Kid Power

A sterling example of how two organizations successfully merged for greater impact to support Washington, DC youth in underserved communities.

Founded in 2002, Kid Power is the only nonprofit expanded learning program in Washington, D.C., offering a three-pronged approach dedicated to helping underserved students grow and become engaged leaders in their communities. To address the growing needs of D.C. youth, especially at the middle and high school age, and alumni base, Kid Power’s updated strategic plan included goals to strengthen its middle school programming and launch a new alumni program.

For 30 years, Mentors, Inc. provided mentoring support to public and charter high school students in grades 8-12 and improved graduation rates and students’ outlook for the future. Mentors, Inc. wanted to continue its work in the community but made the strategic decision to merge with a more sustainable organization, so they decided to merge with Kid Power.

RBW Strategy was hired to work with both organizations as the merger began to take shape in 2019. RBW Strategy not only provided project management support for both Mentors, Inc. and Kid Power leadership but also helped to develop a fundraising plan, creating language about the merger for funders and other stakeholders and outlining cultivation strategies with Mentors, Inc. and Kid Power funders. RBW Strategy’s support was vital to the success of the merger.

Once the merger was completed, RBW Strategy prepared grant applications and reports to support the Mentors Inc. @ Kid Power program.

As the new organization began to take shape, it became clear that the vision of a comprehensive, evidence-based mentoring program to support long-term success for Kid Power youth was within the organization’s grasp. RBW Strategy felt confident that the organization was setting themselves up for future sustainability.