Great Chefs of the West YPs: A New Image for the National Kidney Foundation of CO, MT, & WY

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Today, it is important for nonprofits to get creative and think outside the box when raising money and reaching out to new people. One of the most effective movements in the Colorado nonprofit scene has been the creation of young professionals committees. Many nonprofits are assessing their current donor profiles and are finding that their main benefactors are in the 50 year-old and over category. If these charities never reach out to a younger demographic, what happens when their donors pass away? The time is now to cultivate new, young leadership and donors.

For the National Kidney Foundation of CO, MT, and WY, the executive director and team wanted a fresh new image for the organization. Yes, the first and easiest step is to move away from the tired old ballroom gala and present a hip, more informal cocktail party. Second, I wanted to create a group of well-known young professionals (YPs) in Denver—who also get things done. That’s the important part. They can be socialites, but do they follow through and execute tasks when on a committee? This group of YPs would be responsible for organizing their own events that would compliment and help spread word-of-mouth buzz for the big Great Chefs of the West event in February 2010.

Assembling a group of ten stellar YPs, we first met in October 2008 and formed the Great Chefs of the West YP committee. We planned our first event for January 2009, which was held at One Lincoln Park at a penthouse condominium. The committee rallied, and we produced an event attended by over 200 YPs, complete with a DJ, vodka bar, wine bar, appetizers from two restaurants, and a photographer. We spent just $50 for the entire occasion (on linens and coat hangers) and created a great stir in the community about the Great Chefs YP events.

Second Home was the venue for our next event in May 2009. The format of this event was a guest bartending event, with the ten committee members mixing up a signature drink—the MORjito. This time, we did raise money from the sale of the signature drinks ($5 each) and from tips; we raised around $2,000 for the foundation and commanded an attendance of 200 once again.

Our third event will be held October 25 at Gourmet Fine Catering. We’re bringing the focus back to exemplary food and outstanding chefs, so the party will be right in the kitchen—a 12,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility. We’ll charge $20 this time, which will include live music, vodka bar, wine bar, and chef creations demonstrated live by the Gourmet culinary team. We got creative, too, and will be applying the $20 ticket price toward the February Great Chefs event ticket—a kind of layaway program to entice YPs to attend.

In January, we will hold one final “kick-off” party, and again, we’ll apply a $20 ticket price to the February event ticket.

Overall, the YP committee has definitely increased the visibility of the foundation—not only amongst YPs—but in the community. Because we are doing innovative, new events, we are garnering more coverage for the foundation than ever before. With more media coverage comes more awareness, and increased awareness helps increase funds.

A quote I heard from a YP best sums this up: “I know I have kidneys and am aware of what they do. I knew there probably had to be a foundation for kidneys, as almost every organ has its own charity. But, I hadn’t heard of the National Kidney Foundation of CO, MT, and WY before and didn’t realize they were headquartered right here in Denver. It’s exciting to be part of their new YP initiative and spread the word to my friends.”

Thank you to my phenomenal YP committee members:
Dana Berry
Anne Donley
Georgia Gallagher
Jill Hodges
Kasia Iwaniczko
Jenny Salimi
Jessica Hood
Lea Tucker

-Jim Guttau, Great Chefs of the West YP committee chairperson