Open Doors LGBTQ+ Youth Center

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Executive Summary

Open Doors LGBTQ+ Youth Center is a nonprofit in Louisiana that gives lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning young people ages 13 to 24 a safe place to be themselves. Youth advocates run a drop-in space with meals, activities and support groups, and licensed counselors, contracted by us, provide confidential mental health care.

Many LGBTQ+ young people face rejection, bullying and unstable housing, and they are at higher risk of depression and suicide when they have no supportive adults. With this grant we will pay the youth advocates and contracted counseling services. We do not out anyone, we protect each young person's privacy as far as the law allows and we do not promise any outcome. If a young person is in danger, call 911. If someone is thinking of suicide, call or text 988.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $234,000. We are asking for $65,000 from a regional community foundation to Youth Advocate salaries and contracted counseling services. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors that are listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

Open Doors LGBTQ+ Youth Center is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes young adults and parents. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. Every young person deserves respect, safety and a supportive adult. We follow each young person's lead on who knows about their identity and never out anyone.

What we do:
- Drop-in center. A safe space after school with meals, games, homework help and conversation.
- Support groups. Weekly groups led by trained advocates on topics such as coming out, family and friends and identity.
- Counseling. Contracted licensed counselors see young people at the center or by video.
- Family support. Help for parents and caregivers who want to learn how to support their child.

What we do not do. We do not provide therapy through unlicensed staff, give medical advice, tell anyone's family or school about a young person's identity or promise outcomes. Staff and volunteers are mandated to report suspected abuse as the law requires.

Who we serve. Young people ages 13 to 24, with priority for youth who are unhoused, in unsafe homes or have low incomes. Under-18 participation follows state law and our consent policy.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Many LGBTQ+ young people lack safe, supportive spaces.

1. Rejection and bullying. Many face harassment at school or conflict at home.
2. Mental health risks. Without support, rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts are higher.
3. Housing instability. Some young people leave or are forced out of home.
4. Few safe services. Many agencies are not welcoming or do not understand their needs.
5. Isolation. In smaller communities, young people may not know anyone like them.

Why it matters now. Support from at least one accepting adult can lower the risk of suicide, and communities are looking for safe, trusted places for young people.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed local data on youth mental health and housing, talked with 60 young people and 20 parents and asked schools and clinics about gaps. Young people said they want a safe place to be themselves and a counselor who understands. The numbers are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using public data, partner reports and what the people we serve tell us, and we change the program when the facts change. If a need turns out to be smaller than we thought, we will say so and put the money where it is needed most.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay youth advocates and contracted counseling services for a full year.

How a young person takes part:
1. Welcome. A young person comes to the center on their own or with a friend and meets an advocate.
2. Drop-in time. They can eat, do homework, play games and talk, with no pressure to share.
3. Support groups. They can join a group on topics they choose.
4. Counseling. If they want, an advocate helps them meet a licensed counselor. For those under 18, we follow state consent rules and our written policy.
5. Next steps. Advocates connect young people to housing, health care, school and job help as needed.

What the grant pays for. The request covers youth advocate salaries and licensed counseling services paid directly to the clinicians.

What we do not promise. We do not promise any outcome for any young person. We track attendance and what young people tell us and report honestly.

Safety. We keep the location discreet, check every adult with a background check and keep two adults present. If a young person is in danger, staff call 911. If someone is thinking of suicide, staff stay with them and call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. We follow the law on reporting suspected abuse.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. Every few months we review the numbers and the stories from the people we serve and change the plan where it is not working.

We write plain-language handouts for every step so people know what to expect, what it costs and who to call with questions, and we ask each person at the end whether the help was useful and what we could do better.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are LGBTQ+ young people in our service area and their families and schools.

Who we serve. Young people ages 13 to 24 from many backgrounds, many of whom have low incomes or unstable housing and some of whom are not out to their families.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to serve about 200 young people in the drop-in center, run about 40 support group sessions and provide counseling referrals for about 60. By Year 5 we plan to serve about 450 young people a year. We chose these numbers from the capacity of two advocates at first and three by the third year and the size of our space.

Where we serve. The city and nearby communities, with a central location near bus lines and virtual options for rural youth.

Who else benefits. Parents who learn to support their children, schools that gain a partner and communities with fewer young people in crisis.

How we will be careful. We never collect more information than we need, we never share a young person's identity without their consent and we keep records secure.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff, hours and rooms we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer people than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices in our area.

1. School counselors and clubs. Helpful but not available everywhere and sometimes not safe.
2. Mental health clinics. Offer care but may not be affirming.
3. Faith communities. Some are welcoming, others are not.
4. Online communities and hotlines. Offer support but not local help.
5. Other youth organizations.

What makes us different. We offer a dedicated, affirming space, led by trained advocates, with counseling and basic needs support in one place. We work with schools, clinics and other youth groups and refer young people to them when they are a better fit.

How we avoid duplication. We meet with schools, clinics and youth services to share information with consent and to coordinate referrals.

We keep a written list of every other organization that does similar work in our area and review it each year. If another group can serve a person better, we refer the person and say so plainly. Funders can expect us to tell the truth about overlap, to share what we learn and to work as part of a larger network of help.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach young people once the project is funded.

Trusted partners. School counselors and gay-straight alliances, clinics, shelters and affirming faith communities will share our information.

Community events. Pride events and youth events let young people learn about us in a safe setting.

Word of mouth. Young people tell friends. With permission, we share anonymous stories.

Digital outreach. A safe website and social media will share the schedule and how to get in touch. We will not post identifiable photos of young people and our materials will not reveal the center's purpose in a way that puts a young person at risk.

Access. Materials will be in English and Spanish and our hours are after school and on weekends. We provide transit passes.

Measuring outreach. We will track how each young person heard about us and adjust our outreach where it is not working.

Marketing budget. Outreach and printing are part of the program budget.

Most people hear about services from someone they already trust, so we spend more time with partners and neighbors than on advertising. We write our materials in plain language, test them with a few people from the community and fix anything that confuses them.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out, in plain terms.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: hire the advocates, sign agreements with counselors, train staff and prepare the space. Months 3 to 12: run drop-in hours, groups and counseling referrals.

Space. A discreet, accessible space near public transit with a quiet room for counseling.

Partners. Licensed counselors, schools, clinics and shelters. Each has a written agreement.

Safety and privacy rules. Two adults are always present. All staff and volunteers pass background checks and training. Records are locked and only shared with consent or as the law requires. We never out a young person. Staff are mandated to report suspected abuse. We call 911 in emergencies and 988 for anyone thinking of suicide.

Money controls. Counseling is paid directly to licensed clinicians and transit passes are bought from transit providers. No cash is given to young people.

Records and reporting. We track attendance and services and report anonymous numbers to funders each quarter.

Training. Staff receive training in youth development, trauma-informed practice, suicide prevention and confidentiality.

We write down every step of the project in a short manual so that any trained staff member can carry it out the same way. We hold a short team meeting every week to review problems, safety concerns and numbers, and we ask the people we serve for feedback at least twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization and manages the budget and partnerships. Youth advocates run the drop-in center and groups and help young people connect to services.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $62,000 a year each.
- Youth Advocate: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $44,000 a year each.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements every month, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and audit-ready records, and every grant is tracked in its own budget line. We screen staff and volunteers who work with the people we serve, train everyone on privacy and safety and keep written policies on conflicts of interest and complaints.

Staff and advisors. We seek staff with youth work experience and welcome staff with lived experience. An advisory group of young people, parents, a counselor and a teacher meets quarterly.

Feedback and complaints. Anyone we serve can give feedback or a complaint by phone, in writing or in person, and can ask to speak with the board chair. We reply within five working days, keep a log of every complaint and report the themes to the board each quarter. No one loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years and how we will measure results. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts (2 to 3 months before the grant starts): hire the advocates, sign counselor agreements, train staff and prepare the space
- Year 1: serve about 200 young people, hold about 40 group sessions and refer about 60 to counseling. The budget is $234,000.
- Year 2: add a third advocate and a family support group. The budget is $238,000.
- Year 3: add virtual groups for rural youth. The budget is $287,000.
- Year 4: expand weekend hours and counseling. The budget is $291,000.
- Year 5: serve about 450 young people a year and publish a plain results report. The budget is $295,500.

How we will measure results: young people attending, group sessions held, young people who accessed counseling, young people's own ratings of feeling safe and supported and parent satisfaction. We report results to funders in the same plain numbers we use here, and we say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

We report to funders every quarter and send a short plain-language summary to our board each month. At the end of each year we review all of the goals, publish a short results report and update the plan for the next year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $65,000 from a regional community foundation for Youth Advocate salaries and contracted counseling services, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Youth Advocate salaries, $45,000.
- Contractual: Licensed counseling services paid directly to clinicians, $20,000 (other funds add $3,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 34% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $234,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $8,600 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grant revenue $190,000; individual donations $28,000; community and business sponsors $16,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $62,000; youth advocate $88,000; contracted licensed counseling services (paid directly to clinicians) about $36,000; youth programming supplies and meals about $16,000; transit passes paid to transit providers about $6,000; administration and insurance about $16,000.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $16,400 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,800 for comfortable furniture, lockers and a kitchenette for the drop-in space, $3,200 for laptops, a projector and a game and craft set-up, $2,800 for staff training and youth safety training, $3,000 for background checks and policy review by an attorney, $2,200 for discreet signs, flyers and a safe website, and $1,400 for opening supplies and first aid kits.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($16,400), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $1,700) and a cash cushion of about $56,000, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $74,500. We start with $18,000 of our own savings and $58,000 in startup support from a local foundation and our board, $76,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $234,000 in Year 1 to about $295,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $190,000, $182,000, $219,000, $211,000, $203,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans a small surplus each year, about $8,600, $8,600, $9,400, $9,000 and $8,900 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $67,300, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $11,700 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Individual donors and community and business sponsors grow each year, so grants become a smaller share. Schools and clinics may contribute space and services, and alumni mentor younger participants.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- A young person may be in crisis. Staff stay with them and call 911 or 988.
- A privacy breach could harm a young person. We lock records and never out anyone.
- A grant may end. We grow donors and sponsors each year and keep savings.
- The center may face harassment. We use a discreet location and a safety plan.
- Staff may leave. We cross-train and keep clear procedures.

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 with one site or one staff member and track results carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Your confidentiality policy, consent policy and safety plan.
- Agreements with the counselors and clinics.
- Staff training records.
- Letters of support from schools and families.
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: $190,000 in Year 1, growing to $203,500 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations: $28,000 in Year 1, growing to $52,000 in Year 5.
- Community and Business Sponsors: $16,000 in Year 1, growing to $40,000 in Year 5.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: contracted licensed counseling services (paid directly to clinicians) $36,000, youth programming supplies and meals $16,000, transit passes paid to transit providers $6,000, and administration and insurance $16,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year as the program grows.
- Grant and partner payments arrive after we bill, so about $11,700 (5% of Year 1 income) is owed to us at the end of Year 1.
- The program does not pay income tax. Any surplus stays in the program.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings for slow months.
- Startup costs: one-time costs, such as equipment, paid once before the program runs at full speed.
- Working capital: cash kept in the bank to pay bills while waiting for grant payments.
- In-kind: goods or services given instead of money, such as donated space.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as sponsors and donors join, costs rise a little each year, and each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs