I had the opportunity to serve as a mentor at this event and worked with a group of seven girls to bring their startup idea to fruition. The group I worked with developed a concept of a vending machine and food redistribution network that would allow fellow students and restaurants in the area to donate and repackage unused food in an effort to ensure no student goes hungry.

According to Feeding America, 17.9% of children experience food insecurity, which means that they experience limited or uncertain availability of safe, nutritious food at some point during the year. While I’m aware of food insecurity issues and the concerns about lunch shaming happening in school cafeterias, I was surprised and heartened to learn that these middle-school students have the same concerns and want to alleviate these issues for their fellow students.

Latinitas is an Austin-based nonprofit organization that aims to empower all girls through media and technology and the Startup Chica Conference is one of many ways in which the organization achieves its goals. During the event, the team of girls I worked with leveraged a SWOT analysis to prove out the concept, developed reporting to understand the costs involved and profit margin and created a logo and tagline as part of the marketing plan.

The panel of judges scored each team based on the startup concept, presentation, public speaking skills and overall knowledge of the idea. In my role as mentor, I worked with the group of girls to help develop and expand the startup idea, integrate feedback from the judges through the process and shared details about my career including why I chose to work in the technology sector and what I do on a daily basis.

During the conference, I was amazed and blown away by the creativity, compassion and raw intelligence my team of Chicas displayed. Although our team was not selected as the grand prize winner, I think that we all left the event feeling like winners because of the team’s hard work and passion for this project.

One of the reasons I enjoy working at Personify is that not only do we get to work with nonprofit and association clients that are making the world a better place but also that our employees are able to take time to volunteer at organizations that align with our passions and interests. I absolutely cannot wait to work with Latinitas again in the future.

The post Volunteer Spotlight: Austin-Based Nonprofit Latinitas appeared first on Personify.

At Personify, we’ve been attending NAYDO for the last several years and are pleased to be sponsoring the opening reception. If you’re attending NAYDO, please stop by and visit with the Personify team at booth #43-44.

Looking at the conference agenda, there are many different opportunities to gain knowledge and best practices. Here are some of the sessions that I’m most looking forward to attending:

Building a Culture of Philanthropy

Thursday, 2:45-5:45 PM

A culture of philanthropy is essential in any organization to effectively raise funds but what does that mean and how do you intentionally create such a culture? Mary Kaufman-Cranney, CFRE from The Alford Group/YMCA Alumni will share her journey in taking an organization through a process to create a common language and implement a curriculum to create a measurable difference.

She will engage participants in exercises and collaborative work to discuss key components of a culture of philanthropy and the ideas to make them real so that everyone in your Y appreciates donors as partners who share its goals and participate in achieving them.

Hack the Mind: Using Psychology to Boost Fundraising

Friday, 8:45-10:00 AM

In this session, Andrew Buck from Mighty Citizen will share how the mind is a trickster. It leads us wherever it pleases—while we remain mostly unaware of its true motivations. But thanks to advances in psychology, fundraisers can more effectively make the brain’s habits work for them.

In this interactive workshop, Andrew will explore our minds’ most surprising tendencies, biases and shortcuts. He will do a deep dive into how to employ the brain’s habits to grow

an organization’s donor base and fundraising. Participants will leave with a new understanding of the subtle, predictable, and (often) irrational ways donors think. And they will have concrete ways to apply these great “brain hacks” to their organization.

How to Recruit, Retain & Inspire the Next Generation of Board Members- Building the Pipeline of Board Leaders

Friday, 10:15-11:30 AM

Young board members have energy and networks the Y is not tapping into currently and often the Y may miss an opportunity to fully engage the young generation on its boards. This workshop will explore what the board experience is like for those who are under 40 years of age.

Participants will learn how to do stellar onboarding for new young board members and rock their first-year board experience. Hear about tools and resources for recruiting and retaining young board members from three NAYDO Young VIPs.

 Strategic Excitement Fundraising Plan: 2019

Friday, 3:30-4:45 PM

In a comprehensive expansion of the 2018 NAYDO workshop of the same name, participants will be led through the exciting process of actually planning a five-year fundraising plan for a hypothetical Y. The plan will include annual, capital and endowment components.

Using electronic voting transponders, attendees will participate in developing a five-year fundraising plan for a typical YMCA by voting on goals, priorities and strategic direction. This session is a great way to learn more about what the Y’s plans are and how we can help get to know them better.

The post What We’re Looking Forward to at NAYDO appeared first on Personify.