Doing whatever it takes to ensure great futures for Tennessee’s Youth.
For 245 days each year, Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee open their doors for young people. There is no organization in the State better positioned to impact the lives of youth and their families on a daily basis. Since 2022, Clubs have met the needs of Tennessee communities by adding an additional 5,600 registered members, 74% of which come from low-income families. Growth of this magnitude was made possible through now-exhausted funding from the State of Tennessee – to continue providing services at the levels required by Tennessee families, we must secure new, robust partnerships with the State to couple with continued private support.
The number one goal of Clubs in Tennessee is to effectively serve as many kids as possible. Since 2022, the partnership with the State has enabled unprecedented growth, increasing low-income membership by 4,188 youth, or 19%.
Despite their best efforts, Clubs will be unable to continue serving this many kids without anew State partnership, creating a demand for out-of-school time care in TN communities that no other organization is positioned to fill.
The services offered by our Clubs meet the needs of our local communities.
Academic Support
Daily enrichment and small group tutoring to achieve academic proficiency.
Health & Wellness
Preventative and intervention strategies and activities to promote positive self-worth.
Workforce Readiness
Providing hands-on career exploration and job skill development.
Seeking sustainable & earned revenue
- Clubs in Tennessee want to be a long-term solution for the ever-growing needs of families in their local communities but require sustainable, predictable funding to plan for the future.
- Boys & Girls Clubs’ brand is the 7th most recognized and trusted nonprofit nationally. Local Clubs in Tennessee carry a strong reputation with families and local governments.
- Tennessee Clubs are confident in their ability to change lives – State funding would include performance expectations in academic support, health and wellness, and workforce development.
Public support for Clubs is less than half of Clubs’ growing revenue.
2019 – $42.2M
2022 – $48.6M
Public–Private Partnership is Crucial
- Through the Alliance, Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee will be seeking new partnerships that would enable continued Club growth to meet the increasing needs of their communities.
- Funding from the State of Tennessee would be focused specifically on serving an additional 7,500 young people from low-income families across the state.
- Clubs would continue to raise private funds to bolster programs and create a true public-private partnership with the State, corporations, individuals, and others.
Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee provide each young person they serve with quality, data-driven programming for as many as 1,500 hours each year. The total cost to each Club for this level of service is $4,200 per child.
The requested state support of $10,875,000 would provide Clubs with a maximum of $1,450 annually per low-income youth – less than 35% of its total costs – necessitating continued private funding.
Advocacy Support from Clubs
As the Tennessee Alliance furthers our ask of $10.8M annual funding ask in partnership with our champions in the legislature, the Governor’s office and key partners, the number one thing for Clubs to do NOW is continue cultivating relationships with their elected officials and establish the case for continued and increased support from the State of Tennessee.
Specific asks for Clubs between now and Day on the Hill on March 12th:
- Email your State Representatives and State Senators to Say THANK YOU. It is important to thank legislators for the support thus far. Specifically call out how glad we were to hear the Governor’s commitment to Clubs during his State of the State address. Share what the funding means in your local community using the number you were given for your individual allocation if we secure full funding.
- Elevate the Alliance’s Social Media Outreach. As the Alliance shares its marketing messages about the funding ask, amplify those to your own audiences.
- Inform your Board and Supporters of the Progress Thus Far. Inclusion in the Governor’s budget is acritical step in securing this funding and we need to continue to advocate. This will continue to take an all hands on deck approach.
- Track any outreach with your elected officials in BGCA’s GR Central system. With so many Clubs in the state, it’s important that Alliance staff know where outreach has taken place so they can follow up and connect dots between Clubs and elected officials as needed.
- Remember the three key messages that will establish the need for this support:
- We have an increased demand for services to meet the needs of low-income youth
- We are seeking sustainable earned income based on performance tied to core services
- Public & Private investments are leveraged for maximum impact and your Club will continue to require and seek private investment.