WUN WORKSHOP QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

On November 11th, we conducted a workshop session in Melbourne with 50+ CEOs on the rollout of the YMCA Global Digital Accelerator and its primary planned venture for 2014 a “Global Youth Leader Network”.

We had an open session asking all attending CEOs their key questions as we move forward.

The information that follows provides our response to the top 20 questions posed by members of our global executive.

We have also provided a precis upfront from our YGDA pitch session summarizing what the project is all about.

Background

A. The YGDA and Global Youth Leader Network

Fundraising Gallery – Tools, Platform and Advice for Starting Your

Own Movements

YGDA Success Goals

Goals 2014 2015 2016

Increased Revenues/Fundraising

$0-2MM $2-5MM $10MM+

Delivering Scale (number of participants)

100k 500k – 1MM

2-10 MM

YGDA Initiatives In-Field 1 2-3 3-4Participating YMCAs 35 75 150Funding Sponsors 8 13 20

B. The CEO 20 YGDA Questions

#1 Planning - Are we approaching this top down or bottom up? Organic or

controlled? Which one and why?We are doing a mix of both top down and bottom up. Here’s why and how.

From a top down perspective, we have established a leadership and guiding team of all the participating YMCAS with World Alliance and World Urban network representation. We have met for the last 8 months determining decisions in 10 key areas:

- strategy, vision, goal setting and planning- conceptualization and benefits- budgeting, financial planning and vendor identifcation- creative and branding - technical support and feasibility- research and validation- sponsorships and partnerships- external and internal communication- international and developing world insights and feasibility- local YMCA activations

Even on the most “open digital” ventures, you will find that members (in this case youth) want to participate/be empowered but can’t/don’t want to do all the heavy lifting of administering projects.

#1 Planning (continued)- Are we approaching this top down or bottom up? Organic or controlled? Which one

and why?On ensuring we are also tackling this bottom up, we have developed a team of 20+ digitally engaged changemakers from around the world that were part of the group that had been in Prague. We will also increasingly rely on frontline staff of participating YMCAs as we rollout this venture.

Bjorn Stockleben, our Youth Insights Leader based in Munich, is leading this group to research and validate our efforts. Each month, we are hosting online meetings and surveys to ensure their inputs are influencing our key decisions.

Over time this Digital Change Agent group will grow in numbers and expand their autonomy and their roles as we near launch next June’14. We expect some of them to end up:

- as lead advocates/ambassadors helping recruit others - full time/part time/volunteer staff as part of this project moving forward- leaders of special projects and research to help us stay relevant- content developers helping us populate our platform with youth-relevant media- event hosts, speakers and guests as we convene real life events

#2 Accessibility – is the focus to include all geographies - Language? Technology? Restrictive participation?

We expect to make this platform in as many languages as possible and financially feasible. Importantly, we are looking at translatability of our efforts upstream things such as naming, user experience and localization of content.

We are ensuring that the platform we build is responsive and therefore universally accessible and searchable no matter what type of hardware, programming language, browser or search engine you use in the world.

We are looking at three things from a developing world technology standpoint : a) ensuring there is mobile accessibility (which is dominant in many developing world areas), b) ensuring we target developing world youth leaders who many, based on feedback, already have access to sufficient technology currently and c) ensuring a key focus of our overall effort and work with partners is to broaden the global footprint of digital literacy and skills development.

The restrictive participation question is an interesting one and as we onboard more geographies where this is an issue, we would like to work with them and their governments for “white listing” our sites.

#3 Branding – how will we develop branding on this site? Which Y/YMCA

Brand? We recognize this is a sensitized issue given the recent investment and changes made to brands in YMCA geographies around the world. Three responses:

1) As Johan mentioned in our session and supported by the best branding principles in the world, a brand is not a logo but the DNA of what you stand for and the values you embrace. On this project, we are dead smack on the central imperative of “youth empowerment”, We want to execute this consistently with YMCA values. To use the “brand logo/look” as handcuffs for not proceeding within a global collaboration is poor business practice and not the intent of good branding efforts (see the flexible practices or the most valuable brand in the world Google click here: http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2011/03/5-branding-secrets-you-can-learn-from-google.html

2) We envision the architecture of the site to have global AND locally relevant areas where the local representations of the brand can be used.

