DONATING TO TUTOR/MENTOR CONNECTION! > Tutor/Mentor Connection

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

DONATING TO TUTOR/MENTOR CONNECTION!
By nsbyrer @ 4:22 PM :: 1203 Views ::

What will the impact of your life be in 100 years? Will it be measured by the wealth you accumulate or the people you develop to be leaders of the future? Will you have contributed to building a bridge from poverty for children and youth around the world?

Now more than ever before, tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and around the country are struggling for operating dollars to keep their doors open. While we know every reader will have dozens of charities asking for contributions during the holiday season and throughout the year, we urge you to plan to set aside a portion of your giving for tutor/mentor programs.

Imagine how difficult it would be for a child to grow up if at age three a parent said, "Find a new parent. I can only fund you for three years." Sounds ridiculous. Yet the policy of many philanthropic organizations and govenment grants cuts off funding after two or three consecutive years of funding. That means programs constantly must find new donors to keep society's commitment to kids who need help.

Mentoring is like parenting. It's long term. Research shows that the longer a mentoring relationship lasts, the stronger the impact will be. It takes experienced, committed staff to build trust and participation of youth, volunteers, parents and donors. Without a steady flow of dollars, programs cannot keep core staff and this trust-building process is constantly changing. While T/MC's efforts are intended to build a greater flow of dollars to Cabrini Connections, and every other Tutor/Mentor Program in the city, we are a long way from achieving that goal. Which means Chicago is a long way from having an afterschool network that is achieving its potential of helping keep all kids safe, in-school, and heading to careers.

Here's what you can do about it!

1) Make a personal giving plan.Pick a tutor/mentor program and make a commitment that for the next ten years you will provide an annual gift of xx% (you choose) of your income. Start as low, or as high, as you choose. If your income goes up, so does your gift. If it goes down, so does your gift.

2) Put a tutor/mentor program in your estate plan.Don't let the government have so much of your money at the end of the year. Give some to a tutor/mentor program in Chicago, or your own community. We'd like to see Cabrini Connections, 800 W. Huron, Chicago, Il. 60622, and the Tutor/Mentor Connection get some of your donations, too!

3) Look for creative ways to support a tutor/mentor program. One volunteer ran in the Chicago Marathon and raised over $1,200 in contributions. Two volunteers asked friends to send contributions to Cabrini Connections instead of gifts when they were married. More than $1,000 was given to Cabrini Connections as a result! Another volunteer, Sara Caldwell, (who lives in California!) organized an Art Festival to raise money. One family asked the memorial gifts be given in memory of their son. During the holiday season consider hosting a tutor/mentor holiday party that raises funds for a tutor/mentor program. Look for opportunities throughout the year where you and your friends can raise money for your favorite tutor/mentor program.

4) Encourage Payroll Giving at your workplace.Cabrini Connections receives workplace contributions through company campaigns at Microsoft, Abbott Laboratories, Allstate, Household and through the Black United Fund of Illinois, Inc. and through workplace donor campaigns at Allstate, Abbot Laboratories, Microsoft and similar companies. Just by telling your co-workers, family and friends of your involvement, or support of a tutor/mentor program, you encourage them to also share a part of their workplace giving with a tutor/mentor program. Cabrini Connections is listed with the Black United Fund of Illinois in Illinois CFC campaigns. Look for us when you're making your annual giving plan.

5) Dedicate a portion of profits from new projects to tutor/mentor programs.Sara Caldwell, of Amphion Productions (www.amphionpro.com), dedicated 5% of profits from book projects to Cabrini Connections. Dave Whitaker,a long-term Cabrini Connections volunteer, donated royalties from a book he wrote, titled, Cabrini-Green: In Words & Pictures, to Cabrini Connections. You can order copies of this book from Cabrini Connections. See more. Imagine if new technology start-ups would set aside one percent of stock to provide on-going funding to the tutor/mentor program of their choice. As the company grows, so does the donation!

6) Organize a program within your professional or business network that recruits volunteers and raises funds for tutor/mentor programs. The Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend A Hand Program at the Chicago Bar Association/Foundation (www.lend-a-hand.net) is a model that we hope will be duplicated in many professions and many cities.

7) Adopt A Neighborhood. Dedicate new charitable trust funds to funding tutor/mentor programs, such as Cabrini Connections, in specific neighborhoods where these programs are most needed. In 2000 and 2001, the Steans Family Foundation of Chicago awarded $8,000 to tutor/mentor programs in Lawndale, matching money given by the Lend-A-Hand Program to tutor/mentor programs in the Lawndale area. We'd like to see such commitments in all 50 high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago. We'd also like to see such foundations using comming guidelines such as those developed by the Lend A Hand Program to fund one-on-one programs.

Finally, make sure your gift goes to a tutor/mentor program.While many well-known youth organizations exist, not all offer one-on-one, long-term volunteer-based tutoring and/or mentoring as part of their range of services. And while these programs have similar needs and expenses, we feel that the inclusion of the 'one-on-one and group mentoring' component is essential because they expand the range of adults who begin to get personally involved in the lives of inner-city youth.

You can see many models of mentoring at the Program Locator section of this web site. Choose which type of mentoring you want to support, but please, choose one. We all need your help.

Let us know what you think. Post a comment in the Discussion Forum, or send an email to tutormentor2@earthlink.net

Note: While you cannot take your money with you when you move to another life, you can leave a legacy by supporting programs that help disadvantaged youth have the same opportunities that you have had from your own life.

NOTE: If you operate a Chicago area program, and are not listed in the Program Locator, or if your information is not current, you can now add or edit your own information on the web site. Contact the T/MC and let us show you how to keep your information current. This will help you find volunteers and donors for your organization.

Comments