Phil Mendez

Why YPS?

I wanted to understand the motivation behind the project, so I interviewed SSF’s executive leaders and looked through board meeting notes. The motivation, I found, came in three parts.

1. SSF had a strategic goal of 100 YPS members and was less than 30% to that goal five months past the target date. They wanted to align reality with their strategic vision;
2. by diversifying revenue streams to include young donors, SSF could develop a more sustainable portfolio;
3. by taking action that supports the inclusivity and empowerment of young people, SSF would be blazing the trail for the local nonprofit community. They would be setting an example, elevating the status of their organization and increasing the odds of winning competitive grants.

Once I knew these underlying goals, I surveyed the field of young philanthropy work for best practices.

What’s Been Done?

To not reinvent the wheel, I called on several resources to ask about best practices. I contacted friends from Dartmouth, CASE, and lean local start-ups like Domi Station to ask “what’s been done before?” Then, I made a master list of relevant initiatives.

One of my favorites was McMaster University’s “Two Minute Tip Video Series.” The video series asks young alumni with established careers to share their best advice for recent graduates in 2 minutes.

The Plan

Once I had done my homework and surveyed the field, I made a plan to improve communications, stewardship, and events

Communications

The communications to-do list included an exploration of brand identity, a web page redesign, writing call/email scripts, scheduling appeal letters, sending press releases, interviewing young alumni, and developing new strategic content like “YPS Spotlight” features and a series of videos with young alumni.

Stewardship

In improvements to stewardship, I wrote a personal “welcome to YPS” letter and impact statement to newcomers. I also ordered pins to be delivered to new members to create a feeling of membership and unity, which played on the new flower brand as a symbol of growth, hope, and power. YPS Members could also enjoy the limelight by joining an interview to create material for a YPS Spotlight article or video feature.

Events

This was one of my favorite aspects of the campaign, and the most powerful in terms of building a culture of philanthropy and getting people to sign on as members. A YPS-focused event had the power to bring people into the circle of young philanthropy and celebrate the spirit of giving.

The concept for the event was “a fun place to meet with friends over music, drinks, and snacks.” Any current students or alumni could join. There, fundraising staff (or volunteers) could lead discussions about philanthropy, activism, and impact.

Moving beyond conversation, participants could engage in philanthropic activities like writing thank you letters to YPS members, reflect on prompts like “what will your legacy be?” and make their first donation to join YPS right there at the event.

Lessons Learned

• Create spaces for people to share stories. We created an environment for conversations about giving and making a difference to happen at our YPS events. In this social, human setting, people felt the most compelled to give.
• It's ok to be direct. The donation process can be a little mystifying for first-timers, and people don’t always know when to pull the trigger, so sometimes the best approach is to make a direct ask, “will you donate x amount?” We had computers open to the donation portal at our YPS events to make it even easier.
• Support is more than just money. It’s volunteers. Some people had a knowledge gap that prevented them from going to the donate page of the website. They needed help. So, we recruited YPS members to reach out to their non-YPS peers and show them how it's done.