A fundraising guide for our valued Corporate Partners

Transcription

1 A fundraising guide for our valued Corporate Partners Immediacy Sanctuary Value Communication Structure Choice Charitable Registration No. BN RR0001

2 The Growing Issue of Homeless Youth There are an estimated 500 to 1,000 homeless and at-risk youth living on the streets of Vancouver every night. They have no family, no money, and nowhere to go. The majority of them are there because they fled an abusive home, were abandoned by their parents, or were cut-off from foster care support the day they turned 19. Vancouver s downtown streets are dangerous. Sexual exploitation, drug abuse, poverty, and illness are commonplace for young people living on the streets. Many of them are re-victimized there, having fled one unsafe situation only to find their circumstances much worse. Homeless and at-risk youth are plagued with a wide range of mental illnesses that are often left untreated with devastating impacts. Traumas from living on the street or their previous life at home often amplify their struggles with mental health, and in some cases are the cause of them. They frequently turn to substance use as way to escape and numb their pain. Hidden homelessness is a problem in BC that is growing exponentially. Unable to afford rent, these at-risk young people couch surf, live in unsafe conditions, or bounce from home to home as a desperate effort to stay off the street. Many of them constantly live in a state of worry, with no guarantee of a place to sleep the following night. 33% of our youth report sexual exploitation; some are victims of human trafficking. 50% of our youth struggle with substance abuse. 39% of our youth suffer from mental illness OUT OF o f o u r y o u t h h a v e WITNESSED FAMILY VIOLENCE. Covenant House Vancouver is 94% privately funded, which means it is almost entirely through the generosity of community partners like you that we can keep our doors open year after year. 2

3 What Covenant House Does to Help Covenant House Vancouver helps homeless, runaway and at-risk youth from 16 years old up until their 25 th birthday. Guided by our mission of unconditional love and absolute respect, our youth workers build meaningful relationships by meeting youth wherever they are at in their journey, without judgement. In addition to providing food, shelter and clothing, we take care of our youth the way a family should: offering guidance, teaching life skills, and giving compassionate support from caring adults. We provide a full Continuum of Care that is strategically designed to help youth at every stage of their transition away from the streets. Our Continuum of Care includes three core programs: Community Support Services Outreach workers find vulnerable youth on the street and offer sandwiches, juice boxes, socks, minor medical attention, and an invitation to come to our Drop-In Centre or Residential Crisis Program At Drop-In, young people can access food, clothing, hygiene supplies and computers, receive help with applications or acquiring ID, and get connected to support services like counselling and housing workers Residential Crisis Program 24 hour safe, gender-specific housing with food, clothing, counselling and life skills training Assistance with finding housing, employment searches and connecting to resources like addictions counsellors Rights of Passage A long-term supportive transitional housing program with youth workers available 24 hours a day Teaches young people structure and vital life skills while they advance their education or career How We Know It s Working We utilize Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) a database specifically designed for the social services sector to track every single interaction we have with every youth we care for. ETO enables individualized long-term goal setting and life skills plans for each youth, and helps us determine the impact of each of our programs. We also survey our youth on an ongoing basis to make sure our programs are helping to end youth homelessness and changing young lives for the better. This invaluable feedback has helped guide important program changes like the move to gender-specific housing and increasing our age mandate from 22 to 24 years old in the fall of

4 Why Your Support Matters The young people who come to us face many obstacles to achieve independence. The majority of youth have experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse, often at the hands of the adults that were responsible for taking care of them. Although we have made great strides in supporting these vulnerable, young people there is still much more to be done, and we need your help. Your generosity ensures we can meet the urgent needs of our youth with food, clothing and a safe refuge from the dark, lonely, and frightening streets. Simultaneously, your support gives one thing we can t place a dollar value on hope. Hope is the essence of how we help youth turn their lives around. Once a young person feels hope, no challenge seems insurmountable. Goals like graduation, sobriety, healing, forgiveness and employment become within reach. Your support empowers these young men and women to write a different story for their life and change it for the better. Thank you for giving these young people hope for a future that is brighter than their past. We look forward to partnering with you to create a city where no young person is living on the street. At a time when I was being consumed by bad mistakes and judgment calls, you took me in and gave me the chance that I wasn t able to give myself. For that I am eternally grateful and forever in debt to you all. Your heart and desire to make a change in this world has helped so many of us tread through the most difficult times of our lives. You ve shown us that we have the strength to conquer the world if we want it bad enough. I m happy to be home with my grandparents. I wanted to thank everyone who helped me out. I couldn t have done it without your help. I m going to school again and hope to finish my grade 12 next year. It s hard work but I think I can handle it. 4

