Minnesota Jaycees

Before joining the Jaycees, I thought I was a great leader. It wasn't until I started working with members of the organization and the community that I learned that I still had opportunities to master my leadership skills.

Being a member of the organization not only provides the members with an opportunity to grow personally or professionally for the fraction of the cost of a three day seminar, but it also provides the local community with a group of individuals who are committed to making the city a friendlier place to live.

The community in which I serve depends on their local chapter to help bring business into the downtown area in the spring and summer months by hosting art and craft fairs. They also greatly appreciate monitary and in-kind donations our organization makes to help build a stronger community.

The Minnesota Jaycees help develop strong community leaders. Having a stronger, more interactive website would help catapult our mission to new heights by being able to provide our members and community with the tools they need to succeed.

During the course of my Jaycee career I have had the privilege of sitting across the table from US Representatives and Senators seeking my input on relevant topics to young people in America. I have traveled to Europe, met political leaders, heads of state and Royalty from around the world. All these opportunities were made possible for a kid from small town rural Minnesota by the Jaycees. Today I continue to use those same Jaycee skills in both my professional career as well as in my volunteer involvement with city government and other non-profits. Thank You Jaycees !!

The Jaycees has had a huge impact on me. It has provided professional growth training and opportunities though community events. Our community definately has been impacted in a positive way over the many years that the Jaycees have been active. Community festivals, events, free activities for kids, donations by the Jaycees and fun events for all ages.

The Minnesota Jaycees have and continue to be an integral part of the success of many young men and women today.

The Minnesota Jaycees gave me the greatest honor of my professional career this year, when they selected me as one of the Top Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans. No other organization is recognizing young people (under 40) for their professional achievements AND contributions to society. The group is really focused on the complete person: fostering the next generation of leaders for Minnesota. I really admire the statewide focus: this years honorees ranged from a young woman challenging our perceptions on diversity with the Minneapolis YWCA's, to business leaders in rural Minnesota.

But good Lord, the website looks like crap.

Past honorees of the Outstanding Young Minnesotan award include Walter Mondale and Joe Senser, but good luck finding that. What about the outstanding farmers? It's a mess. Please help!

The Jaycees have made a tremendous impact on me. It has provided me with a hands on learning experience that I will be able to use for the rest of my personal and professional life. Jaycees have donated thousands of dollars over the years by fundraising events we have. The community uses the Jaycees for coming up with ideas, implenting them, and then seeing them grow through out the years. Community members look for us at those kinds of events. The Minnesota Jaycees have the leaders to help guide others into the right direction and provide us with the knowledge and tools we need. I would not be where I am today if it were not for the Jaycees.

The Minnesota Jaycees has had a huge impact on me as a person and a professional. I have had opportunities to develop my leadership skills, public speaking skills, and network with other young professionals in my community and all over the world. What I have learned in the Jaycees has translated into increased job opportunities in my career. I especially appreciate the Jaycees focus on leadership development through managing projects that benefit the community.

As a leader in the organization it is difficult to find the necessary tools and resources on our current website. It is hard to navigate and most importantly is not user friendly to potential members and community partners. Having a new website would allow more young people who are interested in improving themselves and the community find our organization. In terms of being "green" having a new website that would allow our administrative paperwork to be submitted online would save significant amounts of paper, ink and time! As a chapter president in 2009 I used multiple reams of paper and 8 or more ink cartridges this year, simply to submit the paperwork at the end of each trimester. Help us move forward to reduce our environmental impact while continuing to provide leadership opportunities and community service to communities throughout Minnesota.

The Minnesota Jaycees inspires such change in young leaders and is an incredible resource to help connect communities with leaders and leaders with their communities. The organization could reach so many more young people with the right website and tools.

The Minnesota Jaycees has provided me with professional and personal growth opportunities that neither my employer nor I could have ever imagined. The Jaycees have provided me with countless opportunities to learn about myself professionally and personally. Where else can you find countless professional development opportunities, amazing networking events, and best of all - tremendous opportunities to improve the communities that we live in. The Jaycees have the unique capacity to offer opportunities, at reasonable costs, that employers can only dream of offering.

I found out about the Jaycees through a Google search. I found the chapter located where I lived and joined. While I was impressed with the local chapter's website, the state Jaycee website remains an eye-sore for the organization. In order to continue to attract, retrain, and engage 18 to 40 individuals, we need to have a website that is more appealing, more interactive, and more "flashy,"

We need this website now more than ever.

The Minnesota Jaycees has played an important part in serving our rural and small town communities. Their dedication to leadership development continues to be a valuable resource for communities that look to bring in young people into the decision-making fold. As we have seen the technological demands change in terms of information sharing and networking, it is important for a volunteer organization like the Jaycees to provide this digital infrastructure. I wholly support this application and hope this vital resource can be "retooled" for the 21st century.

