Andrew Bosworth, who grew up on a California horse ranch, spent much of his childhood in 4-H. He raised sheep and pigs, competed for ribbons at the county fair, and learned to cook.
The club also introduced him to computer programming, which proved life-changing. He went on to get a Harvard degree in computer science and is now vice president for advertising at Facebook, where he helped create the social network’s ubiquitous News Feed.
Many people he meets are surprised to learn that 4-H teaches technology. But such instruction has always been a core of the global youth-development group, which was founded to help farm kids learn cutting-edge agriculture skills their parents wouldn’t embrace. Remembers Mr. Bosworth: “We used to joke: ‘It’s not just cows and cooking!’ "
Those words could serve as the rallying cry for 4-H now, as it searches for relevance in a time altogether different from the agrarian age in which it was born. Established circa 1902 as an after-school program, it flourished in the rural areas that were home to more than half of Americans. Today, more than eight in 10 people live in metropolitan regions.
Not coincidentally, 4-H is promoting programs that resonate with modern kids and families. It’s also showcasing alumni like Mr. Bosworth to tout the work that a lot of city slickers might not know about.
Unrestricted giving to the National 4-H Council has shot up 518 percent since 2008, according to the organization.
Robotics and Fitness
Local 4-H chapters were starting to double down on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs by at least the mid-2000s, according to the council’s president, Jennifer Sirangelo. By 2012, the national organization had begun investing significantly more money in the effort. Among other things, it built a new robotics curriculum, which is now its most popular, systemwide.
Interest in nutrition and fitness programs has also spiked, driven by concern about childhood obesity.
Last year, 4-H launched a new marketing campaign, Grow True Leaders. The aim is to promote the charity’s wide array of programs and tout its effectiveness at giving kids skills and confidence.
The campaign is part of a big push to expand. Though it serves 6 million American youths a year — more than the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts put together — 4-H hopes to increase membership to 10 million by 2025. Toward that end, the National 4-H Council launched a five-year, $125 million drive in 2015, with $36 million raised so far.
Ms. Sirangelo says the organization is worried that youth-development charities serve less than half of American kids from 8 to 18. “We felt we had a moral obligation to grow. Because if we don’t do it, who will?”
4-H’s far-flung chapters have helped steer its growth, Ms. Sirangelo says. She recalls visiting the charity’s leaders in Kansas, where she asked, “What keeps you up at night?”
A man volunteered, “In my county, 80 percent of the kids are Latino, and not enough of them are in 4-H.”
The result: New programs in that county for kids, many of them Hispanic, whose parents work at a local dairy. The effort spread rapidly across the state, and more clubs for Hispanics are sprouting up in the Midwest, part of the First Generation 4-H Families Initiative.
Meanwhile, 4-H is continuing its internal efforts to expand outreach. The organization is taking a hard look at itself, Ms. Sirangelo says, including “old ways we recruit kids, how we engage families, how we recruit volunteers — some real nuts and bolts about how 4-H operates locally.”
The charity’s leaders still have a big task ahead, she adds, “but they’re asking the right questions.”
Tapping Alumni
Mr. Bosworth is one of about 25 million 4-H alumni, but until recently, he and the others were a neglected asset. A survey commissioned by the organization in 2012 found that while 96 percent of former club members had a positive view of the organization, most said they no longer felt connected to it.
A survey showed that 96% of 4-H alumni had good feelings about the group, but most felt disconnected.
To change that, 4-H is enlisting the help of alumni like Kent Bazemore, a pro basketball player with the Atlanta Hawks, and actress Aubrey Plaza, best known for her role on TV’s Parks and Recreation. In February, Ms. Plaza helped boost the organization’s street cred by reciting the 4-H Pledge on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Mr. Bosworth says the organization has done an excellent job adapting its programming to the needs of today’s kids. The challenge 4-H and other traditional charities face is adapting to new ways of communicating.
“For a long time, exerting a lot of control over your brand was a very successful strategy,” he says. “In the modern era, with the internet and social media in particular, you really have to empower your community to own your brand, to be its ambassadors. And that means giving up some control you used to assert.”
And that, he adds, is not just a challenge for venerable nonprofits: “I work with some of the biggest advertisers in the world, and they struggle with the exact same thing.”
