We’re Merging! Now what?
Dear Faithful Friends Family,
You probably heard the great news about our merger with Transitional Youth. (If not, read our press release here). I wanted to share a bit more about the “why’s” and let you know how you all can help with this exciting transition.
Over the last several years, we’ve faced a number of challenges:
our revenue has declined year after year
our expenses climbed each year
we cycled through 4 Executive Directors over the last five years!
None of these challenges bode well for building a long-term, sustainable business especially in these challenging times when many are facing uncertainty.
We have no doubt that our mentoring program is impactful in life changing ways. That’s why we’ve been adamant about keeping our mentoring program going and supported. And we desire to add even more mentor / mentee matches. But with our finances being on a hamster wheel for a sustained period of time, we knew we needed to position ourselves better for the future by partnering with a larger, more established faith-based non-profit that could not only help sustain our mentoring program, but provide synergy whereby we could both be better at what we do by coming together.
Through the entire process, both NPO’s have been delighted on how smoothly every meeting and conversation has gone. We do not take this for granted! We both feel that this is like a force of gravity, that God brought this together, and that there is nothing that can stop this from coming to fruition. We can’t tell you how excited we are from both sides that this is actually happening!
So how can you help?
We could use your help with supporting and spreading the word about three campaigns we are launching before the end of the year.
Christmas Market & Silent Auction (9a-3p 12/14) and “Sounds of Christmas” Concert with Patrick Lamb (4-6:30p) at Mt Hood Community College
This will be our first co-branded event for both NPO’s. The event will have two components to it:
Christmas Market: We will have a market from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. that will have items for sale from local vendors. Santa & Mrs. Clause will be there for photo opportunities! We will have silent auction baskets and much more. This will be a fun event where you can get a nice dose of Christmas spirit and also help support both NPO programs. Did we mention the free hot chocolate for mentees?!
Sounds of Christmas Concert with Patrick Lamb: We will have a concert / celebration from 4:00-6:30 p.m.. Tickets are $30 per person. We are limited to 480 tickets, so first come, first served! All proceeds will go to our combined NPO’s. We are also seeking some corporate sponsors for this event, so if you know of anyone who may be interested, please let us know.
To learn more about these two events, visit the Transitional Youth website.
Giving Tuesday
We will soon have a fundraising campaign where you can make contributions and share this special year-end event. Many companies will match donations, some even tripling an employee’s donation for this event, so ask your employer if they participate (or would consider it) and spread the word! We feel this event is what the holidays are all about: supporting worthy nonprofits that work hard to make the world a better place. Link coming soon.
End of Year Campaign
We are looking to raise some money for both NPO’s to help in the process of launching our merger more smoothly. We are excited to share about a generous grant with a $30,000 match for any new donors. Every dollar counts, so feel free to let folks know about this.
I want to take the time to thank all of you. Whether you are a mentor, mentee, donor or partner, you have ALL been a HUGE part of our success. We feel this program is worth fighting for and we know we have a lot more work to do, but we feel confident that things will only get better with this new merger.
THANKS BE TO GOD!!
Al
