Supporting and Connecting Students to Help Them Succeed with Katie Duffus

Yeah, I expect so.

Speaking of working, you and your colleagues do a lot of work.

You've been telling us all about it.

And inevitably, as a nonprofit, you've got to figure out a way to pay your team and cover the costs of going to places and supporting students and all the things.

So we know the nonprofit funding landscape has changed dramatically in recent years.

But how does Chester County Futures fund the good work that you and your board and your team and your volunteers are doing locally?

Yep.

It's really driven also, it starts with our board, right? So we have 100% board giving, which is phenomenal.

And we also are working on the board give and get.

So not only are they giving now, but they're also helping with, you know, securing and connecting us with individuals.

But we do have a development department.

Ashley Abbey is our director of development and we have a grants team that we work with as well.

So we have foundations that support us about 22 percent.

We also have EITC educational tax credit funding.

That's about 18 percent.

Our special events that we run is about 15% and then individual giving 8%.

So it's nice that it's kind of all across the board and we're not high in one area that, you know, if you lose funding, it could, again, going back to the CESOL kind of off balance you.

But yeah, it's constantly hard work.

It's a big change that I, you know, I was used to membership coming in.

I was used to swim lessons getting paid for and to be running an organization where you don't have that program revenue.

It's all by commitment of support by donations has been an amazing experience to say the least.