Alumni Planning ‘Secret And Fun’ Event For Charitable Words Scholars Fund

Charitable Words Scholars alumni are planning a fun event in Cincinnati Dec. 17 to benefit The Charitable Words Scholars Fund.

Brittany York

The event will be Dec. 17 at a yet-to-be-disclosed location in Cincinnati, said Brittany York, a University of Cincinnati graduate who has been involved as a Charitable Words project manager for two years. She has worked with a team including Scholars alumni Erin Hinson (Xavier University) and Tyler Mechlem (Cincinnati State) to develop a unique crowdfunding campaign leading up to the event.

Brittany announced the plans on her Facebook page this morning”

“The event will be at a secret location (for now) with live performances by B. Shields, Housewives and our headliner, Coconut Milk! There will also be free (and delicious….because I know the secret location mwahah) food for you, a cash bar, and some really good raffle items. $10 donation gets you all those things, so donate for a good cause, and come hang out with us!”

“If you can’t donate, that’s OK,” she said. “Check out the video (link below) that has clues leading you to the secret location. Go claim your “golden ticket” once you have it, and you’re in! Share our campaign for free raffle tickets! Thanks for listening, and see you in a couple weeks!”

CLICK HERE TO SEE EVENT INFORMATION

Since 2012 more than 70 scholars have been engaged with more than 30 nonprofits, primarily in the areas of working with the elderly, veterans, those with disabilities and literacy. Reports on past and current partnerships and outcomes and impacts are available on the charitablewords.com blog.

This campaign and fundraiser will be important as we prepare for 2016.

A Charitable Words Scholars team assisted The Starfire Council in all marketing, media, and assistant video production needs for its annual celebration event June 2015. Starfire’s message was shared on local television, radio, and print due to Charitable Words in the days leading up to the event. “Through this work, Starfire was able to bring an additional 250 people in audience members (audience participation increase of 63% from last year),” said Rachel Almendinger, Director of Donor Relations. Social media expert Krista Neher of Bootcamp Digital is in Charitable Words’ network of volunteer advisors. She provided the Starfire team with an invaluable pro-bono consultation of our social media channels. After this meeting, Starfire’s reach on Facebook went from an average of 150 followers reached, to over 1,000 followers reached, Rachel said. “On social media, Starfire saw a 23% increase in our reach over the span of three weeks, leading to a reach of 4,478 people the day of the event. This spike in attention on our social media has meant greater outreach and messaging, which leads to more donations and support from the community. We are grateful for what Charitable Words can do for non-profit organizations to extend our capacity for impact by networking us with our city’s finest media talent and resources. “The summer campaign enabled Starfire to raise $40,000 in sponsorships and $23,500 the day of the event, also gaining a new audience of volunteers and donors to reach out to through their registration for the event on Eventbrite. This was the first year Starfire’s Annual Celebration was considered a major organization fundraiser and raised $58,500 more than last year’s event.”

Despite our proven track record of highly successful outcomes for nonprofit partners, we are not seeing a sustainable model of convincing traditional funders to contribute to The Charitable Words Scholars Fund (that said, we are grateful to have been blessed by significant gifts by The Hatton Foundation and McLane Foundation as well as several other supporters, listed on this page).

Perhaps we have not been successful in convincing others of our value is because Charitable Words does not directly teach, tutor or feed those in need. But it exists to help increase the awareness and capacity of those who do. It is, by definition, collective action – and impact.

Charitable Words’ mission is to help nonprofits – often with lean budgets for communications and marketing – improve their impact and better tell their stories. A corollary value: Experience and paid assignments to a “purposeful” generation of students facing an unprecedented bubble of college debt.

Ours is a unique – some say innovative – 501c3 social enterprise. Charitable Words Scholars – students and recent graduates with a variety of skill sets – are assigned to nonprofits in a “jobs-to-be-done” team approach. The scholars and our nonprofit partners benefit by the engagement and guidance of our network of volunteer professional advisors and connections to pro bono resources. During and after projects, we help nonprofit partners shape and share their stories to the right audiences on the right platforms – improved web sites; stories, photos and video; awareness events and crowdfunding campaigns.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Brittany York, at Brittany.a.york@gmail.com.

Thanks…and hope to see you on Dec. 17!