Next Generation Civic Leadership Program

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Executive Summary

Next Generation Civic Leadership Program is a nonprofit that prepares young people ages 14 to 19 from underrepresented communities to take part in their communities as informed, respectful and effective citizens. Participants learn how local government and public services work, practice public speaking and meeting skills and carry out a community service project.

Many young people leave school without having seen how decisions in their community are made, and few from low-income neighborhoods are invited to the tables where decisions happen. A program that gives them knowledge, practice and a real project can change how they see themselves.

With this grant we will serve about 60 young people in Year 1 at 2 schools and a community center. We are strictly nonpartisan and do not support or oppose any candidate, party or ballot measure. We promise honest teaching, respect for every view and careful supervision.

Our Year 1 budget is about $160,000, growing to about $209,500 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 3 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Program Director and a part-time facilitator) and 6 by Year 5.

We are asking the Citizens of Tomorrow Foundation for $50,000 for the Program Director and program materials. 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

Next Generation Civic Leadership Program is a nonprofit organization in Virginia. 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. To prepare a new generation to take part in their communities as informed, respectful and effective citizens.

What we do.
- Run a free civic leadership program for young people with weekly sessions during the school year.
- Teach how local government works and how decisions are made, without taking any side on any election or party.
- Help each participant plan and carry out a community service project.
- Invite local officials, business owners and community leaders to speak and answer questions.
- Take participants to a city council meeting, a courthouse and a community organization.
- Hold a showcase where participants present their projects to the community.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We are strictly nonpartisan. We do not support or oppose any candidate, party or ballot measure, and we do not lobby. Participants are taught to think for themselves and to respect other views. We do not promise any outcome. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of teachers, a retired city clerk and parents began meeting with high school students after school to talk about how their town works. Students asked what they could do about issues in their neighborhoods. We kept simple records of who came and what they did. This proposal asks for support to move from after-school discussion groups to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Many young people leave school without having ever seen how decisions in their community are made, and few believe their voices matter.

Cost. Civic and leadership programs often charge fees, and travel to meetings costs money.

Access. Few young people from low-income neighborhoods are invited to meetings, boards or commissions where decisions are made.

Safety and trust. Parents want to know that the program is nonpartisan, respectful and well supervised.

Missed benefits. Young people who never practice civic skills may not vote, volunteer or speak up, and communities lose their ideas.

What we hear.
- A student says she has never been inside the city council chamber.
- A teacher says her students care about their neighborhood and do not know where to start.
- A council member says she wishes more young people came to meetings.
- A mother says her son became a different person when he led a project.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that practice, a real project and a seat at the table can turn a young person into a leader.

Products & Services

Next Generation Civic Leadership Program gives young people ages 14 to 19 from underrepresented communities a safe, welcoming place to learn to lead in their community.

How the program works.
1. Sites. We partner with two high schools and a community center that provide meeting space.
2. Sessions. Weekly two-hour sessions during the school year with about twenty participants in each group.
3. Civics. Participants learn how local government, schools and public services work, with speakers from the community.
4. Skills. Participants practice public speaking, listening, meeting facilitation and respectful debate.
5. Projects. Each participant joins a team that plans and carries out a service project.
6. Field visits. Participants attend a city council meeting, a courthouse and community organizations.
7. Showcase. Teams present their projects to families, officials and neighbors.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our facilitators are teachers and community leaders who pass a background check, complete our nonpartisan training and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Programs are free. We welcome every young person, whatever their background or beliefs, and we offer materials in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Young people ages 14 to 19 from underrepresented and low-income communities who live near our partner sites. Eligibility is based on school referral and income guidelines our board sets, and no young person is turned away for lack of experience.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our after-school groups we served full rooms and kept a waiting list. Teachers and city staff told us that many more young people want to take part than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 60 participants at 3 schools and centers. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 180.

Where participants come from.
- Teachers, counselors and school clubs.
- Community centers and libraries.
- City youth commissions and civic groups.
- Participants who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families gain confident young people. Cities gain more informed and engaged residents. Schools gain students who connect learning to the community.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a young person speaking at a public meeting. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. School civics and government classes. Valuable, with little time for projects. We build on them.