5 Benefits To Your Company Your partnership with Covenant House Vancouver won t just help these vulnerable young men and women, it will also impact your business: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is frequently on the minds of consumers, and it plays a large role in their purchasing decisions. We will work with you to promote our partnership through our social media channels to increase our supporters awareness about your brand. Supporting Covenant House Vancouver shows your employees that you care about one of the largest social issues in their community by helping homeless youth of today become contributing members of society tomorrow. Together, we can make it happen. How We Will Help You Succeed Logo Use You can use our logo to proudly show your support on your website, social media, and promotional materials. Social Media We are happy to work with you to cross promote your event or fundraising initiative through our social media channels. We have a strong base of followers who are extremely passionate about our cause: Website and blog: 31,087 unique visitors in three months (August to October 2017) E-newsletter: 1,024 subscribers (as of November, 2017) Social Media (as of November, 2017) Facebook: 3,874 likes Twitter: 3,755 followers 80% of consumers would tell their friends and family about a company s CSR efforts. 90% of global consumers are likely to switch brands to one associated with a good cause, given comparable price and quality. 80% Source: 2015 CONE Communications/Ebiquity Global CSR Study of consumers would be willing to buy a product from an unknown brand if it had strong social and environment commitments. 89% Source: Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, Community Involvement Study 2015 of companies with community involvement programs have seen an increase in employee loyalty and engagement. Customized Online Fundraising Pages If you re holding an event and want to collect pledges online, we can set you up with an easy-to-use fundraising page where you can monitor your progress and communicate with your supporters. 5

6 How Your Company Can Help There are countless ways your organization and employees can work together to provide a lifeline for the homeless and at-risk young men and women in our city. We would be happy to help you with your fundraising efforts, events and campaigns. Corporate Engagement Opportunities Employee Payroll Giving Encourage your employees to sign up for automatic payroll deductions to support the 1,200 young people we expect to serve this year. Corporate Matching Inspire your employees to give by offering to match their payroll deductions or annual donations. You can also encourage your staff to participate in one of our Sleep Out events by committing to match their fundraising total. Hold A Fundraising Event Organize an event or incorporate fundraising into your existing event to raise funds to support Vancouver s homeless and at-risk youth. Silent auctions, barbeques, golf tournaments, and Casual Fridays by donation are just a few examples the possibilities are endless. You have helped me make my goals a reality and it feels amazing! I will be forever touched by Covenant House and their supporters, and I look forward to paying it forward in any way I can. Sales Campaigns Promote your business by donating a portion of sales from one item or a percentage of your overall sales to Covenant House. You can even take it to the next level and engage your customers by asking them to add a donation to their bill. Corporate Donations Invest in the future of Vancouver s most vulnerable youth and support their transition to independence. Sponsorship We can work with you to create a customized and integrated marketing opportunity with exposure to a wide audience of over 57,000 Covenant House supporters. Please contact us for current sponsorship opportunities like Sleep Out or our Family Day Tour. I hope I can be to my kids what Covenant House has been to me. 6

7 Join Our Campaigns We have events, campaigns and volunteer opportunities throughout the year that you and your organization can get involved in. They re fun, engaging, and involve minimal time. Sleep Out We are challenging local executives, young professionals, and mothers to spend one night sleeping on the street with just a sleeping bag and piece of cardboard. Participants collect donations and sleep out to show Vancouver s homeless and at-risk youth that we care enough about them to be uncomfortable for one night; to be vulnerable so they can be safe. Sleep Out: Executive Edition - Thursday, November 16, 2017 Sleep Out: Young Professionals - Thursday, February 15, 2018 Sleep Out: Mothers Edition - Thursday, May 3, 2018 Give a Day, Build a Life Challenge your company and employees to donate a combined total of $6,500 for the Give a Day, Build a Life campaign this November. Your support will provide a full 24 hours of care for all of the youth living in Rights of Passage (ROP) our long-term transitional housing program. ROP teaches youth new life skills while they are employed or in school. We are proud to report that 100% of youth in ROP achieve secure housing away from the streets. Go Casual for Covenant House We supply the stickers you find the participants! The suggested donation to go casual for Covenant House is $10. Host your own Casual Day any time that works for you and your workplace. Backpack Program Collect items for our Christmas Backpack Program! A wish list is prepared each fall, and groups can pick new items to collect for the campaign. You can even come in and help sort the items in early November. Over 300 backpacks are distributed to young people at a special holiday party each December. Volunteer Opportunities Thank-a-Thon Thank-a-Thon's are fun-filled evenings where volunteers get together and call our donors just to say thank-you. Because we are primarily privately funded, it is important for us to be able to reach our donors and thank them personally for the difference they make in our young peoples lives. Gift In-Kind Sorting Gift In-Kind shifts involve sorting the clothing, linens and household items we receive before they are cleaned and given to the youth. It s a fun team building opportunity that empowers your employees to give back to their community. 7

8 Thank you for giving Vancouver's homeless and at-risk young people hope for a future that is brighter than their past. We look forward to partnering with you to create a city where no young people are living on the street. 575 Drake Street Vancouver BC V6B 4K8 Office: