Volume 1, Issue 2

November 13, 2011

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

The Rest of The Story

Articles from Tutor/Mentor Blog Archive
Read these and follow the links at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com

Junk food and philanthropy, April 13, 2011

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Follow links. Visit the blog at tutormentor.blogspot.com in order to follow the links included in these stories Subscribe to the Tutor/ Mentor Blog using your RSS feed. These are two of hundreds of articles written since 2005. Follow these stories and share them with your network The problems we write about will not go away until more of those who dont live in poverty are involved on a daily basis

On the Tactical Philanthropy Blog there's an article showing how a creative product manager and talented advertising agency turned carrots into a "junk food" and increased sales. Tactical Philanthropyhttp:// www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2011/04/what-canjunk-food-teach-philanthropy The article got me thinking about the most effective way to promote philanthropy. For the last hundred years Americans have given about 2% of income to charity. This percentage has been remarkably consistent during good times and bad. Maybe the key to increasing the amount given to charity is to get away from the give because it is good for you (good for your soul, good for others, something you should do) approach and embrace a philanthropy as junk food mentality? I come from a retail advertising background. I understand the need for massive on-going advertising to draw customers to stores. This has been a goal of Tutor/Mentor Connection since it was created in 1993. However, weve not had the money to do this. In the graphic I show how consultants working at Accenture and similar companies could do a better job of enlisting business support for tutor/mentor pro-

grams because they are already working as trusted partners with these companies and involved in helping them find new ways to sell their services. These are intermediary roles that volunteers could take to support an entire universe of non-profits doing similar work, but in different places. Unleashing this talent could dramatically change the quality and availability of needed social benefit organizations. Read this and related blog articles at http:// tutormentor.blogspot.com/search?q=consultants

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Supporting the Role of Intermediary Organizations

Tutor/Mentor Institute Blog 9/5/2009http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/09/keeping-tmc-mostly-free-service.html

As you read this article, also read the analysis (on page 2) of the Tutor/Mentor Institute written in September 2009 by Bradley Troast, who was the 2009-10 NUPIP Fellow with Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection.

This and similar graphics shown on the Tutor/Mentor blog illustrates the role of most consultants who provide knowledge that helps clients connect with ideas and resources that help the non profit, or the for profit, do its work.
- continued on page 2

Volume 1, Issue 2

Supporting the Role of Intermediary Organizations

- continued from page 1 Since 1993 the Tutor/Mentor Connection has been providing a wide range of services intended to help volunteer-based tutor/ mentor programs throughout the Chicago region, and in places as far away as Africa and Australia. Other than charging a small fee to attend the Tutor/Mentor Conferences in May and November (and we give scholarships to all speakers and anyone who requests one), we don't charge anyone for the help we offer. The diagram shown at the right describes the way we've been working. Rather than be in the middle, charging a tariff for information to go back and forth between those who need help, and those who can provide it, we've moved from the middle to a third point in a triangle. Our information is intended to be used by donors, volunteers and public leaders, just as much as it is intended to be used by tutor/ mentor program leaders, families, youth, social workers, etc. If we worked like a traditional consulting firm, we'd only help those who could pay. That means, instead of trying to show all of the tutor/mentor programs in Chicago on the Program Locator maps, we'd only show those who were paying for the listing. are the ones who need it the most. Thus, we've kept our services free, depending on donors who value what we do, and want the same outcomes, to provide the operating and innovation dollars needed to provide our services. That has not been easy because some donors have gone out of business and others have had funding guidelines that limit how long they can fund us. Others just don't see the value of an intermediary, and can't see metrics that help them understand what we are accomplishing. Use the touch test, sight test, the taste test, or the smell test. If you can see it, use it, touch it, then it's there. Skim through the links on the http://tutormentor. blogspot.com blog and you'll see resources that we have created. This is not a mirage. It did not happen by magic. It has taken many years of effort. Yet, it is there for all to see, and all to use.

is posing some questions for how we continue this service when donors have less to give and a major champion has not yet come forward to provide the ongoing operating and innovation dollars needed to keep this service in Chicago, and FREE to those who need it most. We'd like your help.

Unleashing the talent in consulting, technology and advertising firms can fill a void in the nonprofit sector."

There was no T/MC in Chicago prior to 1993, and in most other major cities most of the intermediaries are still charging a fee for you to get their help. There are no other organizations doing all of the things the T/MC is doing to try to help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in Those with the least resources, EVERY neighborhood where and in the poorest neighborhoods, they are needed. would be the ones who could least afford our help. Yet, they In the article on page 3, Bradley
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See more graphics like this in articles on http:// tutormentor.blogspot.com Create learning groups to understand and apply these concepts in your own community. Connect on Twitter @tutormentorteam and Facebook at

Volume 1, Issue 2

Tutor/Mentor InstituteA Social Enterprise?

