Maker Youth Collective

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Executive Summary

Maker Youth Collective is a nonprofit in Missouri that gives young people ages 10 to 18 from families with low incomes a place to design, build and repair real things with real tools and patient mentors. In our free after-school and summer programs, young people make a stool, wire a circuit, program a small robot, sew a bag, 3D print a part or fix a bicycle. They learn that they can make things, solve problems and finish what they start.

Many young people in our area never get a chance to try this. School shop classes have shrunk, workshops and tools cost money and families with tight budgets cannot pay for classes or kits. Young people who love to build often have nowhere to go.

With this grant we will serve about 150 young people in Year 1 at 3 sites: a library, a middle school and a recreation center. Each young person joins an eight-week session that meets twice a week, and many return for a second. We run a four-week summer program as well. We do not promise that any young person will choose a career in a certain field. We promise a safe place, good teaching and a chance to build something they are proud of.

Our Year 1 budget is about $181,000, growing to about $236,000 by Year 5 as we add sites and mentors. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 2 full-time staff and 2 part-time mentors in Year 1, and 6 staff by Year 4.

We are asking the Heartland Youth Foundation for $60,000 for our Program Coordinator and for program materials and maker kits, for July 2027 through June 2028. School districts, libraries, businesses and neighbors also give, so this grant is one part of a shared funding plan.

I am Simone Carter, the Executive Director. The numbers in this proposal are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end, not promises.

Company Description

Maker Youth Collective is a nonprofit organization in Missouri. 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 young person should have a chance to learn by making, whatever their family's income.

What we do.
- Run free, eight-week after-school maker sessions at partner sites, twice a week.
- Run a four-week summer maker program.
- Teach woodworking basics, electronics, 3D design and printing, sewing and bicycle repair, with a different mix at each site.
- Give each participant a small kit and a finished project to take home.
- Train and pay part-time mentors, who include tradespeople, teachers and college students, and who teach safety first.
- Host a family showcase at the end of each session.

What we do not do. We do not allow young people to use any tool before they have been trained and signed off. Power tools are used only with direct adult supervision, and we keep small groups. We do not provide childcare, and we do not promise any school or career result. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of teachers, tradespeople and parents began running maker days in a library on Saturdays. Young people kept coming, and many asked when the next one would be. We kept simple records of who came, what they built and what they said. This proposal asks for support to move from occasional workshops to a steady program with a coordinator, part-time mentors and a steady supply of materials.

Nonprofit status. Our 501(c)(3) determination letter and board list are in the attachments. If your own organization is new, the funding section includes a note about using a fiscal sponsor.

Problem & Opportunity

Young people learn best when they make things. They also build confidence, patience and problem-solving skills that help them in school, in work and at home.

Many young people in low-income neighborhoods do not have these chances.

Few places to build. School shop and technology classes have been cut in many places, and those that remain may be full. Tools, workshops and materials are expensive, and families cannot afford private classes.

Few adults to teach. A young person who wants to learn to build needs an adult who knows how and has the time to teach. Many families do not know a carpenter, an electrician or a technician who can help.

Fear and lost chances. Some young people never try because they worry they are not good enough or because no one has invited them. Girls, in particular, often hear that tools are not for them.

Wasted talent. A young person who builds a working circuit or finishes a table has a different view of what they can do. Without these experiences, talent goes unused.

What we hear.
- A seventh grader says he fixes things at home but has never used a real tool.
- A mother says her daughter draws plans on napkins and would love a place to build them.
- A teacher says her students do well when they have a hands-on project and struggle when they sit at a desk all day.
- A tradesman says he would volunteer to teach if someone organized it.

We do not claim that a maker program can solve every challenge young people face. We believe that a place to build, with caring mentors, can change how a young person sees themselves, and it can open doors that might otherwise stay closed.

Products & Services

Maker Youth Collective gives young people a safe, welcoming place to learn by building.

How the program works.
1. Sites. We partner with a library, a middle school and a recreation center that provide space, and we bring tools, materials and mentors.
2. Sessions. Each eight-week session meets twice a week for two hours. Groups are small, with one mentor for about every six young people.
3. Safety first. Every session begins with a safety class. Participants wear protective gear, learn each tool with a mentor and sign off before using it on their own. Power tools are used only under direct supervision.
4. Projects. Participants choose a project path: woodworking, electronics, 3D design and printing, sewing or bicycle repair. Each makes a finished project they take home, from a stool to a small robot.
5. Showcase. At the end of each session, families are invited to see what the participants made. Many young people explain their project to a crowd for the first time.
6. Summer program. A four-week summer program offers deeper projects, field trips to local shops and manufacturers and time with working tradespeople.

