Rochester My Home - A non-profit for non-profits!

Rochester My Home - a UNIQUE non-profit built to make life easier for other non-profits, organizations, businesses, and individuals that demonstrate a strong sense of community and inclusiveness.

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What's your idea, and what problem does it solve?

It’s simple. Our project—Rochester My Home (RMH) —works to connect people who share our values of inclusiveness and community. Based in Rochester MN, it was born out of the challenges we’ve all been facing this year due to Covid-19. We began the project in early April when we saw how people were struggling with challenges such as getting information out. With the help of a small local grant, we launched a social media platform to help. As the pandemic restrictions tightened, the rules of "normality" were changing daily, and we knew we had to do more. Below is a shortlist of the most vital needs in our community as we see it.

Connecting to the community: getting around the obstacles
How could we at RMH connect to our community? Knowing we might not reach everyone, we believed we could make a positive—if limited—impact nonetheless, and began to generate events and programming that welcomed everyone. These events, which were either virtual, drive-through, drive-up, or drive-in, allowed community members to connect in a way that was safe and kept the rules of social distancing. Hosting, for example, a weekend-long community celebration with drive-in concerts and firework displays, we also offered up low- or no-cost drive-in movies, and launched a Spirit Week.

Collaboration and inclusiveness: in a year that’s seen more division than we care to admit
Collaboration is much easier said than done. We tackled this head-on—most of the events were arranged simply by people working together. We brought together city and county governments, competing businesses, non-profit organizations, and various individuals to make these things happen. Our approach—through collaboration and inclusiveness—meant discovering the opinions and ideas of people from all walks of life. We succeeded in representing a diverse community with females and minorities forming over 60 percent of our groups and entertainment offerings. Meanwhile, by developing positive and powerful multimedia messaging, RMH encouraged inclusion and unity in the community. See the link below to the video:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1035250646915883

Funding: it’s vital for small businesses, non-profits etc.
As the year has progressed, we’ve been struggling financially like many others. We see small businesses affected by the lockdown; non-profits impacted by sponsors, fewer grants on offer, and many individuals out of work. We’ve organized fundraisers and drives, like many others, and have applied for economic-relief funding etc. But before answering the question "What's your idea and what problem does it solve?" we’d like to give some context.

Building for the future: can the solutions we generate now work in the long term?

We began with some research to find out whether our group would still have a role—and still be viable—when the pandemic is over. The answer is an enthusiastic YES! We aim to reach those goals by building an organization that can serve our community in the long term. Having already brought together a group of individuals, we seek to acquire an inventory of assets and equipment to support in producing, assisting, and promoting inclusive community events, non-profits, businesses, groups, programming, and individuals. In other words, the problems our group can solve are really quite wide-ranging.  

Here are some examples of how RMH solutions worked:

·         Similarly, the local food bank wanted to host an event but needed to get the necessary equipment. Utilizing its capabilities to do a LIVE-Stream event and facilitate a pop-up drive-in movie, RMH stepped in to solve the problem. Shucks, they needed help getting the word out too—one of our members who happens to run a marketing and media company was happy to help out.

·          At John Does’ mechanics shop, they know everything about cars but nothing about office technology. We provided access to donated or discounted electronics that helped streamline his business, and again one of our members had the know-how to make it happen.

Another example of how RMH can help while aligning with its core value of inclusion:

·         An African-American speaker and leader in the community wants to host a big event for the community to promote inclusion and diversity. The trouble is, he lacks the technology and capabilities required. RMH will support them with the missing pieces—in terms of marketing, technology, and events management capabilities—to make their event successful.

The biggest impact RMH can have is in supporting and encouraging such individuals and entities on various levels. By giving practical and financial help, among other forms of assistance, we can enable them to survive. If our team—together with its assets—can survive, we can make a lasting impact, especially in our non-profit community. 

It turns out that most of the money raised by non-profits through fundraising events, galas, etc. is usually swallowed up by the costs involved. By handling these tasks, RMH can, in effect, remove these costs, thereby allowing the non-profits to benefit from the more substantial funds available to them. If we can provide the equipment, the resources, and the expertise, non-profits will rely less on outside partners and can achieve sustainability.

If your idea works, how would it be transformative for the region—in your community and beyond?

