How We Found Our Beneficiary

Welcome to Week 2 of Gauntlet: Infinity fundraising! I’m Lyla Ross, Program Manager for ENGAGE – Mox Boarding House’s charitable giving branch – and I’m thrilled to introduce this year’s Gauntlet beneficiary, Treehouse! First, I’d like to share some information on how we choose beneficiaries for the Gauntlet each year, and how you can choose one for your next fundraiser.

From the inception of the Gauntlet, our mission has been to help our chosen beneficiary as much as possible.  We wanted to leverage the money we might normally donate, as a company, to produce an event that would yield several times that amount.  As you can probably imagine, there are many worthy beneficiaries that we could choose from.  So how do we choose?  As a committee, we decided on some important guidelines to use as we start our search each year.

• Impact: Could the donated funds from our event help to provide necessary services (e.g. more beds at a homeless youth shelter)?
• Location: Is the beneficiary in our geographic region? 
• Scope of Services: Is the beneficiary within our Areas of Focus? 1) Basic Needs/Health & Mental Health, 2) Education, or 3) Community Building?
• Stability: Does this beneficiary have the infrastructure and history of success to handle the windfall of donations?
• Reliability: Does the beneficiary have someone that can work with ENGAGE to help with the financial aspects of receiving donations, setting up matching options, creating an official tax letter for donations, etc.?

This year, we chose Treehouse as our beneficiary, as they have been a hard-working non-profit for foster youth in our state for almost 30 years.  Please read on to learn a bit more about what we think makes them a fantastic and worthy cause.

The following was provided by Treehouse:

Our Goal

Foster youth in King County graduate from high school at the same rate as their peers with a plan for their future by 2017.

 

Our Impact

Currently, fewer than half of youth in foster care throughout the state graduate from high school in Washington. Without a diploma and a plan for their future, these students experience disproportionately high rates of poverty, homelessness, incarceration, mental illness, unplanned pregnancy and substance abuse when they leave care. Treehouse is dedicated to closing this achievement gap forever. Our students receive the academic and other essential support that all kids need to succeed. Youth become more self-determined and invested in their education. And despite the challenges they face in foster care, the graduation rate for Treehouse students has increased dramatically.

Treehouse Progress Towards Goals:

 

We are thrilled to spread the word about Treehouse’s tireless work with our state’s foster youth, and we are excited to help raise funds to support their goal of helping the foster youth in their program, graduate from high school at the same rate as their peers!

Are you considering starting up a tabletop charity event in your town?  Maybe our guidelines can help you to choose a beneficiary that speaks to you! Good luck!

Reminder: Be sure to tag us on Twitter @moxboarding and use the official Gauntlet hashtag #MoxGauntlet when sharing about our event!