how to build a successful mentoring program

How to Build A Successful Mentoring Program

Using the

Elements of Effective Practice TM

A STEP-BY-STEP TOOL KIT FOR PROGRAM MANAGERS

Dont Forget the Free Tools! Please note that this PDF does not include all of the tools available on the CD-ROM. You can review and download the tools you want directly from the web site: Tools for Designing and Planning http://www.mentoring.org/find_resources/tool_kit/design/ Tools to Manage a Program for Success http://www.mentoring.org/find_resources/tool_kit/management/ Tools to Structure Effective Program Operations http://www.mentoring.org/find_resources/tool_kit/operations/ Tools to Establish Evaluation Criteria and Methods http://www.mentoring.org/find_resources/tool_kit/eval/

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MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership1600 Duke Street, Suite 300Alexandria, VA 22314Phone: 703-224-2200Web site: www.mentoring.orgAOL Keyword: mentor

Online version of the tool kit: www.mentoring.org/eeptoolkit

Copyright 2005. MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership

All rights reserved. Published 2005.Printed in the United States of America.

Reproduction rights: Permission to reproduce or photocopy portions of this tool kit with attribution is granted by MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership.

DISCLAIMER

Tools and resources submitted for inclusion in this tool kit have been edited or condensed from their original versionin order to accommodate the design and intent of this publication.

CONTENTS

Foreword vii

Acknowledgements ix

Section I. About MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership 1Our State and Local Mentoring Partnerships 1

Resources State and Local Mentoring Partnerships 3 National Mentoring Institute 5

Section II. About the Tool Kit 7Why Create a Tool Kit? 7Guidelines for Newand ExistingPrograms 7What Youll Find in the Tool Kit 8Glossary of Terms 9Lets Get Started! 10

Section III. Introduction to Mentoring and Program-Building 11What Is Mentoring Today? 11What Makes a Successful Mentoring Relationship? 11The Five Types of Mentoring 12What Elements Constitute a Safe and Effective Mentoring Program? 13Whats the Next Step? 14

Section IV. How to Design and Plan a Mentoring Program 15Start with the Need 15Design the Parameters for Your Program 15Plan How the Program Will Be Managed 21 Select the Management Team 21 Establish Policies and Procedures 22 Implement Ongoing Staff Training and Professional Development 22 Develop a Financial Plan 22 Implement the Program 23 Plan How to Evaluate the Program 23

Checklist of Program Progress: Program Design and Planning 25

Additional Resources 27

Tools Located on CD Tab A

iiiCONTENTS

iv HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

Tools by Category Program Planning Program Parameters Program Planning and Management Policies and Procedures Financial Planning E-mentoring

Section V. How to Manage a Program for Success 53Form an Advisory Group 53Develop a Comprehensive System for Managing Program Information 55Design a Resource Development Plan That

Allows for Diversified Fundraising 57Design a System to Monitor the Program 58Create a Professional Staff Development Plan 59Advocate for Mentoring 60Establish a Public Relations/Communications Effort 61Partner and Collaborate with Other Organizations 63

Checklist of Program Progress: Program Management 65


Tools Located on CD Tab B

Tools by Category Advisory Group Program Information Management Resource Development Professional Staff Development Advocacy Public Relations/Communications and Marketing Collaboration

Section VI. How to Structure Effective Program Operations 91Build the Right Structure 91Recruit Mentors, Mentees and Other Volunteers 91Screen Potential Mentors and Mentees 96Orient and Train Mentors, Mentees and Parents/Caregivers 100Match Mentors and Mentees 103Bring Mentors and Mentees Together for Mentoring Sessions That Fall

within the Program Parameters 104Provide Ongoing Support, Supervision and Monitoring of Mentoring

Relationships 105Recognize the Contributions of All Program Participants 106Help Mentors and Mentees Reach Closure 107

CONTENTS

Checklist of Program Progress: Program Operations 109


Tools Located on CD Tab C

Tools by Category Recruitment Screening Orientation Training Matching Activities Ongoing Support and Supervision Mentor Recognition Structured Match Closure

Section VII. How to Establish Evaluation Criteria and Methods 163Measure Program Process 163Measure Expected Outcomes 163Create a Process to Reflect on and Disseminate Findings 164Gauging the Effectiveness of Youth Mentoring, by Dr. Jean Rhodes 164The Nuts and Bolts of Evaluating Mentoring Programs 165

Checklist of Program Progress: Program Evaluation 169


Tools Located on CD Tab D Program Evaluation

Section VIII. Wrap-Up and Feedback 181Evaluation Form 183

Endnotes 187

vCONTENTS

FOREWORD

You have in your hands How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice, the latest and perhaps most important work in years to advance qualitymentoring. This comprehensive tool kit includes tools, templates and advice for implementingand adhering to the second edition of the Elements of Effective Practicerigorous guidelines that,when followed, will help to ensure quality mentoring.

