Cheer for All

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Executive Summary

Cheer for All is a nonprofit in Tennessee that pays for competitive all-star cheerleading scholarships and training for young people ages 6 to 17 from low-income families. All-star cheer builds athletic ability, teamwork and discipline, and a season can cost between $1,500 and $3,000, plus uniforms, travel and camps. Those costs keep most low-income families out.

We are a scholarship organization, not a gym. We partner with gyms that hold the certifications the governing body requires, pay scholarship costs directly to the gym and monitor each athlete's grades. Athletes train, compete and belong to a team.

With this grant we will provide scholarships for about 50 athletes in Year 1 at 2 partner gyms. We do not promise that any athlete will win a title or a college scholarship. We promise a safe team, honest coaching and a fair chance.

Our Year 1 budget is about $158,000, growing to about $195,500 by Year 5 as we add athletes and partner gyms. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 2 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director and a part-time Program Coordinator) and a full-time coordinator from Year 2.

We are asking the Volunteer State Youth Foundation for $48,000 for gym tuition scholarships, uniform and competition fee assistance and a transportation fund. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Cheer for All is a nonprofit organization in Tennessee. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. Every child who wants to cheer should have the chance, whatever their family's income.

What we do.
- Select partner gyms that hold the safety certifications the governing body requires.
- Pay each athlete's tuition scholarship directly to the gym.
- Help with uniforms, competition fees and travel.
- Check each athlete's grades every quarter and connect athletes with tutoring.
- Hold a yearly celebration for athletes, families and partner gyms.
- Keep simple records of who we help and how they are doing.

What we do not do. We do not run a gym or coach athletes, and our partner gyms are responsible for coaching and safety. We never give cash to families. We do not promise any athlete a title, a scholarship or a college roster spot.

How we got here. A group of coaches and parents began raising money to pay a few girls' tuition at a local gym. More families asked for help each season. We kept simple records of who we helped and what happened. This proposal asks for support to turn a small fund into a steady program.

Problem & Opportunity

All-star cheer is a demanding and rewarding sport, and it is expensive.

High costs. A season of tuition can cost between $1,500 and $3,000. Uniforms, competition fees, travel and camps add hundreds more.

Few paths for families with low incomes. Many gyms offer small discounts, but not enough to bring the cost within reach.

Missed benefits. Cheer builds strength, teamwork, discipline and friendships. Children who cannot join miss those benefits and the sense of belonging that comes with a team.

The risk of losing the chance. Even a family that can start a season may have to quit midway if a job ends or a bill comes.

What we hear.
- A mother says her daughter practices in the living room because they cannot afford tuition.
- A coach says some of her best athletes left because families could not pay.
- A teacher says one student's confidence grew after joining a team.
- A father says he works two jobs so his son can stay on the team, and still falls short.

We do not claim that a scholarship can solve every challenge. We believe that a seat on a team can change a child's year.

Products & Services

Cheer for All pays for the cost that keeps children out and keeps them on track.

How the program works.
1. Partner gyms. We choose gyms that hold the certifications the governing body requires and agree to our safety and fairness standards.
2. Application. A family applies with a short form and confirms income under guidelines our board sets.
3. Scholarship. We pay the gym's tuition directly. No cash goes to families.
4. Uniforms and fees. We help with uniforms, competition fees and a transportation fund so travel does not end a season.
5. Grades. We check each athlete's grades every quarter. Athletes who need help are offered tutoring.
6. Check-ins. A coordinator calls each family during the season to see how things are going.
7. Renewal. Athletes who complete a season and keep their grades may renew for the next one.

Partner responsibility. Coaching, safety and spotting are the gym's responsibility, and we ask each gym to share its safety policy and injury procedures.

Access and fairness. Scholarships are free to families. We choose athletes in order of need and welcome every child who qualifies.

