Thanks Dennis, Matt and Anne Marie for participating in this discussion today at the o-net conference in Chicago. While we agreed that "workplace fund raising is a ripe market" we also agreed that there are many ways to approach this and that this space could be used to build a list of suggested action and a community of people who might each work to enlist companies in various cities to support strategies that draw needed resources to o-net member projects.

Organizations suggested as resources were www.netimpact.org, www.missionfish.org and Anne Marie's discussion under the title of "eripple".

I framed the conversation today in this way: Of all the people who have joined o-net, most probably are looking for money to fund their work, some are looking to sell services, and a few may be looking to give money to good projects represented on o-net.

For those looking for money, many may not be listed in United Way workplace fund raising campaigns. This does not mean these groups don't do good work. Many may be listed with Combined Federal Appeal, or may have other reasons for not being a United Way agency.

The bottom line is, if you'r not a United Way agency, you probably don't benefit from workplace fund raising. Thus, is there a way that we could create a visibility, by what we do at o=net, and by other ways that we link the work of our organizations, and by how we each work to enlist companies as partners, that would lead more of us to receive payroll deduction dollars from workplace fund raising.

At the same time, could the efforts that lead to dollars, also lead to more volunteers, more tech support donations, and other resources that support the work of onet members who participate in this conversation.

That's the introduction and the invitation. What happens next depends on who joins this conversation, what ideas you suggest, and what ways we each choose to use those ideas.

In May 2006 the Tutor/Mentor Connection will be hosting another series of online discussions aimed at drawing people and ideas together to buid stronger programs to help kids living in poverty move to careers. Visit http://www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com to learn about the Chicago conference and the eConferences.

I invite Onet people who want to make a difference, and want to move to actions that influence change, to join in.

In a variety of other discussions there are talks about collaboration and about ending poverty. I focus on connecting inner city kids with adult volunteers in structured, non-school tutor/mentor programs. During August and September of every year I lead a volunteer Recruitment Campaign (http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/Partner/CC/RecruitmentCampaign/recruitment.asp ) that is intended to help tutor/mentor programs througout the Chicago region get volunteers.

The primary strategy of the campaign is to increase public visibility through traditional media, networking, on-line forums, etc.

While our primary aim is for volunteers to respond, our secondary aim is for donors to respond. Most of these programs are non profits and they struggle to find money.

One way members of the O_Net community can become collaborators is to encourage people who work for companies with United Way or Combined Federal Appeal fund raising campaigns and encourage them to write in non profits like Cabrini Connections (http://www.cabriniconnections.net) for their payroll deduction donation. You don't need to be in Chicago to do this. We've had people at Microsoft make donations. You also don't need to just choose my organization. There are many good, but financially strapped tutor/mentor programs in most cities. Pick one, and find a way to help them get some volunteers, and some donations.

It's a great way to start the school year.

I'll be leading a discussion at the http://www.socialedge.org portal, starting on Sept. 5th. The topic is CEOs and Volunteerism. The aim is to share ideas of ways CEOs of business and professional groups use their visibility and their company resources to encourage volunteerism among employees, customers and community.

If you know of CEOs who would like to contribute to this discussion, encourage them to participate.

Dan Bassill Tutor/Mentor Connection http://tutormentor.blogspot.com

I launched this topic in June 2005 feeling that there must be other people who visit Omidyar.net who lead non profit organizations working with inner city youth, and that your constant search of operating dollars would make you want to be part of a discussion focused on making such dollars more available.

Based on the number of responses, that does not seem to be the case. However, just to update the topic, the work I've been doing in Chicago for the past 14 years was rewarded in November 2006 when a $2 million award was given to a fund at the Chicago Bar Association (http://www.lend-a-hand.net ) which will redistribute those dollars as grants to volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago over the next few years.

To get a sense of the magnitude of this, the LAH grants in 2006 totaled around $30,000. In 2007 and for each of the next 10 years, the total could be $200,000 or more.

Imagine if that were happening in your city, or if we could encourage other industry leaders to duplicate this. That would provide more consistent dollars for us to do the work of connecting youth with volunteer tutors/mentors and learning experiences.

You might say, "Well, what is the Tutor/Mentor Connection?" Here's a concept map that you can view to answer that question. http://cmapspublic.ihmc.us/servl et/SBReadResourceServlet?rid=117 8301962705_378512451_14531&p artName=htmltext

This map is one of several linked concept maps that illustrate how one small organization in a huge city is trying to make an impact on the lives of thousands of at risk youth, and the volunteers who connect with them as tutors/mentors.