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www.friendshipforce.org

European Conference May 8-11, 2014 Oosterbeek, NL

I AM:

Joy DiBenedetto

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Board of Directors15 member governing body for

The Friendship Force, Inc.Jack Mullen, Chairperson

Friendship Force International Organizational Chart

Friendship Force International (FFI)The central office for FFI, located in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A

FFI StaffJoy DiBenedetto, CEO/President

Kathy Thomas, COO

Financial, Administration & Special ProjectsHap Petty, Comptroller *

Ebony Rogers, Senior AccountantDebbie Powell, Conference/EventsAna Smulski, Network Administrator

Laurie Ann Scott, Club Support Consultant

ProgramsMaryam Jordan, Program Coord/Asia

Mary Mwambay, Program Coord/Canada, Africa, W Europe Pallie Savoie, Program Coord/UK; Planning Coord

Laura Romero, Program Coord/LATAMAna Smulski, Program Coord/LATAM

Matthew Nidek, Program Coord/Australia, New ZealandAllison Lindsey, Educational Project Coordinator/Prog Coord, Germany,

Austria, Switzerland

Elena McCarty, Program Coord/Russia, Eastern EuropeNoriko Kanamoto, Prog Coord/Asia

Communications & MarketingJillian Walters, Communications Coordinator

Barbara Stonebrink-Martin, Web Media *Maggie Smith, Intern *

Friendship Force Clubs - Local Friendship Force chapters are charted by FFI to provide leadership for Friendship Force activities in a community.

Friendship Force Exchange Committees - Leaders can be appointed by a club or directly by FFI staff.

Members -Membership is open to all who accept Friendship Force principles and pay membership dues.

Ambassadors & Hosts - Any member of a community may apply to participate in an exchange. The Exchange Director is responsible for interviewing and accepting only qualified applicants.

Field Representatives - Experienced Friendship Force Volunteers selected by FFI to provide assistance to local clubs and exchanges represent and work with a

swath of regional clubs. Field representatives have no direct authority over any

clubs and are purely advisory.

Regional Cooperation - Clubs in a country or region are encouraged to cooperate and coordinate their activities. This can take the form of an annual

meeting during which time leaders from teh region share ideas with FFI. The

regional meetings can make recommendations to FFI and/or to the clubs. However regional organizations have no direct authority regarding the activities

of the local clubs.

Community at Large - The Friendship Force seeks participation from throughout the community. Club and exchange leaders are responsible for outreach in their local

communities. FFI supports this goal through broad-based public relations initiatives, our

website www.friendshipforce.org, social media efforts and community partnerships.

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Your Friendship Force International Staff

This is where we work

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What Do We Do?

Don't Be a Tourist. Make Your W orld as Big as Ours. Take a journey into the heart of a country and its people with us.

MISSION: By using the simple tools of friendship, a smile, a hello – we

promote global understanding across

the barriers that separate people around the world.

HISTORY: Since 1977 when founder Wayne Smith and US President

Jimmy Carter introduced FFI at a

White House gathering, one million people have participated in Friendship

Force International's unique cultural exchange programs, truly as a `force

of friendship'. Our work creates global

cooperation and collaboration at the personal, human level - beyond

governments and borders - where people live, work, play and explore in

everyday life; and FFI's efforts have

been honored with a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1992.

W HAT: Friendship Force International conducts almost 400 programs every

year, in and between 362

clubs/communities in appx. 70 countries.

HOW : Our unique Friendship Force exchange programs and events/confer ences /gatherings including hospitality sharing, educational and professional development, `Discover', local and

global meet-up gatherings, provides international travelers with opportunities to be hosted in

the homes of local people, to be treated to a local experience in locations around the world, and to see the world through other people's eyes. In this way, you can get to know a new

culture, a new country, a new people, from the `inside'.

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FFI BY THE NUMBERS:

1 mission: promoting understanding across the barriers that separate people.

6 continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, South Pacif ic

1M volunteers: Citizen ambassadors who hav e lead FFI programs since 1977

20,000 members: Trav elers and hosts who participate ev ery year. 37,500 new friendships: Made each y ear across cultural, religious,

political boundaries.100 new friendships: Ev ery day.

1 handshake, 1 smile, 1 hello at a time.

A member of FF Moscow carried the flag of friendship with him on an Arctic expedition!

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Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Russia, Uganda, Ukraine, US-Iowa, US-Lincoln,

NE, Australia, New Zealand.

FFI currently has operations (clubs, Discover exchanges, Global exchanges, new clubs..) in 63 countries +Discover, Others:

Albania, Argentina, Australia Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Canada Chile, China Colombia Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France,

Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Malawi, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal,

Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.

