In 2019, Houston AMA Gives Back reintroduced its volunteer matching program, pairing local non-profits with chapter members willing to offer time and expertise in the form of pro bono marketing consulting. One of the benefiting organizations was Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, a volunteer-delivered, kindergarten–12th-grade program fostering work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills, as well as using experiential learning to inspire students in the community to dream big and reach their potential.
Recently, the organization was invited to speak at a key luncheon at the Houston Country Club, but their presentation materials were outdated, and not in-line with their current strategies. Most importantly, the materials weren’t effectively communicating the true impact the organization was having.
Junior Achievement worked closely with Houston AMA member and Gives Back volunteer, Bille Jean, to create a clear, updated PowerPoint template to guide them through a presentation sure to emotionally move the audience. Junior Achievement’s Director of Community Partnerships Jim McCaskill noted, “Billie Jean took the time to listen to our story over a lunch meeting, and made several recommendations on what to include and exclude given our timeframes. From that meeting, we built a framework for the presentation, and gathered facts and information from multiple sources. One of the most important decisions was to include space for individuals that we had impacted to tell their story.”
Billie Jean worked with multiple formats of input, from Excel sheets to photos to old PowerPoint decks, new logos and old logos, and in less than a week built a template and story that was clear, easy to deliver, easy to modify, but most importantly, one that moved the audience. McCaskill says, “Her speed and clarity was critical, as it gave us time to find and coach some of the people we have helped, and get them comfortable with their role.”
The presentation resulted in resounding positive feedback, including praise from multiple influential community members. Feedback also included requests for copies of the presentation to further the reach of Junior Achievement’s story and impact. Through a series of introductions following the presentation, the organization has added two new board members who are deeply passionate about the mission and also received a financial sponsorship from a member of the audience.
McCaskill praised the impact of the grant and volunteer program, “The AMA Gives Back was a huge success for us, and Billie Jean came through in a big way.”
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About Gives Back Grants:
Since 2008, AMA Houston Gives Back has provided financial support to non-profits needing assistance with marketing-related activities. Since its inception, the program has granted a total of $81,000 to more than 30 local non-profit organizations.
In 2015, AMA Houston expanded the program and paired marketing professionals with AMA Houston Gives Back Grant recipients to assist them in strategically and effectively applying grant funds to make a measurable impact for their organization. So the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
About Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas:
JA of Southeast Texas’s volunteer-delivered, kindergarten–12th-grade programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire students in our community to dream big and reach their potential.
Sarah Grimmer is an award-winning marketer and Founder of Janie and June, a Houston-based Marketing Collective. A self-described forever-learner, Sarah has been honing her unique ability to rally the troops and lead teams to peak performance since her days as Editor-in-Chief for her college newspaper more than a decade ago. She serves on the board of AMA Houston as Co-Chair of Gives Back Grants as well as on the board of Women’s Masters Network as Director of Marketing, and holds both a B.A. and M.S. in Communications and Media from Lynn University.
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