Youth Philanthropy Programs
YAPPERS (Youth Area Philanthropists)
The Youth Board consists of 16 students from the four Dubuque High Schools. The community service projects involve hundreds of high school students. One or two of the student board members attend the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Board meetings as youth advisory board members. We collaborate with the schools, the Chamber, the local colleges and area nonprofits.
Contact:
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
Nancy Van Milligen, President/CEO
Dubuque Building, Suite 195
700 Locust Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Email
Grant Application Process
The YAPPERS (Youth Area Philanthropists) involves a representative group of young people from area high schools who form a YAPPERS Board. The youth-run board engages in a full philanthropic process from community needs assessment to grant awards to project evaluation. Adult involvement is to act as a mentor and facilitator, assisting the members during the allocation of funds and in the development of volunteer and community service projects. The youth participants hold monthly meetings where they experience numerous skill-building activities, including relationship and team building, leadership training, public speaking, running an effective meeting, community needs assessment methods and grant making basics. Following training and a structured grant making process, the youth committee recommends funding of proposals submitted by nonprofit organizations.
Logistics of Youth POWER
Students act as active philanthropists in Linn County by serving an August through May term. The students are given the opportunity to give $10,000 to programs dealing with youth.
SUMMARY: Youth POWER is made up of 15-20 students from high schools in Linn County Iowa. A donor-advised fund gave $10,000 for three years to help students give money to area non-profit programs. In addition, that same donor is willing to match every dollar raised up to $20,000, to encourage the Youth POWER students to raise an endowment.
Contact:
The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
Elizabeth Pollard
200 First Street SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Email
Grant Application Process
The Youth POWER members have $10,000 to give and in order to narrow down their choices, the students implemented a rule that does not allow any grant to pay for the salary of a non-profit employee. The students look for good projects that will better the youth in the present and have enough resiliency to help youth well into the future.
The board asks a representative from prospective grantees to come to the Community Foundation for an interview and many decisions are made through face to face contact with someone who works with the program day in and day out.
Logistics of Teens for Tomorrow
The students begin the year with a kick-off retreat that includes team building, introductions and community needs assessment. The students, along with their teen director are able to discuss their attendance policy for the year and also an overview of what is about to come. The students meet for two hours once per month at an area non-profit agency. This gives the students the opportunity to understand organizations better and learn about why giving of both time and money is so important.
SUMMARY: Teens for Tomorrow is made up of 25-30 students in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois. Each year the students give $5,000 to five or six organizations within the community from the Community Foundation’s Community Impact Fund.
Contact:
Community Foundation of the Great River Bend
Ali Rorah
852 Middle Rd, Suite 100
Bettendorf, IA 52722
Email
Grant Application Process
Each year the trustees are given the opportunity to decide what type of organizations will benefit from their grants through a community needs assessment
After the grant applications have been returned to the students by individual non-profit organizations, site visits begin.
During the next couple months, five-seven students group by school visit two or three non-profits armed with a list of questions and guidelines that must be answered by the organization. After this has been completed, each of the site visit groups must present the information gathered and make a recommendation on why to give or not to give to that particular program.
The students then decide on five or six groups by voting on the organizations they think deserve the money the most. After the students decide on the best candidates, they must present their choices to an advisory board for the Community Foundation. If the board member think they have made good choices, then the grantees are notified and the grants are given.
After the grantees are chosen, the students hold a press conference where area television and newspaper crews cover the results. One representative from each organization is given a check and after the students are allowed to network and discuss with a mingling/refreshment period.
Other Activities
The students a part of Teens for Tomorrow experience their philanthropy first hand through holding meetings at different non-profit sites, volunteering, and participating in site visits.
The students also invite area professionals to discuss leadership, values, decision-making, philanthropy, and volunteering.
Logistics of Teen Trust
The students are able to design the year as they see fit. For example at the beginning of the year during a kick-off retreat, the students discuss rules such as the attendance policy and also develop a new grant application that serves their specific needs. The students are also able to develop specific meeting times and days for the two meetings held per month.
SUMMARY: Teen Trust is open to students from the 10th through 12th grades in Black Hawk County, Northeastern Iowa. The students serve a one year term and then begin a student-led selection process of the next year’s board through application reviews and interviews. The Teen Trust grant $10,000 to area 501 (c) 3 organizations from the Youth Interest Funds Endowment.