The tool kit was made possible by a generous grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundationand is the latest offering from MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership and the vital networkof State Mentoring Partnerships. For more than a decade, we have been leading the movement toconnect Americas young people with caring adult mentors. We serve as the mentors mentor,providing a wide range of resources and technical assistance to more than 4,300 mentoringprograms across the nation.

In 1990, we joined with United Way of America to convene a blue-ribbon panel of mentoringexperts to produce the nations first set of rigorous mentoring guidelines, the first edition of theElements of Effective Practice. Those Elements served as the gold standard for quality mentoringfor more than a decade.

Since then, the world of mentoring has changed. New types of mentoring have taken hold,requiring new guidelines. In 2003, through the generosity of the Charles Stewart MottFoundation, we again convened a blue-ribbon panel of mentoring experts to produce the second edition of the Elements of Effective Practice, which reflects the latest mentoring research,experience and practices. Among the experts contributing to the effort were two of the nationstop mentoring researchers: Dr. Jean Rhodes of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Dr. David DuBois of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Whether you are new to mentoring or an old hand, this tool kit will save you time and effort,because it contains materials and information you need to start or maintain a quality mentoringprogram. The tool kit is written to follow the format of the Elementsbut it allows you to takeportions of the tool kit in a different order, depending on where you are in starting orstrengthening your mentoring program.

We hope you will use the tool kit with great success. For further assistance, we encourage you toreach out to your State Mentoring Partnership or visit Mentoring.org, to find the latest resourcesfor the mentoring field. And, as always, we very much welcome your feedback.

In Partnership,

Gail Manza Tonya WileyExecutive Director Vice-President

viiFOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

MENTOR gratefully acknowledges the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for its generous support for the tool kit. We thank An-Me Chung, program officer of the foundation, for herleadership and vision in the development of this resource for the mentoring community.

We gratefully acknowledge the guidance, feedback and unwavering support for the developmentof the tool kit provided by members of our Advisory Council:

Advisory Council

ixACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Jean Lahage CohenMentoring Partnership of Long Island

Joyce CorlettBig Brothers Big Sisters of America

David DuBois, Ph.D.Community Health SciencesSchool of Public Health University of Illinois at Chicago

Susan K. PatrickThe Connecticut Mentoring Partnership

Jean Rhodes, Ph.D.University of Massachusetts, Boston

Rosemary TownsendBaylor University Health Services

Susan Weinberger, Ed.D.Mentor Consulting GroupChair, MENTOR Public Policy Council

State and Local Mentoring Partnerships

We would like to thank our network of State and Local Mentoring Partnerships for their supportof this tool kit. We extend our sincere appreciation to the following Mentoring Partnerships thatshared resources and ideas:

California Governors Mentoring Partnership

The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership

Florida Mentoring Partnership, VolunteerFlorida Foundation

Iowa Mentoring Partnership

The Maryland Mentoring Partnership

Mass Mentoring Partnership

Memphis Mentoring Partnership

Mentoring Partnership of Long Island

The Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership

The Mentor Center of Palm Beach County

The Mentoring Partnership of New York

Oregon Mentors

Texas Governors Mentoring Initiative

Virginia Mentoring Partnership

x HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

Lead Staff

Other Contributors

Applied Research Consulting

Best Buddies International

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities

Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Camp Fire Georgia Council

Dare Mighty Things

Friends for Youth

Girl Scouts of the USA

Harvard Graduate School of Education

icouldbe.org inc.

iMentor.org

Kinship of Greater Minneapolis

University of Texas at San Antonio

Youth Development Strategies, Inc.

YouthFriends

Kristi Zappie-Ferradino

Project Staff

Colleen Appleby-Carroll

Kathy Johnson

Jennifer Richter

Cindy Sturtevant

Editors note: All tools and resources submitted for inclusion have been edited and customizedto accommodate the needs of the tool kit.

MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership

MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR),founded in 1990, is leading the movement to connectAmericas young people with caring adult mentors,because all children deserve the opportunity to achievetheir potential. As a result of certain life circum-stances, 17.6 million young Americans today are inspecial need of mentors. Of that number, 2.5 millionalready are in mentoring relationships. The remaining15.1 million young people constitute what we call thenations mentoring gap. MENTOR exists to closethat gap. To that end, MENTOR serves as the nationspremier advocate and resource for expanding qualitymentoring initiatives. Working with a strong networkof Mentoring Partnerships located across the UnitedStates, MENTOR leverages resources and provides thetechnical expertise, tools and innovation that mentor-ing programs need to serve young people in theircommunities effectively.

OUR STATE AND LOCAL MENTORINGPARTNERSHIPS

To meet the demand of pro-viding mentors to the esti-mated 17.6 million youngpeople in the United Stateswho want or need them,hundreds of new mentoring programs are startedevery year. But as existing mentoring programs arealready painfully aware, the resources to fund and staffthese ventures are scarce.

There is an answer: State Mentoring Partnerships. Bybringing together public and private sector leadersacross the state, eliminating duplication of efforts andoffering centralized services, State MentoringPartnerships can help mentoring programs make themost of limited resources.

State and Local Mentoring Partnerships serve as men-toring central for their states or communities, provid-ing leadership, resources and a rallying point for men-toring providers in their area. State MentoringPartnerships serve a unique role as a clearinghouse forinformation and resources. They do not provide directmentoring services. Instead, they work to enable direct-service mentoring organizations to:

Increase the number of young people with mentorsin the state;

Increase resources in the state dedicated tomentoring;

Promote quality standards for mentoring programs;and

Expand mentoring programming andopportunities tailored to the needs andcircumstances of young people.

The result is better service, greater collaboration,smarter use of resources and more youth in qualitymentoring relationships.

To find a State or Local Mentoring Partnership in yourcommunity to assist you with training, technical assis-tance and implementing the Elements of EffectivePractice, see the appendix at the end of this section or visit Mentoring.org.

RESOURCES

State and Local Mentoring Partnerships

National Mentoring Institute

1ABOUT MENTOR/NATIONAL MENTORING PARTNERSHIP

Section I. About MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership

A list of State andLocal Mentoring

Partnerships is locatedat the end of this

section.

SECTION I

3STATE AND LOCAL MENTORING PARTNERSHIPS

Alabama Mentor Alabama

www.ago.state.al.us/mentor/

Arizona Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona:

The Mentoring Partnershipwww.volunteertucson.org

California Governors Mentoring Partnership

www.mentoring.ca.gov The Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership

www.mentoring.org/los_angeles/

Colorado Colorado Mentoring

www.mentoringcolorado.org

Connecticut The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership

www.preventionworksct.org

Delaware Delaware Mentoring Council

www.delawarementoring.org

Florida Florida Mentoring Partnership

www.volunteerfloridafoundation.org Mentor Center of Palm Beach County

www.mentoringpbc.org

Georgia Georgia Mentoring Partnership

www.georgiamentoring.org

Iowa Iowa Mentoring Partnership

www.iowamentoring.org

Maine Maine Mentoring Partnership

www.mainementoring.org

Maryland The Maryland Mentoring Partnership

www.marylandmentors.org

Massachusetts Mass Mentoring Partnership

www.mentoring.org/mass/

Michigan Mentor Michigan

www.michigan.gov/mentormichigan

Minnesota Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota

www.mentoringworks.org

Nebraska All Our Kids, Inc.: The Midlands

Mentoring Partnershipwww.allourkids.org

New York The Mentoring Partnership of New York

www.mentoring.org/newyork/ Mentoring Partnership of Long Island

www.mentorkids.com

North Carolina North Carolina Mentoring Partnership

www.volunteernc.org/code/mentor.htm

Ohio The Mentoring Center of Central Ohio

www.firstlink.org/public/mentoring/mentoring.php

Oregon Oregon Mentors

www.ormentors.org

State and LocalMentoring Partnerships

Pennsylvania United Ways Campaign for Mentors (Philadelphia)

www.uwsepa.org The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern

Pennsylvaniawww.mentoringpittsburgh.org

Rhode Island Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership

www.rimentor.org

Tennessee The Memphis Mentoring Partnership

www.memphismentors.org

Texas Governors Mentoring Initiative

www.onestarfoundation.org San Antonio: Making Mentoring a Partnership

www.utsa.edu/mentoring/

Utah Utah Mentoring Partnership

www.utahmentors.org

Vermont Vermont Mentoring Partnership

www.vtmentoring.org

Virginia Virginia Mentoring Partnership

www.mentoring.org/virginia/ Fairfax Mentoring Partnership

www.mentorfairfax.org

Washington Washington State Mentoring Partnership

www.washingtonmentoring.org

4 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

SECTION I

5NATIONAL MENTORING INSTITUTE

The National Mentoring Institute serves as the education, research and training arm for MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, offering a wealth ofproducts and services to the entire mentoring field.The Institutes menu of resources and services includesthe following:

