Showing posts with label volunteer recruitment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volunteer recruitment. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Telling the Tutor/Mentor Connection Story

As I've mentioned in the past, one of the most difficult parts of my job is to explain the Tutor/Mentor Connection quickly and effectively, while not misleading people into thinking of it as something it's not, such as a simple membership organization. For this reason, we have been working with a number of interns from IIT who are helping us to animate some of our concept maps and links libraries in order to make the information more engaging and straightforward. Check out this animated resource map that our interns Sungjoong and Gunwoong have been working on! I'm currently recording some audio voiceovers that will come up when you first load the page as well as when you scroll over the various page elements.

They're also doing this for our homework help links and Tutor/Mentor Connection strategy map. So check out their progress and be sure to stay tuned for the finished product in a week or so!

This type of project is an example of something that tech savvy volunteers like Sungjoong and Gunwoong can do from a distance. Since we are sharing strategic planning information via our wiki's, anyone, from Seoul to San Fransisco to the South Side can be helping us to build and share knowledge about what we and others are doing to help at-risk kids. What role can you play?

Friday, June 26, 2009

United We Serve

Yesterday President Obama kicked off his new summer volunteerism campaign, United We Serve, which aims to motivate Americans of all stripes to volunteer their time and talents through an online clearinghouse of volunteer opportunties, www.serve.gov. As a volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring organization, we depend on mobilizing passionate volunteers to achieve our mission of helping at-risk Chicagoland youth enter college and careers by the age of 25. However, few of our potential volunteers comprehend the wealth of potential volunteer opportunities at our organization. Beyond mentoring a youth one-on-one or in enrichment activities such as Tech, Writing, or Art Clubs through our Cabrini Connections program, volunteers can help The Tutor/Mentor Connection accomplish it's important aims by serving in the following roles.
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Information Management

Web Researcher and Links Manager —Collect and maintain the information and links on the T/MC Web site. Volunteers search the internet for new links, check existing links and organize online discussions to help people find and use this information.

Event Organization

Chicagoland Tutor/Mentor Volunteer Recruitment Campaign—Work on a year-round basis to develop and implement strategies that recruit volunteers for tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region. Raise funds to support the campaign. Time commitment: approx. 4-6 hours per month

Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference and Volunteer Training—Organize the May and November leadership conferences and eConferences. Provide training, education and support to volunteers, leaders, and business, media and philanthropic partners. Time commitment: approx. 3-6 hours per month

Public Relations

Here are links to some articles about the Tutor/Mentor Connection.
Help us increase the number of people who visit this web site and use this information, and you play a valuable role in helping us connect inner city kids in long-term volunteer-based programs.

Communications—Prepare publications, brochures and other media used to connect youths, volunteers, parents, donors and other stakeholders with each other and the tutor/mentor community. Volunteer roles can be ongoing or project-based. Time commitment varies.

Net-Worker—Actively spread the word about tutoring/mentoring to others through church sermons, Web site links, email, letters, or word-of-mouth. This is the easiest and possibly most important role anyone can take. Just by encouraging someone to visit this Web site you enlarge the army of tutors/mentors and resource builders in Chicago. Time commitment varies.

Blogger—Write about tutoring and mentoring in blogs and forums. Time commitment varies.

Fundraising

Fund raising—Raise funds to support T/MC or other tutor/mentor programs in Chicago. Become a champion of tutoring/mentoring in your company, church or civic organization. Help organize fundraising events, write grant proposals and recruit a network of potential donors. Time commitment varies.

Technology

Technology Planning—Develop and implement the TM/C technology plan. Determine necessary technologies, acquire technologies through a variety of fundraising efforts, and work with Technology Coordinator and volunteers to maximize use of technologies. Time commitment: approx. 4-8 hours per month.

Database and Information Management—Develop and maintain interactive databases used to collect and share information. Volunteers should have extensive experience in database design. Time commitment varies.

GIS Mapping and Training—Build the GIS mapping capacity of T/MC and create a youth apprentice program that teaches teens to create map views and Web pages that show where tutor/mentor programs are needed and where they are located. This is a career development activity. Time commitment: approx. 4-6 hours per month.

