An Interview with Jodina Hicks, Executive Director, UrbanPromise

FS: How do you engage donors and other supporters and potential supporters in ways other than purely fundraising efforts?
JH: We engage potential donors (and active donors) in hands-on programmatic/ministry experiences. See the CamdenForward School Partner Program as an ideal funding strategy that engages donors. Through this strategy, individual donors provide $2,500 or more toward tuition for students at our schools. Each partner is matched with a student. They then come on-site and engage in the classroom and over lunch twice per year. They receive cards and updates from their student partners a few times a year. Partners get to follow their students throughout their entire school experience. A lot of love and anticipation is developed through these matches, and it's an extra emotional connection when kids cry when it's time for their partners to leave at the end of partner day. It even makes me teary!