Page 3 - Annual Report 2016

A YEAR OF BIG IMPACT

Dear Friends,

Big Brothers Big Sisters celebrated our 25th year of serving Washtenaw County’s young people in 2016. ig Brothers Big Sisters celebrated our 25th year of serving Washtenaw County’s young people in 2016.
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And it all started with you, our community of supporters. In this Annual Report, you will see a graphic
that walks you through how your donation of time, treasure and talent leads to amazing changes for
the kids we serve through our professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships. We are so
grateful for the relationships we have developed with our donors, corporate and community partners,
and of course, our volunteer ‘Bigs’ and the children, or ‘Littles’, that we serve each day.

We had a great year of celebrating, starting with our Annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake event. This event has e had a great year of celebrating, starting with our Annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake event. This event has
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been growing in corporate sponsorship and participation for the last several years and it was so much
fun to see so many company and community groups come out in support of our kids! Excitedly, we
transitioned our Fall Evening event into Ann Arbor, where it was hosted by Bill and Judith Davis, in their
home. The planning committee did a yeoman’s job and increased our revenues to over $12,000 in
one evening. In November, we were again delighted to be joined by so many supporters at our Rise
and Shine breakfast to celebrate mentoring and grow our Investing in Children’s Circle members –
donations of $1,000 or more a year for five years. This commitment allows us to plan for future onations of $1,000 or more a year for five years. This commitment allows us to plan for future
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revenues, program growth and matching and supporting more kids in our program.

And we were able to do just that in 2016. We grew new Community Based matches by 18%, making
130 new matches between Littles and their Bigs! We also saw an increase in the quality metrics that
we track. A key element to what we do is support kids, families and volunteers once their match is
made. We know that this support is critical in helping to develop longer, stronger matches. In 2016,
our completed match support increased to 88%, which led to an increase in our 6 and 12-month
retention rates, as well as an increase in our average match length to 21 months.

All of this starts with YOU, our supporters. Thank you for being a part of making and supporting these ll of this starts with YOU, our supporters. Thank you for being a part of making and supporting these
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critical developmental relationships for our community’s kids. Their self-confidence soars, they
succeed academically and make better choices, all leading to a stronger, more stable community,
for us all.

Relationship:

Jennifer Spitler, LMSW Adam Williams noun
Executive Director Board President
the state of being connected