Building Support for a Cause. Borrow from history of Tutor/Mentor Connection

Getting Attention for a Cause
Network Building - An Essential Skill for All Leaders
Presented by Daniel F. Bassill, President, CEO, Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC & Tutor/Mentor Connection
Find this and other strategy ideas at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Is this
YOU?
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present)
What's
YOUR
Cause?

How Would You Respond?
This was the front page of a
major Chicago newspaper in
October 1992....the day after a 7-
year-old boy was killed while
walking to school in Cabrini-
Green.
What actions have leaders taken
to prevent tragedies like this?
The idea for the Tutor/Mentor
Connection was birthed in the
weeks following this tragedy.
Since 2011 it has been led by
Daniel F. Bassill and
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
Pg 2
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
This is my Cause.

If Step 1 to 5 are happening in every
poverty neighborhood, youth and families
will have access to more of the help they
need, better programs, and more consistent,
longer-term services.
This will begin to achieve the changes in
school performance and career preparation
that we all want:
• better attendance in school
• lower drop out rates
• less youth violence
• better academic performance
• business reports better prepared
workers
Database
Volunteer Mobilization
Building a network of
tutor/mentor leaders
Building Better
Understanding of Needs,
Opportunities
Actions that increase the
flow of resources to each
program
Better programs in more
places for more age groups
More youth stay in school, are
safe in non-school hours,
graduate, and move to careers
MY CAUSE:
Pg 3
Helping youth in high poverty
areas move through school.

The Tutor/Mentor Connection focuses on four on-
going strategies:
Research
Pg 4
Public
Awareness
Resource
Generation
Collaboration,
shared learning
The Tutor/Mentor Connection was created in 1993 as part
of a Chicago nonprofit youth program. In 2011 the
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was created to continue this
strategy in Chicago and help it spread to other cities. The
goals are the same. Throughout this and other
presentation the names will be used interchangeably
To help tutor/mentor programs
grow in more places

Building Tutor/Mentor web library has been the first priority.
It provides information anyone can use to learn why youth need extra help, where help is most
needed, and how to build and sustain mentor-rich programs. The cMap below shows one
section of the library. This link points to a cMap showing the four major sections.
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-library
Pg 5

A primary part of the library is a list of Chicago non-school tutor/mentor programs, which
T/MC has hosted since 1993. T/MC has led on-going efforts to help others find and
support programs on its list. Maps are used to emphasize the need for programs in
every high poverty neighborhood of the city and suburbs.
See map and list of programs on this cmap
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Volunteer-Opportunities
Pg 6

•How do you recruit volunteers and youth to join a program?
•How do you keep them participating throughout a school year?
•How do you keep them coming back from year to year?
A Tutor/Mentor Program is a Collective Effort where many people work to
help young people grow up and lead lives out of poverty.
I’VE BEEN WORKING WITH THESE QUESTIONS EVERY DAY FOR 45 YEARS
Pg 7
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, Tutor/Mentor Connection

Tangela joined Cabrini
Connections in 1993, after
being part of the MW/Cabrini
Green Tutoring Program
when in elementary school.
School-Time Programs
3-5 PM Non-School Programs
Pre-K K - 5th 5th - 6th 6th - 8th
High
School
Career
Track
After 5 PM and Weekend Programs
If the goal is to help kids living in high
poverty neighborhoods be starting
jobs/careers by their mid-twenties….
How do we help tutor/mentor programs connect
with youth when they are young, and stay
connected to those kids from when we first meet
them, to when they need our help as adults?….
We are still
connected, via the
Internet, 25 years
later.
--- 18 years later.
Pg 8

We use graphics like this
to illustrate the long-term
commitment it takes to
help a youth go from first
grade to first job.
Pg 9
Change takes Time. Change Makers Need to Have Long-Term Commitment
Between 1973 and 2011 we applied
these ideas through volunteer-
based tutor/mentor programs we led
in Chicago.

