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Vorpal Hexapod Donation Program

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Introduction

This past summer, we donated eight hexapods to the PAGE summer program for girls in Appalachia, and it had a tremendous positive impact on the girls. For the first time, they were building, operating and programming robots! And we might add, the coolest robots around!

We will continue to support great programs like this in the future, but we also want to encourage others to help too.

Seeking a Donation?

If you are a person associated with a youth group (parent, teacher, scoutmaster, etc.) that would like to be considered to receive a hexapod donation, then we can list you on our site and try to connect you with donors, and we will be making our own donations to this list from time to time as well. See Vorpal Hexapod Donation Requests for details!

How You Can Help Inspire a Child

Do you know of a school, gifted and talented program, scouting group, or other youth program that could use a fun, interactive STEM learning experience? Why not donate a Vorpal Hexapod?

Whether it be for a school STEM class such as programming or engineering, scouts working to earn a technology badge, or an after school technology club, the Vorpal Hexapod is a highly motivational tool that provides endless learning activities.

If you donate, we'll go above and beyond with these extras at no extra cost:

  • We'll recognize you on our "Supporters" page as a "Philanthropist"
  • We'll provide the school or group with a free 1-hour training conference call to help them deploy Vorpal in the most effective way.
  • We'll allow you to specify a custom "name plate" for the robot, for example the school or group's name, or anything else you deem appropriate.
  • We'll give you a small gift for you to keep for yourself, a little hexapod plaque thanking you for supporting STEM education.

Make a commitment to donate today!

The information below will tell you how.

How to Donate

  1. Make the appropriate level pledge at our Kickstarter Campaign to provide the product you're donating.
  2. Send us a message from within the Kickstarter System (there's a button to send a message to the campaign). Tell us that you're donating the hexapod, and tell us the name of the receiving organization.
  3. If desired, also let us know what the custom nameplate should read (for example, the school or group's name). This is limited to 15 characters due to space.
  4. When you receive the product, present it to the group!

That's all there is to it! We will know to add you to our Supporters page as a Philanthropist, and we will also include a small plaque in your order for you to keep.

Is it Tax Deductable?

In most cases, these kinds of groups are non-profits and donations would be fully tax deductible. You would be able to deduct the full purchase price of the hexapod.

Generally, donations valued at less than $250 by individuals don't require any kind of proof that the entity was a nonprofit. If you donate multiple kits you may exceed $250, but that's not a big deal, all you need is a written acknowledgement from the organization that you gave them the gift and the IRS will be happy. But in our experience, every organization will provide this to you, often without you even asking, because they'll send you a Thank You letter.

Public schools may want you to donate through their Parent-Teacher type group. Private schools often have a foundation or other entity set up to receive donations.

Major national scouting programs are also typically nonprofit institutions, as are many other groups.

What to Donate

It's important to identify what would be the best product to donate to the program you wish to support.

If you have a contact at the group, such as a science teacher, scout master, or adult who runs an after school tech program, then it may be a good idea to talk to them first about what would best meet their needs.

Here are some guidelines.

Access to a 3D Printer

Many schools now have 3D printers or access to local "Maker Spaces" and so they could produce the 3D printed parts themselves.

If they are willing to build the kit (not recommended for very young grades of course) then it could make sense to donate one or more of our BASIC KIT product. This allows you to provide them with a great building and learning experience at a very reasonable cost.

No 3D Printer, but Willing to Build

Older students (middle school, high school) can build our FULL KIT even if they don't have a 3D printer because it includes all the 3D printed parts.

Younger Grades or Not Willing to Build

For younger grades, and in situations where the adult leaders of a program don't wish to oversee a build of the project (it's not difficult to build, but some adults would rather not) then there are still a ton of great STEM activities available with our ASSEMBLED product. This can be used for games, activities, and Scratch programming to teach engineering principles.

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