Youth Opportunity Community Outreach Committee Overview April 2017
Committee Overview The Youth Opportunity Community Outreach (YOCO) Committee was created in the Fall of 2016 to provide a cohesive structure and approach to identify and award grants to deserving organizations. The focus of the committee is organizations that meet the needs of children/youth (ages 6 through 18), or families through programming that:
Improves educational outcomes Improves mental health outcomes Addresses health disparities Provides basic needs Helps bridge families out of poverty Enhances cultural opportunities in Columbus through the arts
Volunteering opportunities are also supported by the Committee Chairs represented on the Youth Opportunity Community Outreach committee.
Committee Structure The vision for this committee is to combine the expertise and resources of the Behavioral Health & Wellness, Homeless, Music & Arts, Senior Citizen and Youth Opportunity / Service Leadership committees. The YOCO Committee combined its efforts to identify the organizations to include in the Club’s grant outreach initiative. By doing so, the committee had the opportunity to fund organizations that impact the community across one or all of the key areas we support.
The 2016-17 committee roster included Susan Black, David Brainin (Senior Citizen Chair), David Kandel (Music & Arts Chair), Bill Kiefaber, Jim Shively (Homeless Chair), Michael Ranney (Behavioral Health & Wellness Chair) and Kathleen Roberts (Youth Opportunity / Service Leadership Chair). Going forward additional committee members will be recruited from the Club to expand the reach and expertise of the committee.
YOCO Committee Structure Recommendations At the onset of this Committee, we strongly recommended that the following committees be formally recognized again by the Kiwanis Club of Columbus:
Behavioral Health & Wellness: Chair – Mike Ranney Homeless: Chair – Jim Shively Music & Arts: Chair – David Kandel Senior Citizen: Chair – David Brainin Youth Opportunity / Service Leadership: Chair – Kathleen Roberts
There were multiple reasons for this recommendation:
1. There is significant interest from Club members to serve on these committees and it is imperative that we create the best experience possible to maintain (and grow) membership 2. Many of these committees actively organize volunteer initiatives and it is important that they are visible to the Club members as well as the outside community to show the incredible impact we make as a Club 3. Each of these committees has displayed a strong interest in identifying outstanding community organizations to support through our grant program in the past. The ability to work as a committee to identify organizations to support and then bring those ideas to the YOCO committee for consideration will strengthen the impact we can make as a Club (e.g., organizing marketing and PR activities associated with the grants, etc.).
We also recommended that the Behavioral Health & Wellness, Homeless, Music & Arts, Senior Citizen and Youth Opportunity / Service Leadership committees be added back to the website (committee chairs and that the webpage for each committee be updated).
Grant Process Overview for YOCO Committee [will be refined over time]
1. The grant application process, application and Columbus Kiwanis Foundation policies are all available on the Club website at http://columbuskiwanis.org/grants/ a. This is the best resource for grant applicants to refer to as the committee reaches out to targeted organizations 2. 2016-17 overview a. The grant cycles were broken up in two cycles with applications due in December and then again in May b. The YOCO Committee was provided a total of $25,000 to grant over the two cycles (trustees will designate the amount each year) 3. Process the YOCO Committee followed in 2016-17 [sample calendar is provided in the Appendix] a. Identified a list of organizations to potentially support. This was the list used during the grant outreach process. a.i. Example Organizations: Manna Café and other past grant recipients; can also include new potential organizations such as Jewish Family Services (support youth that are pregnant or parents), Gracehaven (support victims of domestic minor sex trafficking), etc. a.ii. The grant applications were sent at the beginning of both grant cycles b. Distributed grant applications b.i. Lisa Jolley and Susan Black sent emails to a number of relevant non-profit organizations to begin the process. Then, the committee contacted select organizations personally c. Reviewed grant applications received c.i. Club Secretary provided a list of applications as well as the original applications received c.ii. YOCO Committee Chair reached out to committee members to request which applications they would like to review; based on the response, the Chair divided the applications to be reviewed and shared the list with the committee c.ii.1. A score sheet was provided by Susan Black for each committee member to score the applications consistently c.ii.2. All of the applications were saved on a Dropbox account for the convenience of the committee c.iii. Grants were reviewed by the committee members and a meeting was set to review the initial scores. During the meeting, the committee agreed to have the entire committee review several applications that were viewed to be outstanding c.iv. After each committee member had reviewed the selected grant applications, another meeting was convened. At that meeting, the committee discussed each grant application and ultimately selected the organizations to be awarded grants c.iv.1. The core criteria used to select the organizations to be awarded grants was based on the strength of the application, whether they had been awarded funds by the Club in the past, volunteering opportunities available and creative ideas to promote the grant by the organization d. Presented the recommendations to trustees as the appropriate Trustee meeting d.i. It is beneficial to have as many committee representatives attend the Trustee meeting as possible
