Boys & Girls Club Partnership Toolkit
Home Builders and Remodelers of Central Connecticut partnered with the Ulbrich Boys & Girls Club in Wallingford, Conn. to add careers in construction to their summer camp activity lineup.
The Aberdeen Home Builders Association hosted “Introduction to Tools Day” for the Aberdeen Boys & Girls Club in Aberdeen, S.D., to help inspire the next generation of skilled trades professionals.
Madison Area Builders Association worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County and McKenzie Regional Workforce Center to provide a fun-filled summer of workforce development activities for local students.
NAHB’s Boys & Girls partnership program will help build stronger communities by recruiting the next generation of skilled laborers in the housing industry. Local home builders associations play a critical role in ensuring the program’s success.
The toolkit will equip and support HBAs involved in the program. It includes planning materials, promotional templates, success stories, and valuable links to various NAHB workforce development resources.
Find Your Local Chapter
The best place to start is to find a club near you. Visit the Boys & Girls club online directory to determine the clubs in your area. Your members might already have connections with your local club.
Explore Existing Relationships
Ask your board members at your next meeting if anyone has an existing working relationship with their club, has volunteered with them previously or currently serves on their board. Gauge interest with your members with a member survey. Download and view suggested survey questions.
Make the Ask
Contact the club’s executive director. They may not be aware of your association or NAHB’s agreement with the Boys & Girls club. Be prepared to provide a brief overview of NAHB, your HBA and why the partnership can be mutually beneficial. You can reference NAHB’s press release about the agreement to help frame your conversation.
Your First Meeting
Preparing an informative, goal-oriented meeting agenda for your initial meeting can place your collaboration efforts on the right track. To help you get started, download a sample meeting agenda.
Your conversation should be informal and exploratory. The first meeting is a ‘getting to know you’ conversation. Having the right people in the room for the meeting is also important. Generally, your local Boys & Girls Club CEO and Vice President (or equivalent) of Youth Development should attend.
Schedule a Follow-up Meeting
Following the success of your first meeting, set up a follow-up conversation for more substantive dialogue. Use the following materials to help guide the discussion:
- Define the Partnership Process Worksheet
- Define Partnership Success Worksheet
- Workforce Development Pipeline Template
Set goals for the year and discuss potential activities for the year. For activity ideas, NAHB has a list of models and samples from HBAs and lesson plans for all ages.
Promote Your Collaboration Initiatives
To help promote the collaboration in your community, NAHB has a sample press release available. If needed, you can contact NAHB’s media relations team for a list of media contacts in your local market. This service is complimentary for HBA staff. NAHB’s best practices for handling media and public relations provides a quick refresher on how to conduct successful media interviews. You can also reach your members and community through social media. View NAHB’s best practices for social media to get started.
Share your events with NAHB and be featured on NAHB’s blog. Download a blog outline to help you get started.
Program Success Stories
Madison Area Builders Association worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County and McKenzie Regional Workforce Center to provide a fun-filled summer of workforce development activities for local students. Elementary, middle and high school students participated in a wide range of activities from job site tours to building projects. Download a recap of the summer events or watch the highlights on YouTube.
The Home Builders and Remodelers of Central Connecticut (HBRA) partnered with the Ulbrich Boys & Girls Club in Wallingford, Conn., to add careers in construction to their summer camp activity lineup. HBRA created six weeks of careers in construction programming for students from kindergarten to eighth grade. Read more.
HBRA’s camp this summer was filled with enriching skilled trades activities.
More than two dozen teens had the opportunity to pick up a hammer for the first time, thanks to the Aberdeen Home Builders Association. The association hosted “Introduction to Tools Day” for the Aberdeen Boys & Girls Club to help inspire the next generation of skilled trades professionals. View a recap of Aberdeen’s activities and successes.