What a season looks like. An athlete joins in the fall, trains at the gym several evenings a week and competes at a few events over the season. We stay in touch with the family from the first day: a welcome call, a check-in after the first month, a grade review each quarter and a talk at the end of the season about what comes next. If something goes wrong, such as an injury, a move or a lost job, the coordinator works with the gym and the family to find a way to keep the child on the team or to end the season kindly.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Children ages 6 to 17 from low-income families in our area who want to cheer and cannot pay the cost. Eligibility is based on free or reduced-price lunch status or income guidelines our board sets.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every child who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. Partner gyms told us they turn away or lose several athletes each season because of cost. In our small fund we received more applications than we could pay and kept a waiting list. For Year 1 we plan to support about 50 athletes at 2 gyms. By Year 5, with more gyms, we plan to support about 130.

Where athletes come from.
- Partner gyms and their coaches.
- School counselors and teachers.
- Churches and neighborhood centers.
- Families who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Gyms benefit from steady tuition and teams that are full. Schools benefit from athletes who stay engaged. Families gain a place to belong.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a child in a uniform. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Why scholarships work better than small discounts. A discount helps a family that is almost able to pay. A full-season scholarship helps the families who cannot start at all. Paying the gym directly keeps the money where it belongs, gives the gym steady income and lets the family focus on the child rather than the bill.

Competitive Landscape

What families can find today, and how we are different.

1. Gym discounts. Many gyms offer small price breaks. They rarely cover the full cost and are limited by how much the gym can give.

2. School and recreation cheer. These cost less and are valuable. They do not offer all-star competition or year-round training.

3. Other scholarship programs. Some sports organizations offer small awards. They are usually one-time and not tied to a team season.

4. Crowdfunding. Families can raise money online. It is stressful and unreliable.

5. Doing without. The most common outcome, and the one we want to change.

What makes us different.
- Full-season tuition scholarships paid directly to gyms.
- Help with uniforms, competition fees and travel.
- Quarterly grade checks and tutoring support.
- Partner gyms that meet safety standards.
- A coordinator who stays in touch with every family.

We have spoken with gyms and other youth programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How families and gyms will find us.

Reaching families.
- Partner gyms. Coaches will tell families about the scholarship in a private, respectful way.
- Schools. We will share a one-page flyer in English and Spanish with counselors and teachers.
- Churches and neighborhood centers. We will talk with leaders who know the families.
- Word of mouth. Many families will find us through a friend.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching gyms and sponsors.
- Invite gyms that meet the safety standards to apply as partners.
- Meet local businesses and sporting goods stores that want to sponsor an athlete.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of athletes and what families said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple application and enroll athletes in the order received, with priority for families with the greatest need and for athletes returning for a second season. We keep a waiting list when funds are used.

What we watch. Applications, enrollment, season completion, grades and how many athletes renew.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the part-time Program Coordinator, sign agreements with two partner gyms, finalize the scholarship agreement and privacy policy with our attorney and open applications.
- Month 3 (September): Select the first athletes and begin their season.
- Months 4 to 10: Pay tuition and fees, check grades each quarter and support families.
- Months 11 and 12: Hold the yearly celebration, survey families and gyms, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. We work from a small donated office. Training happens at partner gyms.

Safety and privacy.
- Partner gyms hold the certifications the governing body requires, and their coaches pass background checks.
- We ask each gym to share its safety policy, injury reports and emergency plan.
- Families sign a waiver with the gym and a consent form with us.
- We keep records private, share them only with a family's permission and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $3,000 of equipment once at the start: a laptop, scoring tablets and a small label printer ($3,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. A part-time Program Coordinator, paid $36,000 for a full year, works about 60 percent of a full-time position, manages scholarships, partners and academic checks. The coordinator is full time from Year 2.

