People of Pro Bono: Lauren Lovett-Cohen, Reading Opens Minds

Lauren founded Reading Opens Minds with the belief that literacy can change lives. Building a nonprofit from scratch is no easy feat, but with the help and expertise of Taproot skilled volunteers, the number of people positively impacted by her start-up is rapidly on the rise.

A fresh take on book club

A motto that I try to live by is: “to inspire hope and trust, you must be present and authentic.” That sentiment is at the heart of the work that Reading Opens Minds does. Our mission is to promote literacy in at-risk communities through book clubs, empowering individuals, building relationships, and inspiring hope. We do this by providing new books, and encouraging meaningful discussions around themes in the stories we read at our regular club meetings where members’ opinions and insights are heard and valued.

Growing through pro bono support

We are a young organization and have only been formal for three years now. As a purely volunteer-run nonprofit, things like public relations, copywriting, and marketing strategies are luxuries we could not afford but were necessary for growing our reach in the community. We turned to Taproot+ for on-demand pro bono support, and our experience with the platform so far has been superb.

Over the past few years, we have received over 135 hours of pro bono support from Taproot+ on a variety of projects. Our organization now has great website content, a revised mission statement, a market survey analysis, and a podcast marketing strategy plan thanks to the highly skilled and caring individuals who volunteered with us. The volunteers on this platform are heroes — we can’t thank them enough for the service they provide to nonprofits like mine.

Making it

I’m excited to see Reading Opens Minds continue to grow. I’ll know that we have ‘made it’ when we reach the $250,000 funding mark and can hire staff because we’ve been so successful in growing our programming. The ease with which we can communicate the services we need and connect with skilled professionals on Taproot+ will continue to help us work towards this big goal of ours.

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