The temptation for all of us at this point is to jump right in, and start our new Big Brothers Big Sisters program or Boys and Girls Club. Do not give into this. By being more careful and thorough up front, by carrying out more initial research, planning, relating, and promoting work, you will avoid wasted effort and troubles down the road.
You need to be able to convince others that your dream makes sense, and is viable. You need to be able to make a strong case to potential volunteers, donors, funders, and communityers.
This means developing a solid and viable program plan17, which answers the following questions.
- Who are we trying to serve? How many? And, where?
- Why are we trying to help these children and young people? What particular needs and interests are we trying to meet? What outcomes, goals or results are we trying to achieve for children, youth, families, and the community at large?
- What kind of program will best meet the needs and interests of these children and young people?
- Would this program be unique in the community? Does it overlap with other programs? If so, why is it needed? And, what connections are needed with other programs?
- What will be the key program elements?
- What values and standards will be important in implementing this program from the perspectives of children and young people, parents, volunteers, staff, funders, ….?
- How will the successes of the program be measured and evaluated?
- What resources will be needed to implement this program well: staff, volunteers, facilities, supplies, funds, ….?
- Where will these resources come from?
- What kind of organizational home will be needed to provide supports and promote the program?
Answering questions 1 – 4 may well require you to carry out a more detailed community needs assessment. Such a needs assessment is also required by the two national associations in applying to become a member, and to use the national brand names. The assessment will help you look in more depth at:
- The make up of your community (for example: overall population numbers, family life styles, incomes and employment, transiency, winds of change, …..)
- The types of children and youth who are experiencing difficulties (for example: children and young people in single parent families, children and young people living in poverty, or children and young people facing transitions such as marital separations or the shift from elementary school to high school), or who are not participating in other community programs (for example: children who are shy, or whose parents cannot afford program fees)
- The existing programs in your community (for example: programs in schools, school aged child care services, sports associations, arts and cultural programs, and church programs)
- What children and young people, parents, teachers, and others are saying about the needs and interests of children and young people.
Reading Chapter 3 will help you design and carry out such a community needs assessment. Answering questions 5 – 8 will likely best be done by looking for help from others, locally or nationally, who have experience in developing Big Brothers Big Sisters programs and Boys and Girls Clubs. Question 9 is the focus of Chapter 5 in Part 2. Question 10 is the focus of Chapter 6 in Part 2. Appendix M contains a standard framework for a program plan.
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