indymillennial

Posts Tagged ‘Indianapolis’

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Connected by Service

In Homelessness, Other Nonprofit Blogs on April 13, 2011 at 11:30 pm

In honor of National Volunteer Week, today I volunteered for the Indy Homeless Connect.  Now in its sixth year, the event is a chance for those who are experiencing homelessness to have access to a wide variety of services.  There were housing, employment, mental health, physical health, veterans’ specific, financial, and legal services available, as well as the ability to sign up for benefits or get a state ID, birth certificate, or social security card.  In addition to all of these services, there were haircuts, massages, free telephone calls to anywhere in the country, and sack lunches.  CHIP did an amazing job coordinating the event.  Something I love about Indy is this community’s ability to step up when it’s asked.  Seeing all of these service providers work together for the good of a population is incredible.  I also loved that there were 675 volunteers who spent all or part of their day providing smiles and guidance for people trying to navigate all of the resources.   Nothing is better for me than being a part of something like this during National Volunteer Week.  The number of Millennials I saw volunteering was heartening, too.  I’ll be turning 27 next month, so I’m at the older end of the generation, and it’s great for me to see people who are almost ten years younger than me with hearts for service, too.  There were volunteers of all ages, and everyone seemed to really enjoy their experience.  Even Mayor Ballard and his wife were present for much of the day, eager to spend time with volunteers and those who were accessing services.

Volunteers with Mayor & Winnie Ballard (I'm the second from the left.)

 

I personally enjoyed my experience very much.  I worked as an intake guide, which essentially meant that my responsibility was to get people to their first stop of the day.  Back in January, I participated in the Homeless Count.  One of the things I wished during the count was that I would have more time to spend listening to the people I met.  Today, I got just that opportunity.  If you know me, you know I’m genuinely fascinated by other people’s stories, and today was no exception.  I spent time waiting with different individuals all day, trying to remember names, faces, and stories, especially so if I saw someone later in the day, I could ask them how things were going.  I spent a bit of extra time with a gentleman today, and I want to talk a little bit about that experience.  I’ll respect his privacy by not revealing too many details about him.  He was an older veteran with some health issues, and the CHIP staff immediately showed him care by getting him a wheelchair to use for the day.  I sat with him for a bit while he filled out his medical paperwork, and we chatted about what he expected from the Connect.  He was one of the first faces I saw around 9 a.m.  I had to return to my original station, but later, I found him again.  He had accessed three other services since we met.  I smiled and wished him good luck.  To my surprise, at 4 p.m., he was still in the building, making his last stop to get a haircut.  (I firmly believe that serving him with a wheelchair early on in the day encouraged him to participate fully.)  Since the event was winding down, I sat next to him again, and this time, he told me all about his service in two different wars, his family, and his current situation.  We talked about what I’m in school for, too, and he said he hoped I kept it up, but he reminded me that I should take time out to do things for myself, too.  Before I got up to leave, he asked me for a hug goodbye.  As I was hugging him, I kept thinking to myself that service is something I do for myself as much as I do it for other people.  What would I do with my time “for myself” if I wasn’t serving as frequently as I am?  Five years ago, I might have been able to answer that.  But today, I can’t.  I’ve never been on a ship like the man I met today, and I certainly haven’t been overseas to fight a war in another country.  Instead, I’m here in Indianapolis, but I’m on what sometimes does feel like a battleground.  We just have different weapons.  I’m armed with knowledge of the city and its resources, experience working with people from various backgrounds, and most importantly, I’ve got a smile and a heart that’s bigger than I know what to do with sometimes.  I may never have formally enlisted in this service, but I do it every day, and it’s so much a part of me that I think if it was taken away, I wouldn’t know how to survive.  I walked away wondering if he knew how similar we really are.  We’re both motivated to serve our country and community.  We may not be the same age or gender, and we may be experiencing very different lives, but we’re connected by service.

Interested in helping to end homelessness in Indianapolis? Visit CHIP’s website to find volunteer opportunities.

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Save me a Seat

In Leadership, Nonprofit Best Practices on March 30, 2011 at 9:58 pm

In about 45 days, I’m going to be walking across a stage in downtown Indianapolis.  My MPA is going to convey a  lot of different things about me to the outside world.  Hopefully, right now, it’s conveying to potential employers that I have a great foundation of the principles of nonprofit management.  I’ve taken classes in fundraising, HR, management, program evaluation, grant writing, financial management, statistics, and all kinds of other key areas that I think will be really helpful wherever I go.  SPEA gave me exactly the skills I wanted when I started this journey two years ago.  My classmates are wonderful, too.  I’ve learned so much from being in the classroom with working professionals, and I feel like I could call virtually any organization in the city and talk to someone I met in class.  That’s a great feeling, and it’s one of the reasons I feel strongly about starting my career here in Indianapolis.  Nothing can replace that network of other people who care as much as you do about your community.

