2015-16 Annual Report

A Ripple Effect of Kindness and Service

*Letter from DGT's Executive Director and Board Chair*

Letter from our Founder & Executive Director and Board Chair

2015-16 was a great year...

Dear Friends,

The year 2016 was one of continued growth for Doing Good Together™ (DGT™), with more families and organizations than ever turning to us for resources on instilling children with kindness and civic engagement. And for good reason. The research is clear that putting a focus on compassion and service is critical to our children’s, and our planet’s, future. Here’s how we expanded.

• DGT was again recognized for its expertise in family giving. Executive Director Jenny Friedman was invited to present at the 2016 National Service Learning Conference; Sarah Aadland, who directs our Big-Hearted Families™ program, was asked to speak at a conference on storytelling hosted by the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits; and the Minneapolis Foundation asked DGT to contribute to its Family Philanthropy Resource Center website and newsletter.
• We continued to earn exposure through new partnerships. These included: Bright Horizons, a national child-care chain, which asked us to help develop a new social responsibility curriculum; the law firm Gray Plant Mooty, which asked us to organize its 150th-anniversary event at TCF Bank Stadium; and The Food Group, a regional food bank, which asked us to create programming to engage more families in the fight against hunger.
• DGT expanded its national reach by adding California’s Silicon Valley and Baltimore, Maryland to the locations where we offer a listing of family-friendly local volunteer opportunities. We now offer this free service in six U.S. cities.
• We added many more resources to our website, newsletter and blog to help families, schools, faith groups and more to practice kindness with children. These initiatives included an original curriculum to teach young children about food insecurity and how they can help; new tools to help families engage in social action; new information for parents on such topics as helping refugees, how not to raise cheaters, tips on embracing failure, the power of family chores, and how to raise an undaunted daughter. We also continued to provide our followers with new book lists that highlight social issues.
• Finally, DGT received a generous grant for a project in 2017 that could further refine our hallmark program for use as a kindness-raising tool by schools around the country. The Albert & Jane Nahmad Foundation has provided funding to pilot our Family Service Fairs in the Miami-Dade Public Schools, the fourth-largest district in the country. (We continued our efforts to attract similar funding for our “DGT–Head Start Project,” to enable us to create a sustainable model for how organizations serving low-income children can give families simple ways to practice kindness and give back to their communities.)

Last year again demonstrated that our world is filled with complex challenges, and that our times require thoughtfulness, generosity of spirit, and a hero’s grit. It is DGT’s belief that children who move into the world ready to make a difference will not only survive, but thrive. Such children represent the very best chance we have to heal our global family. Your support of our work helps prepare children to do just that.

We cannot thank you enough for your belief in our mission.

Warm regards,

Jenny Friedman, Ph.D.                                    Roy A. Ginsburg
Founder and Executive Director                     Board Chair

Family Volunteering in Review

As we continued to offer monthly listings of family volunteer opportunities from coast to coast, DGT™ enhanced those offerings with unique ready-to-print reflection sheets focused on issues such as homelessness, hunger, and environmental protection. In addition, we began offering sponsorship opportunities to those in the Twin Cities area.

Volunteer Opportunities in Cities Across the Nation

For years, Doing Good Together has operated "coast to coast" with volunteer opportunities available in Seattle, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul, Boston, and New York City. In 2015-16, we added Baltimore and Silicon Valley to the list and gained an immediate following of fans and family subscribers. In addition, families can now follow DGT™ on Facebook in New York City, Silicon Valley, and (as of 2017) the Twin Cities.

DGT™ Introduces Sponsorships of Twin Cities Listings

With thousands of loyal subscribers to our Twin Cities Volunteer Opportunities listing, along with an impressive "open rate" from those families, we began a sponsorship opportunity in our first and largest market: the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul, Minnesota. Sponsoring companies could choose a quarterly or yearly sponsorship; we also offered discounted monthly rates for small businesses or nonprofit organizations. Want to learn more about our sponsorship program? Contact our Marketing Director today!

New Reflection Activities on
Big-Hearted Volunteering Topics

DGT has always emphasized the critical importance of reflection: the practice of pondering, discussing, and gaining new insights into a subject matter or experience. Our resources offer families the opportunity to delve deeper into big-hearted discussions with their children in age-appropriate ways. New to this list of resources: eight reflection pages with activities, discussion questions, and book recommendations on a variety of topics, such as Helping the Hungry, Caring for Animals, and Helping the Elderly. In addition, DGT offers an overview reflection sheet with tips on how to make any family volunteering experience more meaningful.

