How to Build A Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice TM A STEP-BY-STEP TOOL KIT FOR PROGRAM MANAGERS MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership 1600 Duke Street, Suite 300 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 703-224-2200 Web site: www.mentoring.org AOL Keyword: mentor Online version of the tool kit: www.mentoring.org/eeptoolkit Copyright 2005. MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership All rights reserved. Published 2005. Printed in the United States of America. Reproduction rights: Permission to reproduce or photocopy portions of this tool kit with attribution is granted by MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. DISCLAIMER Tools and resources submitted for inclusion in this tool kit have been edited or condensed from their original version in order to accommodate the design and intent of this publication. CONTENTS Foreword vii Acknowledgements ix Section I. About MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership 1 Our State and Local Mentoring Partnerships 1 Resources • State and Local Mentoring Partnerships 3 • National Mentoring Institute 5 Section II. About the Tool Kit 7 Why Create a Tool Kit? 7 Guidelines for New—and Existing—Programs 7 What You’ll Find in the Tool Kit 8 Glossary of Terms 9 Let’s Get Started! 10 Section III. Introduction to Mentoring and Program-Building 11 What Is Mentoring Today? 11 What Makes a Successful Mentoring Relationship? 11 The Five Types of Mentoring 12 What Elements Constitute a Safe and Effective Mentoring Program? 13 What’s the Next Step? 14 Section IV. How to Design and Plan a Mentoring Program 15 Start with the Need 15 Design the Parameters for Your Program 15 Plan How the Program Will Be Managed 21 • Select the Management Team 21 • Establish Policies and Procedures 22 • Implement Ongoing Staff Training and Professional Development 22 • Develop a Financial Plan 22 • Implement the Program 23 • Plan How to Evaluate the Program 23 Checklist of Program Progress: Program Design and Planning 25 Additional Resources 27 Tools Located on CD Tab A CONTENTS iii Tools by Category • Program Planning • Program Parameters • Program Planning and Management • Policies and Procedures • Financial Planning • E-mentoring Section V. How to Manage a Program for Success 53 Form an Advisory Group 53 Develop a Comprehensive System for Managing Program Information 55 Design a Resource Development Plan That Allows for Diversified Fundraising 57 Design a System to Monitor the Program 58 Create a Professional Staff Development Plan 59 Advocate for Mentoring 60 Establish a Public Relations/Communications Effort 61 Partner and Collaborate with Other Organizations 63 Checklist of Program Progress: Program Management 65 Additional Resources 69 Tools Located on CD Tab B Tools by Category • Advisory Group • Program Information Management • Resource Development • Professional Staff Development • Advocacy • Public Relations/Communications and Marketing • Collaboration Section VI. How to Structure Effective Program Operations 91 Build the Right Structure 91 Recruit Mentors, Mentees and Other Volunteers 91 Screen Potential Mentors and Mentees 96 Orient and Train Mentors, Mentees and Parents/Caregivers 100 Match Mentors and Mentees 103 Bring Mentors and Mentees Together for Mentoring Sessions That Fall within the Program Parameters 104 Provide Ongoing Support, Supervision and Monitoring of Mentoring Relationships 105 Recognize the Contributions of All Program Participants 106 Help Mentors and Mentees Reach Closure 107 iv HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE CONTENTS Checklist of Program Progress: Program Operations 109 Additional Resources 113 Tools Located on CD Tab C Tools by Category • Recruitment • Screening • Orientation • Training • Matching • Activities • Ongoing Support and Supervision • Mentor Recognition • Structured Match Closure Section VII. How to Establish Evaluation Criteria and Methods 163 Measure Program Process 163 Measure Expected Outcomes 163 Create a Process to Reflect on and Disseminate Findings 164 “Gauging the Effectiveness of Youth Mentoring,” by Dr. Jean Rhodes 164 The Nuts and Bolts of Evaluating Mentoring Programs 165 Checklist of Program Progress: Program Evaluation 169 Additional Resources 171 Tools Located on CD Tab D • Program Evaluation Section VIII. Wrap-Up and Feedback 181 Evaluation Form 183 Endnotes 187 CONTENTS v FOREWORD You have in your hands How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice, the latest and perhaps most important work in years to advance quality mentoring. This comprehensive tool kit includes tools, templates and advice for implementing and adhering to the second edition of the Elements of Effective Practice—rigorous guidelines that, when followed, will help to ensure quality mentoring. The tool kit was made possible by a generous grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and