MENTOR believes in youth speaking for themselves. "If You Mentor Me…" is a compelling reminder of the potential and power of mentoring relationships to build bridges and expand possibilities -- for young people and adults alike. We believe that these mentoring relationships play a key role in creating opportunities and advancing equality for youth and their communities.
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership kicked off National Mentoring Month 2018 with the launch of this 30-second film showcasing the power of mentoring from those who know those benefits best: young people.
"If You Mentor Me…" is a clear call-to-action to adults nationwide: Become a mentor in real life. The film uses researched-backed statistics about mentoring and its ability to empower and engage the next generation. Youth, who voice the video, speak clearly and confidently about how having a mentor can help them realize their potential and help them thrive in school, at work, and in life.
Launched in 2002, National Mentoring Month is the mentoring field's key awareness and activism campaign. This film was funded through MENTOR's partnership with Nike and their EQUALITY campaign - Nike's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Nike teamed with MENTOR to create opportunities for new mentoring relationships and supported MENTOR's efforts to increase awareness of the power of mentorship through initiatives like this film.
"If You Mentor Me…" is a clear call-to-action to adults nationwide: Become a mentor in real life. The film uses researched-backed statistics about mentoring and its ability to empower and engage the next generation. Youth, who voice the video, speak clearly and confidently about how having a mentor can help them realize their potential and help them thrive in school, at work, and in life. To share the film and message with diverse audiences, MENTOR's strategy and implementation included:
• Play at the National Mentoring Summit in Washington, D.C., the only national convening of more than 1,000 members of the youth mentoring movement
• Inclusion in a promotional toolkit for National Mentoring Month, distributed to MENTOR's 26 Affiliates across the country and amplified to thousands of mentoring programs, partners, and companies
• Engagement on social media through strategic posts and Facebook ads
• Email distribution to more than 60k subscribers
• Secured airtime on TV monitors throughout Boston's Logan International Airport, playing the video at least once an hour, a strategy to reach new audiences
“If You Mentor Me…” helped us make meaningful, record-breaking progress toward our ultimate goal: to close the mentoring gap in America and ensure every young person has the relationships they need to strive and thrive.
The "If You Mentor Me…" film helped lead to a record number of volunteers searching the Mentoring Connector, the only searchable national database of volunteer mentoring opportunities nationwide. In June 2018, MENTOR broke the record for highest searches in a single month and had a total of 34,304 searches (the previous highest record was 28,147 searches). With 34,263 views and 316k potential impressions on social media, “If You Mentor Me…” exceeded our measurable engagement goals.