Family Service Fair Program

The past year of 2015-16 was one of exciting growth and expansion for the DGT™ Family Service Fair program. We had the opportunity to partner with several new schools, faith groups, social agencies, and businesses to introduce their communities to fun, family-friendly collective giving. We were also busy establishing partnerships with new social agencies, allowing us to support their critical work for people and animals in need through the power of family service.

DGT™ Family Service Fairs have a a positive impact on participants

Parents who attended DGT™ Family Service Fairs and completed post-event evaluations gave the event rave reviews: 94% felt that the event would have an impact on their family, while 72% felt that their family would start or increase their community engagement and/or family giving. Of the children surveyed, 78% claimed the event made them feel that they wanted to do more to help others. Overall, 98% of adults and children rated their DGT Family Service Fair experience as "Great."

DGT™ Family Service Fair Manual gives groups DIY hosting option

Our do-it-yourself DGT™ Family Service Fair manual continued to be a popular tool for school and faith groups wishing to bring the event to their community. The online toolkit features a host of documents and templates which make it easy for groups of all sizes and demographics to independently host their own DGT Family Service Fair and inspire their communities to establish a habit of giving.

DGT experiences growth through unique partnerships

In the summer of 2016 Doing Good Together organized a DGT™ Family Service Fair for the Minnehaha Mile shopping district community in south Minneapolis. The Minnehaha Mile businesses promote a lifestyle of material reuse and "upcycling." In this spirit, supplies for the service projects featured at the participating stores were all inspired by their excess inventory. One example: visitors created placemats for Meals on Wheels out of discarded wine corks!   

Big-Hearted Families™ Program in Review

Fiscal year 2015-16 was a year of growth and responsive messaging to a growing number of big-hearted families. Groundwork laid in previous years allowed us to reach a broader audience with more of the tools and resources they love. With more visitors to our website, more resources, and more members than ever, this program has generated ripples of kindness in communities across the country! 

New Big-Hearted Blog Posts & Unique Service Projects

We rapidly grew our list of subscribers to the Big-Hearted Blog this year, featuring widely-read posts like A Music Lovers' Guide to Giving Back and Renew Yourself - And Raise Kind Kids.

New projects offer opportunities for more families to find an activity that best suits them. Popular projects from 2015-2016 include opportunities to Create a DIY Kindness Journal; Give an Award; and Celebrate Patriotism with A Craft, A Book, and An Act of Kindness.

Growing Lists of Recommended Picture & Chapter Books

We've added a dozen new book lists, and extended all of our existing lists, in an effort to connect families with everyday reflection opportunities.

In response to member requests, we grew our chapter book collections including frequently-visited lists about hunger and poverty in America, bullying and bystanders, and social justice movements. We've also created new picture book collections around the issues of bullying, emotional awareness, and environmental action.

New Benefits for Our Membership Circle Families

We enhanced our membership circle in preparation to expand its numbers in the 2016-2017 fiscal year. New, exclusive download options are added every few months, including extensive tool kits around the issues of bullying and nature appreciation.

In a recent survey, members responded overwhelmingly that they find our exclusive resources to be of enormous value and would highly recommend this program to their friends. In the coming year, we plan to leverage these popular tools to expand the circle.