As most of you know, I’ve been working on a capstone project regarding colocation of services, so I’ve had the opportunity to think a  lot about how organizations, staff members, and people accessing services work together.  Our group made this really great matrix that explains the possibilities.  I’m thankful to SPEA for giving me the frameworks to think strategically about community issues, but I had a conversation this morning that reminded me that frameworks and matrices are useless unless we have relationships with other people.  James Taylor from the Boner Center was nice enough to put me on his calendar for the purpose of talking about colocation as it relates to our capstone project.  The conversation we had certainly covered colocation, but more than that, it brought to light how strong individual relationships must be in order for a project to really be successful.  Executive directors must trust each other so that organizations can work together without communication issues.  Staff members have to be able to trust their directors.  And more than anything, community members have to be the driving force behind any project that’s going to be a success.  Leadership has to have strong relationships with the neighbors (to use his word) who are accessing services, or it’s not going to work.  James reminded me that we have to bring people to the table, and more than that, we have to go to their tables, too.  I’m really thankful that I get the opportunity all the time to have relationships with my SPEA classmates and great nonprofit professionals in this city, but more than that, I want the opportunity to have relationships with community members who use the services that I may be a part of in a professional capacity.  The things that are happening at Boner Center and will be happening at the new Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center will be successful because James relies on a framework created by the community residents, not something that he and his staff designed.

My MPA program has given me a lot of great fundamentals, but it’s also given me relationships and access to some of the most talented, relationship-driven people in this city.  I’m thankful that I live and work in Indianapolis, too, because there are current leaders like James who are interested in passing their knowledge along to those of us millennials who are headed for the leadership positions someday.  I think that Indy millennials in particular are lucky, because in this city, there are so many leaders who welcome us at the table, allow us to share our ideas, and want to see us succeed.

Indiana Convention Center, I’m coming for you on May 15th.  Save me a seat.

Want to learn more about the John H. Boner Community Center or the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center?  Visit their website.

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Making the Homeless Count

In Homelessness, Other Nonprofit Blogs on February 13, 2011 at 1:54 pm

About two weeks ago, I had the privilege of participating in the annual homeless count.  The count is a point in time survey, similar to the census.  Nationally, HUD uses the data to pinpoint trends and to evaluate whether we’re making progress to end homelessness.  Locally, service providers that work with homeless populations can use the data to better understand who’s homeless in Marion County, why they’re homeless, and what benefits and supports are needed to build pathways to permanent housing.  From an evaluation standpoint, the count is extremely useful.  My classmates from IUPUI SPEA and I were trained to administer surveys to people in shelters and on the street.  We were assigned to teams, and we all met at Horizon House on the night of the count.   From there, we received our assignments.  I was fortunate enough to receive two very different assignments: Wheeler Mission and Stopover.

While I have some varied experiences, I had never worked with adult men as a population.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the homeless count quickly reinforced a life lesson for me.  In my career, I think that personal relationships with others are the key to providing the best possible services.  Building a comfortable relationship with someone with such a limited amount of time and in light of research constraints is not always an easy task.  At first, I was a bit nervous, but when I relaxed, the conversations flowed smoothly.  I was actually surprised at how open and honest the men were.  If our roles were reversed, I’m not sure that I would want to tell a stranger my story in the name of “research,” but they all seemed happy to meet with me.  After my time at Wheeler, I moved on to Stopover.  Stopover has two different homes in Indianapolis; one is for crisis intervention for youth, and the other is a transitional living program for teenagers.  I was fortunate enough to visit both and survey the youth there.  I have much more experience working with youth, so the population was familiar to me.  The youth were more reticent to participate.  Usually, when an “authority” figure asks questions, something the youth perceives as negative may happen shortly afterward.  After a few minutes, they seemed to trust me enough to complete the survey.  All of the youth told me they were in school or some kind of training, and they all had jobs.  This signals to me that Stopover is doing something right, and I would have loved to spend more time learning about their lives since they began receiving Stopover’s services.  Unfortunately, the count requires the researchers to stick to the questionnaire and complete it as quickly as possible.  The whole experience lasted approximately 4 hours before I headed back to Horizon House to turn in my surveys.