As a student studying community and economic development, I spent a semester working on a research project that focused on how communities are impacted by the Jaycees and other similar organizations. I was very impressed by the ways in which the Jaycees connect communities and create a more livable sense of “place.” This is especially true for rural communities – of focus of the Minnesota Jaycees.

As we progress through the digital age, it is more important now than ever that the Jaycees maintain a current, modern website. Please help this underfunded, important organization!

The Jaycees in our community serve as a huge steppingstone to connect those who are willing to give their time to the community and those who are leaders of the community. We need this organization around to continue the success of small town Minnesota. The Jaycees as a non-profit organization still needs to be run as a successful business for future existence. When the economy is in the position it is, there is even more pressure on the non-profits. Any help these organizations can get to be more efficient is crucial. The state Jaycees has unlimited tools for the local chapters to make themselves more successful, but now way to make these tools accessible or understandable. Everyone knows how important networking is. Right now there’s a void between state and local which makes an even larger void between local chapters. A new website would be a great way to cultivate success.

Looking at recruitment for the future Jaycees, image is important. People will take the organization only as serious as they present themselves. Today is a technology based world and the Minnesota Jaycees need to show they can keep up. A new website would be the perfect way to do so.

“If change is happening on the outside faster than on the inside the end is in sight.”
Jack Welch –former CEO of GE

The Minnesota Jaycees offers opportunities and experiences unmatched by any other organization or company. I have been a member of this organization since 2001 and have learned a tremendous amount about myself, have made an impact in my community and have watched others grow both personally and professionally.

My experiences in the Jaycees have definitely carried over into my career. The experiences the Jaycees have given me are ones that I would not have been able to get through work. My manager is unbelievably supportive of my involvement with the Jaycees because she has seen my growth and how I have become a better employee.

Even better than the impact the Jaycees has made on me is the impact the Jaycees has made on the communities in which chapters exist. From chapters running community festivals to chapters donating money to chapters building parks to chapters helping disadvantaged youth, the Jaycees impact their communities in everything they do. What other organization can provide that impact in the community while also developing leaders?!

I am a proud member of the Minnesota Jaycees and look forward to continuing to help strengthen the organization so others can grow, learn and lead as I have grown, learned and led.

I credit all my growth and success to the Minnesota Jaycees. An organization that has shown me how to have self-confidence and then share that with others. I have build a business, impacted my community and become the person I didn't know was inside me. Holding leadership roles within the Jaycees, including State President, I have traveled across the state witness the impact that each chapter makes within their own communities.

We have the resources and ability to make even larger impact on the entire State of Minnesota, yet lack the ability to effectively communicate and network all the resources together. Imagine the positive impact that would occur if all Jaycees were better informed and connected to work together.

I can't say Thank You enough to the Jaycees and look forward to helping the organization provide more impact to even more young people.

The Jaycees do so much in our small community to help make it a better place to live. I was recently chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans by the Jaycees and I wonder if any of us would be able to reach out to help others without the examples that are set by our local chapters. I was truly humbled to be recognized by such an exemplary organization.

I have learned a great deal about the Minnesota Jaycees in recent months, and know they are a great example of an organization that could benefit immensely with a new website. I work for an organization called Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF) that was a recipient of a new site last year, and know firsthand the impact it can have. At a recent banquet for the Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans, I had a chance to visit with dozens of Jaycees members from across the state, and listen to their passion and love of the organization. In communities large and small from all over Minnesota, the Jaycees is providing a place of community and opportunities for thousands of young professionals. As a membership organization with numerous chapters that are geographically spread out, a new website would help them immensely in communication with and engagement of members. I look forward to seeing how the Jaycees use a new site to expand their reach and their impact.

The Minnesota Jaycees are a tremendous addition to our community. They have a rich history of cultivating leadership across our state. A new website would give them an exciting opportunity to engage new members and continue to make Minnesota a great place to live, lead, and learn.

As a Minnesota Jaycee, I have been given (and enjoyed) so many opportunities to grow as an individual, as a professional, and as a member of my community. I have seen what the Minnesota Jaycees can do for other young people like me, and what we in turn, do for our communities.

We, as a whole, are an organization made up of so many amazing individuals. We have been blessed to come together in our local chapters, in regions, as a state, and also nationally and around the world. We are a sustainable, hard working, dependable and very skilled group of people--offering many hours of our time and expert resources, and many dollars to whomver is in need of it. Because I've been blessed to be part of such an amazing group, I now know of probably 10 or 20 people whom I can call up at pretty much any time of the day and get an answer or a piece of advice whenever I may need it.

Our website should be as sustainable, reliable and resourceful. Not only for our own members and Jaycee leaders, but for the rest of the world we serve, and anyone who wants to know who we truly are.