Youth INC

Our mission is to transform the lives of New York City youth by empowering the nonprofits that serve them. We seek to increase their impact in three key ways: youth served, revenue, and board engagement. Using these metrics, each year Youth INC audits nearly 100 youth-oriented nonprofits in New York City to find 25-30 that would benefit from our training resources. Once in our network, our nonprofits participate in one or more of our key programs to learn the skills needed to grow quickly and sustainably.

We have four main areas in which we coach and empower our nonprofit partners: Fundraising, Engagement, Grants, and Metrics.

Fundraising: Each year, we teach up to 15 nonprofit organizations how to fundraise effectively by pairing their executives with Youth INC advisors. Youth INC’s annual Celebration gala has raised more than $18 million by over 100 nonprofits since 1995.

Board Advancement: This 15-month program employs custom assessments and mentorship from board development professionals to enhance board engagement. We place corporate professionals on the well-positioned board of our nonprofits.

Grants: Since 2007, we’ve awarded more than $2 million to 26 nonprofits through 47 capacity-building grants. We deliver grants to grassroots, youth-focused organizations within our network and use a metrics-based selection process that ensures maximum return on investment.

Metrics: Our 12 months of workshops, technical assistance, and peer mentorship gives our partners access to critical program data. Using cutting-edge social-emotional learning (SEL) research to underpin evaluation tools, partners learn how to weave these concepts into program design.

Pioneering Metrics System:
We worked closely with the education technology firm Algorhythm to develop effective tools for nonprofits to measure social-emotional learning. The resulting platform, Hello Insight, which we provide lifetime access to for all our partners, enables nonprofits to rigorously analyze and design their programs to meet the needs of the youth they serve. Using this tool we can continuously assess the impact of nonprofit programming and adjust offerings to meet evolving partner needs.

Corporate Partner Resources:
Through our venture philanthropy model, we have been uniquely effective at leveraging private sector resources and tools to support our nonprofit partners. This runs the gamut from technology and professional skills workshops hosted by T. Rowe Price to Leadership Labs for Executive Directors in our network led by a team at Deloitte. We have also created a unique board training and placement program to help address the need to grow our nonprofit partners' boards and fill them with capable individuals ready to support not hinder their work. Similarly, we formed a unique partnership with Morgan Stanley (MS INC) to harness skills-based volunteer manpower and channel it into the most pressing needs of our network. As a result of these offerings, we have an unparalleled toolkit with which to support our nonprofit partners.

Investment in Employees and Internal Technology Resources:
At Youth INC, we consider investment in our staff to be an integral element of growing our organization and fulfilling our mission. For this reason, we sponsor team members to attend conferences and trainings as well as host several all-staff workshops every year. We also are happy to provide resources (books, subscriptions, etc) and tools to facilitate team members' development. Our team has also prioritized adopting platforms like Salesforce and Monday.com that streamline our processes and allow us to better collaborate.

Fundraising: By building out effective fundraising from unrestricted funds, we are able to be nimble and innovative supporters of our nonprofit partners. Moreover, with the assistance of our board, we are developing new tools and financial strategies to ensure that we can be a capacity-builder for the long-haul.

Since 1995, Youth INC has raised more than $100 million, empowered 180 nonprofits, and transformed the lives of over a million young people. Over the course of partnership with Youth INC, our partners experience on average: 154% increase in budget size, a 38% increase in board size, and 180% increase in the number of youth served. Moreover, 83% of youth served by our network show significant gains in at least 3 core areas of social-emotional learning (SEL).