3) We’d prefer naming and look and feel of the platform to be based on what an international collective of youth tell us (see question #1).

#4 Brand Affiliation –How tied is the YMCA brand to this venture in name

and presence? We have had a robust discussion among our guiding team on this question and it is still very much a live debate. The branding “Youth Social Hub” that was used in the pitch was chosen as the least contentious of options we’ve created to-date but likely not the final name.

In any scenarios, we expect to make the YMCA affiliation to this venture very apparent. The question is how embedded should this be (see next page for our 12 early rough etchings).

In support of YMCA branding in the name of our effort: we think it provides global credibility, overt YMCA benefit for supporting the effort and an ability to integrate current YMCA efforts into this hub seamlessly.

In support of YMCA branding playing a more minimalist role: we think it offers the best chance of expanding beyond the circle of currently YMCA-affiliated youth, it provides flexibility for naming purposes and it may promote youth relevance.

We expect to have a final recommendation in December that has 6 criteria in mind: emotional resonance, language translatability, explaining the benefit, youth preference, YMCA friendliness and web domain/trademark ownability.

#4 Brand Affiliation –How tied is the YMCA brand to this venture in name

and presence?

#4 Target Group – are we targeting YMCA members/youth only? or youth

generally? To be successful, this venture needs to expand outside of currently affiliated YMCA youth. We hope that this will be a 2-10 million member venture and that demands opening up a bigger Y tent. This is about empowering and connecting youth leaders wherever they exist.

In asking our YMCA youth, 90% of their digital social circles don’t currently have an affiliation with youth. We see this project as a key forum for getting their network of friends more aware and involved with the YMCA.

The reality is that the most passionate and dedicated in this network are people who already have a relationship and currently enjoy the YMCA as evidenced by this graphic.

YMCA Staff/Volunteers

YMCA Youth Leaders

YMCA Youth Friends

YMCA Newly Discovered Leaders

#5 Customer Need - What do we want to do with youth and are they asking

for it? As evidenced by our youth yesterday, they identified two gaps currently: 1) the need for the YMCA to be bigger than we currently are, among the likes of digital powerhouses Oxfam and Unicef and 2) the need for better YMCA social connectivity.

As mentioned in yesterday’s pitch, youth have the potential to gain 5 benefits out of a Global Youth Leader Network that they currently don’t get out of a social network like Facebook…

Elevating the Conversation w/ other cause-seeking leaders Staying Inspired and Positive Improving and Upskilling Themselves Changing and Impacting the World Getting Recognized with a tangible return on participation

#6 Digital Location - why this standlaone platform? Why not housed

on existing social nets like Facebook/Twitter?Although most YMCAs around the world have reasonable Facebook, Twitter and to a lesser extent

YouTube presences, these are not panaceas for global impact for 3 reasons:

1) Depth of Engagement - as mentioned yesterday by our youth, Facebook and Instagram can play a role as reminders to go to other content but they are not very good engagement mediums – Evidence? 70% of people who fan a Facebook Page never return and the average lifespan of a Tweet is only 12 minutes – we need to house our content on a central hub where we can control and magnify the experience.

2) Integrated, not outsourced – in registering, posting and curating content on our proposed platform , we see deep links back and forth between the top social networks but not outsourcing our presence, which will require substantial time and money to establish presences on the already mature social networks. We also want to create a culture of a values-based space that is significantly different than Facebook.

