The nonprofit network in Miami County is strong. Organizations like the Lincoln Community Center, The Future Begins Today, Troy Skate Church, and many more serve youth across the county. But volunteers are the lifeblood of several of these nonprofits, and there wasn’t a system for connecting volunteers to organizations that need them – until the Mentoring Partnership of Miami County.

Make Your Match

With so many nonprofits in the area, it was important for Mentoring Partnership executive director Jon Hagar to canvas potential partner organizations to determine their needs and available volunteer times. Hagar, who previously worked in cybersecurity, built a database to store this information, making it easier to match volunteers with organizations in their area.

A successful match starts by taking time to get to know interested volunteers. The Mentoring Partnership asks individuals what they like, what they’re interested in, how far they’re willing to travel, and what they value. 

This relationship is reciprocal – volunteers are more likely to be engaged when working with an organization that aligns with their interests, values, and availability, while the nonprofits benefit from reliable support. 

The Mentoring Partnership officially launched at the end of 2023 with a portion of operational, marketing, and recruiting costs funded by the Duke Foundation. Today, the organization has 17 nonprofit partners across Miami County that volunteers can work with. Each volunteer will complete a one-hour online training session, broken into modules, that covers mentorship basics. 

As part of the process, the Mentoring Partnership also screens volunteers. Many nonprofits in the area are run by just a handful of people, Hagar said, so they help to fill those holes in capacity. The Mentoring Partnership not only provides background checks for volunteers they find, but for volunteers the nonprofits source themselves.

Change a Life

There’s always a spot to volunteer in Miami County, Hagar said. If you don’t want to work directly with youth, there are opportunities to make a secondary impact on a child’s life, whether helping with administrative work or impacting the lives of parents.

“I think having somebody there to walk beside you, to ask questions to, is so important,” Hagar said. “Just one mentorship relationship with a kid can change the whole world. It can change the whole community.” 

If you’d like to create positive change in the lives of Miami County youth, visit the Mentoring Partnership website to get started and find your match.