To make change happen, become a
NETWORK BUILDER: Connect people
you know to ideas you show on your site.
T/MC
Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC
CONNECTING
Those
Who can
help
Those
Who Need
help
The first challenge is to put yourself in the role of network-
builder. If you don’t accept this, nothing more will happen.
YOU
Pg 10

Most youth programs can’t get these resources by
themselves. They need the help of many leaders.
Use personal and organizational leadership, web site. Social media and other communications
to connect members of your network to Tutor/Mentor programs in all parts of Chicago on a
consistent, on-going basis, using lists of youth tutor, mentor programs hosted by Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC, as resource for finding programs.
Elected
leader
college
you
faith business media
others
Every city needs leaders in every sector who take this role, not one or two high profile people.
volunteers
dollars
Talent &
technology
Pg 11
Chicago

Strategies to build public awareness:
THINK ADVERTISING!
Pg 12
REACH: more people
hear your message
FREQUENCY: your
message is repeated
often every day.
Without big budgets
for advertising, you
need to enlist your
network.
Put your company logo here.
Put this add in the local paper,
or a trade magazine.
IDEA: get companies to carry
your message with their own
advertising

The World’s Largest
Ping Pong ball table.
Every intentional action of
a leader, volunteer or
network-builder causes a
chain reaction that moves
every other ball.
What you say can reach
people around the world.
YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
EFFORTS SHOULD SEEK
TO CREATE THIS CHAIN
REACTION EVERY DAY
Pg 13
Do you think of yourself as a network builder? You can do this!

Economy
Education
Environment
H
o
u
s
i
n
g
H
e
a
l
t
h
P
u
b
li
c
S
a
fe
ty
T
e
c
h
n
o
l
o
g
y
Transportation
C
i
v
i
l
V
i
t
a
l
i
t
y
Cultural life
C
i
v
i
l
V
i
t
a
l
i
t
y
Point
to…
•Maps/data – create understanding;
understand needs in entire region; zoom to
block level
•Knowledge – library; share info. Everyone in
region can draw from same body of knowledge, and add
to it at same time
•Places – connect; get involved; donate. Push
resources to all of the places where help is needed.
YOU PICK
YOUR
PURPOSE
Role of Leaders.
Point daily to places where
people can get informed, and
involved, sharing same
information with others from
same community, and the
world.
Pg 14
Once you have a cause/goal, how do you
draw attention to it? Use these ideas.

Use Multi Channel Marketing
Use website as central
location for your ideas
and “call to action”.
Pg 15
There are many places
on the web where you
can learn ideas like this.
Social
media
YouTube
Put your message and
strategy on a web site. Draw
attention to it using traditional
and new media tools.
Your BLOG

Pg 16
Enlist visible leaders to help draw attention to your website and ideas.

Share ideas at http://debategraph.org/mentoring_kids_to_careers or at
Http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com Also use blogs and social media platforms.
Outline your thinking where
others can read, act, follow
or expand on your idea.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 17
Create on-line and face-to-face places to share and discuss information
hosted in libraries like the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC library.

Use Media as “attention-builder”. A page in Chicago SunTimes costs over
$200k. Create stories on your blog following negative news. If you can
draw readers to your web site via maps, blogs, you don’t need to spend
nearly as much money to draw people to your ideas.
See examples of “telling rest of story” on http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
Pg 18
See maps created between 2008 and 2010
at http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com

Create on-going events, repeated each year, to build
media attention that leads to news coverage.
Pg 19
See media stores resulting from quarterly events organized between 1994
and 2015: http://tutormentorexchange.net/news-pr

Create your own media:
Create videos and post to YouTube and other sites.
This is video about Tutor/Mentor
Conference held every six months in
Chicago between 1994 and 2015.
This is video showing
activities at youth program in
Chicago
Pg 20
View these and others. Browse our Tutor/Mentor Institute Theater
at https://tutormentorexchange.net/tmi-video-1

Pictures worth 1000 words.
Create visualizations to share your strategies..
View this cMap at
http://tinyurl.com/tmc-strategy-map
This video shows how intern from South
Korea converted the cMap into flash
animation https://youtu.be/pRipJPgenFc
This shows use of
concept map to
illustrate
commitment of
organization to
help kids through
school and into
jobs.
Pg. 21