2. Student government and clubs. Important and limited to a few students. We reach others.

3. City youth commissions. Strong and selective. We prepare young people to take part.

4. National leadership programs. Excellent and often costly. We offer a free local option.

5. Partisan youth groups. They have a purpose and a viewpoint. We are strictly nonpartisan.

What makes us different.
- Free to every participant.
- Strictly nonpartisan.
- A real service project in every team.
- Direct contact with local officials and leaders.
- A showcase for the community.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with school teachers, city staff and other youth leadership 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 young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Schools. We will work with teachers and counselors to share a one-page sign-up form in English and Spanish.
- Community centers and libraries. We will post flyers and hold open sessions.
- City offices. We will invite staff to speak and to share our information.
- Families. We will hold a short information night before each year begins.
- Word of mouth. Many participants will find us through a friend.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Invite teachers, retired civil servants and community leaders through schools and civic groups.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, projects completed, public events attended and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Begin weekly sessions at two schools and the community center.
- Months 4 to 10: Hold weekly sessions, field visits and service projects through the school year.
- Months 11 and 12: Hold the showcase, survey participants and partners, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Sessions are held at schools, a community center and libraries, provided at no cost.

Safety and privacy.
- Our nonpartisan policy is explained to staff, families and participants, and no staff member may promote a candidate, party or ballot measure.
- Field visits are supervised by at least two adults for every group.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $6,000 of equipment once at the start: laptops and a projector for sessions ($3,000), portable sound system and meeting supplies ($1,500), project supply kits and storage ($1,500). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Director, paid $44,000 a year, manages sessions, speakers and projects. A part-time facilitator, paid $18,000, leads groups. We add a facilitator in Year 3 and another in Year 5.

Management & Organization

Gloria Matthews, 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 civics teacher who wanted my students to see how their town works. I will complete the training we require of our facilitators so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Program Director manages sessions, speakers and projects, and part-time facilitators lead groups. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a civics teacher, a retired city clerk, a parent, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a former participant. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A school principal, a city staff member and a community organizer give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $48,000 a year; program Director, paid $44,000 a year; part-time Facilitator, paid $18,000 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):
- Serve about 60 participants at 3 schools and centers.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant 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 90 participants at 3 schools and centers.
- Year 3: About 120 participants at 4 schools and centers.
- Year 4: About 150 participants at 5 schools and centers.
- Year 5: About 180 participants at 6 schools and centers.

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 44 percent of our budget, down from about 66 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: $50,000 from the Citizens of Tomorrow Foundation for the Program Director and program materials, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Director salary, $44,000.
- Supplies: Program materials and project supplies, $6,000 (other funds add $2,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 47% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $160,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $6,800 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $106,000; city Youth Commission Partnership $26,000; corporate Sponsors $20,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $48,000; program Director $44,000; part-time Facilitator $18,000; service Projects Fund about $12,000; speakers and Field Trips about $8,000; participant Stipends about $8,000; program Materials about $3,000; facilitator Training about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $8,000; about $2,800 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $13,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and a projector for sessions; $1,500 for portable sound system and meeting supplies; $1,500 for project supply kits and storage; $2,000 for attorney review of the consent form, nonpartisan policy and privacy policy; $1,500 for banners, bilingual flyers and a simple website; $1,500 for background checks and facilitator training; $2,000 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($13,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $38,000, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $51,000. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $47,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a local business, $53,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $160,000 in Year 1 to about $209,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $106,000, $92,500, $98,500, $85,500 and $91,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: city Youth Commission Partnership from $26,000 to $50,000; corporate Sponsors from $20,000 to $44,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $6,800 in Year 1, about $7,000 in Year 2, about $8,600 in Year 3, about $9,000 in Year 4 and about $10,300 in Year 5. We grow from 3 schools and centers to 6 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $48,600, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $6,400 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per participant. In Year 1, our total costs are about $2,553 per participant served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more participant served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $1,107 per participant.

After the grant. City youth commission funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free civic leadership option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train 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 participants 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: $106,000 in Year 1, growing to $91,500 in Year 5.
- City Youth Commission Partnership: $26,000 in Year 1, growing to $50,000 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 $48,000; program Director $44,000; part-time Facilitator $18,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: service Projects Fund $12,000; speakers and Field Trips $8,000; participant Stipends $8,000; program Materials $3,000; facilitator Training $3,000; administration and Insurance $8,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $6,000 at the start, then $1,500 to $2,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $13,000, paid once from $53,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 60 in Year 1, growing to about 180 in Year 5. Sites: 3 in Year 1, growing to 6 by Year 5. Weekly sessions run during the school year, with a showcase in the spring.
- 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