By: Allie Townshend Peña, Generation SERVE Development Director

Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about our suggested activity donations, push for Family Sponsorship, and our general need to fundraise. Why do we ask for funds when volunteering is “free”?

Today, our Development Director, Allie, breaks it down for us! Read on to learn more about why philanthropic donations are essential to Generation SERVE’s success – and why we seek donations from our participants and the community.

Whether you have volunteered with Generation SERVE once or a dozen times, whether you are just getting started or you are a veteran volunteer, chances are you know that a big part of Generation SERVE’s success lies in our nonprofit partnerships. Over the past ten years, we’ve grown our nonprofit network to over 100 organizations! These partnerships are what make it possible for us to get kids and families out in the community doing meaningful, important volunteer work.

But did you know that Generation SERVE is a nonprofit, too?

Our identity as a nonprofit means that we rely on donor dollars to support our mission and to help us grow. Without this support, we would not exist.

Just like every nonprofit, we are providing a service that meets a need, filling a gap in our community.

Generation SERVE exists to:

  • Create a pathway of volunteer opportunities that will grow with your child from early childhood through adolescence.
  • Provide meaningful service opportunities that make an impact while still being developmentally-appropriate.
  • Make it possible and easy for families to volunteer together.
  • Educate youth and families about community needs, while building empathy and engaging them in being part of the solution.
  • Show nonprofits that families and youth are a productive and valuable volunteer corps.

Before we were founded back in 2009, these opportunities were nearly non-existent! And if you have tried to volunteer on your own with your child – especially a younger one – you know it can be difficult to organize on your own.

Our programs will always be free to the community, but they are not free for us to facilitate. 

Below, we break down what goes into coordinating and leading just ONE volunteer activity:

​Multiply all of that effort by 80 or so times each month, and that’s where the need for funding comes in. Our ability to raise money directly correlates to the strength, scale, and scope of our programming. 

When Generation SERVE was founded as Little Helping Hands nearly 10 years ago, the organization started out of our founder’s home with one (unpaid!) staff member, 19 nonprofit partners, 48 activities, and an annual budget of $35,000. 

Today – in 2018 – we employ a team of nine, have a robust network of 100 nonprofit partners, lead over 1,000 activities each year, and run three innovative and high-quality programs. To operate as we are today, it takes over $630,000 a year!

As the leader in the youth volunteerism movement, Generation SERVE has some big plans. We aren’t slowing down! Our need to raise money will continue to grow as we do.

So the next time you sign up for an activity and you’re encouraged to make a donation, you see a social media post about Family Sponsorship, or you receive an email asking you to consider a donation during Amplify Austin or Giving Tuesday, you’ll know why. And hopefully you’ll consider pledging your support! Whether you have the capacity to give $1, $1,000 or $10,000, every dollar makes a difference.

Thank you for engaging with our programs, believing in our mission, and supporting our efforts. We could not do this work without you!

Questions, comments, concerns, or just want to talk further? We’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to [email protected] and we will find a time to connect.