Gather for UrbanFUTURE

A few weeks ago in this space, I talked about how you can support UrbanFUTURE's efforts, but those were more general ways to support UrbanFUTURE. Today, I want to talk about a specific way you can help spread the word about UrbanFUTURE to family and friends in a social, non-threatening environment.

Several months ago, two different UrbanFUTURE volunteers approached me about their own ideas for engaging their networks in the work of UrbanFUTURE. One mentor decided she'd like to host a luncheon with some of her friends, so she could tell them a little bit more about the organization and encourage them to get involved as volunteers and/or donors. The casual luncheon at the mentors house has resulted in over $500 in gifts and a few women interested in volunteering with UrbanFUTURE.

Another mentor, told me about how a group of guys within his profession get together for happy hour every other month. He thought it would be cool if each month a different charity was featured. The guys donate $20 to the charity and get a chance to catch up with one another and learn more about the work of the charity. As luck would have it, UrbanFUTURE has been the featured charity for the first two of these happy hours, and will again be the featured charity in October. To date, the happy hours have raised just under $400, but more importantly, 20 new individuals (and counting) have been introduced to UrbanFUTURE.

Anyone can do this. Whether you want to use a specific party (birthday, anniversary, holiday), a regular get together or plan something on your own, you can help get the word out about UrbanFUTURE to those in your network and spend time with family, friends and co-workers in the process.

If you are interested in hosting a get-together on behalf of UrbanFUTURE, please contact me (Tim Weiss) at (314)776-3434 or tim@urbanfuturestl.org. UrbanFUTURE will provide any informational materials and will have someone come to your event to talk about how people can get involved in UrbanFUTURE's work.