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Q4 Goals (2024)
Looking ahead into Q4, we are focused on a few main points:
Continuing building out our back-end support for the mass influx of new volunteers.
Focusing on refining ourselves as an organization to be worthy of significant investment.
Mirroring the long-form success we have found in our short-form content.
Executing thoroughly planned and calculated year-end fundraisers for maximal success and impact.
Planning our 2025 calendar, including physical outreach, fundraising, and major steps for the organization.
Director of Outreach, Taylor, with Furnace Fest attendees at our Support Wall
Here is our list of Q4 goals:
PROGRAM
Prepare to hire a program assistant
Q3 follow-up - SWAT Volunteers Milestones
Q3 follow-up: Discord training - Mentor + Mentee roles
Implement new changes to the forum
OPERATIONS
Complete 990 form and financial review
Migrate to Quickbooks
Annual report and board effectiveness report
Recruit Chairman of the Board
Finalize the 5-year strategic plan and obtain board approval
DEVELOPMENT
Fundraising
Make $500k worth of proposals for year-end giving
Raise $40k through corporate giving, individual donors, and streamers for Giving Tuesday Campaign
“Heal the Scene” campaign published with 6 unique donor profiles
Cultivation/Preparation
Work with Board and Advisors to make 50 warm introductions to new potential donors
Corporate portfolio development - initiating or furthering MMP with businesses, bands, and festivals in our pipeline
CRM system is fully operational and development team daily uses the platform
2025 fundraising timeline completed
A fan supporting another fan through our Support Wall
OUTREACH
Build a plan for next phase of HeartSupport content, one that fully expresses our brand and mission, that expands beyond mainstream metal reaction videos
Redesign socials look and assets
Identify our top 12 festivals to attend in 2025 and begin SOPs for those events for all departments
5 shorts we post with over 50k views
New video that hits 500k views in one month
TECH
Tech connection of donors to impact of donation
Robust tech connection of donation data into CRM system
Demand prediction tool for band partnerships
Building tech for integration into band DMs
Surfacing of critical alerts to team through Discord
Support Wall at Furnace Fest
Good News!
A couple exciting things of note that have happened in the past quarter!
The team attended Furnace Fest, where HeartSupport was a presenting sponsor of the main stage. We worked with many volunteers, donors, and repliers to further HeartSupport’s vision and support the scene!🤘
We implemented a retooled version of the support wall which utilized festival attendees as repliers to online topics generated from our content, therefore proving the support wall a viable source for supply. ❤️
We hired our new full-time Development Associate, Bryce! 😁
Every quarterly goal aligns with our strategic plan.
Our mission and goals are clearer than ever before.
We are on track to double our impact this year.
Thank you, from everyone at HeartSupport, for investing in us and trusting us to heal the scene.
We look forward to the ending 2024 on a high note with you and updating you at the end of the year on our progress with each of these goals!
Q3 Results
Thank you so much for investing in HeartSupport! Q3 was a very successful quarter for our team. We accomplished 85% of our goals from Q3, and the remaining 15% are pending implementation or board approval! Find out more below.
HeartSupport as the main stage sponsor for the final Furnace Fest.
Build an exceptional volunteer experience
✅ Expanded SWAT volunteer capacity and efficiency
✅ Increased percentage of engaged SWAT repliers meeting from 34% to 80%
🔁 Have a complete 6-month cycle of volunteer growth, recognition, and impact built.
Milestones decided upon, awaiting implementation
✅ Increased percentage of mentorship matches meeting at least 1x/month from 31% to 60%
🔁 Migrate volunteer applications and training to Discord in order to make onboarding flow as smooth and effective as possible
75% complete, continuing in Q4
Make HeartSupport worthy of a $1,000,000 investment
🔁 Elevate our HR, Board of Director, and operations to BBB accreditation worthiness
83% completed. 31 criteria met, 4 outstanding, 2 in progress.
🔁 Improve board oversight by recruiting a treasurer and chairman
Candidates identified, awaiting board decision.
✅ Completed 3-5 year strategic plan to solidify vision for direction of the organization
Create a compelling brand that makes people WANT to be involved
🔁 Complete and launch rebrand to align with our updated vision, mission, and values
50% completed, 19 of 38 rebrand milestones achieved. Completion in Q4
Clear mission statement, goals, and supplemental materials created
✅ Developed and launched a new ROI document for donors which demonstrates dollar-to-impact value
✅ Raised $65k to close the gap on the May fundraiser
✅ Implemented CRM system for centralized development efforts
Validate HeartSupport as a substantial media opportunity for bands
✅ 5 viral posts by end of quarter (viral measured by 80% of reach being non-followers)
✅ Drove 150 replier applications through digital and physical outreach
Thank you SO MUCH for contributing to HeartSupport and helping heal the scene. We couldn’t do it without you, and your contributions truly make such a tangible impact in the metal scene. Thank you. Stay tuned to stay updated on our goals for Q4.
