May 21, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
As part of its mission, the New York charity iMentor has built an online system that allows for safe, guided communication between high-school students and their mentors — an effort that has won praise and interest from similar organizations.
Dana Saxon, director of partnerships at iMentor Interactive, says e-mail messages can intensify the ties between participants that are forged through monthly in-person meetings. Soon after the group’s founding in 1999, its leaders realized they needed a way “to track those e-mail messages, and really importantly, to be able to monitor the communication,” says Ms. Saxon. “Since the majority of the students are under 18, it’s important for their safety.”
Inquiries from other groups prompted iMentor in 2007 to begin offering the software to other charities, which can tailor iMentor Interactive to their specific needs.
Depending on an organization’s size, it pays $30 to $70 per year for each mentor or student who uses the system, as well as a one-time start-up fee of $1,000 to $5,000.
For more information: Go to http://www.imentor.org.