e. Followed up with organizations receiving grants and those not receiving grants e.i. Email templates were created for those awarded grants as well as those not awarded grants. Samples of each email are included in the Appendix of this document e.i.1. NOTE: This process is very time intensive and could be divided among the committee members to follow-up in future grant cycles f. Here is the process followed for the check presentations f.i. For the organizations receiving grants, the Committee Chair reached out to the Club President and Secretary to request potential dates for the check presentation f.ii. Once dates were provided, the Committee Chair contacted the awarded organizations to schedule the check presentation date; a sample email is included in the appendix f.ii.1. It is very important to notify the organizations that one individual from the organization will receive a complimentary lunch; the Committee Chair needs to ask if they would like a hot or cold lunch; if others from the organization attend the meeting, they will be responsible to register and pay for lunch APPENDIX
Sample Calendar
1. Finalize YOCO committee goal(s) – Bill Kiefaber to update draft and share with committee of 11/21
2. Identify Cycle 1 grant recipients – all committee members to identify and share the grant application to organizations they feel would be a good candidate (send the Grant Application Form directly to your contacts or direct them to our website)
3. Schedule mid-to-late November meeting – we will plan to meet as a committee after the 11/21 meeting to discuss the status of our grant outreach and define next steps (Note: all YOCO committee meetings will be held at the Athletic Club of Columbus after our Monday meetings)
a. During the 11/21 meeting, we will discuss the process of reviewing the grants b. We also will review our meeting schedule in January and February to review the grant applications. Here is a preliminary meeting schedule for us to consider. b.i. 1/9 – meet as a committee to discuss the grants received to date and answer questions (Note: Bill will be sending all of the grants received to the team after they are received on 12/16. I will set-up a Dropbox folder where all of the applications will reside – can be divided by subject if desired such as homeless, etc.) - COMPLETED b.ii. 1/23 – meet as a committee to review progress on grant review and present ideas to the committee to begin process of making final recommendations to the Trustees b.iii. 2/6 – meet as a committee to finalize recommendations to review to the Trustees b.iv. 2/15 – present recommendations to the Trustees b.v. 2/17 – Grantees formally announced Sample Email to Potential Grant Applicant
Dear [Name],
I hope your week is off to a great start.
I am helping lead an initiative for the Columbus Kiwanis Club to reach out to great organizations in central Ohio providing support for children under the age of 18. I know you applied and won a small grant from the Club in 2016 and want to make sure you received the grant request from the Club for 2017. The deadline is 12/16. Please let me know if you have questions regarding the application.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Best regards,
[Signature]
Sample Email to Organizations Not Awarded a Grant
Subject: Follow-up on Kiwanis Club of Columbus Grant Request
Dear [Name]:
As a follow-up to our note yesterday, thank you again for applying for one of the Kiwanis Club of Columbus Grants. Unfortunately, the grant submitted by the Jazz Arts Group was not one of the successful requests. Our committee found your application to be very compelling and in line with the types of programs we support. However, competition was very high (more than XX submissions requesting nearly $XXX,XXX) and our resources are limited.
Although you haven’t been selected as a grantee, we want to encourage you to maintain a relationship with Kiwanis Club of Columbus and consider reapplying during the next grant cycle (we will be distributing applications for that cycle in April).
On behalf of the Kiwanis Club of Columbus, I want to thank you again for submitting your application.
Sincerely,
[Signature] Sample Email to Organizations Awarded a Grant
[Create a letter on Kiwanis letterhead to the organizations. A sample of the letter has been shared with the Club Secretary.]
Dear [Name]:
I am honored to notify you that your grant request to the Kiwanis Club of Columbus was approved. Attached is a letter from our Club Secretary Paul Bohlman announcing the grant approval.
One thing we will want to schedule is the check presentation. We meet at noon on Mondays at the Athletic Club of Columbus. Please look at your calendar in March and April and email me a few dates that could work for you.
We look forward to working with the Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center to identify potential volunteer opportunities for our Club members as well as discuss the ways you suggested on how our relationship can be shared in the community (e.g., Welcome Wagon bags). An immediate action that we would like to take is inviting you and your board to our Auction on Friday, April 7. It would be great for you and the board to share more about the Kinship Care program with our Club members as well as learn more about the Kiwanis Club of Columbus. More information will be forthcoming on that event.
Have a wonderful evening and please contact me with your availability on an upcoming Monday when you have a moment.
Best regards,
[Signature] Sample Email to Organizations Awarded a Grant to Schedule Check Presentation
Dear [Name]:
We look forward to welcoming XXX on [Date]. We meet at noon at the Athletic Club of Columbus (136 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215). It would be great if XXX could arrive a couple minutes early. He should ask for Paul Bohlman (Club Secretary) or Jack D'Aurora (Club President). The meetings typically last from noon - 1:00 PM and we would be happy to host XXX as our guest. We will follow- up a week before the date to share what the menu selections and determine if XXX would like a warm or cold meal.
Please note if others from your organization would like to attend during the date of the check presentation, they will need to register using our online form at http://columbuskiwanis.org/lunch/.
We also will make sure someone photographs the check presentation and send a copy to you.
Thank you and congratulations again.
Sincerely,
[Name]