Running head: NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION 2
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION 2
Introduction to Nonprofit Organizations
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Introduction
As the name suggests, non-profit organizations are meant to offer services for public good and mutual benefits and not for purposes of generating profits. Non-profit organizations can take any form starting from universities, hospitals, self-help groups, labor unions, local churches, and informal neighborhood associations. According to Anheier (2014), non-profit organizations can generate profits, but the profits are used to help the targeted populations and not distributed to the owners. These organizations play a huge role in the American society and evidence indicates that non-profit organizations contribute around $900 billion to the United States economy. An estimated ten percent of the U.S. population, or about 10 million people, are employed in what has been variously called the third sector, independent sector, voluntary sector, philanthropic sector, social sector, tax-exempt sector, or the charitable sector (Luckert, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to create a non-profit organization that is meant to help serve the needs of the youth and solve social issues affecting the youth such as lack of job opportunities, lack of youth mentorship, and unhealthy lifestyles. The organization created is named YOUTHS MENTORING AND JOB OPPORTUNITIES ASSOCIATION (YMJOA). The paper will provide details on the mission statement of the organization, its market, the design of the program, and funding strategies.
Market Research and Mission Statement
Demand for YMJOA Services
The unemployment rate of the youths is on the increase and youths are facing a lot of difficulties getting access into the job market. The global youth (age 15–30) unemployment rate was 12.8 percent in 2016 (slightly up from 12.7 per cent in 2015) (O’Higgins, 2017). The percentage is nearly the same and even increasing for the years 2018 and 2019. Lack of youth unemployment has led to a rise in crimes, illegal activities, and drug and substance abuse. Considering that the youths of between 15 to 30 years have not matured enough, it is believed that there is lack of enough mentorship to ensure these youths have the necessary knowledge and skills they need to enter the workforce. The Youths Mentoring and Job Opportunities Association (YMJOA) will work to mentor youths in the United States and equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to enter the world of work. The quality of employment available to the youth is very poor and only informal and vulnerable types of employment are available for the youth. The program will also work to help youths find better job opportunities through networks and resources. There is high demand for this program as there is the growing need for youth mentorship in the society.
The program will also work to help the ethnic minority youth. According to Catney and Sabater (2015), ethnic inequalities in job employment have existed for a long time and minority ethnic youth are facing a great disadvantage in the labor market compared to their white counterparts. With the growth in diversity and globalization, there is need to break barriers such as ethnic boundaries and create opportunities for success. Studies by O’Higgins, (2017)., Catney, & Sabater, (2019) indicate that youths are not performing well in life and others are not getting jobs because they lack self-esteem, they do not embrace members of other races, they do not have the ability to relate well with other people, and they lack decision making abilities in career and work choices. Albright, Hurd, and Hussain (2017) assert that problems such as crimes and drug abuse exist because there is no proper youth mentoring in our societies. According to the authors, mentoring is essential to improve youths’ social concept and building stronger social bonds for a stronger society. According to Meltzer and Sunders (2020), mentoring youths will provide pathways to creating and cultivating supportive and productive communities. All these indicate that there is need for the services this program is going to offer.
Mission Statement
The mission of YMJOA will be;
“To bring out hidden talents and capabilities through mentoring and empowering youths with the support and resources they need to reach their maximum potential and cultivate a better community and future for all. We embrace: We welcome the youths of all ethnic backgrounds (15 – 30 years) and offer them the space they need to growth financially, professionally, and socially”.
From the mission statement, it is clear that YMJOA aims at empowering youths to achieve the best in life and help secure job opportunities to those that are struggling. The mission statement has three main components which include;
1. Empowering the youths
2. Improving lives
3. Building communities.
The first and the second component go together whereby YMJOA will strive to improve the lives of the youths by providing them with the guidance they need and offering job opportunities to those who are in need. The services provided here include training programs, education, and mentorship. These services will be available to all youths regardless of which part of the United States they are. The last component is closely related to the first component and it involves empowering the youths to produce better communities. YMJOA will not only focus on empowering youths and connecting them to job opportunities, but it will also work to address serious social issues that affect the growth and development of our communities such as leading healthy lifestyles, fitness, and health education. Addressing all these components will ensure the goals of the program are achieved.
Competition
The major organization that YMJOA will be competing with is the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) which is so far the leading non profit organization in youth development, social responsibility, and healthy living. YMCA has Grown rapidly to become the best youth association worldwide. However, we feel YMCA has not done enough in amplifying the voices of the youths worldwide. YMCA has concentrated more on youth development and healthy living forgetting issues such as emergencies and disasters in the community that youths can help avoid. YMCA has not also achieved enough partnership between the youths and key stakeholders in the society. YMJOA will provide all-round mentorship where youths will be trained in different societal issues such as disaster management to ensure safety is achieved. The program will ensure youths are engaged in all matters in the community to strengthen their power in community leadership. YMJOA aims to reach and surpass YMCA but we still have to start by offering our services within the United States, then we will go international after we have developed fully.
