A variety of programs fall under the heading of the ODE Suite: Outreach, Diversity, Education.
Outreach includes contacting venues and talented artists and inviting them to the conference. Some invitations include confidential scholarships to help various people with registration and other expenses.
Diversity is an especially valuable type of outreach. Underrepresented individuals identified with groups of all kinds may receive offers of scholarships or other assistance to promote and help facilitate a wide range of attendee life experiences and musical genres among our membership.
Education has always been part of our mission. While all of our participates donate their time as part of the FAR-West volunteer tradition, funds designated for education may facilitate the appearance special speakers or skilled teachers by covering their travel expenses, making it possible for them to bring their talents to our membership. As we expand our virtual presence, education funding will be needed to edit and share educational videos on line to both fulfill our mission and to raise awareness of FAR-West in general.
Because FAR-West is a volunteer based organization, we have no salaried officers, our conference and other activities are run by volunteers and we have no office space or other similar overhead. We are pleased to be in a unique situation where funds donated go directly to the designated programs themselves at the highest efficiency level.