ONLINE SERVICES

Mentoring.org: The nations most comprehensivesource for mentoring information and resources,focusing on the needs of mentors, caring adults,community leaders and mentoring program staff.Includes a Research Corner, with analysis of thelatest research in the mentoring field; informationon how to advocate for mentoring and securefunding; referrals to online and print resources; anE-mentoring Clearinghouse; and tools for starting,managing, sustaining and evaluating mentoringprograms.

National Mentoring Database: Includes over4,300 youth mentoring programs and serves as avolunteer referral service, enabling prospectivementors to search for a local mentoring programand express an interest in learning more. Mentor-ing programs that agree to adhere to the Elementsof Effective Practice are invited to register for thisfree service at Mentoring.org/register.

After-school Program Clearinghouse: Devoted toafter-school programs that may or may not have amentoring component. Features information onhow to implement or strengthen a mentoring pro-gram, as well as an inclusive list of resources foractivities, collaboration, curricula, research andevaluation materials for after-school programs atMentoring.org/afterschool.

Online Community: Offers free, online discus-sions on a variety of issues related to mentoringmentor recruitment and retention, marketing, e-mentoring and risk management. Designed toexchange ideas and best practices and to pose questions to experts from the field. Visit theOnline Community at Mentoring.org/community.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Elements of Effective Practice: MENTORs hall-mark product, which provides research and field-tested guidelines on how to run safe and effectivementoring programs. Key components includeProgram Design and Planning, ProgramManagement, Program Operations and ProgramEvaluation. Available to download atMentoring.org/elements.

How to Build a Succcessful Mentoring ProgramUsing the Elements of Effective Practice:A comprehensive tool kit with customizable tools and templates on how to implement andadhere to the Elements.

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

Research Summit: In 2003, MENTOR convened35 leading researchers in the field for a NationalResearch Summit on Mentoring. Summit parti-cipants reviewed the current state of mentoringresearch and then articulated where mentoringresearch should be headed in the coming years.Their work was translated into several priority areas for future research. For more informationabout the National Research Agenda for Mentoring,visit Mentoring.org/researchagenda.

State-by-State Trends in Mentoring Survey:Bi-annual survey that identifies national and statetrends in mentoring as reported from our networkof mentoring programs.

NATIONAL MENTORING INSTITUTE

TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Online Training: Self-guided training for both men-tors and mentees involved in either traditional face-to-face mentoring (Mentoring.org/mentor_training)or e-mentoring (Mentoring.org/emc).

Technical Assistance: Information, resources andsupport for MENTORs network of State and LocalMentoring Partnerships, which provide training andtechnical assistance to direct service mentoring pro-grams. In addition, advisory services are providedon a contractual basis to corporations and otherorganizations interested in starting, expanding orstrengthening a large-scale mentoring initiative.


MENTOR is leading the movement to connect Americas young people with caring adult mentors.

For more information, please visit Mentoring.org.

Congratulations! Youve chosen to make a tremen-dous differenceor already are making that differ-encein the lives of young people who can benefitgreatly from the guidance and encouragement of anurturing mentor. Few endeavors do more to shapeyoung peoples aspirations and help them realize theirpotential. In return, few endeavors reap more pro-found rewards for all who become involved in thementoring processbecause mentoring works.

Mentoring is not a new concept; it has its roots inancient Greece. And throughout the millennia, men-toringproviding guidance and counsel to a youngerindividualhas occurred spontaneously as informalrelationships: a supervisor at work who takes aninterest in a young persons upward mobility; ateacher who takes extra time with a struggling orpromising student; an older family member who pro-vides a shoulder to lean on when needed.

In recent years, as growing numbers of people haverecognized the tremendous power of mentoring, for-mal mentoring programs like yours have been crop-ping up throughout the public and private sectors.More and more community organizations, businessesand governments are launching formal mentoring ini-tiatives. Consequently, we have seen a growing needfor skilled mentors and effective mentoring programsthat adhere to sound management and operation practices.

WHY CREATE A TOOL KIT?

