Youth in Philanthropy Policy Guidelines
Youth in Philanthropy Policy Guidelines
Youth in Philanthropy (YiP) is a program designed to introduce local high school students to philanthropy and community development. The components listed below make up the program and apply to high schools and community organizations that participate in the program. Schools or organizations that are unable to meet these criteria will be asked to leave the program.
High School Committees
- Each participating high school will establish one Youth in Philanthropy Committee at the beginning of the school year. Committees are student led, stand alone, and extracurricular with two staff advisors to provide guidance and support.
- Each committee will be open to all students in the school who wish to participate, from every senior high grade level (Gr. 9 to Gr. 12). Participating schools will demonstrate that YiP has student body support, based on student participation on the committee.
- Each committee will have an annual orientation in the fall. The orientation, led by staff of The Winnipeg Foundation, explains the YiP committee’s role as a grantmaker as well as its relationship with the community foundation.
- The Winnipeg Foundation will provide each committee with an administrative grant of $500 to cover annual expenses related to the project. At the end of the year, committees will provide a report accounting for the use of these funds. Any unused funds must be returned to the Foundation by June 30.
Grantmaking
The Winnipeg Foundation will provide each participating high school with $5,000 for grantmaking. YiP grantmaking criteria are as follows:
- Grants can only be made to registered charitiesProjects must primarily benefit the citizens of Winnipeg.
- No single organization shall receive more than $1,000 from one committee. Each YiP committee will actively participate in a grantmaking process that begins with identifying community needs and assets and developing students’ grantmaking priorities. The process also includes researching charities, conducting site visits, making written grant recommendations to the Board of The Winnipeg Foundation, and evaluating grantmaking efforts.
Endowment Building
- Each participating school will establish an endowment called the High School Philanthropy Fund. This will form part of the consolidated trust of The Winnipeg Foundation and will earn annual income and operate on the same basis as all other funds.
- Committees will use the annual income from their fund to supplement their grantmaking dollars from the Foundation.YiP Committees are encouraged to make contributions to their High School Philanthropy Fund. Their contribution to the fund will be matched by The Winnipeg Foundation, to a maximum of $500 per year.
- If a participating high school opts out of the program for more than three years, annual income from their High School Philanthropy Fund may be used by The Winnipeg Foundation for general community grants to community organizations.