250 people asking for help right now
We are honored to be in a position where we have 250 people right now who have entrusted their struggles with us and are waiting for our reply.
I explain how we got here, why it matters, and behind-the-scenes look at the strategy we’re using to solve this problem.
What a wild, humbling statement. We are honored to be in a position where we have 250 people right now who have entrusted their struggles with us and are waiting for our reply.
I explain how we got here, why it matters, and behind-the-scenes look at the strategy we’re using to solve this problem. I also share two opportunities for you to help.
Watch the video, or read the highlights below:
Highlights
YouTube received double views this month (3m, up from 1.5m average this year)
On average, we get someone asking us for help every 8,700 views in the comments on YouTube
Machine learning technology detects them and alerts our trained repliers
We went from 0 people to 250 people waiting for support in 2 weeks
People opening up about heavy struggles
Some are sharing for the very first time
Our impact strategy is working - people are using music to open up
We need to grow our supply
We’ve focused all year on building a foundation for scalable volunteer management
Our vision has evolved - we are here to heal the scene
Staff isn’t the solution, volunteers are
This has put significant weight on recruiting
We’ve 6X’d our volunteer application rate this year, foreseeing this need
We’re changing our tent and site strategies to focus on recruiting
We’re committed to only grow as fast as we can sustain volunteers in our 3-5 year strategic plan
How to Help:
Share about our reply event next week (use image and caption below)
HeartSupport is a cause I support. They offer mental health support to metal music fans. They've had 250 people ask them for help in the last two weeks, and they're looking for volunteer to help! Next week, 45 volunteers will work together and write 9 replies each. They get trained, and they can win cool prizes. The event starts on Monday and ends on Friday, and you can write your 9 replies any time that week. If you're looking for a cool way to help people, I highly recommend you sign up (it only takes 3 minutes)! Sign up here: https://forms.gle/KeHrMhehMefkUPVZ6
2. Sign up for the event and write 9 replies with us (I’m doing it!)
3. You can also volunteer for us at Furnace Fest in Birmingham, AL from 10/4 to 10/6 - we provide free Fest Tickets for volunteers!
In conclusion
This cause you’re supporting is growing
We’re positioning ourselves for scale
We’re clear on who we’re here to help, and how we’re going to help them
It will take all of us to heal the scene, and we’re thankful you’re choosing to engage in this mission with us
If you want to help with this spike in demand, you can (1) share the reply event, (2) volunteer for it, or (3) join us at Furnace Fest
For the scene,
-Nate & HeartSupport Team
Celebrating our growing community
The momentum to Heal the Scene is growing. This month, we want to highlight some of our partners and celebrate the way they’re contributing to the mission.
The momentum to Heal the Scene is growing. This month, we want to highlight some of our partners and celebrate the way they’re contributing to the mission.
Corporate Partner - Justin Weinstein with Weinstein Legal Team
Advisor - Shawn Rodriguez from Crisis Text Line
Board Member - Lou Rivera from Rivera Physical Therapy
Replier - Andy French from The Access Group
Mentor - Tom Hart from ezCater
See their stories below:
Justin Weinstein
Justin found HeartSupport through HeartSupport Fest in 2023 as a sponsor with his law firm, Weinstein Legal Team. Since, he has been an advocate for the org, investing personal time in our staff, collaborating on marketing, and investing in the mission through a monthly gift.
Justin shares his story, how he became passionate about mental health through his upbringing, and why he cares to help #healthescene. Watch him discuss with Jake:
Shawn Rodriguez
Shawn Rodriguez is the General Counsel of Crisis Text Line, a hero and major player in the global mental health space. Shawn dedicated a full month of his sabbatical to elevating HeartSupport’s legal foundation. He overhauled our:
Employee Handbook and all policies therein
UBTI risk analysis
Board Bylaws and Conflict of Interest Policy
Independent Contractor Agreement
Executive Director Bi-annual effectiveness evaluation
Time Accounting Procedures
NDA Templates
Liability Waivers
He also initiated the process of getting us Pro Bono Counsel for trademarks and potential patenting of our machine learning technology and helped navigate and resolve a board-identified potential conflict of interest scenario.