3) Monetization – 50-75% of our expected funding is expected to come from external sources, if you look at the top 100 digital not-for-profits we looked at, the ability to attract outside funding requires a centralized ownable presence

http://www.slideshare.net/agentwildfire/wikicauses-ygda-top-100-causeworthy-digital-inspirations

#7 Logistics – as we scale to 3+ million voices? How do we support it

and sustain it? We agree that there is a lot of sweat equity involved in scaling digital ventures.

Part of our investment requires hiring 5 full and/or part-time types of the following resources:

• Community managers – the frontlines of shepherding conversation, recruitment and activity

• Content developers – ensuring great multimedia content

• Digital strategists – providing insight, foresight and direction on where to go next

• Account Managers – servicing the needs of our partners/sponsors

• Program Collaboration Managers – ensuring projects liftoff with excellence and that participating YMCAs are fully involved and informed of the efforts

We also see our planning horizon having a minimum 2-3 year focus requiring firm estimates on revenues, project and ongoing administration costs and level of participation and sponsorship .

We expect local YMCAs to provide support throughout our effort here too (see question #15).

#8 Safety – how do we ensure safe participation of our youth? and privacy

issues?

The platform, as it has been envisioned, would involve membership of 14-29 year olds, with safety protocols consistent with other key social networks and platforms. We will also conform to local legislative requirements.

As part of a Stage 2 focus, we might consider a curated environment for youth younger than 14 with additional resources.

Our expectation is that content moderation to look for anything that may be construed as offensive has a higher expectation bar with a YMCA-affiliated platform. We expect to invest in moderation tools and outsourced content moderation agents.

#9 Relevance – How do we ensure relevance with youth when it launches

and in a fast-moving world?

Beyond doing an exhaustive search of what’s out there and succeeding currently, we expect that our Youth Change Agents will be our eyes and ears to the world.

We also recognize post-launch that we need to have:- Dynamic daily, weekly and monthly activity- Quarterly formal audits and course corrections on

what we are doing- Annual deployments of new modules of activity- Exhaustive overhaul of the software and community

every two years

In further support of our answer to question #6 – Digital Location – by housing content and activity on our own hub, we can control the overall experience and not be susceptible to changes in rules, functionality and popularity of top social networks.

#10 Focus – How do we ensure we build out the right elements in a world

of limited resources and attention?

DISCOVERIES

We have looked at hundreds of ideas and functionalities, and in order of priority, we have determined that beyond social interaction, these are the highest potential areas for impact (as indicated below and in the following screen shots).

There is a strong pedigree of in-market success by other websites with similar functionalities but different audiences (Wonderopolis, TED Talks, One Million Acts of Green/Free Rice, Kiva/Victors and Spoils, Change.Org, Reddit/Newsana)

Y Daily Discoveries

Global Good Day Challenges

CAMPAIGN BY:

#11 Research – How are we validating what we are doing along the way?

We expect to validate through 4 different levels of input:

- Our panel of Youth Digital Change Agents

- Our Guiding Team Membership and the YMCAs they represent

- A yet-to-be built Digital/Not for Profit Panel of well recognized local industry experts

- Industry partners and prospective sponsors

#12 Culture - How do we not become paternalistic about how this venture

should work? How is this co-owned by our staff too?

Although we are launching in Colorado in June of next year, we expect a lot of local training and immersion events in advance of this formal launch that dig deeply into the participating local YMCA frontlines.

We need to now establish a forum where we can internally promote and keep people informed of our efforts (see question #13).

We have unanimously adopted a set of principles as the YGDA group that we would like to adhere to moving forward:

User centricity – powered by our users Youth empowerment – built with youth for youth Fairness - Influence proportional to investment, adoption stage and ability to contribute Balance - Global movement platform, local impact Global YMCA Values-driven – caring, honesty, respect and responsibility Value-added Collaboration- initiatives conducted better together – complementing not

duplicating local YMCA efforts Sustainability – creating lasting impact for our youth, our members, our YMCAs and our

world Nimbleness – doing more with less and being agile

#13 Staying Connected – how do we stay in touch with this project’s

progress? WUN/World Alliance members - Monthly email enewsletter

Global WUN – Blog Posts

Quick Updates – WUN Facebook updates

Prospective, Interested Staff – LinkedIn forum

Project Team – BaseCamp (one representative per participating YMCA)

