Last week, I did a Google Form for friends and family to find out their views on nonprofits and social media as target audiences. I collected 28 responses in 48 hours. Because of my interest in the topic, I asked, “If you follow any nonprofits on social media, who has your favorite presence?” I hoped to find more nonprofits to follow, potential interviewees, and networking opportunities. One that quickly piqued my curiosity was Squires, as I had never heard of an organization representing its chosen demographic. I did a Google Meet with the founder, Shanne Sowards.
What is Squires’s backstory?
Sowards was a teen dad, having a child at 15 years old. When he was 17, someone popped into his life, wanting to be his mentor. Sowards didn’t know what mentoring was, but the man offered to buy Sowards a soda once a week, so he said, “yeah, that’s cool. I like soda.” At that time of his life, Sowards was paying rent to couch surf. He was working 40 hours a week to pay child support. It was just someone in his community who saw him as a person. So, after Sowards graduated and wandered off, after many years, he was like, “you know, if I won a million dollars, I would start a program to support teen dads like that guy did.”
In the face of his self-doubt, key people encouraged him to start a nonprofit. While filing for unemployment, Soward learned about “self-employment assistance,” which allows one to collect unemployment benefits for six months while starting a small business instead of applying for other jobs. When he got the letter saying he could create a small business, he cried in his kitchen, believing it was a sign that God had his back. He filled out the application, got the approval, and Squires was born. That was 10 years ago.
Do you have any statistics on teen dads and how Squires has been able to help them?
It’s hard to measure.
- About 78% of those mentored become mentors.
- 50% of the dads he meets are in high school.
- If they stay engaged with Squires for six months, they graduate.
- If they don’t stay engaged, they don’t graduate.
- Not every story is a success story.
“We are dealing with young adolescents, who most of them already had a hurdle, like poverty, and being a father just complicated it. Everyone is expecting them to fail. They are painted as the bad guy who got the girl into trouble.”
It’s hard to break through that mentors are there to support them. You have to build a relationship and friendship to build trust. If they can get through a third meeting, Sowards thinks they are going someplace.
Do you have a background in social media?
His history is like everyone else with MySpace, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, posting two to three times a week unless an event is coming up, then it’s daily. “I am not on TikTok, but I probably should be.”
What types of things do you post?
Sowards posts about activities they are doing and events they have coming up. He meets with his dads often, having meals and breaking bread together. He posts pictures of the new babies and “church lady snacks.” Just day-to-day life, with a hashtag, called adventures in mentoring.
What do “church lady snacks” mean?
It’s just a picture of homemade snacks the church ladies make for us. Sowards will post photos and say: “Hey guys, look at what she made this time! It’s going to be good!” It’s a great invitation and easy to break bread over. His methods of mentoring are a compass model. Instead of telling you what you should do, figure out where you want to go and go alongside that mentee. Along with that model, he takes things that stimulate the brain to create more conversations, making conversations easier. Sowards also sits side by side as it is seen as non-confrontational to men.
What are your plans for social media?
Ideally, he would like to have someone who handled it all. He doesn’t have big plans. Initially, he thought he would post something viral, but his footprint is small. He considers it a necessary evil. His footprint is people whom he knows personally. He wants people to volunteer and spend time with the teen dads. He likes posting about the good things that the dads’ are doing, like one who is coaching basketball for young children right now. He believes the ROI for social media sucks for as much time as he has to put in. The other way he uses social media is to communicate with the dads, through a private Facebook group, without having to text or call each one.
What is your hope for social media?
Sowards wants to use social media to let teen dads know Squires exists and someone will walk alongside them. He puts an ad on Facebook when an event is coming up. Sowards would like more donations. If we are fully funded, I would probably pay someone to have a more engaging, interactive platform.
How has social media engagement evolved?
Sowards looks at the analytics every once in a while. Engagement is okay with people he knows. But, occasionally, he will have someone like something he posted four years ago, leaving him wondering how they came across it in their feed. He isn’t willing to take money people have donated to fathers and young families to pay someone to get a more significant online footprint.
Has social media translated into more donors, volunteers, or awareness?
Social media has led to more donations from friends. Friends will do a Facebook fundraiser for their birthday, which is helpful. Maybe more awareness, but it’s not organic.
I am glad that I learned about Squires from a friend, and I followed their Facebook and Instagram to be updated on their future. You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
