First Step College Access and Success Program

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Executive Summary

First Step College Access and Success Program is a nonprofit that helps first-generation and low-income high school students plan for, apply to and succeed in college. A college advisor works one-on-one with each student in school, teaches application, essay and financial aid skills, takes students on college visits and stays in touch through the first year of college.

Many capable students never apply because no one in their family has been through the process, fees are a barrier and school counselors have hundreds of students each. Others enroll and leave in the first year.

With this grant we will serve about 90 students in Year 1 at 3 high schools. We do not promise admission, scholarships or financial aid. We promise clear help, honest advice and someone who stays in touch.

Our Year 1 budget is about $168,000, growing to about $268,000 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 4 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a College Advisor and a part-time coordinator) and 7 by Year 5.

We are asking the Open Doors College Access Foundation for $55,000 for a College Advisor, college visits and workshop 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

First Step College Access and Success Program is a nonprofit organization in Texas. 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 student, whatever their family's income or background, should have the guidance to get into college and finish.

What we do.
- Place a college advisor in each partner high school to meet with students one-on-one.
- Teach workshops on applications, essays, financial aid forms and choosing a college.
- Pay application and test fees for students who qualify.
- Take students on college visits and to a college fair.
- Hold family nights about costs, aid and what to expect.
- Follow students through the first year of college with check-ins and help with problems.

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 do not promise admission, scholarships or financial aid to any student. We do not fill out financial aid forms for families or keep copies of tax documents; we teach families to do it themselves and refer to free tax help. We never take payment from a student or family. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of counselors, college students and parents began running Saturday application workshops for first-generation students. Students came with questions that school counselors did not have time for. We kept simple records of who came and what they finished. This proposal asks for support to move from Saturday workshops to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Many students whose parents did not attend college are as capable as any other student and far less likely to apply, enroll or finish.

Cost. Application fees, test fees, visits and deposits add up quickly and can stop a student before they start.

Access. School counselors often serve hundreds of students, and families who have never been through the process do not know the steps or the deadlines.

Safety and trust. Students and families are targets for scams about scholarships and financial aid, and many do not know whom to trust.

Missed benefits. Students who never apply or who enroll and drop out in the first year lose time, money and options.

What we hear.
- A senior says she did not know that fee waivers existed.
- A counselor says she has 400 students and cannot see them all.
- A father says he wants his son to go to college and does not know how to begin.
- A first-year student says her advisor's text kept her from dropping out.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that one-on-one help, clear steps and someone who stays in touch can open the door to college.

Products & Services

First Step College Access and Success Program gives first-generation and low-income high school students a safe, welcoming place to plan for, apply to and succeed in college.

How the program works.
1. Schools. We partner with three high schools that give us an office and class time.
2. Advising. Each student meets one-on-one with a college advisor starting in the junior year.
3. Workshops. Group sessions teach applications, essays, financial aid and choosing a college.
4. Fees and visits. We pay application and test fees for students who qualify and take students on college visits.
5. Family nights. Families learn about costs, aid and what to expect.
6. Aid help. We teach students and families to complete financial aid forms and refer them to free help.
7. First-year support. Advisors check in with students through the first year of college.

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 advisors are trained college counselors who pass a background check, complete our training and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Programs are free. We welcome every student, and we offer materials and family nights in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Students in grades 10 through 12 who would be the first in their family to attend college or who come from low-income families, at our partner schools. Eligibility is based on school referral, first-generation status and income guidelines our board sets, and no student is turned away for a low grade point average.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our Saturday workshops we served full rooms and kept a waiting list. Counselors told us that many more students need one-on-one help than we can provide. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 90 participants at 3 schools. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 250.

Where participants come from.
- School counselors and teachers.
- Community and faith groups.
- College admissions offices.
- Students who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families gain access to a degree. Colleges gain more prepared applicants. The community gains a stronger workforce.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a student opening an acceptance letter. 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 counselors. Dedicated, with caseloads in the hundreds. We work alongside them.