Building a successful mentoring program is challeng-ing. There are a myriad of components to establishand oversee: the actual mentoring process; mentorrecruitment and training; day-to-day operations; pub-lic relations efforts; fundraising activities; budget allo-cations; evaluative data collection and tracking; and

more. It may seem a bit daunting: Where do Ibegin? What should I focus on first? How do I doall these things effectively?

The simple fact is, youth mentoring programs are farmore successful when they follow proven, effectivementoring practices and strategies. This tool kit placesat your fingertips a single source of mentoring bestpractices and tools that you can implement from thestart. The materials it contains build on the practices

established in the Elements ofEffective Practice, guidelinesfor running safe and effectivementoring programs, firstpublished in 1990 andrevised and updated in thesecond edition in 2003.

GUIDELINES FOR NEWAND EXISTINGPROGRAMS

Not only does this tool kit outline the Elements ofEffective Practice, it also is your guide to implementingthem. It is structured to aid both those who are start-ing a new program and those who seek to improvespecific elements of an ongoing program. Lets take alook at how this tool kit can fill the particular needsof your program.

Building a Program: Begin by asking yourselfsome questions, such as: What do I need to budgetfor and how do I get it funded? Is there a bestway to mentor; if so, what is it? How do I recruitmentors and ensure that theyre sufficientlytrained? How do I reach out to the community forsupport? How do I engage young people in theprogram? Where will the mentoring meetings takeplace? How will I know that the mentoring rela-tionships are working?

7ABOUT THE TOOL KIT

Section II. About the Tool Kit

The appendices forSections IV-VII includea Checklist of Program

Progress for eachsection of the Elements.

These are just some of the questions that youshould attempt to answer before you establish amentoring program. If youre at a loss as to what todo first, dont panic. The tool kit will help you findthe answers and make solid decisions. When youfollow the tool kit sections, step-by-step, a solidprogram will emerge from the ground up. Each ofthe components of your mentoring initiative willfunction in ways that support the others to facili-tate a well-focused, cohesive program.

Improving on Current Practices: The desire forcontinuous improvement is the hallmark of everysuccessful endeavor. The tool kit is designed so thatyou dont need to go through the entire kit for helpin improving a specific element of your program.Do you need guidance in constructing anevaluation process that accurately measures yourresults, or benchmarks your procedures againstsimilar programs? This tool kit can help. Perhapsyoure not receiving the support youd like fromother community organizations or your mentorvolunteer base is falling below your needs. Maybeyou wish to raise the profile of your mentoringprogram. Or you may wish to ensure that the typeof mentoring youre offering is the most effectivefor the youth youre serving.

Not to worry. Just keep the tool kit within easy reach.When youre ready to make improvements in a partic-ular area of your program, simply turn to the appro-priate section. Remember, too, that the tool kit isavailable online at Mentoring.org/eeptoolkit, whereyou can download it and customize the tools to fityour needs.

By carrying out the strategies detailed in this tool kit,you can be confident that your program is offering thebest mentoring possible. At the same time, we recog-nize that the Elements outlined in the tool kit are vastand detailed (this is to ensure the best mentoring pos-sible for our youth). Initially, not all mentoring pro-grams will have the resources to implement and adhereto every component of the Elements in their entirety. If


The first edition of Elements was developed in 1990 by a panel of mentoring expertsbrought together by MENTOR/NationalMentoring Partnership and United Way ofAmerica. It was based on solid research thataffirms the importance of accountability andresponsibility in meeting young peoples needs.For more than a decade, the initial Elementsserved as the gold standard for mentoring.

The second edition of Elementsdeveloped bya newly formed group of many of the nationsforemost authorities on mentoringupdates theoriginal version. It offers new ideas and prac-tices that reflect the latest in mentoring policies,practices, experience and research. The tool kitis an excellent companion to the Elements. Acopy of the Elements is included with this toolkit, and you can download additional copies atMentoring.org/elements.

ELEMENTS OF EFFECT IVE PRACTICE

that is the case with your program, we recommendthat you work toward integrating the Elements intoyour program incrementally. It will take time, but willbe more than worth the effort.

WHAT YOULL FIND IN THE TOOL KIT

As noted earlier, this tool kit builds on the Elements ofEffective Practice, which address four major compo-nents of a safe and effective mentoring program:

Program Design and Planning;

Program Management;

Program Operations; and

Program Evaluation.

SECTION II

The tool kit dedicates a section to each of these com-ponents. In each section, youll find step-by-stepinformation on how to implement a specific compo-nent, using proven practices that help ensure a strongoverall program. Of course, how you initially plan anddesign your program willaffect the other components.Therefore, in each sectionyoull find the followinginformation:

What constitutes theprogram component andhow it relates to the othercomponents;

A Checklist of ProgramProgress against which tomeasure your programpractices;

Customizable toolssuchas forms, checklists andrelated sample documentson CDto help you.(Select tools are alsoincluded in the printversion of the tool kit.);and

Additional resources for further research andreference.