With both the men and the youth, it was so difficult for me to focus on the questions and not spend extra time listening to their stories.  I met men who were recently released from prison, veterans, men who had addictions, men who wanted to tell me about family that they missed, men who had jobs that required a college education until the recession hit, and men who had been homeless their entire lives.  I met youth who had been in foster care, experienced family violence, and who had been kicked out of their homes.  As a practitioner, I know the reasons behind homelessness are numerous.  The characteristics, barriers, and assets wrapped up in each story are dependent upon the individual.  Talking with the people I met, though, really brought this point to the forefront of my mind.  Every story about homelessness has some similar elements and some elements which are unique to an individual, and this is what ultimately makes service provision a challenge.  Casework requires individualized services, while evaluation seeks the common goals and unifying themes in order for an organization’s program to be considered a “success.”  I routinely think in terms of management and evaluation now, rather than casework, because of my degree and career path.  Talking with the men was a great reminder that evaluation and research can, at best, complement casework, and neither evaluation nor casework is a substitute for a genuine person to person relationship.

The count itself was an enriching experience, but it impressed me even more because I think it speaks to the success of collaborations between sectors.  A government agency, HUD, sets out the guidelines for the survey and compiles the national results.  HUD is the umbrella agency for the project on a national level.  Locally, IUPUI’s role is incredibly important for several reasons.  While organizations ultimately benefit from the results, there are few nonprofits in the city that have the time, resources, or funding to undertake such a massive research project requiring so many volunteers.  The university coordinates all of the difficult logistics of the projects.  Second, the university reduces bias in the project.  Organizations tend to focus only on the populations they serve, and rightfully, they tend to be most concerned with numbers that will support their goals and outcomes.  The university collects data that will be unbiased and accurate.  The results can then be used by multiple organizations.  However, the university would be unable to do the project without the cooperation of all of the shelters and sites who were willing to share their data and allow the research teams to come into their organizations.  To me, the homeless count is proof that nonprofits can cooperate and collaborate on certain projects, even in a landscape where they may be competing for clients and dollars.  The addition of the university and the government agency makes it a nice example of a cross-sector collaboration as well.  Both of these types of collaborations are critical to tackling any widespread social issue.

As a part of my homeless count class this semester, I’ll be volunteering with other organizations that seek to end homelessness in Indianapolis.  The count illustrates that there is not one face or label that we can give to homelessness.  Instead of understanding it only as a distant, abstract idea, we must try to understand it through individual stories and relationships.  The survey research portion of the count provides a way to make sense of these stories and to identify common threads to be addressed.  While I am only just beginning to understand homelessness on a personal and professional level, I think that the questions that the count raised for me are a great starting point for further exploration.

Want to learn more about the national homeless count?  Visit HUD.
Want to see the numbers from previous Marion County homeless counts? Visit CHIP.

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Mentoring Fearlessly

In Mentoring, Other Nonprofit Blogs on January 25, 2011 at 1:01 am

Before I start this month’s post, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the staff from Girls Inc for recognizing indymillennial recently, and I appreciate it if you’re reading now because of their posts!

As many of you probably know, January is National Mentoring Month.  I’ve wanted to post about mentoring for awhile now, but I think the topic is often over-blogged, especially from the perspective of a professional.  Read any of the current literature, and the findings are the same.  Mentoring positively impacts kids’ lives in various ways.  We know there are academic, social, emotional, and so many other benefits to kids if they have a caring adult in their lives.  So why is it that staffers from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana have to stand outside in the cold in order to convince people to do this?  We can prove with research studies that mentoring is effective, but that’s as far as professional academic analysis will take us.  In order for mentoring to really “work”, there’s something almost magical that happens in the relationship.  Mentoring can be a formal decision and commitment, or it can be a more informal, organic relationship.  For mentoring nonprofits, the relationships between volunteers and youth have to be both.  How can an organization strike a balance between personal and professional?   I struggled to write this blog because I initially wanted to share  a list of tips and tricks for professionals.  However, sometimes, I think that the best way for an organization to learn is to hear about the personal decisions that lead their volunteers to commit to a mentoring relationship.  I’ve touched on the idea before that philanthropy is something that is extremely personal, and I think this is most evident in mentoring relationships.   Service is a huge part of who I am, and nothing is more personal than having/being a mentor.  This is my mentoring story:

