Hi! My name is Aoife Hopkins. I'm a college student, avid scrapbooker, chinchilla mom, and alumni and employee for Youth Rise Texas. I have been with Youth Rise Texas for 3 years, since I was 16, and I am now 20. Youth Rise Texas is an indispensable force of good in both my life and in the life of hundreds of other young Texans. YRTX is a nonprofit that support young people ages 14-25 who have experienced pain due to systems of oppression, and get them civically engaged. Youth Rise Texas gave me my first sessions of political education, nurtured my leadership skills, gave me opportunities to teach workshops and conduct citywide research, and find my lifelong friends in the years of my life that were so unstable and scary due to world events and personal qualms. I am deeply passionate about our cause and the Leadership Development pipeline because I'm one of the many staff who were once participants in Youth Rise Texas programs.

I am raising money for the Steering Committee, a cohort of young people elected by their peers that will make executive decisions of how Youth Rise Texas will serve our state in a commitment to keeping our organization by youth, for youth. This new form of youth leadership integration is revolutionary among nonprofits, and we are really excited about streamlining the Youth's vision into our action efforts. We are in the recruiting stages of this program, and we need contributions of generous, forward-thinking community members who will invest in the voice of young people. Will you?

• What is peer-to-peer fundraising? Peer-to-peer fundraising (P2P) is when supporters of a nonprofit organization or cause fundraise on behalf of that nonprofit by reaching out to their network of family, friends, coworkers, etc. (their peers). Often, the P2P fundraisers launch their efforts simultaneously with one of the nonprofit’s fundraising campaigns. 
• Will you help us fundraise for our Youth Steering Committee? This campaign’s goal will be to fundraise $20,000 to fund stipends for youth decision-makers. $20,000 = 1,000 hours of paid work for a youth worker! 

I kindly ask for a donation, no matter how big or how small, to contribute to the leadership development and political power of young people today. This is an organization whose dedication and impact on civic engagement and empowerment I can vouch for. Thank you for reading up to this point and I hope you consider pitching a donation to us in the festive spirit of Giving Tuesday this November. I appreciate you! 

-Aoife H. 

VIEW OUR FULL P2P TOOLKIT HERE