Our policy at RMH is to assist local non-profits, small businesses, and organizations that demonstrate a strong sense of community and inclusion. Our overall aim is to help these entities to achieve long-term stability and sustainability. So far, the non-profits we've already helped to stay afloat in 2020, in addition to the support our program and organization has already received from others, shows we can significantly contribute to the success and stability of these organizations for years to come. While we’re currently based in Rochester, MN, we believe we can quickly expand to transform other nearby communities, and eventually in the greater Midwest.

What's your plan? What steps will you take to make your idea happen?

As mentioned, we’ve already put our project into action, albeit on a small scale. Here are the steps we are in the process of taking:

1.)    Building our team. Currently, we have a team of 12 volunteers that represent the following areas of work and expertise:

·         events planning and production

·         marketing and creative design

·         audio/video sales and installation

·         television and virtual AV production

·         entertainment

·         live audio/visual production

·         accounting

·         sales

·         facilities management

·         non-profit executive directors

·          government leaders

 

2.)    Building our inventory. We’ve already received audio/visual and other event-related production equipment worth $50,000 through a generous donation from one of the founding members. We’re still in need of much more, however. We’ve been working to develop an everyday needs inventory list; primarily with local non-profit directors, and conducting weekly calls with them to keep abreast of those needs as well as any other developments that may arise.

3.)    Building our resources. Equipment and talent are vital resources, but those who share our values of inclusiveness and community also need additional assistance. We’re continuing to develop our social media platform and to extend our presence. We’re also working to strengthen and extend the relationships with local government, community leaders, local media, and other relevant industry professionals.

4.)    Education through Programming and Events. We aim to offer up these resources, inventory, and staff to further educational opportunities for our diverse community.  Like our partner and fiscal sponsor, the Olmsted County Agricultural Association, we are of the firm belief that we should do our part to offer educational opportunities to our young people and those of all ages and backgrounds that want to learn something new.  We have already begun work on a rural/urban exchange program.  This will allow our urban participants to learn more about ag and rural communities and our rural participants to learn more about tech and industry that is readily available in our community.  We will support programs and events that have those similar goals of creating a diverse and inclusive environment.  We have created a mentorship program that hires area High School students to help run these events and programming while being tutored and supervised by various industry professionals.  We have students learning about sales, marketing, customer service, event production, community service, and a host of other areas.

At RMH, we’re firm believers in demonstrating our capabilities by example. After all, the proof of an idea is in its execution and success. Our experience in enacting our plan and vision over the past week exemplifies our approach. The local mayor—together with several organizations—launched a week of "Spirit Days", designed to aid our community and teach some life lessons along the way. Again, as this group is interested in community and inclusiveness, they align with our goals at RMH. The group had been in the process of securing a production company to step in and produce a virtual live stream event for them. The bids ranged from $2000–$3000. As it happens, one of the group members had previously attended one of our events and knew we were in the process of establishing RMH. When he reached out to us with his dilemma, we were able to acquire some of the equipment needed and provide it to the group, thanks to our social media platform and the generous donation to our inventory. While we'd like to provide such assistance free of charge, we aren't there quite yet. That means we sometimes need to hire staff, which is the only cost the provision of this equipment incurred ($450). Although this may appear an insignificant sum, similar costs will quickly add up. Having the right team, the right inventory, and the right resources will make more than an impact, it will bring a real and lasting change!

 

Describe the people leading this effort. What are you each bringing to the team that will help you be successful?

The founder of RMH is building our group by consolidating existing relationships and by developing new ones. As a small business owner in Rochester who specializes in events—and as an executive director of a local non-profit—he is uniquely positioned to form our team. Further, his ability to develop relationships with clients that span decades and the knack for identifying quality team members with a specific area of expertise will be critical factors in our success. Equally crucial are the team members we’ve already gained within the relevant industries, as outlined earlier. These include a local marketing and creative design company owner who has quite simply led the charge in our growth and in extending the possibilities of RMH. Additionally, her dedication to helping organizations and individuals reach their end-goals make this owner the ideal person to lead the marketing for our group. Also, our two team members in radio and television, who add their know-how and help with the all-important publicity for RMH, are equally indispensable. Another valuable member is a recently retired accountant who was a leader at his firm for many years. Other individuals represent various facets of event planning: production, entertainment, and everything in-between. At the same time, a sales professional, a retired IBM and technology guru, a former city leader, and a facilities manager for an extensive grounds and event facility together round out our team. As stated earlier, we plan to continue growing and expanding the team with the eventual goal of turning into a non-profit; at which point the existing members will transition to an advisory board. This move will not only attract more individuals but will also stimulate and facilitate new ideas to ensure the success and longevity of our organization.