Growing up, I was fortunate to have an amazing mentor.  My high school choir director is an incredible man, and he spent countless hours listening to me.  I told him things I didn’t feel I could confide in anyone else, and he always affirmed me while gently reminding me to look at a situation from other people’s perspectives.  The most important advice he ever gave me was “fearlessly be yourself.”  I really held on to this; as a teenager, that was probably one of the most difficult things to do, but he contributed strongly to my sense of self-esteem and self-worth.  We had dinner several months ago, and I am so thankful that he still supports me and is proud of the things I do.  Our relationship was never formalized by any program in school; it was all personal and progressed naturally.  I always hold onto my experience with him because I would have been the last kid to “need” a mentor.  I could never claim that my parents did anything less than a wonderful job raising me.  (They read this blog, so hi Mom & Dad.)  I would never have been labeled “at risk.”  I was a straight A student and never had a detention in my life.  I benefited so much from having a mentor, but no one would have ever known this if our relationship hadn’t developed.  No one would have matched me or put me in a program. That’s the same reason I sometimes dislike “professional” mentoring.  The “at risk” label sometimes implies there might be something “wrong” with the youth, and it even implies that something must be wrong before a child “needs” a mentor. Volunteers must be taught that mentoring isn’t about fixing; it’s about listening and developing a relationship.

One of the most important lessons I learned from my mentor was how to give back and be a mentor myself.  I spent a year mentoring incarcerated youth as an AmeriCorps member, and it was very difficult to have those relationships come to an end after such a short period of time.  Research tells us that for a real impact to be made, mentoring relationships often must last at least 18 months or longer.  This is the point in time where I made the first conscious decision to become a mentor.  I wanted to commit to a mentoring relationship for longer than one year.  Because I didn’t have many opportunities to develop a natural mentoring relationship with someone younger than me, I decided to seek out an organization to help me fulfill this desire. However, I had just started my first “real” job using my degree from Ball State, and I wasn’t certain that I could commit to mentoring when I was working somewhere I didn’t intend to stay for a lifetime.  I was also researching grad schools, and it became very real to me that I might move away from Indiana to pursue my degree in another state.  This would have been the wrong time for me to make a mentoring commitment in my life. I set a goal to become a mentor as soon as I thought the time was right.

Fast forward to May 2009.  I made the decision to attend IUPUI’s SPEA program for my MPA.  I had returned to Indianapolis after living in Delaware & Madison counties from 2002-2008.   I was eager to start serving the city, and I knew I would be comfortable staying in the city for at least two years.  I approached Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, and I told them that I was ready to be a Big!  They truly listened to me during my interview process, and they asked me some TOUGH personal questions!  (I sure didn’t expect to talk about my entire dating history with someone I had just met!)  I think those questions really gave them insight into who I am.   I’m sure they listened just as well to my Little and her mom, and this helped them make a great match for us. One month later, I was matched with my then 11 year old Little Sister.  It sounds silly, but as soon as I saw her wearing her Hannah Montana shirt and grinning at me, I knew they had made a great choice for both of us.  We’ve done quite a few activities together from making pizza and playing Wii at my apartment, to visiting the Indiana Historical Society, going to an Indiana Fever game, shopping at the mall, to taking a tour of where my classes are at IUPUI, to trick-or-treating (both dressed as Taylor Swift from different parts of the “You Belong with Me” video), and this past summer, we even went on the BBBSCI trip to Chicago together.  I’ve watched her basketball games, eaten lunch with her at school, and we’ve made an annual tradition of going to the Fishers Freedom Festival together.  The Freedom Festival is something I loved growing up as a kid, and I’m glad she loves it, too.  She doesn’t know this, but one of my favorite things is when we’re in the car, and we sing whatever song happens to be on Radio Disney at the moment.  (My other favorite memory of her is when I told her I would be coming to her school for lunch, and she got on Google Maps while we were on the phone to find directions from my house to the school.  Did I mention she’s smart?)  We’ve had conversations ranging from the silly to the very serious.  She poses questions about what she’s learned in D.A.R.E. asks what my opinion is on where she should go to college, and tells me about the nice and not so nice kids at school.  We’re talking about all those “important things” that a mentor should talk about, but every single conversation has happened naturally.  BBBSCI might have matched us, but those conversations are all ours!

I will say that there are two very important people to our mentoring relationship.  One person is her mother.  If I didn’t have a strong, trusting relationship with her, there is absolutely no way that I could have such a great relationship with her daughter! I’m thankful that her mother trusts me enough to share information about her family & daughter that helps me become a better mentor.  The second person is our Match Support Specialist, Vanessa.  I firmly believe that all “professional” mentors need someone like her to guide the process.  Vanessa has been a valuable resource to us, and her particular expertise has helped me understand my Little Sister better.  This kind of support is crucial for a mentor to have; sometimes we simply need someone to talk through an idea or a tough issue with. Vanessa has been nothing but kind, reassuring, and supportive of our relationship.

As my Little Sister’s 13th birthday approaches in a few weeks, we’re already past that 18 month mark, and the professional in me is cheering.  I’ve heard people say that we must find volunteers who are willing to commit “at least x amount of time to a child.”   This is a professional “best practice” that I think requires some personal attention.  While I do agree with the literature that indicates short-term relationships can be damaging to a child, professionals must recognize that good mentoring relationships grow gradually over time. When I first began mentoring my Little Sister, I knew that I could commit at least the amount of time that I was in graduate school.  What I didn’t know was that every time I saw her, I would learn more about her and her family, and I would grow more and more attached to her.  Now, I can’t imagine ending the relationship before she graduates from high school.  I want to see her graduate, and I am committed to helping her get into college. I’ll graduate right around the same time that I was matched with her two years ago, and I can’t wait to celebrate both events with her.

How do I know for sure that we’ll stay matched?  I suppose I don’t, but something she said to me made sure that I won’t be the one to give up on her, ever.  She mentioned to me that she has three theme songs for her life.  I couldn’t wait for her to tell me what they were.   One of the songs was, of course, a Taylor Swift song.

The song?

“Fearless”

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‘Tis the season… to be a good steward.

In Nonprofit Best Practices, Stewardship on December 28, 2010 at 6:54 pm

If you’re like me, you’ve probably been inundated with last minute donation requests disguised as a “thank you” from various organizations over the last month.  Some of these thank you’s come from organizations you may have donated to throughout the year, or they could be ones for which you’re a volunteer.  The “strategic” thinking behind this is that the holiday season supposedly makes people more generous.  I have mixed feelings about that.  I personally gave Kiva cards to my family members this year, but that was planned much before Christmas.  I hadn’t planned to give anything more to my local organizations past my United Way of Central Indiana contribution in the fall.  Because I work for a foundation, I also know that it’s time to push for people to get their final donations in toward 2010 tax credits.  This doesn’t impact my giving so much as a graduate student, but I know it’s important for people with larger giving power than myself.  While all of these strategies are important for raising money, I don’t think stewardship is necessarily about increasing the financial bottom line.  It’s about building meaningful relationships between your organization and your stakeholders.

If that’s true, when was the last time you got a really unexpected, meaningful thank you from an organization you’re connected with?

I want to share a few examples of good stewardship that I’ve received this year.  Here are two of the best:

Ball State University
I donated to my undergraduate institution for the first time this year.    I received a mid-summer/early fall ask.  I wasn’t receiving other mailings at the time, so I had time to think about giving.  The tone of the campaign spoke to me as a young alumnae.  It was specifically geared toward alumni.  They included an ask from an alum who had been the student government president at the time I attended BSU.  Seeing a picture of her and hearing it in her words encouraged me to donate.  There were also sensible, easy to understand ways to designate my dollars.  Participation in the Honors College at Ball State was a wonderful part of my academic career, so when I had the opportunity to designate toward the new Honors House, I was more than happy to do so.

I hardly expected more than a tax-receipt in the mail.  Ball State is a large university, and the amount I donated wouldn’t really cover much on its own.  However, I received something wonderful!  Ball State sent me a personalized, handwritten card from a student.  The student thanked me for my first time contribution and explained how it would benefit her.  What I like best is that the card reminds me of how I felt Ball State treated me during my time there.  The university never treated me like just another number, and even now, they’re paying attention to my status as a donor.

Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis
If you know me, it’s no secret that I love Girls Inc.  I’m about to start my third program as a volunteer facilitator, and I think the work they do in the community shows that they “get it.”  The staff members are supportive both during and between programs.  I’m impressed by their communication style, so I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising to me that they’d go above and beyond to make the top of my holiday stewardship list.
What did they send me?

Girls Inc. Card

I fully expected the inside of this card to contain a simple, computer printed “thanks for volunteering!” inside of it.  Instead, I opened the card and found the picture on the right!