For your convenience, we have included a glossary tohelp you understand how we use different terms inthis tool kit.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS1

Mentoring: Mentoring is a structured and trustingrelationship that brings young people together withcaring individuals who offer guidance, support andencouragement aimed at developing the competenceand character of the mentee.

Types of Mentoring: Responsible mentoring canoccur in these forms:

Traditional mentoring: One adult to one youngperson.

Group mentoring: One adult to up to four youngpeople.

Team mentoring: Several adults working withsmall groups of young people in which the adult-to-youth ratio is not greater than 1:4.

Peer mentoring: Caring youth mentoring otheryouth.

E-mentoring: Mentoring via e-mail and theInternet.

Locations of Mentoring: Mentoring can take place ina wide array of settings, such as these:

Workplace;

School;

Faith-based organization;

Juvenile corrections facility;

Community setting; and

Virtual community, where e-mentoring takesplace.

9ABOUT THE TOOL KIT

Throughout the tool kit, you will find

mentoring tool boxesthat reference specifictools and resources.

Boxes with a CD icon

indicate that a tool canbe found on the CD

Boxes with aBook icon indicate

that the tool is in theprint version of the

tool kit as well as on the CD.


Duration of Mentoring: Because relationships and asense of bonding occur over time between mentorsand mentees, the duration and consistency of eachmentoring relationship is very important. At a mini-mum, mentors and mentees should meet regularly atleast four hours per month for at least a year. Thereare exceptions, such as school-based mentoring, whichcoincide with the school year, and other types of spe-cial mentoring initiatives. In such special circum-stances, mentees need to know from the outset howlong they can expect the relationship to last, so theycan adjust their expectations accordingly.

LETS GET STARTED!

Its an exciting venture to build a new mentoring pro-gram or fine-tune a current one, as both will result inbetter opportunities for young people. With this toolkit, you have an invaluable resource that can facilitateyour efforts. Remember, too, that you never have tostruggle with mentoring issues on your own. Manyuseful resources are available to you, including onlinetraining and community forums at Mentoring.org;mentor training and recruitment resources, as well astechnical assistance, training and guidance, fromMENTORs State and Local Mentoring Partnerships;and even practical advice from your mentoring col-leagues. Take advantage of these resources.

Visit Mentoring.org often to find the latest resourcesand research for improving your program. For exam-ple, a copy of this tool kit is available online atMentoring.org/eeptoolkit to allow you to customizethe tools to your own needs. In addition, we encour-age you to provide us with feedback on the tool kit,by filling out the Evaluation Form at the end of thetool kit. Your feedback will allow us to enhance theonline version of the tool kit and respond to emergingmentoring trends.

Now, roll up your sleeves and lets get started.

WHAT IS MENTORING TODAY?

Mentoring is a time-proven strategy that can helpyoung people of all circumstances achieve their poten-tial. Mentors are caring individuals who, along withparents or guardians, provide young people with sup-port, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and a con-structive example.

But mentoring is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Every young person who would benefit from a men-toring relationship has individual needs. Effectivementoring programs offer enough flexibility to helpmeet each mentees personal needs, yet allow mentor-ing relationships to flourishwithin a safe structure.

WHAT MAKES ASUCCESSFUL MENTORINGRELATIONSHIP?

According to Dr. JeanRhodes, professor of psychol-ogy at the University ofMassachusetts, Boston, themost significant predictor of positive mentoringresults is whether mentors and mentees share a close,trusting relationship. Such relationships do not justhappen. They need ongoing support and monitoring,particularly during the early stages, to ensure that therelationships do not terminate prematurely. As Dr.Rhodes notes, when the tool of change is a close rela-tionshipas is the case with mentoring everyoneshould proceed with care.

In an article entitled What Makes Mentoring Work?,written for the Research Corner at Mentoring.org, Dr. Rhodes described four program practices that are essential for strong and effective mentoring relationships. Those practices are as follows:

Conducting reasonably intensive screening of potential mentors;

Making matches based on interests that both the mentor and the mentee share;

Providing more than six hours of training for mentors; and

Offering post-match training and support.

These four practices can help ensure successful men-toring relationships that endure over time. Moredetailed information on how to implement or adhereto these practices is outlined in Section V, How toManage a Program for Success, and Section VI, Howto Structure Effective Program Operations.

