Virtuous Nightlife: Linking Millennials to Local Causes

By Ryan Ulbrich

Co-founder, Raise Your City

It's becoming an age-old question: How do you engage today's 20-somethings in charitable giving and community engagement? Organizations and nonprofits have racked their brains and devised development strategies to engage millennials. They've made Generation Y out to be an elusive, almost unobtainable mindshare. 

But what if it were as simple as putting on a good old shindig?

Rewind to a few years ago, when a friend-of-a-friend ran all 2,663 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in just over two months -- that's an average of 44 miles every day, or about 100 consecutive marathons from the Canadian to Mexican borders.

The runner, Sam Fox, 23, made this journey to raise awareness and money to fight Parkinson's, a disease his mother was diagnosed with in 2000. Through an incredible test of willpower, Sam inspired others to join the cause and pledge dollars for Parkinson's research across the country.

This epic adventure, known as "Run While You Can," raised nearly $300,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation in only 61 days.

On the weekend Sam crossed the finish line in October 2011, we decided to host a benefit event far away in Washington, D.C. -- to applaud the feat, to celebrate the finish, and to donate to the cause. In less than two weeks we leveraged our personal and professional networks to reserve a host venue, book music, and promote the occasion.

Together, we quickly raised over a thousand dollars for a man neither of us had ever met.
This nearly spontaneous achievement shared between a host business, performing artists, a powerful cause, and compelled attendees would eventually become the crux of a new endeavor.

Our organization, Raise Your City, was founded in June 2012. It's a social enterprise that curates hyper-local benefit events targeted to millennials. RaiseDC, the organization's first of many city-based chapters, helps to accelerate positive change in our immediate surroundings. The premise of this "virtuous nightlife movement" is simple -- turning social activities into acts of civic engagement.