How can business get involved in your youth development initiative?

Here are a few ideas to help you get started, but focus on the specific needs of your collaboration. When making your pitch, choose a few items that range from low to high commitment. Keep in mind that large corporations and small businesses offer different assets.

  • Provide space or refreshments for meetings or events.
  • Collaborate on planning a special event or educational opportunity at your business.
  • Help your group reach out to other businesses.
  • Fund special projects, events, or publications.
  • Accompany delegations to meetings with government officials.
  • Collaborate on creating internship and certificate programs for young people.
  • Be a youth development champion in the community: speak at Rotary or Chamber of Commerce events, become a spokesperson for your initiative.
  • Take on a leadership role in the collaboration.

Why Should Youth Development Initiatives Connect with the Business Community?

Businesses are connected to youth. Young people are often their employees and their customers.

Businesses have clout and connections. When you are advocating and networking on behalf of community change, it’s good to have the clout and strong community ties that business leaders often bring to the table.

Community initiatives for Youth Development have interests in common with the business community:

Quality of life. Your youth development initiative and the business community share an orientation toward improving quality of life within communities. Thriving communities are good for business and help larger corporations attract high quality employees.

Building competencies. Positive youth development builds competencies. The business community is concerned with building a strong talent pool that includes young people who have developed basic professional competencies.

Talking Points for Engaging the Business Community

Describe Who You Are Succinctly

“Our initiative brings local organizations together to make our community a great place to grow up. Through our initiative, adults and youth take action together to create a community that values young people and builds the skills they need for healthy and fulfilling lives – including fulfilling work.”

Articulate the Benefits: What's in it for Business? 

  • Visibility, reputation, and networking. “Our initiative is a community-wide effort. We are seeking to involve leaders from all sectors of our community. Participation offers opportunities for networking, will promote your reputation as a good corporate citizen, and will increase your visibility.”
  • An investment in youth is an investment in your future workforce. “Our initiative aims to help young people build competencies, including those that prepare them for work: building communication and problem-solving skills, learning how to handle responsibility, and demonstrating leadership.”
  • Quality of life in our community. “We want to create a community that engages young people in positive opportunities. Youth who are rewarded and supported in positive activities raise the quality of life in our community.” [Offer local examples].

Engaging the Business Community: Dos and Don’ts

Don’t think of the business community only in terms of deep pockets.

Do keep in mind that the benefits to business include visibility; publicly recognize your partners at every opportunity.

Do think of your approach to business leaders as a pitch: make it brief and to the point, and use language that is vivid and easy to understand – not academic or social service speak!

Do ask for something specific, but give a range of 3-4 options for consideration. When choosing what to ask for, be sure you can point to benefits for their business.

Do choose the right person to make the pitch. A person with connections to the business leader, or a person with recognized community standing, might be your best ambassador.

Further Resources

Partnering Youth Development and Business: Jutta Dotterweich's presentation at the ACT for Youth 2007 Annual Conference.  

Involving Businesses: Positive Youth Development Resource Manual, section 6.4:

Business Leadership: Supporting Youth Development and the Talent Pipeline: Corporate Voices for Working Families produced this report on strategies used by companies to support positive youth development