Celebrate National Mentoring Month through Social Media

From the organizations supporting National Mentoring Month - Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, and the Corporation for National and Community Service - this January's campaign will feature a new social media strategy designed to focus national attention on the need for mentors. The campaign is set up as a Facebook event called "I Am A MENTOR" for January 11 and will be concentrated on a one-day call to action for mentors to post their stories and invite others in their network to join.

Check out and join the event here.

Join with youth mentors and mentoring programs around the country January 11, 2012, and help inspire others to learn about mentoring and how they can make a difference in the life of a child. Ways to help support this campaign:

• Share this event page with other mentors, mentoring programs, and supporters of mentoring.
• In January, change your profile picture to the “I Believe in Mentoring” badge (a link to access the badge will be provided soon).
• On January 11, post your experience about being a mentor. Here is some sample messaging you can use: Did you know I am a mentor with [program]? Being a mentor to [first name of child] is rewarding and has helped me to [have fun, make a difference, learn new things, be a better parent, gain a better understanding of other cultures, etc.]. You can make a difference in as little as an hour a week. Find a mentoring opportunity in your local community today at www.serve.gov/mentor
• Be sure to tag your program in your posts so people can learn more about the program where you mentor.
• Feel free to post comments and suggestions on this page so other mentors can learn how you are promoting mentoring during National Mentoring Month.

For more ideas on how to use social media strategies to promote National Mentoring Month, be sure to check out our latest webinar, Social Media + National Mentoring Month = Opportunity. There, you'll find 12 Tips for 2012 to use in January and throughout the year to recruit more mentors, find more funding, and engage with your community about the importance of mentoring!

And be sure to register for our two new webinars coming up in January: Learning from Mistakes: Strengthening Youth Safety with Research-Based Screening Practices and Cropping the Big Picture - Determining What the New Meta-Analysis Means for Your Mentoring Program.