Nonprofit Youth Services Business Plan

Unite For Youth

Opportunity

It's About the Kids

Mission

The mission of Unite for Youth is the pursuit of the following principles:

• Commitment: Unite for Youth wants to inspire pro-social friendships, strong interpersonal skills, and instill a sense of hope in the future.
• Responsibility: The focus of Unite for Youth is to empower youth in establishing goals and following through on commitments.
• Possibility: Unite for Youth wants to expand the perspective of young people to make them aware of life’s possibilities.
• Support: An individual is dramatically influenced by their support system. Unite for Youth wants to surround young people in a caring, inclusive learning environment.

Specific Objectives

Unite for Youth is being established to provide mentoring for at risk middle and high school youth in the Greater Claremont area. The program will create partnerships with the local school districts and the juvenile court system. Unite for Youth matches a caring adult volunteer with a referred youth. Unite for Youth will setup four distinct mentoring programs:

• Trailblazers: Trailblazers is the central program of Unite for Youth. At risk middle school students and their mentors participate in a structured program of support.
• Turnaround: Turnaround focuses on students who are chronically suspended from middle and high schools.
• Higher Ground: Higher Ground engages youth involved in the juvenile court system.
• Lunch Friends: Lunch Friends works with children from local elementary schools.

Our Solution

Unite for Youth is a program that is in direct response to the growing number of young people that are either falling through the cracks at school or are already entangled with the juvenile court system. The goal of the program is to identify youths who are going to have a turbulent transition to adulthood and offer positive support system to avoid the pitfalls that can derail their lives. The focus is slightly different at each level but the goal remains the same; empower the young person to make positive changes in his/her life. 

Unite for Youth will focus primarily on middle school youths. It is projected that within three years, 50% of the system’s students will be in middle school. This age group is particularly problematic and a perfect time for mentoring to be effective.

The goal of the program is to identify youths who are going have a turbulent transition to adulthood and offer positive support system to avoid the pitfalls that can derail their lives.  The focus is slightly different at each level.  At the elementary school level, mentors strive to guide the young person back into the mainstream of class activity in order to destroy the negative reinforcers that can turn a student off to school.  With middle school students, Unite for Youth provides mentors that serve as developmental role models for young people looking for direction.  Sometimes it is as easy as a young person identifying with his mentor rather than a person involved in criminal or destructive activities.  Once a student has entered high school with a history of classroom disturbances and poor academic skills, it takes a tremendous proactive effort to assist a student in redirecting their lives.  Unite for Youth has found that group activities can service as a powerful reinforcer of hopeful behavior.

Target Market

Market Size & Segments

Currently, middle school youths disturbances the majority of students being served by Unite for Youth.  Elementary children represent a critical group as they progress through school.  Children between the ages of five to 11 disturbances close to 40% of the children attending Claremont public schools.  It is projected that within three years, 50% of the system’s students will be in middle school. 

The target market for Unite for Youth are young people ages eight to 16 that  have developed destructive habits that will lead down a path of hopelessness.  Unite for Youth has created a series of mentoring programs that pair the young person with a trained mentor who will assist him or her in developing the habits and perspective that will lead to success and hopefulness in the future.

Unite for Youth has a number of market focuses that are key to the program’s success.

• Youth who are overcoming stressors in their lives, such as poverty, discrimination, abusive situations, addictions, unstable homes, and academic life, are the primary marketing focus of Unite for Youth. Mentoring programs foster positive changes through goal setting, self-discipline, skill development, and friendship. 
• Families are also the marketing focus when adult mentors are able to help youth work on solutions for their family stresses, and provide an objective but caring sounding board. As a result, many youth and their families report improved relations at home. Families must buy into the benefit from our United Parenting program, a 10-month series of custom-designed information and discussion groups that enrich parenting effectiveness, especially in the area of cognitive skills associated with family management practices. 
• Marketing also attracts mentors to Unite for Youth because they care about kids and their community. The typical mentor-youth relationship demands a commitment that must be sold to the potential mentor. For most mentors, this experience changes their lives, taps their inner resources, and challenges their convictions and beliefs. 
• Ultimately, Unite for Youth is marketed to Claremont as a critical social support system young people. Unite for Youth impacts how many other city services will be called in to respond to destructive behavior in the community.

Competition

Our Advantages

Unite for Youth is being established to provide mentoring for at risk middle and high school youth in the Greater Claremont area. The program will create partnerships with the local school districts and the juvenile court system. Unite for Youth matches a caring adult volunteer with a referred youth. Unite for Youth will setup four distinct mentoring programs:

• Trailblazers: Trailblazers is the central program of Unite for Youth. At risk middle school students and their mentors participate in a structured program of support.
• Turnaround: Turnaround focuses on students who are chronically suspended from middle and high schools.
• Higher Ground: Higher Ground engages youth involved in the juvenile court system.
• Lunch Friends: Lunch Friends works with children from local elementary schools.

Keys to Success

Keys to Success

• Establish a strong network of support with the school systems and the juvenile court system.
• Launch a series of fundraising activities that will successfully fund the expanding program.
• Establish an effective training program for mentors that will increase their ability to be successful communicators.
• Establish an effective monitoring system to protect both the youth and the mentor.