Home Subscriber Only Business Women Chaunt’s storytelling skills have led to record funds at Boys & Girls...

Chaunt’s storytelling skills have led to record funds at Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket

By

Susan Shalhoub

-

05/27/2022

HERE’S THE SCOOP: Amy Chaunt, director of development and communications at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket, uses her journalism skills to bring the club’s mission to life and show donors where their dollars go, which has led to record fundraising. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Business Women Awards 2022 Woman to Watch Social Services/Nonprofit Amy Chaunt, Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket Amy Chaunt came to her role as director of development and communications at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket at an odd time. It was March 2020 – the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She met her

Already a Subscriber? Log in

To Continue Reading This Article

Become a Providence Business News subscriber and get immediate access to all of our premier content and much more.

Learn More and Become a Subscriber

Critical RI business news and analysis updated daily.
1 year of print (26 issues).
Unlimited access to all subscriber only content on our website, on any device.
Free email alerts.
Annual Book of Lists Print Edition.
All special issues produced during subscription term.

Click Here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article

PBN Branded Content

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Check-In: A Conversation with Shannon Champagne and Jessica Marfeo, RN

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One in eight American women will be diagnosed with…

Learn More

No posts to display

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Business Women Awards 2022 Woman to Watch Social Services/Nonprofit Amy Chaunt, Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket

Amy Chaunt came to her role as director of development and communications at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket at an odd time. It was March 2020 – the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She met her new colleagues on Zoom. There were no kids in the building playing sports. The pool sat empty. “So, I sat back, took a deep breath and just took it day by day,” Chaunt said. “I tried to figure out how to make an impact and make people here trust me.” Part of Chaunt’s formula for success was to communicate the real-life, day-to-day impact that club contributors have on youths in the community. A former journalist who earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Chaunt is a trained storyteller who uses that skill to bring the club’s mission to life. It’s the best way she knows to show donors where their dollars go. Chaunt also makes it a point to interact with kids at the club – now that they are back in the building – to find out specifically how they are benefiting. “I love telling stories. I just felt like working in journalism wasn’t a fit for me,” said Chaunt, who has worked for The Boston Globe and WHDH-TV. “But now, instead of telling stories in the news, I can change them before they are written.” This ability helped Chaunt take the club’s Adopt-a-Family holiday program from 18-20 families to more than 80 served; redesign the Major Gift Campaign, including the communications component, raising over $160,000 in four months, with eight months left in the campaign – a new record; strategize new revenue streams; and create the first annual report in over a decade to highlight club accomplishments. Chaunt, formerly director of development at the Muscular Dystrophy Association, is about efficiency and never straying from the club’s mission. She visits the program side of the nonprofit as much as possible. “I want to be sure I can talk to a donor and tell them about the impact they’ve had; that their gift helped a kid learn how to swim,” she said.