Innovating new funding solutions

I wish peace, good health and happiness to all who celebrate any religious holiday this weekend.  However, I'm not sure any GOD is going to help us unless we do more to help ourselves.  Thus....

A few days ago I shared an article titled, "Funders, here's the blueprint for saving democracy", written by Vu Le.   I wrote about it in this article. 

I've used the term "blueprint" in many articles, to show a range of actions that donors, leaders, policy-makers, etc. need to be taking to help make sure well-organized, long-term, volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs are available in EVERY high poverty area of Chicago and other places with concentrations of persistent poverty.

I've been using this "Mentoring Kids to Careers" graphic, along with various versions, since late 1990s, to emphasize the same goals.

In the lower left corner is a map of Chicago, with high poverty areas shaded grey. These are the areas where mentor-rich programs are most needed BECAUSE of how they can expand social capital and aspirations and open doors to opportunity.  

What makes my work unique is that I don't just point to the research.  I maintain a list of Chicago volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs and look for ways to draw volunteers AND donors DIRECTLY to each program, throughout the year.   My long-term goal has been that a program website serves as the "grant proposal" and donors use that, plus the information I share about long-term mentoring, and the need for such programs in high poverty areas, to make funding decisions.

In this article you can find my list of programs and see how I plot them on a map. This helps people find existing programs and hopefully is used by planners to determine where more are needed.

Below I've created another version, highlighting one stage on my career ladder.

Kids grow one year at a time. Support  needed for many years.

It's great to be able to provide a youth tutoring and/or mentoring activity that lasts for one, or two years, but it takes 12 years to move from first grade through high school and four to six more years beyond that to be starting a job and career. Expanding the "who you know" network is critically important for kids living in areas of segregated, concentrated poverty where "who they know" is not as extensive as it is for kids living in more affluent areas.

The challenge Chicago and other places face is building and sustaining k-12 support programs in every high poverty neighborhood.  I've written about this often since starting my blog.  

View in this article

I've been writing articles and sharing graphics like this for nearly 20 years, but as just one voice, I don't have enough impact to influence the massive changes that are needed in how such programs are organized, designed and supported.

Below is another graphic that I use to emphasize the need for continuous flows of flexible operating dollars to youth programs in every high poverty neighborhood.

View in this article

The benefit of long-term support of mentor-rich programs as a form of social capital was reinforced in this 2023 article which points to a report from MENTOR, titled "Opportunities to Invest in Long-Term Social Capital for Our Youth: A Philanthropic Agenda".    

View this group of articles and find more research that donors can use to support funding decisions.

Here's an article about philanthropy that I wrote about in 2018 after it was published by Open Impact. It's titled, "The New Normal: Capacity Building During a Time of Disruption"

I read the article and saw many ideas which I've been trying to implement via the Tutor/Mentor Connection/Institute, LLC since 1993. So I decided to put it on Hypothes.is and re-read it, highlighting relevant parts, and writing comments in the margin that show my own efforts.

In the paper's introduction the writers say "we hope this paper will spark and important conversation". I agree. 

In my comments I suggest that philanthropy would dramatically change if donors were shoppers and if non-profits and social change organizations would put enough information on their web sites for donors, volunteers and clients to make better choices of who they support, and in what ways.  I also emphasize the use of maps to support a better distribution of resources to all high poverty areas of the Chicago region and other places where help is most needed.

Read about Annotation

Thus, I invite you to read "The New Normal: Capacity Building During a Time of Disruption" with three purposes:

1) build a deeper understanding of what I've been trying to do, and to find reasons to support my efforts and help carry them into the future;

2) build a deeper understanding of the challenges facing all social benefit organizations, in the US and the world, and a commitment to draw others into this conversation; and

3) see how on-line annotation works and build a commitment to launch other articles and invite more readers and learners to join in.

I look forward to meeting you in the margins.

So far no one has joined me in reading the New Normal article.   Maybe that's because so few people actually see my articles.

I post on Facebook, Twitter, BlueSky, Mastodon and LinkedIN and occasionally on Instagram. I also have graphics on Pinterest.com.  If you do a Google search for "tutor mentor" my web sites will be on the first page (after paid advertising). Thus, if people are looking, they can find me.

If you're connected to any youth-serving programs in any way (student, alum, volunteer, board member, staff, donor) you can help them attract support by sharing what the organization is doing and making an effort to raise the organization's profile.

You can even write articles like mine.

Thanks for reading!  Enjoy your weekend.