Frequently Asked Questions
What is a RAK Week celebration?
RAK Week celebrations vary widely. An individual may celebrate kindness by performing anonymous kind acts all week long. An educator may lead a discussion about kindness and involve students in a brief kindness activity. Some celebrations are school-wide. Some celebrations are community-based rather than school-based. The choice is up to you. For hundreds of ideas, consult our Education and Community sections on this website.
It seems clear enough that people should be kind every day, not just during one week of the year.
Random Acts of Kindness Week is designed to give those who are not currently aware of Random Acts of Kindness a chance to experience the joy of passing along kindness. The week’s purpose is to raise awareness about kindness and to invite people to give and receive kindness daily.
In addition, educators often request a particular week during which they can focus their efforts on one theme. When schools celebrate RAK Week around Valentine’s Day, they can be sure that all students are included in the celebration — not just those who are friends or sweethearts.
Of course, our goal is for everyone to practice kindness 365 days a year! Thousands of people have already caught this vision and actively communicate to us concerning how kindness has improved their school, workplace, and community climate year-round.
MATERIALS
How do I download materials from your website?
To view and print our materials, you must first download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download this free service, you may click on the link provided in the previous sentence or on any one of the Adobe Acrobat icons on our webpage.
Unless you have a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer, you will not be able to view and print our free printed materials.
If you have any difficulty downloading Adobe Acrobat Reader, please contact your own system administrator (or the individual who set up your computer system). Regretfully, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation cannot respond to individual computer difficulties due to limited staff time and the intricacies of thousands of user systems.
I don’t have a printer. How can I access your materials?
Most libraries have computers with Internet access that you can use. You can print our materials from there. If you work in a school, there may be a computer available there as well.
Can I have your materials mailed to me?
We no longer print and mail our materials. If you need them printed out and do not have the computer facilities to do so, we can mail you a CD that has all of our printed materials as well as our digital images.
You can then take the CD to a local copy center/print shop and print out the materials from there. If you want the color digital images printed, the copy center employees will be able to help or advise you.
Why don’t you produce items for sale anymore, such as T-shirts, bookmarks, and posters?
Because of our tens of thousands of participants, selling promotional supplies required excessive record keeping, telephone, and email time. With a staff of three full-time employees — only one of whom handled orders — we have decided instead to make the digital images available directly to you on our website.
This eliminates filling orders, storage costs, delivery delays, and many other factors. With our new system, you can download the digital image you want onto a CD or disk and have it printed on the item for which it was designed. You can also print your own recognition certificates to hand out to your volunteers or school RAK Club without waiting for delivery from us.
Can I use the Random Acts of Kindness name, logo, digital images, and other materials without violating existing copyrights?
For legal reasons, we must protect the use of our logo carefully. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation logo may not be used on letterhead, on T-shirts or other promotional items, or displayed in any way unless authorized by The Foundation. The approved uses are shown on the website and include: bookmarks, oversized postcards for children or adults, posters for children or adults, T-shirts, bumper stickers, stickers, and buttons. Each image must be produced only on the item specified for that design and appear exactly as presented on our website, without modification in any way.
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation grants permission for Kindness Coordinators to use and copy the above mentioned graphic images provided by The Foundation as long as they are used in support of the Random Acts of Kindness movement. They may not be used to promote or advertise a business or for personal or monetary gain.
Quotes from the series of Random Acts of Kindness books may be used. Please credit The Foundation with this phrase: “Reprinted with permission from The Random Acts of Kindness™ Foundation.”
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
Are you a religiously affiliated organization?
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation does not have religious affiliations. We encourage the practice of kindness in all sectors of society, among all people around the world.
Some of our participants are involved in faith groups and some are not. We hope that people of all beliefs will be inspired to share with others this core human value: kindness.
Whatever your life principles are, we welcome you into the Random Acts of Kindness movement. Every act of kindness you share brings more good into the world.
How are you funded?
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is funded by a private donor who wishes to remain anonymous. This person’s sole purpose in supporting our foundation is to bring more kindness into the world.
Can I contribute financially to The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation?
The Foundation does not accept donations, grants, or membership dues of any kind. If you have money you would like to contribute, we encourage you to share it in your own community as an act of kindness.
Does The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation give money to worthy causes? Can we apply for a grant?
Our charter does not permit us to offer grants or other financial assistance. We encourage people to contact their local community foundations for grants or charitable aid.
GETTING INVOLVED
How do I get started with kindness?
Browse through our Activity Idea Guide (available on our website at www.actsofkindness.org) and notice what ideas light up for you. Kindness is really a way of life — becoming aware of the needs around you and responding to them. You may wish to show kindness in simple ways, such as giving a hug, sharing garden produce, or writing a note to someone who has positively affected your life. On the other hand, you may be a born organizer, skilled at assembling larger events; you might wish to put together a kindness event that both helps those in need and encourages ongoing kindness. Either way, know that your contribution of kindness is valuable.