This article was written by Bradley Troast , 2009-10 NUPIP Fellow with Tutor/Mentor Connection see http://cabrinipip.blogspot.com/2009/09/tutormentor-institute.html

As I read this post* about Tactical Philanthropy** bloggerturned-advisor Sean StannardStockton, I got to thinking... that sounds just like Daniel F. Bassill, President of Tutor/Mentor Connection. Nathaniel Whittemore writes: This new [philanthropic advisory] firm is in many ways shaped by opportunities that Sean created for himself by sharing his thoughts about the industry in public, and encouraging people to challenge him, provoke a conversation, and contribute their own ideas. This is the power of the internet in today's world, and I wish nothing but success for those who use new tools to push their fields, whatever they may be, to important new places. Dan has continually pushed the Tutor/Mentor field to new places for 35 years. Dan blogs, discusses, maps, and tweets with a vision that, because of the work he and others do, more youths born in poverty will start jobs and careers by age 25, and more volunteers will make a lasting commitment to tutoring and mentoring. So if Dan were to start his own Tutor/Mentor advisory firm, what might it look like? Well, perhaps it already exists. The Tutor/Mentor Institute gathers and organizes all that is known about successful non-school tutor/mentor programs and shares that knowledge to expand

the availability and enhance the effectiveness of such services to children in inner city Chicago and other impoverished areas. New programs have started and existing programs have improved based upon T/MI resources. Dan is always available for consultation by e-mail or phone, and all of these services are available for free. It may not be that way for long, though. T/ MC is in financial trouble and may not make it through the new year. Therefore, we need to think of ways to monetize T/MC services instead of relying on capricious grant makers to fund the entire organization. I encourage people to think of T/MC as an advisory firm like the one Sean StannardStockton is starting. T/MC offers valuable consultancy on the Internet, over the phone, and inperson (if you're in Chicago). In the business world, companies pay good money for valuable consultancy because it improves their productivity and effectiveness. We hope that tutor/mentor programs see our value and, within their means, can make a donation to keep T/MC alive. We also hope that donors viewing this relationship will see its value as well. An investment in youth is an investment in the next generation, and we are all

interconnected. "High risk youths who are kept out of trouble through intervention programs could save society as much as $2 Million a youth per lifetime," says Mark Cohen, professor at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management. Every child who is helped by a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program to become a tax-paying adult represents a savings and an investment. In the space where society recognizes the importance of family and schooling, it must also include out-of-school time. Without a holistic approach, we do a disservice to many at-risk youth. I appreciate your willingness to engage with these ideas and I appreciate your support of the Tutor/Mentor Connection. Thank you. * Link to this blog article is at http://news.change.org/stories/ from-brilliant-blog-to-businessopportunity ** Link to this blog article is at http:// www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2 011/04/what-can-junk-foodteach-philanthropy

Maps are one of the resources used by Tutor/Mentor Institute to point volunteers and donors to tutor/mentor programs in all high poverty areas.

Therefore, we need to think of ways to monetize T/MC services instead of relying on capricious grant makers to fund the entire organization

This article was written in 2009, two years prior to the creation of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC. If you want to duplicate T/MC in your own city, invite Dan Bassill to become your advisor, consultant and/or partner. Email: tutormentor2@earthlink.net

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Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Tutor/Mentor Connection Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303 Chicago, Il. 60654 Phone: 847-220-2151 Fax: 312-787-7713 E-mail: tutormentor1@gmail.com

During 35 years of leading a volunteer based tutor/mentor program serving inner-city youth in Chicago Dan Bassill has learned much about how to connect youth and volunteers in on-going non-school tutoring/mentoring activities. He also has learned much about what does not work well, and what might be improved to support individual tutor/mentor program growth in all poverty neighborhoods of a big city like Chicago. Dans ideas are shared in the http://tutormentor.blogspot.com and through essays shared at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net. If youd like to have Dan meet with your planning team, speak to a local leadership group or be part of a conference you are organizing email tutormentor2@earthlink.net

Connecting people and ideas to help inner city kids

Connect on-line: www.tutormentorexchange.net

Read more Tutor/Mentor Blog Articles

I began to published blog articles and PDF essays on Scribd in mid October 2011. Within a few weeks these had been read by more than 600 people. If youre one of the readers, Id like your feedback. Id also like your help in building the Tutor/Mentor Institute into a resource that supports the growth of volunteer-based, mentor-rich programs in Chicago and other urban areas. To view the articles and links from the blog articles I posted today visit the following links:

Junk Food and Philanthropy Article http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2011/04/junk-food-and-philanthropy.html Keeping T/MC a mostly FREE service http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/09/keeping-tmc-mostly-free-service.html Tutor/Mentor Institute article by Bradley Troast, 2009-10 NUPIP Fellow http://cabrinipip.blogspot.com/2009/09/tutormentor-institute.html

The work we do to support volunteers and youth once they join a tutor/mentor program is what determines the long-term impact on the lives of youth and the adults who become involved.