Newest Clubs: Athens, Greece; Toulouse, France; Hsinchu, Taiwan; Kirov Oblast, Toronto,

Canada; Myanmar; Nashik Riverside, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bordeaux, France.

Working: Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Sri Lanka and others………..

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2014 Friendship Force International Global Club and Member Dispersement

94

81

49

48

48

22

20

1

Geographic Breakdown of FFI’s Clubs

United States 26% = 94 clubs

Europe & Eurasia 23% = 81 clubs

Latin America 14% = 49 clubs

South Pacific 14% = 47 clubs

Asia 12% = 48 clubs

Canada 6% = 22 clubs

Middle East & Africa 6% = 20

clubs

Caribbean 0% = 1 club

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6148

2420 2297

1448 1334 1205

45729

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

United

States

22%

South

Pacific

21%

Europe &

Eurasia

19%

Asia 12% Latin

America

11%

Canada

10%

Middle

East &

Africa 4%

Caribbean

0%

Geographic Breakdown of Members15,338 Members

EUROPE/EURASIA MEMBERS81 clubs, 24 countries, 2297 people

Germany - 16 clubs, 758 ppl UK - 15 clubs, 495 ppl France - 4 clubs, 127 ppl Belgium - 5 clubs, 109 ppl

Russia - 13 clubs, 96 ppl Netherlands - 4 clubs, 93 ppl Albania - 1 club, 80 ppl Hungary - 3 clubs, 54 ppl Czech Republic - 1 club, 50 ppl Slovakia - 1 club, 33 people

Sweden - 1 club, 32 ppl Uzbekistan - 1 club, 32 ppl Norway - 1 club, 29 ppl Romania - 2 clubs, 28 pplSwitzerland - 1 club, 28 ppl Azerbaijan - 1 club, 24 ppl

Cyprus - 1 club, 23 ppl Austria - 2 clubs, 23 pplLatvia - 1 club, 21 ppl Georgia - 1 club, 20 ppl

Greece - 1 club, 20 ppl Ukraine - 2 clubs, 18 ppl Belarus - 1 club Estonia - 1 club

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15338

5135

Percentage of Friendship Force Members Travelling in 2013

on 259 Exchanges

Total FFI Members - 15338

Members Travelling - 5135

Equals about 1/3 of FFI’s Current membership

travelling on our programs.

182

60

54

51

8

4

4

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INCREASED REQUESTS TO VISIT THESE REGIONS AS

CALCULATED BY CLUB REQUESTS DURING PLANNING 2012-2015

= 364 weeks

Europe/Eurasia - 182 more

weeks requested

Africa/Middle East - 60 more

weeks requested

Asia - 54 more weeks

requested

Latin America - 51 more

weeks requested

Canada - 8 more weeks

requested

United States/Hawaii - 4

more weeks requested

Caribbean - 4 more weeks

requested

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BREAKDOWN BY INTEREST LEVELINCREASED REQUESTS

• EUROPE/EURASIA: Germany, Netherlands, England, Norway, Belgium, Wales, France, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Albania, Switzerland, Austria, Cy prus, Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Latvia, Ukraine.

• AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST: Turkey, South Af rica, Israel, Tanzania, *Uganda.

• ASIA: Vietnam (Special), Thailand, Indonesia, *Malay sia, China (Special), Korea, *Mongolia.

• LATIN AMERICA: *Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia.

• CANADA:

• UNITED STATES: Hawaii • CARIBBEAN: (Guadeloupe)• SOUTH PACIFIC: New Zealand

2012 marked the 35th anniversary of the Friendship Force’s work – a Global

Expansion plan was launched with several targeted initiatives:

1st Initiative: 45 New Friendship Force Clubs

2nd Initiative: Expanding Themed Exchanges and New Programs

3rd Initiative: Leadership for Tomorrow

4th Initiative: Promoting the Friendship Force Globally

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1st Initiative: 45 New Friendship Force Clubs

In 2012 we created 12 new clubs:

Mt. Fuji Yamanashi, Japan; Samarinda, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Quindio,

Colombia; Coatepec, Mexico; Vyborg, Russia; Kirov, Russia; Guadeloupe; Guzelbace, Turkey; Lizhou, China; San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico; Kolhapur, India

In 2013 the new clubs we’ve had in development, and with the greatest potential are:

Kalungu, Uganda; Kampala, Uganda; Hsinchu, Taiwan; Beijing, China; Yangon, Myanmar; Ulan Ude, Russia; Vladivostok, Russia; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Bordeaux, France;

Toulouse, France; Athens, Greece; Yalta, Ukraine, a total of 12 clubs.

