Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A new source of hope
Women create group to help low-income children and their families.
It’s a challenge for many South Florida nonprofits: How to engage young professionals and others in their 20s and 30s to give of their time, expertise and funds.
Getting local middle- and high-school students to volunteer often is a cinch; they need community service hours to graduate. And mobilizing senior executives to serve on boards or donate also can be easy; many see community service as part of their job and a way to network with other top leaders.
But engaging Millenials born between 1980 and 2000 tends to be tougher, especially for smaller local nonprofits that lack the name recognition of big national groups, according to nonprofit leaders.
That explains why two Broward County women in their mid-20s — a lawyer and a financial adviser — today are helping launch a new group: Young Professionals of Jack & Jill Children’s Center, aimed to boost awareness of the Fort Lauderdale pre-school that educates low-income children and helps their families.
“Our idea is bridging that gap” between young volunteers and older donors, said attorney TaylorMcGrath, a Fort Lauderdale native whose family long been involved with the 70-year-old nonprofit.
The new Jack & Jill groupis mobilizing younger adults mainly through social media, including its ownFacebookpage. It plans to host happy hours, including one today from 6 to 8 p.m. at Valentino’s restaurant at 620 S. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. And it aims to organize outdoor activities such as paddle-boarding or kayaking, said financial adviser Megan Patena.
“Our main goal is not to raise money but awareness of Jack & Jill,” Patena said. “As people get older and more involved in their career, then they’ll be able to donate more.”
Numerous local nonprofits have young professionals groups, including the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Its Ghost Light Society kicked off in 2009 to encourage 21- to 45-year-olds to recognize the importance of performing arts and encourage them to attend and support theater.
But engaging Millenials takes a different approach than working with other generations, research shows.
Millenials generally prefer communicating online, make small donations and want tobe“hands-on.” That contrasts with Baby Boomers, who tend to like newsletters, make large gifts and need not be active with programs, said Selena S.S. Smith, who leads communications for Families First of Palm Beach County.
“It can be more difficult” to engage the Millenials too, Smith added. “Their interests are changing, so they help one organization today, and then, tomorrow, something else will attract them.”
For Jack & Jill, hands-on programs face some hurdles. Thepre-school is open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, whenyoungprofessionals work. And with just one schoolhouse, there are few chances to paint or landscape onweekends, activities popular at other nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity, which helps build and repair homes.
ButMcGrath and Patena are confident that young professionals who take their lunchhourtomeetthe tots or attend the group’s few after-hours events will be as hooked as they are to help bring quality education to children, who otherwise might not get it.
The nonprofit needs to raise at least $1 million yearly from private donations to operate and serve its roughly 170 students and their families.