Examples of information visualization. Put these in your blog.
This video shows how a 2009 University
of Michigan intern converted this blog
article to a flash animation
https://youtu.be/C0ieJRBrk_I
This shows how idea is first
visualized in power point
and posted on a blog at
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/
2009/10/transforming-adults-
involved-in.html
Pg. 22

YOU
Someone
You Know
Skills to help
T/MC
Organization
Or Group That
Can help T/MC
Tutor/
Mentor
Connection
Skills &
Networks help
t/m programs
grow in entire
region
YOU can help inner city
youth have brighter futures.
Help build the leadership
network supporting the
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Every one can be a leader. Will you?
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 23
Youth and volunteers in schools and tutor/mentor programs across the world
can create graphics like these and use on their own blogs and web sites.

Facilitating Involvement: using social media, and a variety of group facilitation
tools we can help volunteers from many organizations learn from each other so
every week they provide more effective service. We can also learn what works, what
the challenges are, and ways that corporations, foundations, etc. can help all
tutor/mentor programs provide more effective service.
Volunteer
connects w/
youth
Volunteer
shares
experience
with friends
See video showing
animation of this idea at
https://youtu.be/5msRqzynH_c
Pg 24
YOUR students can duplicate work done by our interns between 2006 and 2015:
http://michaelcnt.blogspot.com/2018/05/visit-this-museum-of-intern-artifacts.html
Facilitation by T/MC & others
a) As volunteer goes to do
service at t/m program
b) As volunteer shares with
others at work, home, faith
group

Insurance
Healthcare
Arts, Culture.
Religion
Government
Education
Science,
Math
Engineering
Manufacturing
Transportation
Retailing
Wholesaling
Built environment
Engineering
Natural Resources
Agriculture
Finance, Personal &
Business Services
Hospitality
Recreation
Technology
Communications
Our strategy is to enlist volunteers and leaders from
every industry to mentor kids to careers.
Every tutor, mentor
program in Chicago,
and T/MC, seek
business partners to
help in PULLING
youth To careers
Pg 25

YOUR WEB
SITE
LinkedIn
Facebook
Telephone
Instagram
Other social
media
Email
Face-to-Face
(ZOOM)
Twitter
THINK OF HOW YOU REACH YOUR NETWORK
Social Events
A WEB SITE IS A DESTINATION. IT’S WHERE YOU PUT YOUR IDEAS
AND WHERE YOU HOST YOUR WORKSPACE.
Pg 26
Find us at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
And http://tutormentor.blogspot.com

See Tutor/Mentor Institute support network at http://tinyurl.com/TMCSupportNet
Pg 27
Create map of
your network.
Does it have all of
these skills?

A Network can grow from a few people to
thousands over a period of years.
If the T/MC network has
grown from 7 volunteers in
1992 to over 1 million* by
2023. Imagine how much
broader the network could
be if hundreds of
individuals and
organizations applied the
ideas in this essay.
Contact the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and let us help you apply these ideas.
tutormentor2@earthlink.net and http://www.twitter.com/tutormentorteam
Pg 28
*based on count of web site
visitors from 1998-2020
2023

There are many causes that you can champion. Each needs
leaders who apply the ideas shown in this presentation.
See this map at https://tinyurl.com/ChallengesFacingYouth-TMI
Pg 29
Which will
you choose
to support?

PRACTICE THESE IDEAS
These graphics are concepts intended to encourage you
to think, learn and innovate ways to apply these ideas in
your own leadership.
At the following Tutor/Mentor Institute and Tutor/Mentor Connection web
sites you can see how we put these ideas to practice every day in our
effort to support our goals.
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
Http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com
http://tutormentorexchange.net/conceptmaps
https://tutormentorexchange.net/social-media
Become a volunteer, intern, or research partner.
Email tutormentor2@earthlink.net
Pg 30
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC,
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Dan Bassill,
@tutormentorteam

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