Consider your time, enthusiasm, and resources (including people who may be able to help you!) before you decide what is best for you. Then, enjoy sharing kindness!
How do I become a Kindness Coordinator?
It’s free — simply decide to encourage kindness in your area! For instance, you can be a Kindness Coordinator in your neighborhood, doing simple acts of kindness that hopefully inspire others to perform kind acts of their own. You may wish to involve a friend, a group, a faith organization, your workplace, or your entire community. If you are an educator, you can include a club, a classroom, a few classes, the whole school, or the surrounding community. You may be as involved as you wish.
Once you decide to become a Kindness Coordinator, let us know what you’re doing to encourage kindness! We share ideas from all over the country, and we would love to know that you are out there, actively involved.
Also, consider participating in our Discussion Board (on our website under What People Are Doing), where you can share ideas and suggestions with other coordinators.
In addition, we have a Search the Nation section (under What People Are Doing) where you can find other coordinators in your state. If you are actively involved in kindness activities, you can create your own Random Acts of Kindness webpage from our Build a Kindness Site (under What People Are Doing) and post what you are doing to encourage kindness in your area. (These webpages — along with all our website input — are subject to our review before posting.)
One point to remember: Being a Kindness Coordinator is not a rigid commitment. Sometimes our coordinators need to slow down or take time off to tend to personal needs. As you are kind to others, be kind to yourself as well. Move at your own pace.
How can I volunteer for The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation?
Our “volunteers” are everywhere! — all across the country and around the world, encouraging kindness in their schools and communities. These wonderful people are our Kindness Coordinators, and we provide ideas and materials for them to use as needed.
We do not currently have office or website volunteers. We believe that people can achieve more lasting and positive change by taking the initiative to share and encourage kindness in their own communities. All of our materials are created to help people spread kindness every day, right where they are.
Do you send out email newsletters or updates?
Yes! It is free to become a member of the Foundation. On our website, simply click Become a Member (under What People Are Doing), check the box at the bottom that allows us to add you to our email list, and we will send you our quarterly update.
If I share my contact information with you, will you sell it to others?
We do not share or sell contact information with anyone.
If you wish, you may choose to make your contact information known on our website when you become a member. The choice is up to you.
Occasionally, local or national media personnel call us and ask for kindness contacts. We will not share your information unless we contact you first and get your permission to do so. Moreover, we will not contact you about media coverage if you did not choose to share your information when you became a member.
If you would like to edit your membership information on our website, go to What People Are Doing / Members Area / Manage Your Account.
ABOUT KINDNESS
What should I tell people who are skeptical about kindness?
If you meet someone who has doubts about the effectiveness of kindness, mention that Random Acts of Kindness is a way to bring about important systemic change. We currently encounter various signs of disrespect among adults and children — road rage, adult-to-adult intimidation, school bullying. While violence can demoralize a community, kindness can empower and uplift it. Kindness is one of our most important human tools in connecting with one another, enhancing the emotional climate around us, and bringing good into the world.
Kindness is fundamental to human experience and is essential to the success of human relationships. We all need kindness shown to us, and we all need to express it. Kindness connects us to one another and inspires hope within us.
Kindness also transcends those boundaries we place among ourselves — boundaries of religion, race, gender, culture, age. Kindness encourages friendship, reciprocity, and healing among individuals and groups of people. To be kind is to call forth the best of our humanity.
Check out Inspirational Quotes on this website (under Inspiration). Many of the world’s great thinkers and leaders have recognized and championed the power of kindness.
What about people who say that kindness shouldn’t be random?
The words “Random Acts of Kindness” are a response to the widely used phrase “random acts of violence” that we hear all too often in our world today. The word “random” does not necessarily mean “unplanned,” any more than random acts of violence are unplanned.
As you will see in our materials, our foundation promotes both unplanned and planned acts of kindness. There are times when we are aware of someone’s need, and we plan a way to help out. Other times a stranger needs a bus pass, and we spontaneously hand over an extra pass of our own. Some kind acts require significant planning, and some require nothing more than momentary inspiration. All are valuable.
In addition, the word “random” encourages us to look beyond our circle of friends and family. It is sometimes those completely unexpected gestures to or from total strangers that have the most impact on our lives. Practicing kindness is raising our awareness to those people surrounding us every day — at home, at work, on the street, in the subway — any one of whom may need an act of kindness.
At our foundation, we encourage Random Acts of Kindness as positive acts that bring all kinds of people together. Among our thousands of participants, some are more likely to offer spontaneous acts of kindness, some choose to create planned activities, and some do both. We honor them all, because these people are living kindness, and they are truly changing the world.
