Number 17 December 2000 (revised November 2011)

Getting Youth Involved in Philanthropy - Ideas for getting started Young people are involved in community foundations in increasing numbers – making grants, building youth endowment funds, and engaging in community leadership activities. There are many approaches to engaging youth and extensive experience to draw on. You will find promising practices and examples in the following pages. The first thing you will need to do is to explore options to engage youth in your community foundation. Will you appoint a youth to your board? Will you include young people on your grants committee? Will you establish a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) as a permanent committee of the Board? What will the YAC’s responsibilities be? Will the grantmaking done by the youth be exclusively for youth-related projects? Will it be a school-based group, or will members be from throughout the community? Will your foundation provide its YAC with flow-through funds, or will you seed a youth endowment fund whose earnings can be used by the YAC to make grants? Will the YAC be expected to raise funds? How ready is your board to engage youth? Find adult allies to work with the youth – This may be a board member, non-board volunteer, and/or staff person who will be playing the role of a supporter and advisor, not of a teacher. The ideal adult ally is a “guide on the side”, not a “sage on the stage”. It helps to have more than one advisor to share responsibilities, and so that the YAC’s activities don’t have to revolve around the Adult Ally’s schedule. Train your adult allies – make sure they know what the expectations and objectives are in engaging youth in the foundation. Give them access to resources on Youth in Philanthropy and ensure they know that there are other Youth Advisory Committees at other community foundations with whom information and learnings can be shared. Contact information for the network of community foundation YACs is available on the Youth in Philanthropy website, along with numerous resources and links on effective youth engagement and youth-adult partnerships: www.yipcanada.org

● Recruit youth for the YAC. Some ideas for where potential members can be found: o School counsellors, teachers, or principals o Sports clubs o Community centres o Shopping malls o YM/YWCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, and other youth service organizations o Make sure to consider the diversity of the community and work to include youth from a variety of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and with a variety of interests and life experience. ● Once the YAC has been established, provide an orientation and training for the youth. At an orientation, it will be important to introduce the young people to one another, to provide them with an understanding of community foundations, and to ensure that you share the same understanding and expectations of the YAC’s involvement with the foundation. You will find a “YIP Tips” with detailed suggestions of content for an orientation and training session for youth on the YIP website. Now the YAC is ready to get to work. It will need to determine its operating structure, meeting times, and how it will make decisions. As with any committee of the community foundation, it is important for the YAC to start by developing a clear mandate, mission, and vision. This will provide a solid foundation for the next step, setting goals and objectives. It is important for the youth to spend some time getting to know the community and its needs – this can be done through research, site visits to local agencies and projects, and by regular communication with the community foundation’s grants committee. Once the YAC is up and running, it will need to plan for fund development and granting. Ideally, the YAC will start granting in its first year so that its members get the full experience of grantmaking and understand how it is related to fund development and community leadership. Many YACs have shared their ideas, experiences and resources, as well as stories of their granting, fund development and community leadership activities on the Youth in Philanthropy website. Check it out for more details on the work of Youth Advisory Committees/Youth Philanthropy Councils. Also, contact your Regional Coordinator for information about YIP resources and YACs in your area.

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Key Learnings from Community Foundations Experienced in Engaging Youth Barbara McMillan, CFC’s National Consultant on Youth in Philanthropy stresses that it is important to ensure that your youth program is firmly grounded in the community foundation – that not only the youth’s adult allies, but also your foundation’s board and staff, feel connected to the Youth Advisory Committee. Barbara has the following suggestions for ways to engage youth advisors with the foundation’s Board and staff: O Invite the YACers to attend foundation meetings and events o Provide the youth with opportunities for internships and/or mentoring o Develop joint projects, e.g. Web sites, community events o Invite Board and staff to YAC meetings o Invite youth to sit on your community foundation’s Grants Committee or Board to give them a voice in the foundation’s broader decision-making o Engage in joint fund development opportunities 

There is no room for tokenism. Youth are interested in genuine participation and responsibility. There needs to be real buy-in at the Board level for youth involvement in the foundation to have a significant impact. The youth program should become integrated into the work and identity of the foundation.

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Adult allies must balance listening, leading, learning and letting go. They need to know when to step up and when to step back, making space for youth to try out ideas and assume leadership roles, but also recognizing when they need guidance and direction.

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Provide adequate and appropriate training, support, and mentoring to the youth. And provide food at meetings! Consider and address barriers to participation: transportation, meeting times, location.

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Support peer training and networking opportunities. There is huge value in youth speaking to other youth involved in philanthropy and volunteerism.