Interested New members - Direct Contact (see next page)

#14 Local YMCA Benefits – acknowledging the global benefit, how

will this benefit my local YMCA?We believe the five top LOCAL benefits attributable to this project are as a:• Global communications amplifier for important local projects and campaigns

• Forum for young leaders and staff connecting and gaining a broadening experience and skills within the global movement

• Activation of global sponsor funding from sponsors at a grassroots level

• Efficiencies of resources and talent in building a social hub

• Method to elevate your local perception as empowering young people as a cause vs. merely being known as a service provider

#15 Local YMCA Resources – beyond financial investment, what else do you

require from local YMCAs?This request for resources may/may not include:

- Staffing/representation

- Promotion and recruitment of members

- Content Development and Curation

- Translation Services

- Sponsor/Partner Identification and Interaction

- Event Hosting

- Administration/Logistics

#16 Governance – how do we want to govern key decisions on this work?

We still need to resolve our future governance. We have housed this project inside Greater Vancouver in the interim for the benefit of nimbleness. Key decisions we need to make for January’14 are:

• In what entity, both financial and governance, does this belong?

• How do we determine a share in this venture, does that provide equal voting and financial rights?

• How will we structure a future board?

• What type of financial entity do we set up given the needs of commercialization, internationalization and tax treatment?

#17 Futures – What’s next for the YGDA once this is done?

We need to take a measured approach to ensuring this first venture works. However our future goal is to position the YGDA as having four imperatives:

• Developing collaborative projects similar to our Youth Social Network e.g. mobile and video projects

• Centre of Excellence – digital training and mobilizing local YMCAs around youth engagement

• Building a venture startup fund for youth social innovation

• Brokering Global Digital Sponsorships

#18 Financials – How Much Do We Need? When do we need it? What

does my investment give me?We have estimated that this project will cost $500k-$1MM in Year 1 with a good proportion coming externally through partners, sponsors and fundraising.

We will have four expected classes of groupings for expected investment:- Large YMCAs (more than $50MM revenue) - $40k Year 1 Investment - Mid-sized YMCAs – (between $10MM-50MM) - $20k Year 1 Investment- Small-sized YMCAs (less than $10MM) - $10k Year 1 Investment

We also want to set up a system that allows developed world YMCAs to partner with developing YMCAs at a discount e.g. a Large Sized YMCA pays $45k to tuck in their own and a developing world partner YMCA involvement

25% of all dividends to this project will go back to developing world YMCAs to drive digital youth capacity.

We will be offering shares post-conference with a simple premise for what it is worth and what do you get for that.

#19 ROI Expectations - What is the return on investment? When will this

pay out?

Our expectation is that this is an ongoing enterprise that will produce a return, whether as a social venture or profit seeking entity.

Beyond the immediate marketing, PR and perception-building benefits, there is a high likelhood this venture will deliver a return in time.

Conservatively, we don’t believe that contributors to this project will receive a financial dividend over the first two years of this project, as investment and reinvestment will be highest in these years.

As a principle, we would like to have a healthy proportion of our profits spent back to build expanded capacity back into this project and subsequently then be redistributed to YMCA geographies.

#20 What can YMCA WUN CEOs do to help?

We would love five things to happen via your executive involvement :

• Contact us to establish your financial and ongoing interest in this project over November/December with a deadline of January 15th, 2014

• Commit a staff person to represent your YMCA and commit to their hours involved in this project

• Provide an update to your board, key stakeholders and staff on your participation in our effort and see where it leads.

• Inform and encourage other YMCA CEOs in your region on the merits of our venture.

• Commit to a local digital innovation/social forum in advance of our launch of this venture formally in Colorado next June.

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