YouBridge behind the scenes, guest blogpost by Thorsten Strauss
Who is running YouBridge and what does it take to make it all happen?
Allow me to tell you a little bit about both.
There are 6 people that run YouBridge:
Jonas, Pieter, Barbara, Kande, Tim and Elise. Have a look here to see their picture and read a little bit about them.
These six young professionals meet every second Monday in the evening to discuss the process of current projects as well as long term actions that need to be taken. The topics range from collecting and asking for donations, solving operational challenges, follow-up on the local project status to marketing and communication material creation.
Because all YouBridge members have full time “day” jobs they can only work on YouBridge during their free time in the evening or on the weekend. You might not know this, but none of the YouBridge members receive any money for their work. They do it 100% on volunteer basis. When other people in Belgium are going home from their jobs to relax Jonas, Pieter, Barbara, Kande, Tim and Elise work on their computers or talk on the phone to help make the YouBridge project a success.
When I first met them in December 2011, it was this commitment that inspired me to also support YouBridge. After I got to know them a little, I was impressed by their level of professionalism and excellence in running and managing a nonprofit company.
As a former marketing executive and consultant I have seen a lot. Where other big companies still do not know how to go about social media marketing YouBridge is already present, executing, and engaged with its target audience and individual client base. That makes YouBridge as 100% volunteer organization very unique.
Their key to success lies in having won the support of a fantastic mix of companies: i.e. relationship management consultancy, video and radio creative content developers, social media marketing specialists and some very experienced and influential individuals in business and social causes. Have a look at their partner list to see who they are working with.
So how are these partners helping YouBridge?
Every few months there is a ‘Board of Advice’ meeting where the YouBridge team presents their progress status and seeks input to some challenges.
Not all advisers are literally connected to the business of YouBrige but rather act as mentors or business angles, meaning they are giving advise or asking for support on behalf of YouBridge within their respective networks.
Below you can see some pictures I took at the last ‘Board of Advice’ meeting.
In specific you see part of the YouBridge team sitting on the table (from right to left) Pieter, Tim, Elise and Barbara. Jonas was presenting in the second picture. Missing is Kande who was abroad for work. The last three pictures show participants during a break engaged in discussions how to best help YouBridge.
What was discussed in the last ‘Board of Advice’ meeting?
We discussed exciting events coming up for YouBridge. There will be a big TV and radio campaign on Belgian media in May, 2012 and YouBridge will be launching a new Facebook environment in the new TimeLine format with customer designed pages of captivating content. The new Facebook page will be ready end of May and you should take a look. To stay up to date sign up for their newsletter to hear more about these and other exciting developments.
We also discussed how YouBridge can manage and secure more helping hands and minds. Because YouBridge is managed by 6 people during their free time, they need many more volunteers and commercial partners in order to grow further. If you are interested to help or want to know more email the team with “I want to help” in your title at: info@youbridge.org
The ‘Board of Advice’ meeting and the last three months of regular team meetings have been a lot of fun and were very rewarding. YouBridge has a bright future. It is a real pleasure to contribute to such a fine non-profit organization run by such dedicated and passionate young social entrepreneurs.
I look forward to working more with Jonas, Pieter, Barbara, Kande, Tim and Elise on the great things they have planned.
Thorsten
Thorsten is a consultant who gives advise and works with YouBridge pro bono. Additional information and contact details for Thorsten can be found here.
n Kisangani (Congo) has received a batch of 25 new laptops to increase their internet facilities for the university students. Together with the King Baudouin Foundation, this is a new step in the collaboration between YouBridge and the NTEB-organization in Congo.
