Category: WP-ORG

WP-ORG is currently in the middle of our fundraising drive, and we need your support. For 28 years, WP-ORG has provided essential online communication services for West Point graduates and their families.

While social media has become popular for class communication among younger graduates, some classes and societies have discovered the challenges of relying on large, unresponsive platforms when assistance is needed. For example, after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, we were able to immediately remove sensitive images from our servers to protect Afghan interpreters who had worked with U.S. forces. Because our contact information is available online, I received a phone call from a COL, who informed me that graduates had understandably posted photos of themselves, and their fellow soldiers on personal and class websites hosted by WP-ORG. In some of those photographs, were the images of Afghan interpreters.  He was alarmed that those individuals were at great risk for identification. With him on the phone to guide me to the images he had identified, I was able to immediately remove those images to protect the people left behind, who had aided our troops.  Over a day or so, we found, and removed, images that likely would have put people in more danger. This level of responsiveness simply isn’t possible with big social media companies. At WP-ORG, we’re here to help you with a single phone number and email address, always ready to assist.

So, what do we do for West Point graduates? We provide web-based services for classes, societies, and individuals at no cost. This includes creating websites, offering WordPress templates, and providing personalized support to help users learn and manage their sites. We upload the basic framework and a basic template, and, if needed, teach the user some of the basic techniques to start their website in a person-to-person manner. We don’t just give you a platform and leave you to figure it out—we’re here to help every step of the way.

A few of the available services for graduates are listed here:
https://www.west-point.org/grad-services/

Can you easily avail yourselves of this service?  Yes!  A very few examples are the classes of 1960, 1955, 1968 and 1989
Class of 1955: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1955/
Class of 1960: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1960/
Class of 1968: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1968/
Class of 1989: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1989/

Recently, the Class of 1955 found themselves in a tough situation when their longtime webmaster could no longer manage their site. A volunteer stepped forward, and we transitioned them to an easy-to-manage WordPress site, while preserving all of the invaluable historical content his classmate created. 

Our commitment is to ensure that these pages remain available. If classes would like, their page may be turned over to class children to continue the legacy of the class. One class listserv for a ‘40’s class is being maintained by a class daughter, allowing for the children to communicate and stay connected.

All of these services—and more—are made possible by your donations. Every six months, we hold fund drives to keep WP-ORG running smoothly. Your contributions directly support the platforms and personalized services that graduates rely on.

Please consider donating today to keep these critical services available for all West Point graduates and families and here for you!

General Donation Link: https://www.west-point.org/donate/
Credit Card Donations: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/
Donation Report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/
FD56 Budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/

Respectfully,

Dian Welle
WP-ORG, Inc.

Dear WP-ORG Community,

We’re kicking off our 56th semi-annual fund drive (FD56) with a goal to raise $40,465, ensuring the continued operation of West-Point.ORG for the upcoming six months.

To contribute, you can donate online via this link: https://www.west-point.org/donate/. You can select your preferred payment method – credit/debit card, PayPal, check, or even stock donations. We believe in full transparency, so if you’d like to see the specifics of our budget, it’s available at https://www.west-point.org/budget/.

For the past 28 years, we’ve relied on your twice-yearly donations to keep WP-ORG running and serving the West Point community. Your contributions serve as a strong endorsement of the work we do. By keeping West Point grads, parents, cadets, and friends connected through email lists, websites, and other resources, we’ve been able to fulfill our mission. This approach has worked successfully for nearly three decades, and we’re confident that together we can make this fund drive a success as well.

Our goal is to continue offering the services you depend on, from dynamic WordPress-powered websites for clubs and societies to email listservs that keep everyone in touch. Your support has always been the key to helping us carry out our mission providing “an online communications infrastructure that enables graduates, parents, and friends of the military academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together”.

Please consider donating today:

• General Donation Link: https://www.west-point.org/donate/
• Credit Card Donations: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/
• Donation Report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/
• FD56 Budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/

Thank you for your continued trust and support!

Sincerely,
Warren Hearnes ’89
on behalf of WP-ORG Advisors

Cease work!

Thank you for your quick response to our 55th bi-annual fund drive request. In only seven days, our users pushed us past our goal! That is amazing.

WP-ORG is an organization created by graduates and parents that is completely independent of West Point and the Association of Graduates, and our goal is to serve the communication needs of graduates and West Point families. When we get to our fundraising goal this quickly, we know that we are accomplishing that mission. Thank you for your continued support!

Donation Report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/

Sincerely,

Warren Hearnes ’89
for the WP-ORG Advisors

WP-ORG members:

I’m proud to announce that WP-ORG is kicking off our 55th semi-annual fund drive with a goal of $39,822 that will help cover our costs over the next six months.

Fifty-five consecutive successful fund drives! I never would have anticipated this when we started WP-ORG in 1996 with the mission to provide an online communication infrastructure that enables graduates, parents, and friends of the military academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together. We continue to do semi-annual fund drives because we believe it helps keep us responsive to the needs of the community – if we’re not providing value, then we won’t meet the goal.

You’re receiving this email because you’re subscribed to one of the many lists that we host for academy grads, parents, and friends that help foster connection, community, and conversation. We provide our services free of charge and ask for donations from those who have found value in these conversations and are in a position to give. Thank you to all our past supporters that have helped us continue our mission for the past 28 years!

Instructions to donate by credit card, PayPal, check or stock donations: 
https://www.west-point.org/donate

Direct link to the credit card donation Site:
https://secure.west-point.org/donate

Donation report broken out by affiliation:
https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report

Sincerely,
Warren Hearnes ‘89
on behalf of WP-ORG Advisors