There are other ways mentors can sustain effectivementoring relationships, including these:

Maintain a steady presence in the mentees life.That means showing up for scheduled meetings or,when that is not possible, telling the mentee inadvance, in order to avoid any disappointment. A phone call, e-mail or fax can help when a face-to-face meeting isnt possible.

Focus on the mentees needsnot the mentorsown wants and needs. Mentors should look toimprove the mentees prospects while respecting theyoung persons life circumstances and perspective.This includes not trying to transform the menteeor impose the mentors own values on the mentee.

Pay attention to the mentees need for fun.

Get to know the mentees family without getting over involved. Mentors need to understand thatthey are not substitutes for parents.

Seek out and use the help and support of mentoring program staff.

11INTRODUCTION TO MENTORING AND PROGRAM-BUILDING

Section III. Introduction to Mentoring and Program-Building

Read What MakesMentoring Work, by

Dr. Rhodes, in theResearch Corner at

Mentoring.org/research_corner.

By contrast, less effective mentors:

Do not meet regularly with the mentee;

Adopt an authoritative tone;

Put more emphasis on changing the menteesbehavior than on developing a warm relationshipbased on trust and respect; and

Try to transform the mentee by imposing a set of values inconsistent with the mentees life circumstances.

THE FIVE TYPES OF MENTORING

The type of mentoring program you offer will shapeyour programs structure and operationincluding thegoals you want your mentoring program to achieve;the length and frequency of mentor commitment yourequire; and the kinds of activities that take place.

The following definitions of mentoring types arebased on those in the second edition of the Elementsof Effective Practice. (A brief overview of what eachtype of mentoring relationship might look like appearsin the Informational Overview of Types ofMentoring Programs in the appendix of Section IV.)

Traditional One-to-One Mentoring. One-to-onementoring places one adult in a relationship withone youth. At a minimum, the mentor and menteeshould meet regularly at least four hours per monthfor at least a year. There are exceptionssuch as inschool-based mentoring, which coincides with theschool yearand other types of special mentoringinitiatives. In such special circumstances, menteesneed to know from the outset how long they canexpect the relationship to last so they can adjusttheir expectations accordingly.

Group Mentoring. Group mentoring involves oneadult mentor forming a relationship with a groupof up to four young people. The mentor assumesthe role of leader and makes a commitment tomeet regularly with the group over a long period oftime. Most interaction is guided by the session

structure, which includes time for personal sharing.The sponsoring mentoring program might specifycertain activities that the group must participate in,or in some cases the mentor may choose or designappropriate activities. Some group mentoring activ-ities may be intended as teaching exercises, whileothers may simply be for fun.

Team Mentoring. Team mentoring involves severaladults working with small groups of young people,with an adult-to-youth ratio no greater than one tofour.

Peer Mentoring. Peer mentoring provides anopportunity for a caring youth to develop a guid-ing, teaching relationship with a younger person.Usually the mentoring program specifies activitiesthat are curriculum-based. For example, a highschool student might tutor an elementary schoolstudent in reading or engage in other skill-buildingactivities on site. These youth mentors serve as pos-itive role models. They require ongoing supportand close supervision. Usually in a peer mentoringrelationship, the mentor and the mentee meet fre-quently over the course of a semester or an entireschool year.

E-mentoring (also known as online mentoring, ortelementoring). E-mentoring connects one adultwith one youth. The pair communicate via theInternet at least once a week over a period of sixmonths to a year. Some programs arrange two orthree face-to-face meetings, one of which is a kick-off event. Often the mentor serves as a guide oradvisor in school- or career-related areas; for exam-ple, helping the mentee complete a school projector discussing future education and career options.During the summer months, e-mentoring can serveas a bridge for mentors and mentees in traditionalone-to-one relationships.


SECTION II I

WHAT ELEMENTS CONSTITUTE A SAFE ANDEFFECTIVE MENTORING PROGRAM?

Incorporating all the Elements of Effective Practice isthe way to ensure that you build a high-quality men-toring program. But we understand that implement-ing the Elements in their entirety may take time,depending on your programs staffing and funding.Also, it can be helpful to startsmall in order to pay carefulattention to the nuances andneeds of your programas arule of thumb, it is recom-mended that new mentoringprograms start off with only15 to 25 matches in the pilotyear.

This tool kit organizes theElements into four categories, with a section devotedto each category. Heres a brief introduction to theElements.