He also shared his collection of Kiesel guitars with us and contributed to a joy-filled summer with our staff.
Lou Rivera
Lou Rivera owns his own physical therapy practice and has been a HeartSupport board member since 2020. As a business owner, he’s been introducing us to other business leaders to expand our organization’s supporters. He recently connected us to Drayer Physical Therapy and their foundation Pillars With Purpose who contributed a $7,000 grant and is initiating grassroots fundraising and volunteerism in their branches on behalf of HeartSupport. Lou’s optimism and sharing of his network has contributed to our active board culture.
Andy French
Andy French has been a Replier and Reply Team Leader for several years now and was recently re-energized to advocate for the mission when we refocused on the metal music scene. He’s invited several of his coworkers to volunteer on our Reply Teams, helped organize a benefit concert for HeartSupport, and is advocating for his company (The Access Group) to select HeartSupport as a grantee and future charity-of-the-year candidate. He shares about the experience he’s had as a volunteer below and why he’s passionate about the cause:
Tom Hart
Tom Hart was the software developer who built our Support Wall and our initial Porter Texting technology. He educated Nate on how to recruit and manage tech talent and paved a pathway for our innovative technology today. He’s also been a long-standing supporter of the cause through many capital campaigns and has been a monthly donor for many years.
Recently, we had a mentee who had a negative experience with a mentor, and we needed to rematch them with someone strong who we knew would be able to correct their experience quickly. Tom dove in, meeting with the mentee that same day and has been a stalwart supporter for this individual who has been in a high-stress season of life, battling suicidal thoughts. Because of Tom and donors who are funding this impact, this mentee now has a dependable source of connection and support.
Thank you
Our community is growing with passionate volunteers, donors, directors and advisors, contributors and contractors. Our impact is at an all-time high, and we couldn’t do this without you. It will take all of us to truly #healthescene, and we’re thankful to shoulder this mission together with you.
Grateful,
HeartSupport Team
Recruiting a Treasurer
HeartSupport's Board of Directors is expanding! We are recruiting a Treasurer. View the description and application form for the position, or share with your network to help us find the right individual!
HeartSupport is expanding our Board of Directors, and we are recruiting a Treasurer!
This last year has been a beautiful transformation of the organization, guided by some intentional criticism.
To continue our commitment to excellence, we need a financial expert who can elevate our organization. If you love metal, mental health, and finances, please consider applying. If that's not you, please share to your network!
Here's the role description and application form.
We will be making a decision on the position by Thu 9/19. Thank you!
PS - If you have questions, please reach out: [email protected]
Q3 Goals (2024)
Preview of our 24 Q3 goals.
In Q3, we’re continuing to follow a few core threads:
We’ve 6X’d our volunteer application rate, and we need to support that growth.
We now understand the KPIs that make our programs successful, and we are driving growth there.
We’re continuing to refine our operations and the worthiness of our org for significant investment.
Since hiring our Director of Development, we’ve identified some core failures in our development department. We’re working intently on those.
We’ve achieved success in our long-form content, and we want to learn and succeed in short form.
Development Assistant, Bryce, on the grounds with attendee at Capulet Fest 2024.
Specifically, here is the list of our Q3 goals:
PROGRAM
Form 4 new Reply Teams and create a non-team Replier role
Build a recognition program for volunteers from months 1 to 6
Increase % of mentorship matches meeting from 31% to 60%
Increase % of repliers meeting from 34% to 80%
Migrate volunteer training to Discord, and build a custom Application and Onboarding flow
OPERATIONS
Complete BBB accreditation qualifications
Recruit a Treasurer and Chairman for the Board
Complete the 3-5 year strategic planning process
DEVELOPMENT
Launch rebrand on socials and site
Offer every recurring donor clear ROI for their donation
Raise $65k to close the gap on the May Fundraiser
Implement a donor CRM system
Outreach
5 viral short-form posts by end of quarter
Drive 150 replier applications
Good News
Some noteworthy items to celebrate since our last monthly update:
Ren (huge artist we have covered and helped 150+ of his fans talk about their mental health) posted about HeartSupport organically on his social media (650k+ followers) 😱
We got our 100k YouTube plaque in the mail 🎉
We will be sponsoring Furnace Fest in October 🏟️
We initiated our largest corporate partner @ $3k/mo 💼
We had the lawyer for Crisis Text Line work with us full-time for a month to secure our legal practices and operations 👨⚖️
Each of our quarterlies aligns with our 2024 Strategic Plan.