Mentors. Our mentors are teachers, tradespeople, engineers and college students. Each passes a background check, completes our training and is paid for their time. They work in pairs with groups.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. We do not require any prior skill. We reach out to girls, young people with disabilities and newcomers, and we offer translation when families need it.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that each participant will finish every project or choose a particular career. We promise a safe place, patient teaching and chances to try.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Young people ages 10 to 18 from families with low incomes, who live near our partner sites and want to build and learn. Eligibility is based on school lunch status or family income guidelines our board sets, and no young person is turned away for lack of skills.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our Saturday maker days, we served a full room every time and kept a waiting list. School partners tell us they have more interested students than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 150 young people at 3 sites. By Year 5, with more sites and mentors, we plan to serve about 400.

Where participants come from.
- School counselors, teachers and family liaisons.
- Library and recreation center staff.
- Faith communities and neighborhood centers.
- Families who tell a friend, and young people who bring a friend.

Who else benefits. Families benefit from a safe place for their children after school. Schools benefit from partners who support hands-on learning. Local employers benefit when young people discover trades and technical fields early.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a young person with a project in their hands. 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 classes and clubs. Some schools offer robotics clubs, shop classes or art. They can be excellent and are limited by cost and space. We partner with schools and do not replace their programs.

2. Private maker camps and classes. They offer strong programs and charge fees that many families cannot afford. We offer a free alternative.

3. Library programs. Libraries offer some maker activities, and they can be popular. Libraries often lack tools, mentors and a sustained schedule. We bring those resources to library partners.

4. Youth clubs and recreation programs. They provide important after-school care. Few have tools and mentors for building. We work with them to bring maker sessions into their buildings.

5. Online videos and kits. Helpful for some, and no substitute for a mentor beside you.

What makes us different.
- Free to every participant.
- Real tools and materials, with safety first.
- Mentors who are tradespeople, teachers and engineers.
- Small groups and a finished project to take home.
- A path to second sessions, summer programs and job exposure.

We have spoken with 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 young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Schools. We will work with counselors, teachers and family liaisons to invite students and share a simple one-page sign-up form in English and Spanish.
- Libraries and recreation centers. We will place flyers, hold open sessions and invite walk-ins.
- Families. We will hold a short information night at each site before the session begins.
- Word of mouth. Many participants will find us through a friend. We encourage young people to bring a friend to the showcase.
- A simple website and phone line with a text option.

Reaching mentors.
- Invite tradespeople, teachers and engineers through local trade associations, community colleges and workplaces.
- Offer a short orientation, a background check and training in safety and in working with young people.
- Pay mentors fairly for their time so the program does not depend on unpaid work.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for families who meet our income guidelines and young people who have not been in the program before. We keep a waiting list when sessions fill.

Keeping partners informed.
- A short quarterly update with counts of participants and what young people said.
- A yearly gathering to thank sites, mentors, families and funders.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, projects finished and how many return for a second session. We use that to decide where to focus our outreach.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the Program Coordinator and part-time mentors, buy equipment, finalize consent forms, waivers and safety rules with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Begin the first eight-week fall sessions at three sites.
- Months 4 to 10: Run fall, winter and spring sessions, with a family showcase at the end of each session.
- Months 11 and 12: Run the four-week summer program, survey participants and partners, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Sessions are held in rooms at our partner sites, provided at no charge. We store tools in locked carts and a small storage room at our office space.

Equipment. We buy about $14,000 of equipment once at the start: three 3D printers and a set of laptops ($6,000), soldering stations, electronics kits and hand tool sets ($6,000) and sewing machines and workbenches ($2,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Coordinator, paid $40,000 a year, manages sites, schedules and mentors. Two part-time maker mentors, each paid $20,000 a year, lead sessions. We add a third mentor in Year 2 and a fourth in Year 4.

Safety and privacy.
- Every mentor and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Two adults are present at every session, and no adult is ever alone with a young person.
- Power tools are used only with direct supervision, and participants must be signed off on each tool.
- Protective gear is required and provided.
- We keep participant information in a secure system and share it only with permission.
- Our written safety plan names 911 for emergencies and lists first aid trained staff at each site.

Payments. Program materials and supplies are about $14,000 in Year 1, tool upkeep and safety gear about $5,000, transportation and field trips about $6,000, mentor training about $3,000 and administration and insurance about $10,000.

Evaluation. We count participants, sessions held, attendance, projects finished and how many return. We ask participants and families short questions about what they learned and whether they felt safe and welcome. We share results with our board and funders twice a year.

Management & Organization

Simone Carter, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work after watching how my own students lit up when they built something. I will complete the safety training we require of our mentors so I understand the program from the inside.

