scholarly achievements. Time and again recipients have told us that our
grants have made the difference between finishing a dissertation or other
project on time--or at all!-- and facing damaging and dispiriting delays
to a promising career.

Here a few sample quotations from acceptance letters we got this
past spring:

"I really appreciate the CIAC could support my dissertation
research. The generous gift will enable me to conduct
archival research in Taipei and mainland China. I couldn't
have had this experience without your support."

“Thank you very much for this wonderful news!  I feel honoured to have
been selected for this award and am grateful that I will be able to travel
for research this summer. It is extremely difficult to find funding for
research and travel as a recently graduated, but currently unemployed,
PhD."

“Thank you so much for bringing this exciting news about my grant
application…I [am] excited to conduct this project with the support for
this prestigious grant.”

“We are elated and honored by this wonderful news!”

“I could not be happier.”

“I am so excited to go and finally look into those Beijing archives!"

“I am thrilled to hear that my proposal is accepted..this recognition … is
such a great encouragement to my dissertation writing."

It's truly amazing to learn that $2,000, and sometimes even less, can
matter
so much!

Unfortunately, we are far from able to meet fully the need for such
support and recognition. At present we receive over 100 applications per
year and, unfortunately, can approve only 25 at best.  Most of the time
taken in our annual CIAC gathering at the AAS convention is devoted to
trying to figure out which few of many worthy projects proposed can be
funded. There are always more than 25 that certainly deserve a “yes.”
Indeed, a large number of truly outstanding proposals are unable to
receive funding.

The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation has long been the mainstay of the Small
Grants Awards program. The CCK Foundation in fact recently increased its
contribution in response to the CIAC’s request for more help.  However,
the CCK Foundation’s signal generosity also served to remind Council
members that we as AAS members in the China, Taiwan and Inner Asia
field(s) should be doing more ourselves. We cannot appeal effectively to
any large donor unless we show that we as individual members value the
Small Grants Awards program. As a result, the CIAC, with the approval of
the AAS leadership, is making this appeal to establish an annual fund to
increase the number of Small Grants Awards we are able to offer each year.

Please join us now in this effort by making a generous, tax-deductible
contribution. Several of us gave $500 last year and have pledged to
ourselves to continue budgeting funds for this cause in the coming years.
We obviously need participation from as many of us as possible in amounts
large and small to generate sufficient funds to make a real difference.
All of the money you contribute will go directly to Small Grants Award
recipients.

We all have other institutional affiliations that demand financial
contributions. But here is a unique opportunity to provide immediate help
to colleagues in the “invisible university” of China, Taiwan and Inner
Asia studies at a moment of need when budget cuts, job shortages, and
employment insecurity threaten. Your financial contribution will give a
much-needed and well-deserved hand-up to fellow scholars and will enable
us to repay in some measure the moral and financial support we have each
received at critical points in our own careers.

Sincerely yours
Dorothy J. Solinger,
2013-14 Chair,CIAC


RESPONSE FORM

The China and Inner Asia Small Grants Fund

Please make checks payable to the Association for Asian Studies,
indicating in the memo section that the contribution is for
the CIAC Small Grants Fund.


The Association for Asian Studies is a 501(c)(3) corporation and your
contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed
by law.


Please mail contributions with a copy of this form to:


CIAC Small Grants Fund
   Attn. Alicia Williams, Chief Financial Officer
Association for Asian Studies
825 Victors Way, Suite 310, Ann Arbor, MI 48108


______I am enclosing a contribution by check of:


$1,000 ______$500 _______ $250_____ $100______ Other $________


I want to make a contribution by credit card of:


$1,000 ______$500 _______ $250_____ $100______ Other $________


To make a credit card donation, please go to our secure donate website:
https://www.asian-studies.org/about/donate.htm#form
or print this form and send the following information by mail to the AAS
at the address above.


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Account Number:________________________
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If your employer offers matching gifts for employee donations, please
contact the appropriate office to determine the necessary steps.  If a
matching gift is expected, please let us know the employer’s name:

Please keep this donation anonymous


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