Organizations working in rural areas in the Mayan Peninsula will be able to advance in the implementation of their development projects thanks to the #TierrasMayas crowdfunding campaign and the contributions of donors made through the HIPGive.org platform throughout May, reported Junueth Mejía Martell, Senior Program Manager at HIPGive, which belongs to Hispanics in Philanthropy, a non-profit civil society organization.

At the end of the second edition of #TierrasMayas, HIPGive.org congratulated the participating organizations based in Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo, which raised more than USD 37,000 from 633 HIPGivers, to be invested in 12 different projects. Providing extra encouragement to reward the effort made and the results obtained, HIPGive itself contributed more than USD 23,500 in matching funds and USD 15,000 in other incentives.

Ana Cecy Canul, from the "Cecilia" Cultural Community Center, stated that participating in #TierrasMayas was a very agreeable experience: "It is the first time that we’ve published a project on a crowdfunding platform. It has been very instructive, we have learned a lot, ” she said after her organization won first place for attracting the largest number of individual donors. Their project to refurbish a 100 yr old Mayan house as a space for cultural activities for boys and girls in Tinún, Campeche, inspired 140 different people to make their donations online.

Also within the remit of the incentive for the largest number of HIPGivers, Educampo - Foundation for a New Solution, obtained second place with 127 “HIPGivers”; and Dialogue and Movement were in third place, with 101 “HIPGivers”. Jessie Romero and Artemia Fabre, representatives of these organizations, confirmed that crowdfunding does work in Mexico, as people are willing to donate small amounts to causes that interest them, and in contrast to popular wisdom, people are willing to make their donations online.

June Mejía Martell, from HIPGive, confirmed that the third edition of #TierrasMayas will be held during 2021, in the hope that the benefits can be extended to more projects led by civil society organizations in the region. "It is an excellent fundraising tool that assists in diversifying income streams and opens up new opportunities for organizations that are not formally registered or are not yet tax-deductible charitable entities," said Mejía Martell.

With great enthusiasm, Sara Oliveros, representative of Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación y Desarrollo Alternativo U Yich Luúm, shared that thanks to #TierrasMayas they reached their crowdfunding goal and will be able to carry out the project "Solares de Vida", which entails the creation of community gardens for the benefit of different families in Sanahcat, Yucatán. The gardens will enable the production of healthy food, especially vegetables and corn, along with raising native birds and pigs.

Centinelas del Agua is another of the organizations that reached its fundraising goal. Their General Director, Alejandro López, thanked those who gave for their solidarity. Their project, "Guardians of Water in the Mayan jungle", will work with the community of Solferino to ensure access to clean water, through community science education with children and young people and pollution prevention practices.

The results of the initiative and the details of the projects can be found on the official site:

www.HIPGive.org