In the nonprofit world, Giving Tuesday – which falls on
the Tuesday after Thanksgiving – is traditionally the time when charities ask
the community and its donor base to contribute to their cause. According to
data, charitable organizations in the U.S. generated $3.1 billion in 2022 and
2023 on Giving Tuesday.
SCORE Bucks County is making an appeal for this annual
day of giving, which happens on Dec. 3.
“We want people who want to mentor clients,” said Charlie
Morris, who serves as the chapter’s co-chair, as well as its marketing and
technology chair. “Come join us.”
Ideally, SCORE mentors have a background in business,
either from owning an enterprise, or serving as a high-level employee in the
corporate world. Some mentors are retired business professionals, while others
continue to work and manage their business venture while mentoring
entrepreneurs and business owners. Most mentors have a specialty area based on
their career background, such as accounting and finance, franchise operations,
marketing, etc.
Regardless of individual experience, SCORE provides all
mentors with training and continuous learning.
“SCORE is a national organization with more than 200
chapters throughout the U.S., which makes the mentor training process seamless
for our volunteers,” SCORE Bucks County co-chair Leah Cianfrani said.
While the chapter’s mentors hover around 70, the mentoring
need continues to drive the call for additional help. Since 2019, SCORE Bucks
County has seen year-over-year surges in the number of mentoring requests. In
fiscal year 2019, the chapter, which includes all of Bucks County, as well as
eastern Montgomery County, handled 1,200 mentoring requests. By 2023, that
number had nearly doubled to 2,325 sessions. For fiscal year 2024, which ended
on Sept. 30, the chapter saw a more than 20 percent increase to 2,792 mentoring
sessions.
In all, volunteers spent a combined 2,626 hours mentoring
828 clients in fiscal year 2023 as compared to 3,234 hours with 948 clients in
fiscal year 2024. The number of new clients seeking mentoring continues to grow
as well. In fiscal year 2023, the chapter mentored 656 new clients and 765 in
fiscal year 2024.
SCORE Bucks mentors have helped to launch and grow dozens
of businesses. Each month since 2020 the chapter has highlighted a client
success story. To date, more than 55 businesses have been
featured.
“That is one of the biggest wins we’ve ever had,” Morris
said of the program, which recognizes SCORE clients with a plaque.
Becoming a mentor
If interested in becoming a SCORE Bucks County mentor,
visit https://www.score.org/volunteer/become-mentor to
learn more and get started.
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 17
million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE
provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000
new and growing small businesses.?With more than 70 members across Bucks
and Eastern Montgomery counties, SCORE Bucks?County?provides free
mentoring services annually to local small business owners
through one-on-one counseling and small business seminars.