Our team is now reporting on their individual KPIs at our weekly team meetings.
We are clearer than ever on who we are, who we are here to serve, and how we can uniquely execute that.
We are on track to double our impact this year.
Thank you for your trust in HeartSupport and investing with us to heal the scene.
Q2 Results
Review of our 24 Q2 results.
Thank you for investing in HeartSupport. Q2 was a high-performing quarter for our team. We accomplished 83% of our goals from Q2. Read more below:
Build an exceptional volunteer experience
✅ Refined our Replier Training so that it’s more digestible
🔁 Improved our volunteer recognition, joy, and engagement
4 of 8 milestones completed, continuing in Q3
✅ Activated our Mentorship Program “Engagement Volunteers”
Completed robust training, documentation, and management systems
✅ Automated weekly KPI reports for each staff member
Rally involvement to help heal the scene
❌ Raise $100k at our Mental Health: Challenge Accepted fundraiser in May (raised $40.2k)
✅ Drove 180 Volunteer applications
✅ Hired a Director of Development
Validate HeartSupport as a substantial media opportunity for bands
Thank you for continuing to contribute and drive HeartSupport’s impact in the metal music scene. We’ll update you soon with our goals for Q3.
A Transformative Year (Podcast)
HeartSupport Founder, Jake Luhrs, and Executive Director, Nate Hilpert, reflect on the last year of growth at the organization.
HeartSupport Founder, Jake Luhrs, and Executive Director, Nate Hilpert, reflect on the last year of growth at the organization. A summary of highlights is available below the video.
Thank you for supporting HeartSupport over this transformative year.
Organization is focused on the music scene
Cut half of our programs to commit to excellence
All programs backed by research
All volunteer positions have evidence-based training
Digital outreach experienced 20X reach
Just hit 100k subscribers on YouTube (major milestone in content marketing world)
2-3X as many people are asking us for mental health support
Automatically detect if a comment is asking for mental health support
Automatically detect and delete inappropriate comments
Processed 30k messages year-to-date, up from 2k messages from 2023
New quality assurance technology ensures more people receive the help they need (average 86% resolution rate)
6X our volunteer application rate (200 year-to-date, up from 60 in 2023)
We merged with another non-profit (Beneath the Skin) and now offer their yearlong peer-mentorship program
We overhauled our board of directors and initiated an advisory board
Our founder is active, engaged, giving, and leading the charge
With all of these changes, we find ourselves growing in confidence in this mission and hope it inspires you as well. We are positioned to make a lasting impact on the mental health of our music scene. Thank you for continuing to stack hands with us in that mission.
May 2024: A Month of Milestones
May has been full of positive change and connection for HeartSupport. We’ve seen impressive growth across all our platforms, formed meaningful partnerships and, most importantly, fostered an open and safe space for mental health conversations.
Influencer Collaborations and MHCA Progress
Our MHCA (Mental Health: Challenge Accepted) fundraiser is gaining momentum, uniting influencers who are passionate about making a real difference. The first-ever MHCA match between Born of Osiris guitarist Lee McKinney and Kiesel Guitars showcases the power of collaborative action in addressing mental health challenges in the industry. With them, we are also pleased to welcome Brittany and Matty Mullins, Dustie Waring, Dan and Casey, Chris North, Devan Dickerson, Cody Smith, Cody McBroom, Jammer Actual (Gaming/Veteran) and Greg Anderson to the initiative.
Checkout the fundraising page to support your favorite influencer and stay up to date on campaign goals.
YouTube Reaches New Heights
Our YouTube channels have soared this month. The relaunch of Jake's react channel has been an immediate hit with viewers, adding over 1.4k subscribers.
We've received shoutouts from major artists like Bilmuri, for Jake’s reaction to EMPTYHANDED, and Shinedown, expanding our reach and impact. Lee McKinney commented on our video reacting to Elevate.Our special content with Levi The Poet has deeply touched viewers, and we've since received heartfelt messages like these:
The reaction video to Mudvayne Happy has received over 77k views, easily becoming our most popular content of the month.