Contact:
Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa
Carolynn Sween
425 Cedar Street, Suite 310
P.O. Box 1176
Waterloo, IA 50704
Email
Grant Application Process
Each year the Teen Trustees are given the opportunity to decide what type of organizations will benefit from their grants. One year, the trustees may decide to fund on youth-run organizations and another year they may open it up to any non-profit program in Black Hawk County.
The grant applications are due back in December and the trustees are given Christmas break to look over the grants and rank them according to a rubric.
During the next couple months, students discuss all of the applications and use discussion tools to decide what organizations should get grant money and how much they should receive. The Teen Trust members do not use a majority rules approach to choosing organizations, but would rather allow those who are passionate about a cause to change the ideas of an entire group.
After the grantees are chosen, the students design a fun way to give away money. This year, the students decided to use a “Grant Mobile” to give money. The students also gave out small gifts such as an S’mores kit to the Boy Scout camp to congratulate them.
Pottawattamie Youth Council
The Pottawattamie Youth Council (PYC) got its start in 2007 to provide a means to increase young people’s involvement in the decision making that affects youth and families in Pottawattamie County. PYC is open to students between the ages of 14-19 throughout the county. Those applying to serve on the council complete an application at the beginning of the school year and are invited to be involved for as long as they like. PYC is overseen by Promise Partners, Pottawattamie County’s Alliance for Youth.
PYC began assisting Promise Partners with their grant process in 2008. Youth assist in the distribution of Neighborhood Networking Grant applications beginning in late January. In March, the group meets to review the applications received and chooses the grant recipients. Evaluation of the applications is done through a scoring sheet and group discussion.
A total of $15,000 is distributed throughout the county to help fund positive projects that create or expand activities for children and youth in the area, in turn, building lasting relationships between adults, youth and children. The primary purpose of the funding was to promote the well-being of children and family stability by increasing informal support systems.
PYC members also work with the Youth & Families Committee, a sub-committee of the Human Services Advisory Council to recognize local teens. Each month, the group presents a young person with the Spotlight on Youth award and gift items donated by local businesses. The young person is usually highlighted in the local newspaper. Members are involved in their community a number of other ways. They often lend their voice to local agencies or groups on youth-related issues.
Contact:
Promise Partners
Pottawattamie County's Alliance for Youth
Jessica Simons Keller
300 West Broadway, Suite 213
Council Bluffs, IA 51503
Email
SHINE
SHINE is a youth philanthropy group consisting of 14 high school youth from Seymour and Wayne Community Schools in Wayne County, Iowa established in 2005. The students chose their name as they hope to be a ‘shining’ example to others. Their mission is: Improving Wayne County by providing a variety of quality recreational and educational opportunities to students in preschool through grade 12.
SHINE members meet monthly during the school day. The group has elected officers; The students learn to run meetings establish operating guidelines, develop leadership skills, plan fundraisers, select community grantees, increase funding of projects benefiting local youth, learn teamwork skills, and perform community service. In order to give back to their communities, SHINE must raise funds which are then matched dollar for dollar by their local electric cooperative. They grant out funds once a year to organizations and projects that align with SHINE’s mission statement.
Contact:
Angela Downs
Email
Youth Pods
Youth Pods are youth philanthropy groups created by the Dekko Foundation that incorporate service and proactive granting. The Dekko Foundation initiated the Pods in areas where it does grantmaking itself in Indiana, Alabama and Iowa. The Youth Pods were created with the intentions of helping young people to discover the power of their time, talent and treasure; learn to effectively manage and govern a nonprofit organization; play a meaningful role in community development; and to work alongside adults to address community issues.
Iowa’s Youth Pods:
- Clarke County Organization of Philanthropic Services (CCOPS), Clarke County
- Helping Enrich the Lives of People (HELP), Ringgold County
- Restoring Our Communities, Counties and Schools (ROCCS), Decatur County
- SPLASH, Lucas County
- Youth Answering the Call of the Community (YACC), Union County
Contact:
Suzanne Johnston
ESP
% ISU Union County Extension
105 W Adams, Suite A
Creston, IA 50801
Email
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