Become a member
of the Youth Grantmaking Board!

The Program

Phase One: Cohort Development and Call for Proposals March, April, and May

Youth learn leadership and communication skills, study privilege, identity, philanthropy, and social systems, meet with experts in the field, and observe other charitable foundations in their grantmaking processes. The YGB then identifies an issue, designs an application, crafts a call for proposals, and advertises it to local nonprofits.

Phase Two: Application Review, Site Visits, & Granting June

Phase Two occurs during an intensive week during the summer in which youth review applications, conduct site visits, and ultimately make grant decisions. After the intensive week we are on break for the rest of the summer.

Phase Three: Fundraising, Program Development, & Grant Impact Assessment September, October, November, and December

The cycle repeats itself! The YGB studies the impact of their grants upon the organization’s mission, revises the application process for prospective grantees, creates promotional materials regarding their achievements, conducts a fundraising campaign to increase their granting capacity for the following year, revises the youth application for prospective members, recruits and reviews new youth applicants, provides program feedback, and celebrates the close of a successful year!

~~~

The YGB is loosely modeled after the YGB at the Seattle Foundation. Our consultant for mission partnerships, Abby, created our YGB based on a personal experience— she was a member of the Seattle Foundation’s YGB board in 2009 as a high school student, in which her cohort selected interventions against youth violence as their grantmaking focus and awarded $20,000 in grants to local non-profit organizations.

We believe in language justice, and we understand that Rye & Port Chester is a bilingual community.
Click here for more information in Spanish. Haga clic aquí para leer más sober este programa en español.

The Details

Before submitting an application, please review the eligibility, participation requirements, and projected program dates below. Membership in the Youth Grantmaking is both a privilege and a big responsibility, and we expect our members to be able to participate fully in this opportunity.

Eligibility

Current students in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades
Open-minded, committed to making change in the world, ready to have deep discussions, passionate about their communities
The YGB will be provided with the funds that they will give away, so contributions will not be expected from participants.

Participation Requirements

This is a commitment from March to December of 2024.
Members must be committed to attending all meetings except in exceptional circumstances.

Dates for 2024

We will begin meeting in March and conclude in December.

2024 Spring Meetings
Friday, March 8, 7:00-9:00pm
Sunday, March 17, 3:00pm-5:00pm
Sunday, April 7, 3:00pm-5:00pm
Sunday, April 21, 3:00pm-5:00pm
Sunday, May 5, 3:00pm-5:00pm
Sunday, May 19, 3:00pm-5:00pm

2024 Summer Intensive (Hours TBD)
Sunday, June 23
Thursday, June 27
Friday, June 28

2024 Fall Meetings (TBD)

IMPORTANT: All summer intensive meetings are mandatory and only one spring meeting may be missed.
Upon completion of all program parts (spring, summer, fall), each board member will receive 10 community service hours.

FAQs

This sounds really cool, but… how do I know if the YGB is right for me?

First, check the eligibility requirements. Second, reflect on if you want to be in this and if you can realistically make it fit within your existing time commitments. If you have questions or want to chat about it, fill out the contact box below and we’ll get back to you. If you feel called to contribute to your community through the YGB this year, we encourage you to go ahead and apply.

So, the money. How much money do we get to give away?

Well, that’s not really the point. YGB members are here to learn, be changed, and create change. Money is obviously important, and don’t worry, as a YGB member you’ll talk about it a lot, but that’s not our primary focus— transformation is. Your cohort will be given a fixed amount of money to give away, and then you will be responsible for fundraising to refill the pot for the next cohort.

I am an adult, but I know a student who would be great for this!

Really? Who? Well, first please check the eligibility and participation requirements above and confirm that they fit the age and geography requirements. If you still think the student is a great fit, we would like to learn more and be introduced! Please email us at ygb@ccrye.org to introduce us to someone.

Why do the kids get all the fun? I’m an adult, but this sounds like an exciting opportunity to me, too.

I know, right! Thinking intentionally about stewarding financial resources is an important topic for so many people. Do you think we should make a college student version? Or an adult version? Write to us in the contact box below and tell us about what you’re envisioning!

How will new members be selected?

We hope to create a diverse board of up to 12 members that have a broad range of perspectives and strengths. Our advisory committee created the rubric by which we will assess applicants. Our membership selection committee will review applications and make final decisions.