In 2014 the projected new clubs will be:

Kitui, Kenya; Mombassa, Kenya; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Ciudad de las flores, Costa

Rica; Arica, Chile; Sao Luis, Brazil; Porto Alegre, Brazil; Asuncion, Paraguay; Victoria,

Canada; Shanghai, China; Xian, China; Jaipur, India; Mumbai, India; Singapore; Stockholm, Sweden; Istanbul, Turkey; Bodrum, Turkey; Chisinau, Moldova; Tallahassee,

Florida USA, a total of 20 clubs.

2nd Initiative: Expanding Themed Exchanges and New

Programs

In 2013 we conducted:

- 17 themed exchanges- 4 Semester at Sea/Enrichment Voy ages (158 passengers)- 10 Discov er programs - 5 Global Exchanges

In 2014 we currently have scheduled:

-14 themed exchanges-1 Semester at Sea/enrichment Voyage (May )- And we are working to increase the number of themed and discov er programs to f ill out the 2014 program.

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3rd Initiative: Leadership for Tomorrow

- Since 2012, we estimate that we have reached about 5,000 of our leaders at various regional, national and world conferences bringing new strategies from successful clubs around the world.

- We use this time to educate and inspire our leaders who carry out the mission of the organization. We often provide scholarships to potential leaders from other countries to attend conferences, and

some of our exchanges are designed for leadership only.

-In 2013, we launched the Leadership Toolkit on our website, an online resource of videos and

presentation by our staff and by leaders.

- Begun to do regional technology trainings, online.

4th Initiative: Promoting the Friendship Force Globally

- At the beginning of 2013 we launched a new FFI home page.

-We also developed a new brochure which has been very well received by our clubs.

- Our global logo has been unified as you can see, and our communications manager in the office Jill ian Walters works with clubs to adapt the logo to their local cultures while maintaining the integrity of the branding.

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STATUS: Our communications eco-system is growing and has become an ef f ective tool in engaging with our ambassadors and the public at large, worldwide. In addition to traditional f orms of communications and inf ormational outreach we've accumulated new ̀ social media' real estate; we'v e increased our creative content output - and our ̀ reach of message' shows this across a spectrum of platforms, demographics and audience.

The challenge bey ond this is to conv ersion, but our effort and mission is increasingly resonating, and, people who are both members and non members are participating with us globally. And, this allows us to have a more public prof ile f or both our model and ̀ sustainability of organization', to support our network, and to do our outreach, and f undraise.

Google Adwords Since August, when we started advertising using a $10,000 monthly Google Adwords grant we

applied for and received, the first Google ad campaign generated 7,654 clicks through to our

website and appeared 950,000 times on Google searches. The keywords which generate the most clicks are “travel for good,” “travel ideas,” “homestay,” “group travel,” and “cheap travel.” And,

Friendship Force is generally the first ad which comes up with these search terms:

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Why Am I Excited About a Bright Friendship Force Future?

-Trends, ours and the world’s point to youth. -I can already see our message is resonating -Other ̀ FFI Like’ organizations are doing tremendously

well; but we are the original. -Technology today! Is a benefit, an enhancement, and a

great (FREE!) tool which we never had before. Reaches people directly where they are, allows us to connect across the miles.

- ALL OF YOU, OUR STAFF, AND THE PUBLIC.

In Conclusion…………….

- We are getting to the end of the Global Expansion plan, and working towards the next. (STEPS, Global membership Surv ey coming. Timeline: Fall World Conf erence. Implementation 2015.)- Important to recognize we are a non-prof it with a tremendous mission; but we are also a business. (COMPETING IN OUR MARKETPLACE; TRAVEL, TECHNOLOGY {modernizing our member serv ice} and HEARTS) (CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITY)- We hav e a mission, but our method is travel. ($$$, BENEFITS OF BEING A MEMBER) -Partnerships, Marketing (CAMPAIGNS). Exposure. Engagement.-Friendship in Action (LOCAL, GLOBAL) -Club Rev italization- Engaging our members, our leadership and our staf f in our road ahead.-More communication, more storytelling (WEBSITE) -Recommitting to our goals. (Nobel, IPP)- New models, opening up our f riendship circle, making friends in many way s.-Dev elopment work. New way s of Fundraising.- NEXTGEN (What’s happened, what will happen, ALL PPL, Board nominations)

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JOIN US!

THANK YOU!

Joy DiBenedettoFriendship Force International

EM: joy @thef riendshipforce.orgPH: +404-558-0858PH: +404-984-8602

TWITTER: @Joy FFIFacebookInstagramLinkedIN

TWITTER: @FriendshipForceFACEBOOK: Friendship Force International

Instagram: FriendshipForceInternationalLinkedIN: Friendship Force International (Group/Company)

127 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 501, Atlanta, Georgia 30303

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QUESTIONS?