Some Approaches to Youth in Philanthropy Programs from Across the Country Hamilton Community Foundation’s Youth in Philanthropy program was initiated by the former president of HCF (and past-chair of CFC), Kent Newcomb, and his wife Thérèse. Believing “the best way to learn generosity and to value community service is by direct exposure and involvement”, Kent and Thérèse established an endowment fund to enable youth to do just that. A committee of young people works together to identify local youth issues, raise funds to meet those issues, and conduct grantmaking from the income of an endowed youth fund. HCF’s YAC is involved in all aspects of the foundation’s activities – grantmaking, fund development, and community leadership.

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COFFY, the Central Okanagan Foundation for Youth, is a committee of the Central Okanagan Foundation. Its members are youth who are working in the community to support youth focused organizations and activities. Since 2002, COFFY has been building an endowment fund, and using the income generated to support youth activities in the Central Okanagan. The members of COFFY have also been involved in community leadership activities throughout the Central Okanagan including: the Central Okanagan Youth Social Justice Forum, Kelowna’s symposium for Global AIDS Awareness Day and Global Citizen Kelowna, the Fat Cat Festival (annual children’s festival). They have participated and volunteered with the Children’s International Games, Ignite Change Now! Global Youth Assembly, a biennial conference presented by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and Rights & Democracy

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The Winnipeg Foundation’s Youth in Philanthropy Program is designed to introduce local high school students to philanthropy and community development. The program provides hands-on experience that benefits both the participating students and local charities. The annual program begins in September each year, when participating schools form Youth Advisory Committees. The committees are each allocated $5,000 to distribute to charities of their choice. Students first discuss their values and the goals of their committees. They then begin researching potential charities - conducting interviews and going on site visits in the community. Each Youth Advisory Committee then considers the input of each student and decides how to allocate the group's grants. They present written recommendations to the Board of The Winnipeg Foundation for final approval. An evening of celebration is held in May, where students report on their experiences and present the grants to the charities they have selected. Each Youth Advisory Committee has also established a High School Philanthropy Fund and the annual income earned from this endowment will be added to the $5,000 grantmaking support provided by the Foundation. In this way, the grantmaking capacity of each Youth Advisory Committee will gradually increase every year and the impact of each student who participates in Youth in Philanthropy will be felt in the community for years to come. The Phoenix Foundation of the Boundary Communities in Grand Forks, B.C. started its YAC in 1998, and has been building a youth endowment fund, making grants for youth-related projects, and undertaking community leadership activities ever since. The YAC did a community needs assessment, and decided on grant guidelines. They have made some really interesting grants over the past years, including:

Just Call Me Dad – One of the YAC’s findings was that there was a relatively high rate of teen pregnancy in the community. They responded to this issue by making a grant to Just Call Me Dad, a program to help teenage fathers be the best dads they can be. Girls Up All Night – This is a mentoring program for teenage girls in the community. Two staffwomen from a local charitable organization got the program started by going into a high school to promote the concept, inviting female students to a weekend retreat to work on their self-esteem. Now the mentors for the weekend retreats include the two adult advisors and a former participant in the program. Youth Rally in West Boundary Park – The YAC provided funding for a youth event in this isolated area of the region served by the Phoenix Foundation. The rally included a presentation by a motivational speaker, workshops, and a band.

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The Calgary Foundation works with Youth Central (formerly Child and Youth Friendly Calgary) to support the Calgary Youth Foundation (CYF), introducing youth to philanthropy and community development. CYF is operated by youth who are responsible for distributing grants of up to $2000 each to youth-driven projects during two granting cycles each year. Additionally, CYF, in partnership with the Mayor’s Youth Council, facilitates the Jack Leslie Youth Environment Grant. Two school groups are eligible for $1,000 each for a project that will benefit the environment in Calgary. The other purposes of CYF include educating youth on the importance of philanthropy, fundraising, and community contributions to the youth of Calgary. All granting decisions are made by the foundation members, who go through an interview process with each grantee. Adult involvement is strictly advisory. The program also allows CYF members to job shadow Calgary Foundation staff, as well as attend Community Foundations of Canada regional or national meetings. Calgary Foundation staff can also attend Calgary Youth Foundation meetings.

For Further Information… The Youth in Philanthropy website www.yipcanada.org provides information on all aspects of engaging youth in community foundations, including these introductory resources: Orientation sessions for new Youth Advisory Councils Youth in Philanthropy Advisory Councils - Getting Started! Engaging Youth in Philanthropy: Three resources in one toolkit tailor-made for Youth, Adult Advisors and Board Members

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