Here's some ideas that programs can still respond to.

 

Is your web site up-to-date? On the home page is there a photo showing a youth and volunteer connecting? This sounds obvious, but many programs do not signal their service to kids, especially if the tutor/mentor program is part of a larger organization.

Do you have a blog? If yes, is it up-to-date, with a story posted since September 2018, to show work you're doing NOW to help kids? Blogs on platforms like Blogger.com, Wordpress.com and Tumblr.com are FREE.  Enlist your kids and volunteers as story tellers who show the value of your organization.

If you have a page on Facebook, is it updated with one or more posts since September 2018? I look at many pages that have not been updated for more than a year. I can't tell if those organizations are active.  Do you post photos and/or videos on your FB page showing work you do?

Do you have a Twitter account? Do you post a Tweet at least once a week pointing to information on your web site that shows what you do, why you do it and how people can help you?  In the list of Chicago programs that I host, many have Twitter accounts, but only a few are active.  An example to look at are Tweets by different Big Brothers Big Sisters programs from around the country.  Here's links to  BBBS-NewYorkCity, BBBS TampaBay, BBBS Central Illinois, BBBS Chicago .   

Are you posting photos on Instagram? Cluster Tutoring, click here, is one of the users that you might try to learn from.   

What about LinkedIN? Do you post stories showing how your program benefits volunteers, and the companies they work for? See how TutoringChicago and Chicago Youth Centers are posting on LinkedIN.

What about other social media platforms? Send me examples showing how you use sites like Pinterest.com, or Slideshare.  
 

Here's another question. Are you using your blog or web site to share your communications strategies, and program design, so others can learn from you?  This "shoppers guide" presentation offers some suggestions for information you might put on a web site or blog. 

Telling your story consistently takes time, and discipline. But it's essential for attracting needed resources to you.

Are you asking your volunteers, students, alumni and donors to post stories on social media telling of their involvement and encouraging others to help you?

IS THIS A STRATEGY YOU USE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, NOT JUST IN DECEMBER?

Look at the articles on the Tutor/Mentor blog and see how I write articles weekly to urge people to support tutor/mentor programs throughout the Chicago region.

 

Anyone involved in the work of helping kids living in economically disadvantaged areas could be writing similar stories throughout the year. And while you want them to point to your program and its web site, they can also point to the need for well organized programs in all parts of Chicago, and to the concept map where I host my list of Chicago programs and point to other lists that can also be used.

A rising tide raises all boats!  That means what we each do to build support for the entire ecosystem of programs, benefits each program as a result.