Call (312-492-9614) or contact us if you're interested in volunteering. Volunteers can serve more than one role and can also be one-on-one tutor/mentors if they wish.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Has Obama inspired you?

If you're not already aware, our wonderful eLearning and Technology Coordinator recently created a website to replace our aging "Tutor/Mentor Institute". It's called the Tutor/Mentor Exchange and it has information about a wide variety of tutoring/mentoring related topics, particularly those aimed towards helping potential advocates to more effectively support tutoring/mentoring initiatives of all kinds. There are articles here for anyone wants to help us in our goal to give every child growing up in poverty, access to a high quality tutoring/mentoring program...for those who agree with President Obama that our nation's success depends "on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

If you have been inspired by Obama's call to service like so many others and are in the health care field: check out the Tutor/Mentor Hospital Connection to see how you can make a difference.

If you or anyone you know is a student, professor, employee or is otherwise affiliated with a College or University, check our our model for a University Tutor/Mentor Connection

K-12 students should check out this article here to see how they can play their part in creating a more just world

How about faith communities? We have hashed out a plan to help concerned individuals mobilize their church, mosque or temple to help at-risk youth succeed!

Are you a lawyer or know a lawyer? Check out our Lawyers Lend a Hand campaign and see how you can join other members of the legal community who are connecting with at-risk kids all over the city and broadening their horizons.

Or perhaps you find yourself among the ranks of the unemployed, retired or otherwise have some extra time on your hands... perhaps you might be interested in starting a tutor/mentor program? If so, check out this collection of essays and how-to guides about what it takes to start AND SUSTAIN a volunteer tutor/mentor program. The information in these essays draws from decades of tutoring/mentoring experience culled from the members of the Tutor/Mentor Connection as well as Cabrini Connections Founder and CEO Dan Bassill's personal experience. In either case, it's worth checking out.

Hopefully you'll find one of these links worthwhile and find a way to get involved and use your particular talents to make a difference!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

National Mentoring Month is upon us

A few weeks ago I wrote an article framing youth mentoring as a public health issue. Luckily, it seems as if we here at the Tutor/Mentor Connection aren't the only ones who conceive of mentoring in this way. In fact, our very own president-elect Obama is lending his support to a mentoring campaign by Dr. Jay A. Winsten of the Center for Health Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health. In a recent New York Times article Dr. Winsten explained that for this mentoring campaign "the idea is that encouraging mentoring is 'a public health effort', just like substance-abuse prevention or violence prevention." This campaign, run jointly by the Harvard Mentoring Project and servicenation.org is set to run throughout January, which is National Mentoring Month, both in print and online in a variety of media outlets. This idea, that youth mentoring is a public health issue and thus should be supported by community health care providers, is one that I will be addressing at length this winter as Nicole and I attempt to put our Tutor/Mentor Hospital Connection into action.

This mentoring campaign has ten action items for the month of January and I challenge you all to do one or more of the following:

* 1. Become a mentor in your community.
* 2. Learn more about mentoring.
* 3. Partner with a mentoring organization.
* 4. Tell 5 friends about National Mentoring Month.
* 5. Think about the mentors in your life and post a tribute to them online.
* 6. Watch videos of celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Sting, Cal Ripken, Jr., talk about the mentors in their lives.
* 7. Read the latest research and find resources on mentoring.
* 8. Go to YouTube on Thank Your Mentor Day&0153; (January 22nd) and make the National Mentoring Month videos the most popular of the day!
* 9. Serve your community on MLK Day of Service by deciding to become a mentor.
* 10.Make a donation to a mentoring organization in your community.

Keep in mind that you can support youth mentoring initiatives in a wide variety of ways, not just giving monetary donations or volunteering as a mentor (though these are 2 great ways to get involved!) Any skills or passions you have can be utilized by mentoring programs to improve youth outcomes. For example, in my last post I described how 2 girls with a passion for interior design decided to come to Cabrini Connections during their winter break and design and build a "college zone" for our kids. Through their passsion and initiative, students now have a comprehensive resource center for all things college. Let your inspiration be your guide throughout national mentoring month and think about all the different ways YOU can make a difference in a child's life.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Volunteer recruitment and other things

The month of August is upon us, and that means that our Fall Volunteer Recruitment Campaign is now officially in full swing. From now until the start of school we will not only be recruiting volunteers to be paired up with Cabrini-Green youth in tutoring/mentoring relationships throughout the year vis a vis Cabrini Connections, but we will also be promoting Tutoring/Mentoring programs across Chicagoland through our Tutor/Mentor Connection Volunteer Recruitment Campaign. So last week I sent PSA releases to every single Chicagoland radio station promoting tutoring/mentoring. Below is the 30 second spot I created that will be airing from now until the end of September all over the Chicagoland airwaves.