We have been receiving fantastic feedback and sincere responses from our community members in the comments sections of our videos, which shows that our replies have been helpful and well-received. One such instance is the following note received from a viewer:
"I’m not sure what I was expecting to hear from you guys but it definitely was NOT a personalized video. My mind is blown that you would take the time to pay such attention to me just from a comment in a reaction video section. Very much appreciated and you have gotten my day off to a better start than I’m accustomed to. Again thank you so very much. I love Taylor’s reactions and I really am very fond of you now. I’m sorry I don’t remember your name but I won’t forget your face because the kindness you’ve shown, basically a total stranger, has touched my soul and I am truly grateful for that. Much love to you and yours from Phoenix Arizona"
Instagram Engagement Soars
Our “Bands of the Week” series on Instagram, which included Signs of the Swarm, Wage War, Nothing More, and Brand of Sacrifice, received a lot of love from the community. This engagement has resulted in meaningful conversations and a genuine sense of community, deepening our online link. Our replies continue to be helpful in developing these ties, helping us to strengthen and nurture our community.
Outreach and Partnerships
We have formed a new partnership with Capulet Fest, broadening our reach and opportunity to connect with music fans. We've also taken part in a benefit concert for Summer Scream Fest in Brooklyn, showcasing that bands believe we are a worthy cause!
Community and Support
The community is at the center of everything we do. We’ve shared a powerful story of a major life change, urging others to embrace their journeys and keep hoping for better.
Our dedicated team has written 724 replies to 224 people with an 86.9% resolution rate in April, providing support and guidance to those who need it.
We've also celebrated DJ, a community member, getting a new HeartSupport tattoo.
Story from the Community (trigger warning— suicide)
A user posted on our forum with active suicidal intent. This is a story of how our community responded, and the effect it had on the user.
Org Update April 2024: Q1 Results, Q2 Goals
Review of our 24 Q1 results and preview of our 24 Q2 goals as a team.
Thank you for investing in HeartSupport. You can read our Q1/Q2 update below, or you can watch/listen to Nate’s overview, including additional context here:
Results from Q1 2024:
Build an exceptional volunteer experience
Document, automate, and/or delegate all moderation tasks ✅
We built our own moderation machine learning model that now identifies 90% of all inappropriate messages.
This complements our mental health machine learning model that identifies 95% of all comments asking for help.
We recruited two new moderators and have a robust training process for them.
Automatically report key impact to each staff member and volunteer ❌ (33%, moved to Q2)
Automate our mentorship program onboarding ✅
Fully delegate all BTS program engagement activity to MEAs ❌ (onboarding overhaul took 2X longer than anticipated, moved goal to Q2)
Make HeartSupport worthy of a $1m investment
Increase recurring donations by $14k/mo ❌ ($5k of $14k increase)
In process, acquired funding for and board approval to hire a Director of Development
150 applications, 25+ interviews in 3-stage process, and candidate selected - Shelbi!
Launch an email marketing funnel ❌ (10 of 60 emails written; moved to Q2)
Launch a PR campaign announcing the merger of HS & BTS ✅
Achieve BBB accreditation ❌ (8 of 20 items completed; moved to Q3)
Added Shawn Rodriguez to our Advisory Board, who acquired a 4-week sabbatical to assist on this project in Q3
Validate HeartSupport as a substantial media opportunity for bands
Double our YouTube subscribers from 31k to 62k ✅
Herculean effort and accomplishment
Major impact: majority of requests for support now come from our YouTube channel
Major issue: needed more repliers to handle the influx; hired three short-term contractors to help with the surge and focus on recruiting more volunteers in Q2
Pilot a new “lyrics text program” for band partnerships ❌ (alpha of tech complete, 33% of lyrics complete, continue in Q2)
Preview of our Q2 goals:
Build an exceptional volunteer experience
Improve the SWAT experience to be full of joy, attention, and recognition, imbuing it with milestones, communication, and a sense of impact (X of 9 SWAT improvement milestones)
Fully delegate all BTS program engagement activity to MEAs through robust training, documentation, and management systems (X of 6 BTS improvement milestones)
Automatically send each person KPI update messages on Discord with 3-5 core stats related to their role (X of 11 automatic reports)
Create compelling offers that make people WANT to be involved with HeartSupport
Raise $100k at our Mental Health: Challenge Accepted fundraiser in May
Drive 90 SWAT volunteer and 90 BTS mentor applications
Hire a Director of Development ✅
Validate HeartSupport as a substantial media opportunity for bands
Daily content creation to hit 100k subscribers and celebrate in a meaningful way
Pilot a new “lyrics text program” for band partnerships
Pilot new on-the-grounds HeartSupport Fest activation elements at Capulet Fest
Activate 8 social collaborations with prominent bands (view 1st here)
Story from the Community
As always, we want to celebrate lives that are impacted through our collective work. Watch Brian’s story below to see how HeartSupport helped him through a depressive season in his life: