Role of Intermediaries and Consultants in Building Visibility for Non-Profits

8/3/2019 Role of Intermediaries and Consultants in Building Visibility for Non-Profits

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Institute on

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www.tutormentorexchange.net

On the Tactical Philanthropy Blog there's an articleshowing how a creative product manager and talentedadvertising agency turned carrots into a "junk food"and increased sales.

Tactical Philanthropyhttp://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2011/04/what-can-

junk-food-teach-philanthropy

The article got me thinking about the most effec-tive way to promote philanthropy. For the last

hundred years Americans have given about 2% ofincome to charity. This percentage has been re-markably consistent during good times and bad.Maybe the key to increasing the amount given to

charity is to get away from the give because it isgood for you (good for your soul, good for oth-ers, something you should do) approach andembrace a philanthropy as junk food mentality?

I come from a retail advertising background. I under-stand the need for massive on-going advertising todraw customers to stores. This has been a goal ofTutor/Mentor Connection since it was created in 1993.However, weve not had the money to do this.

In the graphic I show how consultants working atAccenture and similar companies could do a better jobof enlisting business support for tutor/mentor pro-

grams because they are already working as trustedpartners with these companies and involved in helping

them find new ways to sell their services.

These are intermediary roles that volunteers couldtake to support an entire universe of non-profits doingsimilar work, but in different places. Unleashing thistalent could dramatically change the quality and avail-ability of needed social benefit organizations.

Read this and related blog articles at http://

tutormentor.blogspot.com/search?q=consultants

Junk food and philanthropy, April 13, 2011

Bookmark

these:

Follow links.

Visit the blog at

tutormentor.blogspot.com in

order to follow the links

included in these stories

Subscribe to the Tutor/

Mentor Blog using your

RSS feed. These are two of

hundreds of articles written

since 2005. Follow these

stories and share them with

your network

The problems we write

about will not go awayuntil more of those who

dont live in poverty are

involved on a daily basis

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

November 13, 2011Volume 1, Issue 2

The Rest of The StoryArticles from Tutor/Mentor Blog Archive

Supporting the Role of Intermediary Organizations

As you read this article, also read

the analysis (on page 2) of theTutor/Mentor Institute written in

September 2009 by BradleyTroast, who was the 2009-10

NUPIP Fellow with Cabrini Con-nections, Tutor/Mentor Connec-

tion.

This and similar graphics shownon the Tutor/Mentor blog illus-trates the role of most consultantswho provide knowledge that helpsclients connect with ideas andresources that help the non profit,or the for profit, do its work.

- continued on page 2

Read these and follow the links at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com

Tutor/Mentor Institute Blog 9/5/2009http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/09/keeping-tmc-mostly-free-service.html


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Since 1993 the Tutor/Mentor

Connection has been providing a

wide range of services intended

to help volunteer-based tutor/

mentor programs throughout the

Chicago region, and in places as

far away as Africa and Australia.

Other than charging a small fee

to attend the Tutor/Mentor Con-

ferences in May and November

(and we give scholarships to all

speakers and anyone who re-quests one), we don't charge

anyone for the help we offer.

The diagram shown at the right

describes the way we've been

working. Rather than be in the

middle, charging a tariff for

information to go back and forth

between those who need help,

and those who can provide it,

we've moved from the middle to

a third point in a triangle. Our

information is intended to be

used by donors, volunteers and

public leaders, just as much as it

is intended to be used by tutor/

mentor program leaders, families,

youth, social workers, etc.

If we worked like a traditional

consulting firm, we'd only help

those who could pay. That

means, instead of trying to show

all of the tutor/mentor programs

in Chicago on the Program Loca-

tormaps, we'd only show those

who were paying for the listing.

Those with the least resources,

and in the poorest neighborhoods,

would be the ones who could

least afford our help. Yet, they

are the ones who need it the

most.

Thus, we've kept our services

free, depending on donors who

value what we do, and want the

same outcomes, to provide the

operating and innovation dollars

needed to provide our services.

That has not been easy because

some donors have gone out of

business and others have hadfunding guidelines that limit how

long they can fund us. Others

just don't see the value of an

intermediary, and can't see met-

rics that help them understand

what we are accomplishing.

Use the touch test, sight test, the

taste test, or the smell test. If you

can see it, use it, touch it, then

it's there. Skim through the links

on the http://tutormentor.

blogspot.comblog and you'll see

resources that we have created.

This is not a mirage. It did not

happen by magic. It has taken

many years of effort. Yet, it is

there for all to see, and all to use.

There was no T/MC in Chicago

prior to 1993, and in most other

major cities most of the interme-

diaries are still charging a fee for

you to get their help. There are

no other organizations doing all

of the things the T/MC is doing

to try to help volunteer-based

tutor/mentor programs grow in

EVERY neighborhood where

they are needed.

In the article on page 3, Bradley

is posing some questions for

how we continue this service

when donors have less to give

and a major champion has not

yet come forward to provide the

ongoing operating and innova-

tion dollars needed to keep this

service in Chicago, and FREE to

those who need it most.

We'd like your help.

Supporting the Role of Intermediary Organizations- continued from page 1

Page 2

Volume 1, Issue 2

Unleashing the talent in

consulting, technology

and advertising firms can

fill a void in the non-

profit sector."

See more graphics like this in articles on http://tutormentor.blogspot.com

Create learning groups to understand and apply theseconcepts in your own community. Connect on Twitter@tutormentorteam and Facebook at


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As I read this post* about Tacti-cal Philanthropy** blogger-turned-advisor Sean Stannard-Stockton, I got to thinking... thatsounds just like Daniel F. Bas-sill, President of Tutor/Mentor

Connection.

Nathaniel Whittemore writes:

This new [philanthropic advi-sory] firm is in many waysshaped by opportunities thatSean created for himself by

sharing his thoughts about theindustry in public, and encour-aging people to challenge him,

provoke a conversation, andcontribute their own ideas.

This is the power of the inter-net in today's world, and Iwish nothing but success forthose who use new tools to

push their fields, whatever theymay be, to important new

places.

Dan has continually pushed the

Tutor/Mentor field to new placesfor 35 years. Danblogs, dis-

cusses, maps, and tweets with a

vision that, because of the work

he and others do, more youths

born in poverty will start jobs

and careers by age 25, and more

volunteers will make a lasting

commitment to tutoring and

mentoring.

So if Dan were to start his own

Tutor/Mentor advisory firm,what might it look like? Well,

perhaps it already exists. The

Tutor/Mentor Institute gathers

and organizes all that is known

about successful non-school

tutor/mentor programs and

shares that knowledge to expand

the availability and enhance theeffectiveness of such services to

children in inner city Chicago

and other impoverished areas.

New programs have started and

existing programs have im-

proved based upon T/MI re-

sources. Dan is always available

for consultation by e-mail or

phone, and all of these services

are available for free. It may not

be that way for long, though. T/

MC is in financial trouble and

may not make it through the new

year.

Therefore, we need to think of

ways to monetize T/MC services

instead of relying on capricious

grant makers to fund the entire

organization. I encourage people

to think of T/MC as an advisory

firm like the one Sean Stannard-

Stockton is starting. T/MC offers

valuable consultancy on the

Internet, over the phone, and in-

person (if you're in Chicago). In

the business world, companies

pay good money for valuable

consultancy because it improves

their productivity and effective-

ness.

We hope that tutor/mentor pro-

grams see our value and, withintheir means, can make a dona-

tion to keep T/MC alive. We

also hope that donors viewing

this relationship will see its

value as well. An investment in

youth is an investment in the

next generation, and we are all

interconnected. "High riskyouths who are kept out of trou-

ble through intervention pro-

grams could save society as

much as $2 Million a youth per

lifetime," says Mark Cohen,

professor at Vanderbilt Univer-

sity's Owen Graduate School of

Management. Every child who is

helped by a volunteer-based

tutor/mentor program to become

a tax-paying adult represents a

savings and an investment.

In the space where society rec-

ognizes the importance of family

and schooling, it must also in-

clude out-of-school time. With-

out a holistic approach, we do a

disservice to many at-risk youth.

I appreciate your willingness to

engage with these ideas and I

appreciate your support of the

Tutor/Mentor Connection.

Thank you.

* Link to this blog article is at

http://news.change.org/stories/

from-brilliant-blog-to-business-

opportunity

** Link to this blog article is at

http://

www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2

011/04/what-can-junk-food-

teach-philanthropy

Tutor/Mentor InstituteA Social Enterprise?

Page 3

Volume 1, Issue 2

Maps are one of the resources

used by Tutor/Mentor Institute to

point volunteers and donors to

tutor/mentor programs in all high

poverty areas.

This article was written in

2009, two years prior to the

creation of Tutor/Mentor

Institute, LLC. If you want

to duplicate T/MC in your own

city, invite Dan Bassill to be-

come your advisor, consultant

and/or partner. Email:

[email protected]

Therefore, we need to

think of ways to

monetize T/MC

services instead of

relying on capricious

grant makers to fund

the entire

organization

This article was written by Bradley Troast , 2009-10 NUPIP Fellow with Tutor/Mentor Connectionsee http://cabrinipip.blogspot.com/2009/09/tutormentor-institute.html


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Tutor/Mentor Connection

Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303

Chicago, Il. 60654

Phone: 847-220-2151

Fax: 312-787-7713

E-mail: [email protected]

During 35 years of leading a volunteer based tutor/mentor program

serving inner-city youth in Chicago Dan Bassill has learned much

about how to connect youth and volunteers in on-going non-school

tutoring/mentoring activities. He also has learned much about what

does not work well, and what might be improved to support individualtutor/mentor program growth in all poverty neighborhoods of a big

city like Chicago.

Dans ideas are shared in the http://tutormentor.blogspot.com and

through essays shared athttp://www.tutormentorexchange.net. If

youd like to have Dan meet with your planning team, speak to a local

leadership group or be part of a conference you are organizing email

[email protected]


I began to published blog articles and PDF essays on Scribd in mid October 2011. Within a few

weeks these had been read by more than 600 people. If youre one of the readers, Id like your

feedback. Id also like your help in building the Tutor/Mentor Institute into a resource that sup-

ports the growth of volunteer-based, mentor-rich programs in Chicago and other urban areas.

To view the articles and links from the blog articles I posted today visit the following links:

Junk Food and Philanthropy Articlehttp://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2011/04/junk-food-and-philanthropy.html

Keeping T/MC a mostly FREE service

http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/09/keeping-tmc-mostly-free-service.html

Tutor/Mentor Institute article by Bradley Troast, 2009-10 NUPIP Fellowhttp://cabrinipip.blogspot.com/2009/09/tutormentor-institute.html

Read more Tutor/Mentor Blog Articles

Connecting people and ideas

to help inner city kids

The work we do to support volunteers and

youth once they join a tutor/mentor program

is what determines the long-term impact on

the lives of youth and the adults who become

involved.

Connect on-line:www.tutormentorexchange.net

Documents

Role of Intermediaries and Consultants in Building Visibility for Non-Profits