Many organizations offer tools and resources to writers. For twenty-five years, NaNoWriMo has offered its programming for free. And 2024 kicked off a multi-year investment in long-overdue enhancements.
- We made major programmatic and website changes in 2024 for the express purpose of enhancing safety for young writers. We created formal guidelines for educator accounts and introduced a process that prevents non-credentialed adults from having access to young writer spaces. We disabled all features that made it possible for young writers to be contacted by adults who they don't know. We closed all forum spaces, pending the complete retraining of our volunteer force, including the introduction of child safety training. Changes were made to the Young Writers Program website as well as to our main website, NaNoWriMo.org.
- We've committed to investing more than $150,000 in our volunteer programs in 2024-25, to enhance moderation quality and improve community safety. These necessary measures have doubled the operating cost of programs that allow us to engage 800+ dedicated volunteers who preserve the spirit of NaNoWriMo, build community in their local regions, and protect the safety of minors.
- Our top goal for 2025 is to build website features that go even farther in supporting young writers. Our community's needs and requests for specific features for young writers, educators, and librarians have far outpaced our technology updates and go beyond the current capabilities of our back-end.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can support the NaNoWriMo community!
- If you're a well-funded educator who wishes to offset the average cost of classroom-level programming, our suggested donation is $25.
- If you wish to give directly to the organization at a level that is personally meaningful to you or your institution, please visit our donation page. You can choose from several funds that support various goals within the organization, such as our Community Safety Fund, our Technology Fund, and our Fund for Young Writers!
Interested in a larger or sustaining donation? Get in touch.