2. National college access organizations. Strong models, with limited reach in our area. We add local capacity.

3. Private admissions consultants. Effective and costly. We offer a free alternative.

4. College outreach programs. Valuable and limited to those who find them.

5. Online resources. Helpful, with no person beside you.

What makes us different.
- Free to every student.
- One-on-one advisors in the school.
- Application and test fees paid for students who qualify.
- Family nights in English and Spanish.
- Follow-up through the first year of college.

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 counselors, college access programs and admissions offices 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 counselors and teachers to identify students and share a one-page sign-up form in English and Spanish.
- Families. We will hold a short information night at each school.
- Colleges. We will invite admissions staff to our workshops.
- Community groups. We will talk with leaders who know families.
- Word of mouth. Many students will find us through a friend.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Invite college counselors, graduate students and former counselors through colleges and professional 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, applications submitted, aid forms completed 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 advising at all three schools.
- Months 4 to 10: Hold advising, workshops, college visits and family nights through the school year.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey students and families, follow seniors into college, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Advising is held in school offices and libraries, provided at no cost.

Safety and privacy.
- Advisors meet students in school offices or in view of others, and any concern is reported to the school the same day.
- 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 tablets for advising ($3,000), projector and portable sound for workshops ($1,500), locking file storage and printer ($1,500). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. A College Advisor, paid $42,000 a year, advises students and leads workshops. A part-time coordinator, paid $24,000, manages schedules and visits. We add an advisor in Year 3 and another in Year 5.

Management & Organization

Marisol Reyes, 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 first-generation college graduate who had no one to ask. I will complete the training we require of our advisors so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The college advisors meet with students and lead workshops, and a part-time coordinator manages schedules and visits. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a high school counselor, a college admissions officer, a parent, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a first-generation graduate. 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 financial aid officer and a college access leader give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $52,000 a year; college Advisor, paid $42,000 a year; program Coordinator (part-time), paid $24,000 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 90 participants at 3 schools.
- 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 130 participants at 3 schools.
- Year 3: About 170 participants at 4 schools.
- Year 4: About 210 participants at 5 schools.
- Year 5: About 250 participants at 6 schools.

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 52 percent of our budget, down from about 62 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: $55,000 from the Open Doors College Access Foundation for a College Advisor, college visits and workshop materials, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: College Advisor salary, $42,000.
- Travel: College visits and transportation, $8,000 (other funds add $2,000).
- Supplies: Workshop materials, $5,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 53% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $168,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $6,800 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $104,000; school District Partnership $30,000; state College Access Funding $26,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $52,000; college Advisor $42,000; program Coordinator (part-time) $24,000; application and Test Fee Support about $12,000; college Visits and Transportation about $10,000; workshop Materials about $5,000; planning Software about $3,000; advisor Training about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $9,000; 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 tablets for advising; $1,500 for projector and portable sound for workshops; $1,500 for locking file storage and printer; $2,000 for attorney review of the consent form and privacy policy; $1,500 for banners, bilingual flyers and a simple website; $1,500 for background checks and advisor 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 $40,000, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $53,000. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $49,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a local bank, $55,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $168,000 in Year 1 to about $268,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $104,000, $91,000, $121,500, $108,500 and $140,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: school District Partnership from $30,000 to $54,000; state College Access Funding from $26,000 to $50,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $6,800 in Year 1, about $7,600 in Year 2, about $9,700 in Year 3, about $10,200 in Year 4 and about $13,100 in Year 5. We grow from 3 schools 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 $50,300, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $6,720 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per student. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,791 per student served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more student served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $1,020 per student.

After the grant. State college access 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 college access 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 students 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: $104,000 in Year 1, growing to $140,000 in Year 5.
- School District Partnership: $30,000 in Year 1, growing to $54,000 in Year 5.
- State College Access Funding: $26,000 in Year 1, growing to $50,000 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 $52,000; college Advisor $42,000; program Coordinator (part-time) $24,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: application and Test Fee Support $12,000; college Visits and Transportation $10,000; workshop Materials $5,000; planning Software $3,000; advisor Training $3,000; administration and Insurance $9,000. 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 $55,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 90 in Year 1, growing to about 250 in Year 5. Sites: 3 in Year 1, growing to 6 by Year 5. Advising runs through the school year, with summer check-ins before college.
- 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