It’s a handwritten thank you note from my program support coordinator.  I’m aware of how many volunteers she probably has based on the number of programs, so I’m sure this took quite a bit of time on her part to do it for everyone.  I absolutely appreciate that. She also sent me a copy of a girl feedback form from a girl who was in my fall cycle program.  The girl feedback forms show what girls like about the program and what they’ve learned.  This was an INCREDIBLE stewardship tool.  Reminding me of how my participation impacts girls was the best Christmas gift I could have received this year!!  Most importantly, Girls Inc. didn’t solicit me in this card.  It was all about how much they appreciate me as a volunteer and the work I’ve put in for them since I was trained last February.

This, to me, is stewardship at its best.  Some fundraisers frown on soliciting your volunteers, arguing that you’re already asking for their time.  However, when a volunteer receives something like this in the mail, how can one not want to become a donor?

Stewardship Tips for Any Season
+Stewardship is a relationship, not a task to be completed on a checklist.  Think about your volunteers and donors.  What would be really meaningful to them and improve your relationship?  If you send out meaningless stewardship pieces, chances are slim that you’ll see an increase in volunteers or donors.  Take the time to send something that matters.
+In many cases, meaningful stewardship will produce the financial results you want without the presence of a hard ask.  Ball State’s personalized acknowledgment of my first time contribution put currency in our relationship bank, and that will certainly carry over into a larger gift from me to them next year.
+ Adding even a little personal detail goes a long way.   It may not be feasible for your organization to write a handwritten thank you note to everyone, but if you can do it, you should, especially if your organization relies on volunteers to carry out its programs.  For smaller organizations with limited budgets, even a personalized thank you email or phone call goes a long way.
+Remind your donors or volunteers how they are personally making an impact.  Including general stories of success is one way to handle it.  If you can go the extra mile like Girls Inc and include something like the feedback form, this is even better.  It reengages your volunteers by reminding them how their personal contributions make a difference.

What are your tips for being a great steward?

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Jammin’ with the Naptown Roller Girls

In Uncategorized on December 6, 2010 at 8:53 pm

One thing that I find really important to nonprofit work is to know your community.  You’ll probably hear me say this so many times that you may even get sick of it.  This is also why I’m committed to staying here in Indy after graduation and having a career in service that at least begins here.  When you realize what Indianapolis has to offer, it’s hard to ever think about leaving.  For me, I see opportunities all the time to build on our already strong, engaged community.  I think one of the most beneficial things you can do is to go out and try something new!  Every so often here on indymillennial, I’ll be writing about something new or different that I’ve checked out around the city, even if it’s not nonprofit related. It always opens my eyes to who the residents of Indy really are, and I’m constantly surprised by the people I run into when I’m at a new event.

Our view from the stands!

In this case, I’m a little late jumping on the bandwagon of the Naptown Roller Girls.  My friends and I had the opportunity to check out their bouts on Saturday night at the Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  I’m a volunteer with several organizations that are primarily focused on women, so I’m always interested to see what the women of Indianapolis are doing.  The NRG didn’t disappoint me!  They’re athletically talented and extremely fun to watch.  They remind me of my Rollerblade Barbie who could light things on fire with her skates back in 1991.  Literally.   I can’t say I know all the rules very well yet, but I think we’ll be back to learn more next time.   Obviously impressed with the ladies, I’m even more impressed with the fans.  I saw many Millennials at the bout, but I think I saw just as many people from other generations- young and old!  The bouts were family friendly, which is a plus for those who are looking for something new to do with the kids.  There are quite a few people who committed to purchasing season tickets for all of the bouts, and I love that about Indianapolis.  People in this community are willing to buy season tickets for the Colts, but they’re also willing to buy season tickets to the roller derby!  I think the amount of support for local events like this is a good thermometer for nonprofit organizations.  Residents who are willing to come out and support events like this are many of the same residents who want to support your organizations.  I’m constantly seeing the possibility for collaboration between groups, and it looks like the NRG are supporters of some of our organizations already, judging by their charity page and appearances at events.  Like us nonprofiteers, I bet they have a good idea of how difficult and rewarding it is to get something local off the ground.  Luckily, we all have the Indianapolis community behind us for support.

If you want to go to the next Naptown Roller Girls bout on January 15th, 2011, you can check out their website.  Tickets can be purchased online or at some fine local businesses.  You can also follow them on twitter @naptownrg.

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