The Portland State senior capstone class Marketing for Nonprofits held a fundraiser at Crush Bar to benefit a local nonprofit called My Voice Music on Sunday. MVM aims to provide music therapy to youths with behavioral and mental differences, primarily those living within the foster care system or in mental health treatment centers.
The capstone encouraged community involvement with a focus on marketing for a nonprofit organization. The class was broken up into teams that worked on different aspects of the marketing process.
Cody Porter, outreach coordinator for the project, said it was occasionally a challenge to do outreach as opposed to fundraising, as there are few ways to gauge the effectiveness of marketing. Like many of the students in the course, Porter did not have much prior marketing experience.
“When I was going through the courses for the capstones, I could’ve taken the easy way out, but I wanted to do something applicable and helpful,” Porter said. “I’m doing it because it builds good relationships between PSU and the rest of the community. At the end of the day, I know that my efforts, no matter how small, are meaningful.”
For MVM, every dollar counts. The organization has expanded exponentially since Executive Director Ian Mouser founded it in 2008. The nonprofit has continued to flourish since Mouser won a coveted Skidmore Prize in 2011 for his long-time commitment to the nonprofit sector.
The prize, administered by Willamette Week, gave MVM the public exposure it needed to grow. They now work with around 1,500 children per year, 75 percent of which live in institutionalized facilities.
The benefits of music therapy are highly touted, and Mouser had his own reasons for believing. Prior to founding MVM he was working as a treatment counselor in a residential facility. Mouser found his role to be that of a glorified security guard in an often unsafe environment and knew something had to change.
“I brought music in as a way to cope, almost for myself, and I began to play my guitar. I got to see them for the first time with rosy cheeks and bright eyes in a vulnerable state where they were allowed to be just boys,” he said. “I was able to form a rock band out of the six boys in my unit. Through that experience they were working together and the power dynamic was diminished. We could be people together.”
A new tune
Nearly a decade later, thousands of Portland children have discovered their inner rock star, and Mouser’s devotion has led to a thriving nonprofit.
“We’re expanding our model of using rock and roll and pop music that identifies with youth culture within environments that are not normal experiences. Using music as a therapeutic tool in a normalized way. We’re also helping other organizations implement their own therapeutic music programs,” Mouser said.
A staff of volunteers, many of them student leaders, work in partnership with over 20 other organizations to bring music therapy to those who need it. Mouser was happy to extol the dedication of the high school students that serve as mentors.
“Our older students are our greatest assets. They’re high energy, they are the secret weapon to our rock camps. The younger kids really look up to them, much more than they would ever look up to myself,” he said.
The new year will signal big changes for MVM. Feb. 1 will mark the grand opening of the nonprofit’s recording studio space.
Mouser views My Voice Music Studio as an asset to young Portland musicians from all walks of life. The recording equipment provided is professional-grade and a huge resource. MVM students will be able to participate in song writing workshops and recording labs, as well as learn how to distribute their music.
“Social entrepreneurship is the next chapter of our legacy. We’re no longer just targeting one group, but all of Portland. Our goal is to have this space pay for itself. If we can do that, we’ve really created a model that’s sustainable,” Mouser said.
Creating a feasible model was what the capstone was all about. One group in the class focused on creating a template for other companies to use to implement music therapy, while another produced a presentation for corporations describing MVM and its mission.
School of rock
Hugo Gonzalez-Venegas, head of the fundraising team, had similar reasons to Porter for choosing the Marketing for Nonprofits capstone.
“I’m a political science major, so I wanted to do something completely unrelated to my field. I wanted to utilize a capstone to learn a new skill and help out a nonprofit,” Gonzalez-Venegas said.
The fundraising team has faced challenges of its own, but they hope to raise $1,000 for MVM which, according to the MVM website, would be enough to send five kids to rock camp.
“What we wanted was to have two kids perform, but we are holding it at a bar so kids can’t come. We’re improvising by having a DJ that has agreed to perform for free,” he said.
Gonzalez-Venegas was enthusiastic about the community connections they had made and the class’ contribution to MVM.
“They showed us their space, what they do and how they are trying to get on their feet,” Gonzalez-Venegas said. “Our instructor JoAnn [Seibe] has done a great job organizing the class so that MVM will have a really viable product that they can use in the future.”
