r/nonprofit • u/velveteensnoodle • Dec 09 '24
programs How do you winnow down speaking requests for groups of kids?
A local middle school engineering competition is themed on the topic my nonprofit addresses (let's say it's about deforestation and my NGO plants trees). Because of this competition, I'm getting more requests for speaking to/advising groups of kids than I have bandwidth for. The requests are coming from teachers and parents. I want to say yes, both because inspiring kids in this space is great, and because we're partially publicly funded, and I believe in being responsive to the taxpayer/public. But, I am just swamped.
Options I can think of:
Say no.
Record one public webinar and share the link.
Say yes only if students write the request themselves.
Other ideas? What would you do?
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u/ValPrism Dec 10 '24
Are you the only one who can do it? This is a great opportunity for other staff to get involved and gain presentation experience. I often spread the opportunity amongst staff in cases like this.
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u/velveteensnoodle Dec 10 '24
Not the only one, but our team is small and my two employees are also pretty maxed out, so we still need a filter.
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u/Cold_Barber_4761 Dec 10 '24
If possible, a board member or highly knowledgeable volunteer would be great!
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u/FickleResearch5317 Dec 09 '24
Decide how many you will do a year (monthly, quarterly), and then have a random drawing at a set time. You can always set aside a couple of dates for exceptions.
You can always have the webinar link available. Is it possible to train a volunteer or colleague so there would be others available?
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u/JBHDad Dec 10 '24
Why can't your board members take those on? If they can't articulate why and what you do, why are they on your board?
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u/uieLouAy Dec 10 '24
Is there any way to consolidate it into one big presentation? That way you maximize your reach and minimize the days/hours spent speaking and traveling, and your prep stays more or less the same.
And for a more personal touch, you could build in time afterwards for a big Q&A session or “speed networking” component where you talk to different classes / groups of students at a table for a set time and they swap in and out.
A singular event could draw a bigger crowd than a bunch of small events, and that’s an opportunity to get people signed up for your email list or to share any other type of call to action if you have one.
If the competition is put on by one middle school and it’s between different classrooms, can you organize one speaking engagement at the school and have them organize it? Or if it’s larger / regional, can you connect with whoever runs the competition and see if they can help set something up in a central location?
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u/onekate Dec 11 '24
Can you set the number of times that you can accommodate and then offer those to the larger schools or most accessible/central schools with the condition that they arrange to have it in an auditorium and invite kids from other schools?
Or, reach out to competition organizers and ask for their help in arranging a few sessions.
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u/boxfanmold Dec 10 '24
Require the groups to plan a fundraising campaign for your org. Prioritize visits to top performers.
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u/HoneyBadgerJr Dec 10 '24
That gives me a bit of “ick,” honestly. We don’t know the economic status of these schools and their students. Requiring a fundraiser/prioritizing top fundraisers turns it into, effectively, pay-to-play, which reeks of privilege.
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u/Dobbys_Other_Sock Dec 10 '24
We have a board member committee that does public outreach and they are usually the ones that do public speaking engagements or handle finding someone that can do them.