Hoping for a big of luck

 I created this four leaf clover image a year ago and have had it posted on the Tutor/Mentor Connection web site since then. The four leaves point to the 4-part strategy that I've been following since developing it in 1993-1995 as a way to support the growth of volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and other cities. 

I added my own photo to the graphic a few weeks ago and posted it to my Facebook page.  

In both cases I pointed to this page, with a PayPal button that people could use to send me small contributions. 

So far a lot of people tell me how much impact I've had on their lives or how much they like what I'm doing, but too few are providing the financial support needed.  Part of this is because I'm no longer operating under a non profit structure (since 2011).

That's not by choice.  Since splitting from the non-profit organization that gave birth to the T/MC in 1993, I've not found a team of people who would fill the talent slots in the graphic below, with an  understanding and commitment to the work and goals of the Tutor/Mentor Connection. 

Without a small group of leaders, with some civic reach and the ability to raise money, forming a non-profit structure is not possible.

Thus, I continue to do this work, but with limited resources, but with daily hope that my good fortune and the work I do will bring people to me who share the goals and will help do the work.

In many blog articles, like this one, I include maps and articles, that illustrate that the work I've piloted in Chicago needs to be happening in every major city in the US, and in similar cities around the world.

Thus, the talent that supports this work, and the leaders who create a new non profit structure, could come from any city in the US. Or from around the world. Such people would be visionaries who understand the strategy, and don't want to start from scratch, or reinvent the wheel, but want to help build a process and tools that they could apply locally, at a fraction of the cost it would take to develop locally.

I've also written articles, like this one, showing that universities or teaching hospitals, in different cities could adopt the Tutor/Mentor Institute, and lead it as their own on-going strategy. 

Through social media I connect with hundreds of people every day. If anyone in the world does a Google search for the words "tutor mentor" they will find my sites on the first page.  Do the search. Look at the images. See how I communicate these ideas.

I created this graphic many years ago as a network-building worksheet. Each of us is surrounded by friends, family, coworkers and others who are interested in our work. We only need to tell them about it and some will offer support.  However, each of these people also has a network. If they tell of the work you do, that reached people you don't know. 

Ultimately, this reaches someone who has the power, influence, talent and/or wealth to make a huge difference in what you are doing.

It's not luck when these people find you. It's a result of the work that is done every day to nudge the network and to provide ideas that others can spread in their own networks.

If you've read this far, I hope you'll take the next step and share it with your network.