Kinship of Greater Minneapolis is a youth mentoring program that brings children together with caring adults so they can create lasting quality relationships that positive effect their lives. Our goal is to give kids the assets they need to be successful in school and life. The most important outcomes children gain are the skills and building blocks for successful relationships, the knowledge that an adult outside of their family cares about them, the optimism that they can succeed, an increased respect for others and a feeling of being cared and valued. Kinship’s mentoring program gives kids the support they need to reach their full potential. Most of the children come from low-income single-family homes and have trouble in school and difficulty getting along with family members and peers. By connecting them with caring individuals, couples or families who are committed to spending time with them, these children receive much needed additional adult support. Currently there are 150 children on our waiting list that wait an average wait time of one year for a mentor. Bob Nervig Kinship is a small nonprofit with a budget under $650,000 and only 9 staff members. We understand the importance of our website and electronic communication in recruiting volunteer mentors, but have had limited financial resources to dedicated to it. This is an opportunity for us to be able create website that will help us find the 150 mentors we need for our waiting kids. Do it for the kids!!!! We are not technically suave to use our platform to the fullest. We need your help to move our 54 year old organization into the new century and to help us learn how to keep it current and updated. Minneapolis 2009-12-18T23:00:28Z 2009-12-07T22:46:17Z Daniel L. Johnson Expenses from most recent audit (9/1/2008 to 8/31/2009) are $622,179 612-588-4680 By developing our website to the fullest we can eliminate our carbon foot print significantly. We would be using electronic media instead of paper to make our voices heard. We would help our volunteers save on time and fuel by using our website for trainings and information. This would be a wonderful way for us to help our families be successful in conservation. 2 Kinship does not have a specific IT budget. Expenses are reflected in various budget line items. We estimate that we spend approximately $5,000 in IT expenses annually. In order to create mentoring relationships Kinship relies on over 800 volunteers annually. We need an effective way to communicate with potential volunteers about the kids who are waiting for a mentor. Our goal is to create an interactive website that allows users to quickly gather information and initiate the volunteer process. Our plan includes a redesigned home page that tells our story with fewer words and more pictures. By using graphics and movement we would like to motivate the reader to action. We need our forms to be a readable PDF so they can be completed on line and then sent to our database, if possible. We want our potential mentors to be able to start the process from the comfort of their own home. This will help our volunteers get the information they need quickly and easily and they can begin the volunteer process. We would like to have a video posted on the website. We need to strengthen the donor page with a quick and easy donor button. We also would like to post our newsletters and annual report to the website so we save on resources and our volunteers have easy access to information at all times of day. We would, like to explore training on line either webinars or interactive mini trainings that we can monitor who is online with us or not. We also would love to explore adding free program downloads to our website to make it more interactive and user friendly. It would be great if we can add our Facebook information and LinkedIn info to our website. /system/logos/2/normal/IMG_1419_Kakura_Don_match.JPG?1262038047 image/pjpeg IMG_1419_Kakura_Don_match.JPG 33516 2009-12-28T22:07:27Z Kinship of Greater Minneapolis helps children ages 5-15, in need of additional support, to realize their God given potential through adult friendships. Kinship also provides a unique service opportunity for individuals, couples and families to put their faith into action on behalf of children. This is our mission. •Children deserve the opportunity for healthy social, physical, spiritual and intellectual development. Youth mentoring makes a positive difference where additional adult support is needed. •The quality of Kinship service and relationships is more important than quantity. We believe in careful screening, matching and follow-up support of program participants. In recruiting children and mentors, we do not discriminate. •Regular, long-term relationships with a variety of adults are vital to healthy child development. We believe in inclusiveness and collaborative efforts that bring people of different races and creeds together. •Prevention is more valuable and effective in human development than interventions occurring after considerable suffering and hurt have scarred lives. Our Mentoring Children of Prisoners Initiative is a response to this reality. •We are motivated by the values inspired by our heritage in the Christian church. We choose to love our neighbors as ourselves which mandates us to respond to the needs of hurting children and their families. •People need opportunities to put their faith into action. Kinship provides the structure and organization for them to do this effectively. Through the giving of themselves, they are blessed. The goal of Kinship’s mentoring program is to giving kids the support they need to reach their full potential. Most of the children come from low-income single-family homes and have trouble in school and difficulty getting along with family members and peers. By connecting them with caring individuals, couples or families who are committed to spending time with them, these children receive much needed additional adult support. Currently there are 150 children on our waiting list that wait an average of one year for a mentor. Kinship of Greater Minneapolis 612-588-4655 Revenue from most recent audit (9/1/2008 to 8/31/2009) is $627,427. true true MN 3210 Oliver Ave North 41-1624831 2010-01-11T21:06:26Z http://www.kinship.org 55412