When the Lexington Public Library Foundation board considered creating a mobile application for checking out books and marketing the library, members didn’t take interest. But its young professional committee did — and put its own fundraising efforts behind the project.
“Our young professional committee looks for ways to be good advocates of the library,” said Executive Director Ann Hammond. “And they raise money to support programs that are not covered by our regular budget.”
The library’s young professional committee is one example among a number of such groups forming within Lexington nonprofits. While the trend has not been tracked statistically by the Kentucky Nonprofit Network, Executive Director Danielle Clore noted an increase in young professional activity with nonprofit boards.
“Nonprofits recognize the need to diversify their constituent base,” said Clore. “These kind of efforts aimed at young professionals allow organizations to increase the diversity of their volunteers, board members and donors.”
Giving young people a meaningful experience with a charity is exactly what the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of the Bluegrass hoped to achieve when it started the Red Shoe Society, a young professionals’ group created to support the fundraising and volunteer needs of the RMHC, in 2010, said Executive Director Sarah Warner Lister. Lister said it makes sense for their nonprofit, particularly because of its past.
“We have a very loyal group of donors and volunteers who have been involved since 1984, and when I look back at the beginning, the people that got the house open were younger in their lives and careers,” Lister said.
RMHC of the Bluegrass has focused on utilizing the talent and enthusiasm of Red Shoe Society members to build awareness of the mission of the nonprofit to new audiences, she said.
But Lister admitted that starting the group has not been without its challenges; particularly, she noted that personal factors like changing careers, marriage and starting a family can impact a young professional’s ability to give time and money to an organization.
Fundraising consultant Lee Ellen Martin said those fluctuations are normal. The key, said Martin, is to define a purpose for a junior board and keep that goal constantly at the forefront of all planning.
“You want to make sure that the junior board fulfills two paths,” said Martin. “First, do the ideas of the junior board match what the organization is doing? And secondly, is it what young professionals want to be doing? What do they need to get out of the experience?”
With programs like United Way’s Get on Board and Leadership Lexington, there are many opportunities for a younger generation to learn about and prepare for board service. Limelight Promotions President Stephanie Spires, whose company has held “Young and Board” workshops, said both young citizens and experienced board members are recognizing their need to work together.
“So often, young people want to serve on boards but don’t know how to jump from volunteer to board member,” said Spires. “And many times, organizations don’t know how to find those new members.”
That disconnect is exactly why the Rotary Club of Lexington started a Rotaract Chapter for 18- to 30-year-olds about five years ago, said former Rotaract president and now Rotary member Rebecca Barnes.
“For membership alone, it’s been a great advantage for us to allow younger people to learn about Rotary,” said Barnes. “It gives them access to Rotary members and our service goals at an earlier age, and it grooms young professionals for that service.”
It wasn’t enough to offer the opportunity, said Barnes. She noted that working with Bluegrass Tomorrow’s Youth and Diversity Council gave Rotaract the opportunity to promote itself and learn best practices from other young professional groups in central Kentucky.
Perhaps there is no better young professional organization to learn from than the Urban League Young Professionals of Lexington, which is in its 10th year of involvement as a junior board to the Lexington Urban League. Vice President Serita Baskin credits the group’s “make it happen” motto and attitude to its success.
“We are the foot soldiers and first line of volunteers for initiatives that support the Urban League’s agenda,” said Baskin. “We support all programs of the Urban League affiliate — some through marketing, some through actual work and volunteerism, and sometimes both.”
Many Kentucky nonprofits said fundraising is a key form of service they need from a young professional board. The Cardinal Hill young professionals committee is tackling major fundraising projects, while the young professional committee for the library foundation picks a different project every year to reap the benefits of its signature event, “Bluegrass and Bourbon.”
Lister said RMHC of the Bluegrass at first made fundraising a major goal of its Red Shoe Society. But she said the group is now more focused on developing long-term relationships with younger citizens in hope of greater benefits later.
“The need for what we do is never going to go away,” she said. “So I feel a tremendous need to cultivate future support. We have a responsibility now to find and engage those people for the future of our nonprofit.”
And Spires, who has worked with many of the area’s junior boards and young professionals committees, said a long-term vision is critical to the success of nonprofits as they work with Lexington’s young people.
“Our younger citizens are so involved in this community, and they need to be involved on our nonprofit board structures,” said Spires. “It’s not enough for us just to form young professional committees or groups. We also want organizations to understand the importance of putting those young people on the board, so that their nonprofit leadership reflects the demographics of our community.”