iMentor joined the Youth, I.N.C. network in 2000 as a start-up organization with no development staff and little experience raising funds. With a staff of four and an annual operating budget of $334,000, the organization offered an innovative, technology-based mentoring and education program to 230 young people. Youth, I.N.C. immediately recognized the organization’s potential for growth and the promise of their youth programs, and accepted iMentor into Youth, I.N.C.’s Celebration Program—a yearlong learn-by-doing fundraising program. At the end of their first year in the program, the organization raised $5,500.
Over the next four years, iMentor’s success in the Celebration Program led them to consistently raise over $100,000 a year. According to iMentor’s President, Caroline Kim Oh, the learn-by-doing model worked well for their board and staff, and each year they continued to apply what they learned as participants. At the same time, Youth, I.N.C. also helped build the organization’s Board of Directors. Using the Celebration event committee structure to cultivate new Board prospects, the organization successfully recruited four new members, diversifying the Board’s skills.
When iMentor graduated from Celebration in 2005, they had raised over half a million dollars,and more than doubled their operating budget and number of youth served. Kim Oh says “the structure and ongoing support provided by Youth, I.N.C. was critical to iMentor’s success. The partnership also prepared us well for other fundraising partnerships, which garnered $2 million to fund the launch of our technical assistance program."
Today, iMentor serves over 8,000 young people, with a staff of 42 and an annual operating budget of $5.8 million.