Program Design
The YMJOA mission will be achieved through the services and programs we will offer in communities across the United States of America. We know youths are the backbone of the society and positive growth and development of our communities has to take place through them. The programs are also about their social, emotional, and mental well-being. Our programs will help all American youths and they will cover all parts starting from health, professional, and social development. Our programs will help all youths get a chance to connect with others, break barriers, build support networks, work together towards goals, build stronger communities, and create a stronger America as a whole. Our programs include;
Education and Training
Education and training are the best way of mentoring youths. Our education and training programs will focus on imparting positive knowledge, skills, and behaviors that will see youths grow up to be responsible people in the society. They say learning is a continuous process that can take you wherever you want to be. By educating, we will be able to build literacy and provide life and social skills that will equip the youths with knowledge that will lead to better job opportunities and bright future, and for everyone, a better America in the future. YMJOA education programs will be designed in a way that there will be courses and workshops that will support youths in their long-life journey of learning. All the courses address the issue of healthy living, professional growth, racial discrimination, community development, and social responsibility. Some of the programs to be offered include; Professional development programs, cultural awareness courses, guidance and counselling, CRP courses, YMJOA fitness training, and language assessment
Our programs will also focus on achieving equality and breaking boundaries of inequality and ethnicity by providing education and training programs on cultural competency and awareness, and discouraging discrimination in all out programs. Augsberger et al., (2018) asserts that it is through the education and mentoring of the youths that we will achieve reduced social inequalities. We are living in an age and era where there is rapid globalization and our youths need to co-exist and embrace the differences among them for a better society. This will help address the problems of social injustices, discrimination, cultural barriers, and many more.
Employment Services
YMJOA believes that when everyone has access to better employment opportunities, the entire society benefits in different ways. As an organization dedicated to better the lives of the youths in America, our organization has seen the negative effects of youth unemployment in our societies. It is not easy to find a job especially for the youths. Even for those who have completed their studies up to the college level, it may be possible to find themselves jobless. The situation is even difficult for those whose highest level of education is high school.
YMJOA employment services will extend to the unemployed and underemployed youths in the United States. The organization will work to ensure it provides the much-needed employment programs by the youths to break the barriers that exist in the labor market. The organization will work to build networks with employers and other service providers both locally and internationally, to provide comprehensive services that youths need to find a job. By working in unity, YMJOA will connect a lot of individuals to employment opportunities, thus giving more American youths the chance to succeed and build themselves professionally. Employment programs that will be offered by YMJOA include; Job placement opportunities, workshops for job search skills development, placement opportunities, employment resource centers, apprenticeship information, one-on-one mentoring, and entrepreneurship support.
The programs will be offered depending on the needs of the youths in a particular region. This will ensure youths do not struggle or engage themselves in risk activities such as crimes and drug abuse.
Community Initiatives
This is the most important of all the programs that will be offered by YMJOA. The program’s main aim is to ensure better, developed, and productive communities through youths as the main instrument. A healthy and developed community has opportunities for everyone. For YMJOA, this means coming up with projects, programs, and services that will help meet the different needs of different people in the community. It will also push the organization to stretch further beyond its abilities to provide its services where they are needed most. Our organization will deliver different community initiatives depending on the needs of a community. Some of the programs and services that will be offered by YMJOA at the community level include;
Immigrant services – the organization will work to ensure all youths coming into America are welcomed into their new home. The goal is to give them a settlement experience they need and help them find a way to adapt to the American life. This will help ensure they do not engage in illegal activities and crimes to make a living.
Social activities – there will be social activities that will work to bring people in the community together. This will ensure the community is united in solving the issues affecting the youth and the community as a whole.
Child and family development – this will be made up of programs where families will come together to interact and strengthen their bonds. This will ensure families raise youths with love to be responsible members of the community.
Housing services – the organization will ensure everyone in the community has a place to call home. We will provide support and resources to help people find places to live in. this will help reduce the number of youths in the streets who are abusing substances.
All the services above will be provided by the Human resource department which is also our customer service unit. The department, starting from the human resource manager and HR specialist will be available day in day out to help answer any questions that youths may have and help them with different tasks. HR plans to have working cites in different parts of the United States to ensure the services are easily accessible.
Funding Strategy
There is a strong relationship between the availability of finances and the performance of a non-profit organization. YMJOA is a charity and that is why it will operate for the community and people’s good rather than making profits. The organization will provide financial assistance to ensure every youth in the community can access its services, and provide different programs and services that target various populations in the community at zero cost. The organization will be for everyone and its funds will come from different sources. Funds diversity play a critical role on performance, diversification of funds sources reduces the dependence of organizations and consecutively improves their performance (Ferreira, Carvalho, & Teixeira, 2017). The organization’s sources of funds will be youth care (15 – 30) years, health and fitness membership, program fees, the government, corporate sponsorship (partnerships), donors.