is the latest offering from MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership and the vital network of State Mentoring Partnerships. For more than a decade, we have been leading the movement to connect America’s young people with caring adult mentors. We serve as the “mentor’s mentor,” providing a wide range of resources and technical assistance to more than 4,300 mentoring programs across the nation. In 1990, we joined with United Way of America to convene a blue-ribbon panel of mentoring experts to produce the nation’s first set of rigorous mentoring guidelines, the first edition of the Elements of Effective Practice. Those Elements served as the gold standard for quality mentoring for more than a decade. Since then, the world of mentoring has changed. New types of mentoring have taken hold, requiring new guidelines. In 2003, through the generosity of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, we again convened a blue-ribbon panel of mentoring experts to produce the second edition of the Elements of Effective Practice, which reflects the latest mentoring research, experience and practices. Among the experts contributing to the effort were two of the nation’s top mentoring researchers: Dr. Jean Rhodes of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Dr. David DuBois of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Whether you are new to mentoring or an old hand, this tool kit will save you time and effort, because it contains materials and information you need to start or maintain a quality mentoring program. The tool kit is written to follow the format of the Elements—but it allows you to take portions of the tool kit in a different order, depending on where you are in starting or strengthening your mentoring program. We hope you will use the tool kit with great success. For further assistance, we encourage you to reach out to your State Mentoring Partnership or visit Mentoring.org, to find the latest resources for the mentoring field. And, as always, we very much welcome your feedback. In Partnership, Gail Manza Tonya Wiley Executive Director Vice-President FOREWORD vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MENTOR gratefully acknowledges the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for its generous support for the tool kit. We thank An-Me Chung, program officer of the foundation, for her leadership and vision in the development of this resource for the mentoring community. We gratefully acknowledge the guidance, feedback and unwavering support for the development of the tool kit provided by members of our Advisory Council: Advisory Council Jean Lahage Cohen Susan K. Patrick Mentoring Partnership of Long Island The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership Joyce Corlett Jean Rhodes, Ph.D. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America University of Massachusetts, Boston David DuBois, Ph.D. Rosemary Townsend Community Health Sciences Baylor University Health Services School of Public Health University of Illinois at Chicago Susan Weinberger, Ed.D. Mentor Consulting Group Chair, MENTOR Public Policy Council State and Local Mentoring Partnerships We would like to thank our network of State and Local Mentoring Partnerships for their support of this tool kit. We extend our sincere appreciation to the following Mentoring Partnerships that shared resources and ideas: California Governor’s Mentoring Partnership Mentoring Partnership of Long Island The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership The Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership Florida Mentoring Partnership, Volunteer The Mentor Center of Palm Beach County Florida Foundation The Mentoring Partnership of New York Iowa Mentoring Partnership Oregon Mentors The Maryland Mentoring Partnership Texas Governor’s Mentoring Initiative Mass Mentoring Partnership Virginia Mentoring Partnership Memphis Mentoring Partnership ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix Other Contributors Applied Research Consulting Harvard Graduate School of Education Best Buddies International icouldbe.org inc. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the iMentor.org Greater Twin Cities Kinship of Greater Minneapolis Boys & Girls Clubs of America University of Texas at San Antonio Camp Fire Georgia Council Youth Development Strategies, Inc. Dare Mighty Things YouthFriends Friends for Youth Girl Scouts of the USA MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership Lead Staff Project Staff Kristi Zappie-Ferradino Colleen Appleby-Carroll Kathy Johnson Jennifer Richter Cindy Sturtevant Editor’s note: All tools and resources submitted for inclusion have been edited and customized to accommodate the needs of the tool kit. x HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE Section I. About MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR), State and Local