Urmston writes the majority of his songs about historical and contemporary social issues, and advocates social change in many of his songs. Alongside his Dispatch band members, Urmston formed the nonprofit Elias Fund to sponsor community development and education in
Zimbabwe, including scholarships in the name of both of Elias's children. After creating the Elias Fund, Urmston also formed the Dispatch Foundation, which helps to address social and economic problems in
Zimbabwe and the Calling All Crows organization which works to empower women across the globe. He is also involved in the Amplifying Education organization, which helps provide schools in need of critical resources. Urmston was honored as Humanitarian of the Year by the
Boston Music Awards in 2008.
Elias Fund The story behind the song "Elias" written by Urmston about his experience living and teaching in
Zimbabwe inspired the
nonprofit organization the Elias Fund to form in 2005. The Elias Fund looks to provide hope and opportunity to Zimbabwean youth through community development and education while empowering the American youth culture to embrace their global role and make it an active one.
Dispatch Foundation In 2007, The
Dispatch Foundation was created following the
Dispatch Madison Square Garden Reunion benefit concerts. The organization works to address the deep-seated social and economic problems plaguing
Zimbabwe such as
inflation,
starvation,
unemployment and
HIV/AIDS.
Calling All Crows In 2008,
State Radio started an activist group called
Calling All Crows to "inspire public service" and "promote human rights." Currently, they are working with
Oxfam America's
Stoves for Sudan Project.
Calling All Crows is hoping to raise money for 5,000 stoves for 5,000 different women in Sudan through fan activism before concerts.
Amplifying Education The three members of
Dispatch founded the non-profit,
Amplifying Education, to encourage volunteers to take on simple actions to help improve schools and support education. The campaign works with the
Calling All Crows non-profit to organize tour projects. It has worked with more than 600 fan volunteers working nearly 4,000 hours to improve schools in North America and Europe. The band has also collected more than 10,000 donated books for Better World Books and has raised more than $250,000 to support local organizations. ==Equipment==