To: Members of the Lend a Hand Advisory Board

321 South Plymouth Court, Suite 700 Chicago, Illinois 60604-3997 (312) 554-2041 (phone)  (312) 554-2054 (fax) www.lawyerslendahand.org 2016-17 Letter of Inquiry (Due Date: July 25, 2016, at 5:00 p.m.)

Instructions

Mission and History Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth channels the legal community’s resources to promote best practice mentoring and tutoring programs in disadvantaged communities that foster consistent, long-term bonds between adults and youth. The various means by which we accomplish our mission include:

 Awarding annual grants to exemplary mentoring/tutoring programs  Recognizing outstanding youth mentoring programs through the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence and other named grants  Recruiting volunteers from the legal community to serve as mentors/tutors and board members in area programs

Since its founding in 1995 by former Chicago Bar Association President Thomas A. Demetrio, Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth has awarded over $1.6 million in grants and positively affected the lives of over 40,000 youth. Grant Requirements and Criteria Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth's grant requirements reflect its commitment to promoting best practice mentoring and tutoring programs. They also reflect its belief in the potential for all youth to succeed. Note: Lend-A-Hand supports both tutoring and mentoring programs but will use the term “mentoring program” from this point on and in the application to refer to both types of programs. Lend-A-Hand will use the term “mentor” to refer to both mentors and tutors. To be eligible for a grant, a program must meet the following core requirements:  The program must be operated by a 501(c)(3) organization or have an appropriate fiscal agency agreement with a qualified 501(c)(3) entity. The program must primarily serve young people from disadvantaged communities in either Chicago or the suburbs.  The program must provide long-term mentoring between a mentor and a young person. (Long-term is defined as at least one school or calendar year.) Lend-A-Hand grant awards may only be used to pay for the expenses of one-to-one mentoring programs and cannot be used for scholarships. Organizations offering other types of mentoring besides one-to- one or other types of programming should focus on the one-to-one mentoring component

1 in their LOI, grant application and budget presentation.  For tutoring programs, there must be consistency and longevity in the relationships between the tutor and the young person (i.e., tutors are not constantly changing), and there must be a mentoring component to the tutoring relationship that goes beyond assisting with schoolwork.

Lend-A-Hand seeks to fund programs that also meet the following additional criteria:

 The program promotes relationships that increase the young person’s self-esteem and improves his/her options for long-term success.  The program collaborates with local leaders and other organizations in the community served.  The program is efficiently administered and strives for improvement.

 The program is sustainable and has plans for leadership succession.

Grant Application Process and Criteria

Process and Timing. The grant application is divided into two parts. A Letter of Inquiry (LOI) must be submitted by Monday, July 25, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. Based upon this LOI, Lend-A-Hand will determine whom to invite to complete the full grant application. Eligible applicants will be notified in August, and the full grant application will be due in September. Grant disbursements are anticipated to occur in January.

LOI Criteria. Lend-A-Hand seeks to find programs that utilize best practices in their mentoring programs and that could grow with the help of a grant from Lend-A-Hand. Therefore, Lend-A- Hand will look closely at the following in making determinations regarding the LOI.  The size of the mentoring program and organization budget;  The number of youths matched in one-to-one relationships;  The amount of mentoring the youths receive;  The quality and structure of the mentor-youth meetings. Because Lend-A-Hand hopes that its programs will eventually be able to thrive without its support, it will also consider the following in the LOI process.  The number of years that a program has been in existence;  The number of years the program has already received funding from Lend-A- Hand;  For prior grantees, whether they have participated in professional development and other programs offered by Lend-A-Hand. Amount. For the 2016-2017 cycle, the size of the grant award will $6,000.

2 Proposal Submission and Grant Reports The 2016-2017 grant process is divided into two parts. The LOI must be submitted via email by Monday, July 25, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. Lend-A-Hand will determine based upon this LOI whom to invite to complete the full grant application. Eligible applicants will be notified in August, and the full grant application will be due on September 19. Grant disbursements are anticipated to occur in January. You may download the LOI and its instructions from our website, www.lawyerslendahand.org. Your final LOI, cover sheet and 501(c) 3 letter should be combined into one PDF file. Please do not include any materials other than those requested by Lend-A-Hand. Late or incomplete proposals may not be considered. Proposals should be emailed to: Kathryn McCabe Executive Director Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth [email protected] If you lack the software to create a PDF file, you may be able to purchase Adobe Acrobat at a significantly discounted price at TechSoup.org, which connects nonprofits to software and computing services. You will need to establish a TechSoup account first, which may take a week or so to do. All materials submitted will become the property of Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth and will not be returned. Information contained in the proposals submitted may be shared with third parties and outside organizations as part of Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth’s evaluation process. Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, in whole or in part, at any time in its sole discretion. All grant recipients will be required to submit a yearly report stating how the funds were used. The report from last year’s grant recipients is due on Monday, July 6, 2016. As part of that yearly report, grant recipients will be asked to provide a copy of the program’s year-end survey that it gives to its participants and a numeric summary of the survey results. Applicants understand that grant funds are to be used solely to support one-to-one mentoring and tutoring programs, which may include general operating costs. Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth expressly reserves the right to recover misused or misappropriated grant funds. All programs through their authorized agents will be required to sign an agreement stating that they understand the above obligations prior to receiving their grant checks. If you have questions, please contact Kathryn McCabe at kmccabe @lawyerslendahand.org or 312.554.2041.