Why Mentorship Programs are Here to Stay?

Mentorship programs are an absolute win-win for everyone involved, be it the mentors, mentees, or the organization.

But, what exactly are mentoring programs?

How are they designed?

Why do they need a lot of work?

How do they function in nonprofits?

What Is Mentoring?

Mentoring is an act wherein, usually, a senior employee takes a junior employee under his wing and trains him for organizational goals. Depending on the type of mentoring, these goals may/may not be measurable. But one thing that forever remains measurable in mentorship is the fact that everyone involved ends up upgrading their skills.

How Mentoring Helps The Mentee:

Be it a new joinee or an existing employee, a good mentoring relationship helps the volunteers/workers understand their role and goals better. It, thus, leads to effective learning, constructive guidance, and skill development of the mentee.

How Mentoring Helps the Mentor:

When you guide a person, it is only natural for you to pick up a new thing or two. Therefore, mentors get a chance to put their leadership and communication skills to use, all the while brushing up their own knowledge.

How Mentoring Helps The Organization:

An organization that learns together, leads together! And why not? When there’s a culture that makes people feel valued and loved, productivity is bound to increase by leaps and bounds.

What Is Nonprofit Mentoring & Why Is It Important?

Nonprofit mentoring is the mentorship structure set up in a nonprofit. It is beneficial now more than ever as the volunteers at the nonprofits need to wear a lot of hats. With crunched up resources, each person needs to be quite literally a one-person army and that’s possible only when the guidance at the initial stages is spot-on.

For this to happen, it is important that a mentoring program is put into action so the newbies are quick in switching to a role that demands urgent attention.

It also increases the retention rate since this is one of the major challenges that nonprofits face.

To delve a little more into the importance of nonprofit mentoring, one absolutely stunning thing is that it’s self-promotion in itself. When the volunteers/workers are happy about the workings of an institution, the magic called ‘word-of-mouth’ unfurls. This kind of publicity is the best publicity and non-profit mentorship gives a massive boost to it.

What Are Mentorship Programs?

Now that we understand the importance of mentoring, how exactly does it work out? If you have had the same question, the answer to this is - through Mentorship Programs.

Mentorship programs are the programs that connect people with similar skills so they can learn from one another and grow together. This is majorly done for an organization or an institute.

Mentoring programs have a mentor and a mentee wherein the mentor possesses more knowledge and skills with which he helps his mentee. This leads to the intellectual growth of both parties. While the mentor gets to work on his inter and intra-personal skills, the mentee gets to understand work at an exponential speed, giving him a chance to take pride in his growth.

And where there is growth in individuals, the organization automatically grows. That’s perhaps why every institution is hard-pressed on creating mentorship programs that align well with their goals.

Tips To Create A Successful Mentoring Program

When it comes to mentorship programs, there is no “one-size fits all” philosophy that can be put to use. One constantly has to introduce changes and alterations in the program, depending on what the goals (individual and professional) are, to make it a success.

However, there are certain tips that one can keep in mind before working on a mentorship program, so it yields better results. Some of them are:

• Clarity in Expectations
• Making the Right Match
• Regular Meetings
• Setting a Timeline for Mentorship
• Genuine Feedback
• Creating Work Reports
• Reviewing Work Reports

While these tips are sure to help, it isn’t a guaranteed stepping stone of success. Mentoring programs are hit-and-trial efforts that can benefit immensely if timely changes are introduced and loopholes are sealed. Only when the efforts are clubbed and people are passionate does this work out.

How Are Mentorship Programs in Nonprofits Set Up?

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up a mentorship program in nonprofits:

Create a Goal

Creating a goal is of the utmost importance as it is the foundation and sets the pitch for people to understand why and how the program will prove to be helpful in their personal and professional growth.

Decide on a Mentorship Model

• One-on-one Mentorship
• Team Mentorship
• Multiple Mentorship
• Peer Mentorship
• Distance Mentorship

While these are all self-explanatory terms, the best one, to begin with, is one-on-one mentorship if the program is in the initial phase.

Find the Right Match & Train Them

This is the most crucial step in setting up a mentorship program in a nonprofit. It is because the mentors and mentees vibing well is a pre-requisite of mentoring programs resulting in success. Once this step is executed well, consider more than half of the work done.

Now that you know how nonprofit mentorship programs are formed, let’s understand how you can find mentorship programs near you.

How do I Find Mentorship Programs Near Me?

While we understand that finding a mentorship program is easier said than done, the first step is to type in all forms of keywords like “mentorship programs near me”, “mentoring programs in nonprofits near me” and likewise.

You are likely to see organizations with detailed explanations regarding what model they work on and how they work. Since the benefits of a mentoring program unfurl only when it is effectively set up, make sure you observe how the organization works and carries out its day-to-day activities.

Mentorship Programs for Professionals

Data reveals that 70% of Fortune 500 companies in the US have mentoring programs. Apart from achieving the goals that were set for the programs, these are proving to be a source of inspiration for other corporate companies. This clearly shows how the success of the company is directly proportional to the success of the mentorship program which deals with the success of individuals at the base level.

With umpteen mentorship programs being put to use, the internet is quite literally flooded with professional mentorship programs that one can imitate. However, customized programs of mentoring are the best!

Benefits of Mentorship Programs for Professionals

• High turnover rates
• Increased productivity
• Skilled employee base
• Employee retention
• Positive work environment

Wrapping Up

So, the fact that mentorship programs are quintessential in helping an organization build itself from zero to hero is clear. But what might not be is where to connect with “like-minded” people or mentors!

If you are struggling in this area, iConnectX is a leading social platform for nonprofits that can help you out! Professional networking is one of our many assets, using which you can with the right people at the right time to do the right job.

All you need to do for this is to connect with us. You can do that either by giving us a call or by joining the live chat.