Management & Organization

Tasha Greene, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a cheer coach who watched talented athletes leave because their families could not pay. I will complete the training we ask of our partner coaches so I understand the sport from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Program Coordinator. The coordinator manages applications, pays gyms, checks grades and stays in touch with families. We will hire someone with experience in youth programs and strong organizational skills.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a cheer coach, a school counselor, a parent, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a former athlete. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our partner standards. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A gym owner, a school administrator and a sports medicine nurse give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $46,000 a year; program Coordinator (part-time), paid $36,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Provide scholarships for about 50 athletes ages 6 to 17 at 2 partner gyms.
- Have at least 90 percent of scholarship athletes finish the season.
- Have at least 90 percent of athletes keep a passing grade in every subject, with tutoring offered to those who need it.
- Have at least 80 percent of athletes renew for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Athletes enrolled, practices attended and season completion, from gym reports.
- Grades each quarter, shared by families and schools with permission.
- Scholarship dollars paid to gyms and fees paid, from our books.
- Athlete and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 70 athletes at 2 gyms and a full-time coordinator.
- Year 3: About 90 athletes at 3 gyms.
- Year 4: About 110 athletes at 3 gyms and a summer camp scholarship fund.
- Year 5: About 130 athletes at 4 gyms and a stronger tutoring partnership.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 36 percent of our budget, down from about 60 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $48,000 from the Volunteer State Youth Foundation for gym tuition scholarships, uniform and competition fee assistance and a transportation fund, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Other: Gym tuition scholarships for 50 athletes, paid directly to partner gyms, $35,000 (other funds add $17,000).
- Other: Uniform and competition fee assistance, $10,000 (other funds add $4,000).
- Travel: Transportation fund for competition travel, $3,000 (other funds add $1,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 51% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $158,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $7,800 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $95,000; local Foundation Grants $35,000; corporate Sponsors $20,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $46,000; program Coordinator (part-time) $36,000; gym Tuition Scholarships about $52,000; uniform and Competition Fee Assistance about $14,000; transportation Fund for Competition Travel about $4,000; academic Monitoring and Tutoring Support about $4,000; administration and Insurance about $8,000; about $1,700 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $9,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptop, scoring tablets and a small label printer; $2,000 for attorney review of the scholarship agreement and waivers; $1,800 for banners, flyers and a simple website; $700 for background checks for staff and volunteers; $1,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($9,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $37,400, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $46,500. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $43,000 in startup support from a local foundation and a sporting goods sponsor, $49,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $158,000 in Year 1 to about $195,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $95,000, $100,000, $89,500, $79,500 and $69,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: local Foundation Grants from $35,000 to $58,000; corporate Sponsors from $20,000 to $44,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $7,800 in Year 1, about $8,600 in Year 2, about $8,900 in Year 3, about $9,400 in Year 4 and about $9,600 in Year 5. We grow from 2 partner gyms to 4 by Year 5, with a full-time coordinator from Year 2.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $48,100, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $6,320 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per athlete. In Year 1, our total costs are about $3,026 per athlete served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more athlete served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $1,430 per athlete.

After the grant. Local foundations, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so each grant becomes a smaller share of our budget. Athletes and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor an athlete or a team by name. We will look for partnerships with gyms and cheer organizations that want to keep the sport open to every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. We only partner with gyms that hold the certifications the governing body requires, and we ask each gym to share its safety policy.
- A partner gym closes. We keep agreements with more than one gym and can move scholarships to another.
- Costs rise faster than planned. We review costs each quarter and adjust scholarship size before we cut athletes.
- An athlete's grades slip. Academic monitoring and tutoring support, and a plan with the family.
- A privacy problem. A written policy, secure systems and training for every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of athletes and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $95,000 in Year 1, growing to $69,500 in Year 5.
- Local Foundation Grants: $35,000 in Year 1, growing to $58,000 in Year 5.
- Corporate Sponsors: $20,000 in Year 1, growing to $44,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $8,000 in Year 1, growing to $24,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $46,000; program Coordinator (part-time) $36,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: gym Tuition Scholarships $52,000; uniform and Competition Fee Assistance $14,000; transportation Fund for Competition Travel $4,000; academic Monitoring and Tutoring Support $4,000; administration and Insurance $8,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year.
- Equipment: $3,000 at the start, then $1,000 to $1,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $9,000, paid once from $49,000 in startup money.
- Athletes served: about 50 in Year 1, growing to about 130 in Year 5. Partner gyms: 2 in Year 1, growing to 4 by Year 5. Each scholarship covers a full season.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs