Keeping up the Tutor Mentor Connection

If you guys have been keeping up with our posts, you'd know that I mention the Tutor Mentor Institute more than any other organization. When I started working seriously with Femi Memorial Outreach, my first big non-profit conference was sponsored by the Tutor Mentor Institute. I think I learned more in that one, activity packed, day than I had in my first month as an administrator and program developer.

Many of our readers might not know this, but I'm only a college-student. So submerging myself in the culture of non-profits was both overwhelming and exhilarating. There is so much to learn, and so many obstacles to tackle. As a newcomer to the non-profit game, I'm sure the more well-seasoned participants roll their eyes at my naivete. Of course it's hard! The giant obstacles inherent in a non-profit are also what make it so dynamic. And, there's always someone out there more experienced and wiser to give you some advice.

Example: Here is the latest set of videos put out by the Tutor Mentor Institute and Becoming We The People. Taken from a panel discussion in Hyde Park, a couple of non-profit "experts" gave advice while participating in a panel on obstacles in non-profit business. Take a look.

You can find more here, as well as on Dan Bassil's, founder of the Tutor Mentor Institute, blog.

Fundraiser Wednesdays

Hi there!

So, if you've checked our twitter in the last couple of weeks, you'd see that Femi Memorial Outreach has been getting ready for a big fundraiser in the next couple of months. We can't say too much about it now. However, all will slowly be revealed! I can't wait to write up the big post in May after it all happens, with loads of pictures and wonderful news.

As a blog, we are mostly targeted towards keeping the general Chicago public informed about what we do as an organization as well as the latest in education news. But, we are also an organization that strives to be a successful non-profit. Part of this job includes helping out other non-profits/ becoming a community of non-profits. (If you want more about becoming a network of non-profits, visit an older post here, or the tutor-mentor connection website). So, in an effort to help out other non-profits-- and generally educate the public and our lovely readers on what it's like to be a non-profit--I'm starting Fundraiser Wednesdays.

Every Wednesday, I'll be working on our fundraiser. After all the hard work, I'll let you, our readers, know step-by-step what I did. Since this is Femi's inaugural fundraiser, hopefully we'll all be learning something together. It goes without saying that I'm a newcomer at this. But, I won't hesitate to share mistakes, mishaps, and great accomplishments.

In our first installment, we'll be working on Picking a Venue.

The first step in planning a fundraiser is thinking about what kind of event you want to have. The second step ( and perhaps the more important step) is thinking about what kind of evemt you should have. What I mean is, Femi really wants to throw a lavish banquet and thank you dinner for all of our lovely donors and tutor mentors. Think jazz band, the South Shore Cultural Center, and big white bows wrapped around chairs lining a dining table the length of a ballroom! That would be thrilling, no?
But, we should be holding a less cost-intensive event where getting money is our main focus, not an extravagant set-up.

This was our first, shaky, scary, BUT firm decision: throwing a dinner, with no illusions about the fundraising aspect of it-- this includes ticket and table sales, as well as auctions and raffles. After all, there's a reason it's called fundraising. Until your organization is a big one, cinematic banquets have to be a pipe dream.

So we started looking for venues. This is a frustrating task. Most people turn to hotels immediately when thinking about an event. However, these are often very expensive. Not only do you have to rent a space, but you have to bring in individuals caterers and wait staff to host the event, as well as decorators to make it look pretty. Sometimes hotels will do two, or even three of these tasks. But, it's going to cost you. So what are other options? Restaurants? Gymnasiums? Auditoriums? Parishes? The options are endless and overwhelming-- to make matters worse, there's no comprehensive list of  " Affordbale Fund Raiser Venues In Chicago" out there. Believe me, I've Googled.

My advice: work your connections. Most likely, your organization is affiliated with some space, somehow. Or someone on your board is, if the organization isn't. When you have a personal connection with someone they are more likely to offer you a deal on the space rental, or some other cost. Think about someone you know with a great space, no matter how far removed the connection. It may be an unlikely space, like a huge warehouse, or a small restaurant. But, it doesn't matter what the space normally is. What matters is how you can tailor it to fit your needs in a cost-efficient manner. If your organization is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3), this is going to be a little easier for you, and you should work that advantage.

 Our main objective when looking for a venue was affordability, as well as streamlining the process (meaning bringing in as few outside parties as possible). Finding a place that does all three things (host a space, cater the food, and decorate) is the optimum venue extraordinaire. When you book a space that offers you the triple threat, they are likewise more easily convinced to give you a deal.

So-- the most wonderful and ideal venue location hosts, dines, and rents; is somehow affiliated with the organization; and will offer you a deal on at least one of your expenses.

If you're still reading I know what you're thinking. How can you find this!? But securing only one part of this ideal venue gives you a great advantage. This is an exercise in innovation, creativity, perception, and diligence.

Sounds a little overwhelming, I know. The first step is the scariest and the hardest. You'll keep worrying if it was the right one to take. The first week will be all phone calls and meetings. You and your Excel Spreadsheet will become best friends. But, don't fret. After this is gets (a little) easier!

Next Wednesday-- Looking for Sponsors!

 

Links for the Week

Here are some good links, around the web about education, social issues, and the wonderful city of Chicago.

A sad, and bizarre take on the Chicago Father of the Year contest, which speaks a lot to the way we view fathers in society, and especially impoverished communities. 

The war for the charter school is on in Alabama: click here, and here to read more.

Obama announces $1 million plan to train new educators.

The Chicago Tribune weighs in on the longer school day, Rahm Emanuel, and Arne Duncan.

And an article on Maurice Sendak, beloved author of children's book Where the Wild Things Are.


Happy middle of the week!

R.I.P Hull House

For those of you unfamiliar with Hull House, here's the rundown:
It's old.
Started in 1889 by public intellectuals, authors and suffragettes Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, Hull House began as a safe haven for feminist activism. Founders Addams and Starr worked tirelessly to provide shelter for neglected children, female victims of domestic abuse, and European immigrants.Under their watch, Hull House helped influence loads of legislation, from creating the local library branch system in Chicago, to child labor laws and immigrant rights. What started as a state-level project to ameliorate poverty, turned into a major political platform for the Progressive party on the federal level.

Jane Addams, co-founder of Hull House

Hull House was created out of the founding tenants of Americanism-- hard work should yield equal rights and opportunities. Its mission was the kind of thing we only hear presidents talk about now, but never fully feel the effects. I mean, here's an inspiring tidbit: Starr taught Shakespeare, Browning, and Dante in the slums of Chicago before "reading initiative programs" even existed!

The original Hull House building

Over time, Hull House grew out of its physical namesake house, and into a larger umbrella organization offering social welfare services across the city of Chicago.The association had over 50 programs in 40 sites, serving around 60,000 individuals, in families and communities every day. Late last month, however, with little warning, Hull House employees were handed their last paycheck. Few knew the organization was in financial trouble, let alone filing for bankruptcy.
The words "too big to fail" didn't seem to hold true in the banking industry-- but where does this leave non-profits?

The social issues that moved Addams and Starr to start Hull House haven't drastically changed in the last, oh, 123 years. Addams wrote in her book The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (1909), that she feared the urban life had a negative effect on children, harming the spirit of youth ( as the title suggests). Art, drama, and foreign language, and free-speech were valued above all. In her public speeches, Addams strayed from academic language, hoping to inspire and reach an audience without an education. This is a pre-World War ideology we're talking about here, where the practice of democracy trickled evenly into the realm of ethics, immigration, and most importantly, education. 

What does a non-profit strive to do now? Provide economic empowerment options, better educate youth, and facilitate social mobility-- these objectives don't seem too far from our predecessors' (Addams and Starr) initial dream. So how can something so deeply embedded in an American and Chicagoan history,  just go away? Why does Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac get bailed out, while Hull House slowly sinks into a watery grave?

