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Let Them Lead!

The following article was published in the latest AFP Minnesota Newsletter and written by long-time STLF Supporter Don Taylor.

Author: Don Taylor, Minneapolis Foundation

For the past several years, I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to volunteer with a student led and run organization, Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF). A small group of young leaders has grown its mission from an idea in a dorm room of the University of Minnesota to being well on its way to creating a national model for its program.

Its mission? To reveal leadership through service, relationships, and action. It’s target audience? Students on college campuses, in high schools and in junior highs across the nation.

Outcomes? STLF strives to serve people and change the world by providing opportunities of service, leadership and personal development for its target audience.

How? Its major product line is a “pay it forward” tour that engages students in a week-long bus trip to a major destination—stopping all along the route to do community service projects in communities chosen by students on the tour. (Hint: Let them lead!)

Here are five things I’ve learned as an adult working with youth:

• Let them lead! Youth are eager to find their own solutions to complex problems—related to both mission and organizational development. Finding a balance between your years of experience and their thirst to acquire knowledge through their own experience is essential. Sometimes, getting out of the way is the best strategy!
• Give them tools! Youth are eager to learn the tools of the profession. Make sure they get introduction to ALL of the tools available and not just those that seem the most fun, are the most expensive to produce and require the most labor—special events. I provided partial scholarships for a few to attend The Fundraising School at the Center for Philanthropy in Indiana. It was the best investment! Light bulbs turned on in spades! They came back from the week-long class having obtained gifts from all of the other participants!
• Help them connect! As professionals, we have expanded networks of philanthropists, business people and fundraising peers who are resource rich. Too often we think of people’s checkbooks and not the resource of knowledge. Youth want to network and learn from others. Give them some access to your knowledge rich contacts.
• Be open to new technology! I’m convinced youth will teach those of us with years of experience in the profession a thing or two about social networking. While probably never a great tool for major gift fundraising—I’ve seen examples where tools like Facebook outperformed direct marketing techniques, used limited resources and got money in the door FAST! If you remember the axiom “people give to people” you’ll quickly value the social networking taking place through technology.
• Old ways make way for new ways! The group aspires to a new kind of leadership—both organizational and in governance. There are three co-executive directors that lead the organization. That requires constant communication about vision, mission and strategy. Tour planners for high school tours are college-aged students who were past participants in college tours—learning to lead others. Leadership employs a volunteer board of directors---but have also engaged a more visible “advisory” structure that helps them connect with community leaders, funders and great business strategies.

Youth have expectations that things will happen fast—just about everything in their world does! Be prepared to cheerlead from the side and help them understand that good stewardship and donor cultivation leads to major gifts!

College student Kari Foley organized a “gala” event in 2007 which raised $7,000 in 2007 and $29,000 in 2008. Kari is now a junior in college. In September of 2008, Time magazine listed the 21 Ways to Serve America. Students Today Leaders Forever and the Pay It Forward Tour was listed as the #2 way to serve! STLF Alums have raised over $20,000 for Autism Research, $11,000 for Special Olympics of North Dakota, $18,000 for Relay for Life, and organized a “fill the dome” campaign for hunger relief in the Fargo/Moorhead area.

• Click here to read the full Summer 2009 newsletter from the Association of Fundraising Professionals - Minnesota Chapter.

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