DGT™ Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2015-16

Public Support & Revenue                      

2015-16 Donors

Sarah and Joe Aadland

Diana and Tad Allard

Jennifer Alviar

Ameriprise Financial

Kristi and Steve Anderson Hermann

Barb and John Anderson

Bruce and Linnea Anderson

Rebecca Anikstein

Jodi Annis

Julie Banker

Eric Barsness

Julie and Duke Bascom

Joan Bechtold and Brian Balleria

Jane Bellis

Michael Birdman and Marissa Gautsch

Joan and Bob Bonello

Ann Tobin and David Booth

Jane Booth-Tobin and Kendra Terry

Felicia Boyd

Melanie Broida

Jana Bruder

Shala and Dean Buckner

Kyleen Bushroe

Kristen Cacciatore

Carrie and Steve Champeau

Joe Chrastil and Jean Ingebritsen

Jay Chrastil

Jessica Chrastil

Rachel Chrastil

Rocky Chrastil and Jenny Friedman

Common Ground Meditation Center

Sabrina Coughlin

Heather Cox

Rebekah Crosby

Jeff and Susan Dee

Kelly Deines

Connie and Carl Dellmuth

Jennifer Dellmuth

Nancy Dellmuth

Gwen and Chuck Denninger

Jim Dorsey and Dee Gaeddert

Tamara Ecklund

Cara Feldberg and Phil Bennatyne

Sorelle Feldberg

Scott Fischmann

Denise Fosse

Laura Friedman and Dan Picus

Leah Friedman

Michelle Frys

Ari Fuad

Nicole Garrison

generationOn

Clifford Genzler

Roy Ginsburg and Anne Damon

Elizabeth Glaus

Allison Golnik

GRAM Charitable Foundation

Karen and David Grandstand

Michelle Grant

Gray Plant Mooty Foundation

Jennifer Griskevicius

Laura Grund

Urbae Hall

Bonnie and Clayton Halverson

Sharon Hansen

Cynthia Harper

William Heier

Sonja Hendrickson

Michael Henley and Randi Yoder

Jamie Hermes

Susan Hopp and Karl Schweikart

Susan Humiston

Jim and Yvonne Sexton Family Foundation

Sarah Johnson

Jones Day

Mark Josephs

John Keilholz

Andrea Killory

Ronald and Eva Kinney Family Foundation

Tom Klein and Kip Palmer

Anne Klein

John and Linda Klein

Michaela Kronlage

Anna Kruskop

Marie Kruskop

Jennifer Krzmarzick

Dana Lancaster

Lorna Landvik and Charles Gabrielson

Phyllis Lang

Kevin Larabee

Anne and Paul Laux

Laurie and David Levi

Nancy Levi

Diane Lindquist and Jeff Huggett

Marie Lopez del Puerto

Christine Loth

Nancy Maiello

Krista Margolis

Holly Martin

MaryChris May

James and Makenzie McCormick

Brian McDermott and Sue Schwartz

Joyce and Richard McFarland

Michael and Patricia McFarlane

Cathy McLane

Midtown Global Market

Laura Molgaard

Katie and Mike Mortenson

Mary Divine Myers

Albert H & Jane D Nahmad Foundation Inc

Becky and Alex Nahvi

Diane Nelson

Dave and Pat Noren

Melinda North

Diana O'Connor

Jane and Bob Oberrender

Kathleen Oswald

Jane and Douglas Oyen

Lisa Percy

Allison and Brian Peterson

Lela Porter

Seema Pothini

Patrick Prosen

Leah Quenelle

Nandini Raghavan

Jamie Lyn Reinschmidt

Erik Resurreccion

Maryann Reynolds

Eugene and Jolene Roehlkepartain

Lisa Rogers

Gail Rosenblum

Nassim and Federico Rossi

Rebecca Sanders Lindquist

Teri Schmidt

Jennifer Scholl

Jay Seshadri and Maryellen Coughlan

Mark Shepard and Chris Soutter

Barbara Shimshock and Mark Miller

Natalie Silverstein

Jennifer and Daniel Spiller

Sarah Steefel and Jim Moore

Cheryl and Chris Steinhoff

Kari Stern

John and Heather Sterner

Deborah Sugerman

Harry and Sue Summitt

John and Alice Sylvestre

TCF Foundation

The Lowbrow

Gretchen Thompson

Anne and Tom Ulseth

United Health Group

Karla Valusek Strom

Rebecca and Chris van Bergen

Frank Voigt

Westwood Professional Services

Sandra Whitney

Rachel Williams

Sarah and David Wright Walstrom

Mike and Missy Young

Nicole Zapzalka

2015-16 Volunteers

45 Degrees Minneapolis

Chris Aerts

Keeley Barbour

Shala Buckner

Rachel Chrastil

Rocky Chrastil

Katrina Cockle

Lauren Feldkamp

Amanda Fisher

Amy Glaus

Gary Glaus

Megan Glaus

Michael Henley

Susan Hopp and Karl Schweikart

Kira Hower

Adam Johnson

Sarah Johnson

Marla J. Kinney

Brian McDermott

Steve Michels-Boyce

Rebecca Nahvi

Belinda O’Connell

Shruti Peri

Jill Prevatt

Ashley Raggio

Maryann Reynolds

Gerry Sexton

Natalie Silverstein

Frey Solomon

Jessica Taylor

Amanda Ungs

Ryan Ungs

David Whitman

Growthworks, Inc.

2015-16 Board Members