I already mentioned earlier this week that we had to say goodbye to one of our locations after our after-school coordinator was let go from Hull House. Although this is something that personally hit our organization, it's more shocking that I was one out of 60,000 individuals in Chicago affected by the Hull House. So what is there to say? 

The slums of yesteryear, aren't distant cousins from the urban housing projects of today.

Chicago Slums 1890s

Chicago Urban Housing 2012

I feel like everyone in the non-profit game wanes in enthusiasm from time to time. Education outreach or urban renewal, more than any other philanthropic sect, seems to be the hardest-- a constant battle upstream. Because donors are rarely from lower-income themselves, there isn't the same humanist and subjective impulse to donate, as there is, say for cancer research. Changing lives is an amorphous goal, especially in today's world where evidence, results, and science feel like the only ways to actually demonstrate progress. Is it the inability to chart progress, through human lives, what keeps the education reform movement stagnant?

But, what about these photos? Can we say there's been progress? I think there's definitely been an increase in the quality of education since the 1890s-- but in a much different way than Starr and Addams probably envisioned.

Does the mere structure of American society ensure that "urban housing" or slums will exist? With all the help from non-profits, how can we still feel like we are getting nowhere fast? Which of us are too small to fail, but too small to make a real difference, too?

A belated Happy New Year, and other glad new tidings

Happy Belated New Year! I know, we're a bit late. Although we've been on the downward slope on keeping up the blog, we still haven't forgotten about our internet community. Stories have been buzzing around my head, and I can't wait to get back into the swing of things.
Would you believe it if I told you we've been busy this year?

2012 has already brought so many wonderful opportunities.
First off, we've partnered with a new school site to begin tutoring. Welcome McNair Elementary to the world of Femi Tutoring. Valerie and I went in early December to the site to do a walk-through and preliminary safety inspection with the head of Off-Campus Employment at Dominican University. We recruit tutors predominately from Dominican to work in our sites on the West Side.

McNair was one of the most inspiring sites I've been to since working with Femi Outreach.
Since the West Side is a transitional neighborhood, the school has had to work hard to keep up with the ever changing flux of students. Additionally, Chicago has one of the most under-funded and attended mental health and disabilities programs for children, especially in the inner city.  (For a great article on WBEZ about this, click here.) Principal Shirley Dillard has gone far beyond the call of duty in fully equipping her school to cater to the needs of handicapped children, grades K-8.

Each floor, comprised of long, tiled sparkling hallways, has designated classrooms divided into grade, and level of disability. Here, students ranging from simple hearing impairments to severe learning handicaps are able to receive the right amount of attention, with trained specialists and in a class room of their peers. McNair doesn't exclusively have a handicapped student population-- all types of children roam in and out of the school day, with toleration and acceptance always at the top of the lesson plan.

I want to welcome McNair today, but also congratulate the Femi Team! It's an honor to be able to work with such a virtuous institution.

However, with the ushering in of a new school, sadly comes the goodbye to another. Unfortunately, we no longer can claim John Hay Elementary as part of the Femi mission. Earlier this week, the fall and bankruptcy of the Jane Addams Hull-House brought the organization to an end. Our participation in John Hay relied heavily on the presence of Hull House, who staffed an after-school supervisor and extra-curricular coordinator for many years. Without the Hull House, we are unable to continue serving the students there.
Later in the week I hope to write more about this. Look out for a post.

To close, here is a picture taken by Valerie of one of our senior tutors, Kristine, whose been with the organization since her freshman year of college. She works in one of our Park Districts on the North Side. 

And look at that forecast! Hello Chicago!

Lastly, some links to things going on around the internet today, along with interesting education articles.
Goodbye Hull House
Obama on drop out rates
10 Tips for traveling with kids
Some great stories by kids over at the 826 writing gallery, and here
Article by bullies, for the bullied
A great organization in Chicago for girls, and finding their confidence


That's all!
Happy Wednesday.