Program Coordinator. The coordinator manages sites, schedules sessions, supports mentors and tracks results. We will hire someone with experience in youth programs or education and strong organizational skills. Paid $40,000 a year, this position is part of our grant request.

Maker mentors. Part-time staff who lead sessions and teach tool safety. We will hire tradespeople, teachers and college students who are patient and good with young people. Each is paid $20,000 a year, and each passes a background check.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a high school technology teacher, a union electrician, a parent, a librarian, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a recent graduate of our programs. 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. Representatives from a school district, a library, a recreation center and a local manufacturer give guidance twice a year.

Why we can do this. We have run maker days with full rooms and a waiting list, built relationships with schools and tradespeople and written a careful safety plan. We are starting small and growing as we show we can serve young people well.

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 150 young people at 3 sites.
- Complete at least 4 eight-week sessions and one four-week summer program.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants finish a project and take it home.
- Have at least 40 percent of participants return for a second session.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 85 percent of participants and families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants, sessions held and attendance, from our records.
- Projects finished, counted by mentors at each session.
- Returning participants, from sign-up records.
- 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 200 young people and a third mentor.
- Year 3: About 250 young people at 4 sites.
- Year 4: About 320 young people at 5 sites and a fourth mentor.
- Year 5: About 400 young people at 6 sites.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the coordinator 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 session schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 56 percent of our budget, down from about 65 percent in Year 1, as school districts, libraries and individual donors give more. We will also look at partnerships with schools and employers who want to support hands-on learning.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $60,000 from the Heartland Youth Foundation for a Program Coordinator and program materials and maker kits, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Coordinator salary, $40,000.
- Supplies: Program materials and maker kits for participants, $20,000 (other funds add $12,000).

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 $181,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $10,200 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grants $118,000 (this request plus other grants we are applying for), school District and Library Partners $38,000; individual and Business Donations $25,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $50,000; program Coordinator $40,000; maker Mentor (part-time) $40,000; program Materials and Supplies about $14,000; tool Upkeep and Safety Gear about $5,000; transportation and Field Trips about $6,000; mentor Training and Certification about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $10,000; about $5,000 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $23,500 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $6,000 for three 3D printers and a set of laptops for design work; $6,000 for soldering stations, electronics kits and hand tool sets; $2,000 for sewing machines and workbenches; $3,000 for opening stock of lumber, filament, wire and craft supplies; $2,500 for attorney review of the parent consent, waiver and privacy policy; $1,800 for banners, bilingual flyers and a simple website; $2,200 for background checks for the first mentors and first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($23,500), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $42,000, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $65,500. We start with $12,000 from our founding board and $56,000 in startup support from a local community foundation and a manufacturer partner, $68,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $181,000 in Year 1 to about $236,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $118,000, $122,000, $124,000, $132,000 and $132,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: school District and Library Partners from $38,000 to $62,000; individual and Business Donations from $25,000 to $42,000. Our surplus is planned at about $10,200 in Year 1, about $11,900 in Year 2, about $12,500 in Year 3, about $12,000 in Year 4 and about $15,400 in Year 5. We add a third mentor in Year 2 and a fourth in Year 4, and grow from 3 sites to 6 by Year 5.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $59,800, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $7,240 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per young person. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,200 per young person served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more young persons served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $600 per young person.

After the grant. School districts, libraries, businesses and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Families and young people share their stories, and businesses and tradespeople can sponsor a session or a site by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and employers who want to support hands-on learning.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Required training, protective gear, direct supervision, small groups, insurance and a written safety plan.
- A mentor leaves. We keep a list of trained backup mentors and share lesson plans.
- A partner site changes its schedule. We keep agreements with more than one site and stay flexible.
- Low attendance. We adjust outreach, schedules and projects based on feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member.
- 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 schools, libraries and recreation centers.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your parent consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan, tool sign-off process and background check policy.
- Your session outline and sample project list.
- 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: $118,000 in Year 1, growing to $132,000 in Year 5.
- School District and Library Partners: $38,000 in Year 1, growing to $62,000 in Year 5.
- Individual and Business Donations: $25,000 in Year 1, growing to $42,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $50,000; program Coordinator $40,000; maker Mentor (part-time) $20,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: program Materials and Supplies $14,000; tool Upkeep and Safety Gear $5,000; transportation and Field Trips $6,000; mentor Training and Certification $3,000; administration and Insurance $10,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $14,000 at the start, then $2,500 to $3,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $23,500, paid once from $68,000 in startup money.
- Young people served: about 150 in Year 1, growing to about 400 in Year 5.
- Sites: 3 in Year 1, growing to 6 by Year 5. Each session runs eight weeks, twice a week.
- 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