A few years ago, Greater Twin Cities United Way sharpened its focus and instead of making small splashes in many walks of charitable life, it focused on ten goals in three key areas – health, basic needs & education.  This more intentional community focus yielded stronger results as United Way is currently exceeding 9 of the 10 very ambitious long-term goals (find out more at https://www.unitedwaytwincities.org/our_impact/).  In my view, with 351 programs at 182 nonprofit agencies working with the greatest needs in the Twin Cities, United Way is the best investment I can make in the local community.

While United Way’s Emerging Leader Program has been around for many years, it was kicked into high gear a few years back with a grant from Bill George which allowed the Emerging Leaders committees to develop some programming.  This new direction brought a renewed event focus in two key arenas:  Volunteer activities and Leadership & Education events.

Volunteer events are really our bread and butter.  Our amazing volunteer committee organizes multiple events every month at various United Way partner agencies.  By getting involved at the ground level, participants can see firsthand how United Way impacts the community.  Upcoming events are planned at: HIRED, Home Free, Hearts & Hammers, Harbor Lights, Crisis Nursery, Simpson Housing, and Bridging.

If volunteer events are the foundation of helping the community, Leadership & Education events are the glue for young professionals wanting to help the local community.  A wonderful recent example was a joint event with the Minneapolis Chamber’s DRIVE Emerging Leaders held at the Summit Brewery that focused on education and the importance of reading by 3^rd grade.  These events pull together young professionals to learn about issues affecting the community and build their community knowledge and leadership skills.  Offering something for those just starting to explore nonprofit ventures, we also partner with MAP for Non-Profits to deliver board boot camps designed to educate Emerging Leaders on the roles and responsibilities of serving on a nonprofit board of directors.  Finally, we have a Leadership Speaker Series – a quarterly series of prominent local executives discussing the professional importance of philanthropy.

Click here to explore more about United Way Emerging Leaders and see what we have planned.

Call to Action: A simple (and timely) way to start learning about all that the Greater Twin Cities United Way supports is to join the next Emerging Leaders event, SPARK – the Fundraising Event for Young Professionals©, on April 28.  It used to be known as the Emerging Leaders wine tasting but this year we are going with a State Fair theme, so it now includes great Minnesota beers and some delicious high calorie foods on a stick. And since it is a fundraiser, we will have great silent auction items to bid on as well.

The details:
Thursday, April 28
6:30 – 10 p.m.
Nicollet Island Pavilion
$25 in advance, $30 at the door
Buy tickets at www.unitedwaytwincities.org/spark.

Among the many attributes that the Twin Cities are recognized for, did you know that volunteering is one of them? Based on a survey from the Corporation for National & Community Service, Minneapolis/St. Paul ranks #1 in active volunteerism in the United States; woohoo! do –gooders! If you’d like to participate in that number of caring individuals, there are plenty of short term and long term opportunities to do so. HandsOn Twin Cities serves as the metro’s leading resource center for volunteers.  With over 250 local non-profit affiliates and a constantly updated opportunity calendar, there is no doubt that potential volunteers can find the perfect project to help give back to their community.

“The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons” – Aristotle

If you are looking to let your leadership star shine, HOTC also provides the resources and support for outstanding individuals to lead community projects.  Through programs such as Impact Now, Event Corps, or Self- Engaged Leaders, individuals can serve their community while gaining or strengthening their leadership skills. Project commitment varies between programs. Impact Now and Event Corps programs have a more structured feel where volunteer leaders serve as a liaison between specific non-profits and accumulated volunteers. Self-Engaged Leaders are those who see a need in their community and want to pioneer their own volunteer project. With the assistance of HOTC, no project idea is too large or too small and all ideas to tackle a need in the community are welcome!

We live in an age where community support, civic understanding, and volunteer activism are so important to enhance the pride of living here in the Twin Cities. Individuals really can make a difference one letter, used coat, food drive, community event, or donated item at a time. Let us keep making the Twin Cities #1 in volunteerism and help spread the real meaning behind ‘Minnesota Nice’.

~ JoAnn Schinderle is a guest contributor.

Some organizations have very strict rules for your commitment and they clearly tell you what finances, time and resources are expected from you. However at some small nonprofits the guidelines can be blurry. Primarily, at this grass roots level, they can’t define the need because the target is immediate and always moving. This can cause consternation for everyone involved.

Some natural, easy endings come when there is a change in your life around job, family or location. It is easy to explain and it makes sense for everyone involved and there is no need to justify your actions. But sometimes there isn’t an easy answer and there is a lot of stress that occurs, before someone makes a move.

In these difficult times many organizations are in a state of emergency. Staffing and funding are cut and all sources of assistance are being leveraged to the max. In addition, many individuals and families are feeling the same crisis at home. While this is the time nonprofits need the volunteers to “step it up”, the individual may be entirely tapped out and unable to give anymore.

So this is the situation I find myself in. I’ve been frustrated as my limited resources and talents do not seem to be what the organization wants, or needs. The nonprofit is disappointed because they thought they could rely on me and they expected me to stick with them through these challenges.

Both my resources and my time are scarce. I know a lot of parents are able to do it all, but honestly – I can’t. The timing couldn’t be worse for the nonprofit, but is there ever a perfect time to “break-up”?

So I did it. I said “it isn’t you, it’s me”, and I resigned. Am I deserting them when they need me most? Am I being too selfish? Did I over-promise and under deliver? Probably yes to all of the above. However, I am relieved and confident I made the right move.

What would you have done? Would you stay, or would you go?

A couple things crossed my mind in regard to this website. First, the Internet has created an infinite source of “tips” and “how to” sites/blogs. I Googled “saving the environment tips” and it returned 356,000,000 links. I realize I need to optimize my search to find exactly what I am looking for, but still, there are thousands of sites with tips on environmental tips. With thousands of sites with tips, why bother having another site? How would the site stand out? Or because there are thousands of sites with tips, does this reflect the level of interest that exists in our society for saving the environment?

The second thing that crossed my mine is in regard to celebrities. One of the founders of www.greenissexy.org is actress, Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, The Time Traveler’s Wife). When I see a celebrity supporting a cause, I sometimes ponder the genuineness of their involvement. Are they passionate about the cause or using it for personal publicity? Does it really matter if they are helping the cause?

Of course, the same pondering can be said for non-celebrities in regard to community involvement. Does the genuineness of a volunteer or a donation matter?