DYNAMO & DASH CHARITIES

The city of Houston, with a population of 2.3 million, has the second highest rate of poverty amongst the top twenty-five most populous cities in the country. Over 19% of Houston’s population lives in poverty, defined as the inability to meet basic needs with the resources shared amongst others in the household. Houston is also home to the second largest population of veterans, with 300,000 veterans living in the greater Houston area. With the lasting impacts of COVID-19 on both of these populations, organizations like Dynamo and Dash Charities are working to address these needs, and more, in their community.

Members of the Houston Dynamo Academy volunteering at the Buffalo Bayou Park in early 2023.

Dynamo and Dash Charities is the foundation arm of Houston Dynamo and Dash FC founded in 2008. They believe in using soccer and the resources of the team as a means to positively impact the community in the greater Houston area. Their efforts focus on five key areas: food insecurity, cancer awareness, energy sustainability, military and veteran support, and youth development.

In 2021, under new team leadership of Ted Segal, Dynamo and Dash Charities revisited their strategy to prioritize the programs they would support moving forward. Upon determining their five new pillars, they sought to establish sponsors and donors who were equally committed to driving change in those areas.

What they discovered, however, was that team sponsors and individual donors viewed the work as “feel good” contributions without understanding the value of the programs they were being asked to support. As the team looked to identify new potential individual donors, they felt a wave of fear – they were uncertain about identifying high-income earners in the area and intimidated to reach out without knowing if they had any interest in the causes or in soccer.

Dynamo and Dash Charities knew that if they could overcome this fear and equip the team with the skills necessary to sell memberships, they could crack the code to building a committed and engaged donor network that would bring stability to their ongoing programs, increased awareness to their work throughout the community, and ultimately more resources to those in Houston who need it most.

In the midst of this ongoing challenge, a former employee of the team heard of Good Game Foundation (GGF) and the plans for a nonprofit development program called “Training Camp.” Dynamo and Dash Charities had their reservations about such a program, as they had been through several before. They worried it’d be much of the same material as other development programs and wouldn’t authentically take into account their unique experience and perspective. Despite the reservations, they were convinced to give it a try and remained optimistic.

Throughout the weeks of Training Camp, Dynamo and Dash Charities, alongside two other organizations, met regularly with a facilitator and the GGF team to address their challenges. The sessions were set up in a way that encouraged collaboration and transparent conversations amongst the organizations.

Although this type of facilitation required more vulnerability than Dynamo and Dash Charities was used to, it contributed to a thoughtful learning environment where the organizations could contribute their own expertise to each other. When reflecting on the experience, Valerie Holland from Dynamo and Dash Charities recalled, “We had worked with other sports teams and organizations before, but not as a resource for growing together or learning from each other. It put us in a vulnerable position we don’t usually want to be in.”

But by being vulnerable, Dynamo and Dash Charities said they felt heard for the first time and received advice that was tailored to what they needed to address their challenge in fundraising. “I felt like we were doing a Lego project and each week we were adding little pieces until the end when we had our Lego fort built,” Holland explained. Slowly but surely Dynamo and Dash Charities took the bits of knowledge and built what would be a long-term plan toward consistent fundraising.

They have their sights set on securing three to four “first-team” donors, or highest tier contributors, and eventually tripling their first-team member list. These future dreams now feel within reach after laying the necessary groundwork through Training Camp.

As Dynamo and Dash Charities looks to implement this tailored feedback with clear five-year plans laid ahead of them, Good Game Foundation can’t wait to watch the success they’ll have and how their programs will continue to impact the Houston community.