We’re great at planning memorable experiences for youth.
- A trip to remember in the wilds of South America.
- A one-to-one mentoring session to their first ever movie theater experience.
- An evening at a fancy restaurant or an intimate dinner party for your small group.
- A scavenger hunt to end all scavenger hunts.
- Volunteering at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
The list goes on and on.
But how often do you invite others – particularly other stakeholders who might be advocates (or even potential donors!) for your youth work – to join you?
I know that for me it’s often my colleagues, my volunteers and me with my young people. You can create lasting memories for people who might become your biggest community champions by inviting them to join in when appropriate / possible.
Stakeholders
Possible stakeholders to include are:
- Your organization’s management team, directors and / or board members
- Parents
- Donors and fundraisers
- Community leaders
- Law enforcement officers
- School officials
- Business owners
- And many, many more!
Stakeholders don’t have to be limited to those with the money or influence in your youth work. You can also invite those who support your work but receive little praise, yet their selfless dedication to your young people clearly means they support what you do.
Our Dinner Party
I recently had the opportunity to invite my group’s van driver to join us for a dinner party. At first she hadn’t planned to come inside, but with high temperatures and a short drop off / pick up time she decided to come along.
She had such a great time.
She loved seeing the young people using their manners, enjoying their dinner and teaching them skills she had long ago taught her own (now grown) children. She said at least four times how much she appreciated what we did for the youth and how grateful she was to be a part of it. She commented a few times about how she was going to write about her adventure on her blog. She was genuinely really excited to see the program from the inside and to get to interact with the youth.
And all it took to make her feel like a part of the program was an invitation – and now we have an even bigger community advocate and volunteer.
Other Stakeholders
Here are some examples of people to consider inviting along as a thank you, or as a chance for them to really see what you do:
- Bus or van drivers
- Catering or hospitality team members
- Janitorial staff
- Sunday school teachers or elders
- That person who comes and unlocks the center each week
- The people within the neighboring organizations, businesses or houses that are right next to your center
- Funding team members who actually apply for your grants and therefore fund your programs
Question: How do you include stakeholders and other community members in your youth programming? How could you invite them to share lasting memories with your youth? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.
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Image courtesy of Welsh Mackem, Flickr