"As thousands of children prepare to go back to school in the Chicagoland area, we need to remind ourselves of different ways we can make a positive impact on their lives. Nearly three dozen Chicago Public School children were killed last year as a result of violent crime. Thousands more will drop out of school this year or turn to a life of crime. Let's create change. Become a tutor/mentor and make a difference in a child's life. Tutor/Mentors not only improve a student's academic performance but contribute to their overall well-being by simply being a friend, a parent and a mentor all in a just a few hours each week. Visit WWW DOT TUTOR MENTOR PROGRAM LOCATOR DOT NET to find a program near you and make a difference today. "

A shout out is due to my friend and WNUR General Station Manager Adam Clark for recording this and a number of other spots that we'll be playing in the future. Thanks dude!

So as I was writing this PSA for Adam to record, I figured that I might as well save him some time and have him record some spots that we could benefit from in the future, pertaining to our year end/holiday giving campaign, Fall Tutor/Mentor Conference and National Mentoring Month (January). This made me think about the importance of planning far ahead and having a regular set of events that systematically move towards our organizational goals of both improving and expanding our own tutoring/mentoring program for Cabrini-Green youth as well as expanding and facilitating access to tutor/mentor programming to all high poverty regions of Chicago and youth who could benefit from it. This is done through a carefully planned series of yearly events that build off each other, increasing the profile of tutoring/mentoring through a consistent flow of programming.

For example, I came on board here a month ago, in the middle of the summer. Summertime around here means that, besides a few scattered events like the Six Flags trip and the Edgewood College Visit, and a couple after school clubs, there aren't a lot of kids running around. To the uninitiated it may appear that a tutor/mentor program without kids around isn't doing a whole lot, but yet, we staff still manage to fill our days to the brim with things intrinsically related to our organizational goals. For instance, we planned and held a year end banquet and golf benefit, one of our largest fundraisers of the year and are currently organizing another fundraiser, a bar crawl known as Martini Madness.

I have been updating our tutor/mentor program locator, which has information for more than 400 tutor/mentor related programs in Chicagoland. As one might expect, this is an enormous undertaking for one person to do on their own. However, the goal is to empower each organization with the tools to constantly update their own profiles as their programming changes by making the program intuitive and user friendly enough for both programs and potential clients to come together to their mutual benefit. Also, we are hard at work planning not only our November tutor/mentor conference, but also our May Conference as well as lots and lots of volunteer recruitment events. These events include the Volunteer Recruitment Coffeehouse that Nicole is organizing at the ING Cafe on August 21st to foster collaboration between various programs and numerous recruitment fairs and events that begin this week. So as you can see, there is always more work that can be done to improve both our own program and myriad others, even when the kids we serve are conspicuously absent.

On a related note, I'm beginning to realize that my life is no longer organized in neat 3 month increments like it has been for the past 4 years, and that I need to start thinking over the much longer term in order to really understand the impact I'm having here. Rather than do crazy amounts of work in short bursts and having it be more or less irrelevant 3 weeks later, is much more important to work consistently, building on prior work and cultivating relationships over the long term, so that they are sustainable if/when you leave or change positions. For this reason it's important to have very clear goals, an effective plan for reaching them over the long-term and a system for documentation as you progress towards said goals. I'm fortunate that Cabrini Connections and Tutor/Mentor Connection seem to be so well planned and organized, perhaps that's what allows them to continually play a leadership role in the Tutor/Mentor community both here in Chicago and internationally. I'm hoping that during my time here, these modes of long-term, strategic thinking will begin to come more naturally to me, and I can play a significant role in the creation of new plans, ideas and programs to better serve our youth and grow our organization in the long run. More to come...