Being a non-profit organization, YMJOA will rely on grants, patron support, and private donations to meet all its expenses. Also, to reduce staffing costs, the organization will rely on the support from volunteer and its other networks in the United States. YMJOA will also charge fees for membership to allow people from the community to use its facilities and resources, but the organization will not benefit from the fees. The fee will rather be used in paying for essential services, maintain facilities, and fund all the programs that will ensure YMJOA achieves its goals and objectives in the society. Membership fees will be a very reliable source of funds that will ensure a recurring donation for our causes. The organization will in return offer special benefits such as recognition and tickets for special events to those individuals who sign up for membership. Membership is also important as it encourages and promotes a sense of ownership, thereby motivating members to contribute even more.
Activities to Raise Funds
YMJOA will focus on property development to ensure organizational development through utilized properties. The organization will be a social enterprise that will accommodate income generating activities to raise funds for all its programs. This will include tourism activities that will be guided by the youths who will be mentored by the organization, and other money generating projects. This will welcome tourists from different nations to participate in our activities and sign up for membership, thus generating more funds. We will also come up with campaigns such as “invest in our youths” to mobilize people to contribute funds towards supporting the education and training programs. The campaigns will be done both manually and through online social platforms. We will use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to raise awareness about our organization, the reason why we need funds, and provide directions of how people can give their contribution. This will see potential donors invited to contribute towards our programs. The donors will not only be from America, but anyone from any part of the globe will be allowed to contribute towards our programs. The different fundraising projects will focus on youth empowerment and development including general community well-being. This will ensure the organization has a broad and diversified base of resources for long term sustainability.
Grants from Counties, Local, State, And Federal Governments
The organization looks forward to grants from the federal government, cities, counties, and states as the main booster of funds to meet its goals and objectives both in the short term and in the long term. Grants from these powerful sources will help transform the organization’s annual budget. We will apply for project, foundation, and charity grants. Aside from financial assistance, the funds will also ensure;
· YMJOA receives more credibility which will help secure more funds from other donors. Government funding will assure the public that the organization’s programs are legit.
· A big difference and growth of the organization to the international level as grants from the government always come in huge amounts.
· Growth in responsibilities as government grants require responsible spending and using the funds as outlined.
Corporate Sponsorships
A lot of organizations and businesses are concentrating on corporate responsibility as a way of attracting customers. According to Aguinis and Glavas (2019), businesses are seeking to find meaningfulness in what they do and this is where charity organizations come in. By partnering with big businesses such as Starbucks, PepsiCo, Amazon, McCarthy, and McDonald’s, the organization will be able to;
· Find businesses to partner with who will support our programs and fund specific initiatives.
· Find partners who will be willing to offer similar services as our organization, and then we can match our programs
· Get monetary donations from other businesses related to our partners.
· Our partners will offer free publicity of our organization by mentioning it in their conferences, announcing our partnership, and other activities. This will boost awareness and help generate more revenue.
· Partners who will offer volunteer grant programs that will motivate employees and other people to easily offer volunteer programs to our organization.
Conclusion
Non-profit organizations contribute a lot to economic and social development of a nation. The organization created above will ensure youths are empowered and communities develop and become productive. This is as a result of the growing rates of unemployment among the youths of between 15 to 30 years which has contributed to different social problems such as drug and substance abuse, increased crimes, and illegal businesses. Youths are experiencing problems entering the world of work and the jobs available for them are vulnerable and of poor quality. There is need to ensure that youths secure job opportunities for a successful future and general community development. From youth unemployment, the ethnic minority youths are at a greater disadvantage as evidenced by Catney and Sabater (2017). A white youth is likely to get employed compared to a Black youth. For a socially, equal society, there is need to ensure quality by empowering all youths regardless of their ethnic background. Youth mentorship is the main program, followed by other activities such as job connection and resources, fitness, and language awareness. All YMJOA programs are designed in a way that will ensure all the issues affecting the youth in our society are solved.
References
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2019). On corporate social responsibility, sensemaking, and the search for meaningfulness through work. Journal of management, 45(3), 1057-1086.
Albright, J. N., Hurd, N. M., & Hussain, S. B. (2017). Applying a social justice lens to youth mentoring: A review of the literature and recommendations for practice. American journal of community psychology, 59(3-4), 363-381.
Augsberger, A., Collins, M. E., Gecker, W., & Dougher, M. (2018). Youth civic engagement: Do youth councils reduce or reinforce social inequality?. Journal of Adolescent Research, 33(2), 187-208.
Anheier, K. (2014). Nonprofit Organizations. New York, Oxon: Routledge.
Catney, G., & Sabater, A. (2015). Ethnic minority disadvantage in the labour market. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Luckert, K. (2012). Nonprofit organizations (Definition and examples). Retrieved September, 5.
Ferreira, M. R., Carvalho, A., & Teixeira, F. (2017). Non-governmental development organizations (NGDO) performance and funds—a case study. Journal of Human Values, 23(3), 178-192.
Meltzer, A., & Saunders, I. (2020). Cultivating supportive communities for young people–Mentor pathways into and following a youth mentoring program. Children and Youth Services Review, 110, 104815.
O’Higgins, N. (2017). Rising to the youth employment challenge: New evidence on key policy issues. International Labour Office–Geneva: ILO.

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