1. Program Design and Planning. This is the firstand the keyelement in building your program,because the design is the blueprint you will followto carry out all other aspects of the program.When you have completed the design and plan-ning, you will have made the following decisions:

The youth population you will serve, the type ofmentoring your program will offer and thenature of the mentoring sessions;

The types of individuals you will recruit as mentors (e.g., senior citizens, corporate employees, college students);

Your program goals and expected outcomes formentors, mentees and sponsoring organizations;

When and how often mentors and mentees will meet;

How long you expect mentoring matches toendure;

The purposes of your mentoring program (e.g., socialization, academic support, job/careerguidance);

The setting of your mentoring program (e.g., faith-based site, community organization,school/university, workplace);

The programs stakeholders;

How to promote your program;

The best way to evaluate the progress and success of your program; and

A protocol to ensure that your program staff regularly contact mentors and mentees to dis-cuss how their relationships are going.

2. Program Management. Ensuring that your mentor-ing program is well managed is crucial. A well-man-aged program promotes accuracy and efficiency;establishes credibility; and enables you to gaugeprogress effectively and identify areas that needimprovement. If you follow the guidelines in SectionV, you will build a solid plan for managing yourprogramone that includes the following elements:

An advisory group;

A comprehensive system for managing program information;

A resource development plan that allows for diversified fundraising;

A system to monitor the program;

Strategies for staff development;

Strong pro-mentoring advocacy efforts in both the public and private sectors; and

Effective public relations and communicationsefforts.

3. Program Operations. Efficient, consistent everydayoperations are important to the success of anymentoring program. How well the people involvedin your program fulfill their responsibilities canmean the difference between chaos and stability,confusion and clear-cut expectations, motivationand passivity. Section VI offers proven strategies forthe following operational functions:

Recruiting mentors, mentees and other volunteers;

Screening potential mentors and mentees;

13INTRODUCTION TO MENTORING AND PROGRAM-BUILDING

Refer to the Tips onthe Five Types ofMentoring in the

appendix of Section IV.

MENTORING TOOL


Providing orientation and training for mentors,mentees and parents/caregivers;

Matching mentors and mentees;

Bringing mentors and mentees together for activities and sessions that fall within establishedprogram parameters;

Supporting, supervising and monitoring mentoring relationships;

Recognizing the contributions of all program participants; and

Helping mentors and mentees reach closure.

4. Program Evaluation. Ongoing quality improve-ment is a hallmark of effective mentoring pro-grams. How well you serve young people dependson how accurately you assess your programs suc-cess and identify areas that need improvement.Section VII will help you establish the following:

A plan to measure your program process accurately;

A process for measuring whether expected outcomes have occurred; and

A process that reflects on evaluation findingsand disseminates them to appropriate parties.

WHATS THE NEXT STEP?

Now that youre equipped with an overview of theessential elements of a mentoring program and anunderstanding of the five types of mentoring, youreready to embark on creating a vision for your program. Section IV, How to Design and Plan aMentoring Program, will guide you through thedesign and planning phase. As youve seen, theElements of this initial phase are intricately related tothe type of mentoring your program will offer.

While the same design and planning guidelines applyfor all mentoring programs, how you implement themmay vary according to the type of mentoring.

Youre ready to embark on the very important work ofdesigning and planning the who, what, when, whereand how of your mentoring program. By taking time tocarefully think through all aspects of your program, youwill ensure that youre able to serve young people mosteffectively and sustain your efforts over the long term.

The program design and planning stage enables youto create a roadmap of how you will manage, imple-ment and evaluate your mentoring program. Keep inmind that you can modify your plan as you go along,as circumstances and experiences dictate. For example,many of the decisions you make during this phase willbe affected if you are partnering with another agencyor group. However, by planning in advance how youwill select your management team, establish policiesand procedures, develop a financial plan and imple-ment and evaluate your program, you can be sure thatyour program adheres to the second edition of theElements of Effective Practice. Sections V, VI and VIIwill provide more detailed information and resourceson how to put your plan into action.

START WITH THE NEED

Your decision to start a mentoring program stemsfrom your belief that a need exists for such a pro-gram. But before you can amass the support you willneed to launch a program, you must verify that theneed does, in fact, exist. How do you go about deter-mining the need?

Begin with your local government or a community-wide organization, such as United Way, that conductsperiodic, comprehensive community needs assess-ments. Or you might elect to conduct your own envi-ronmental scan, a process that allows you to identifystate and local priorities, needs and opportunities inthe context of the current economic environment.Whichever method you decide on, use the informa-

tion you glean to confirm that your proposed mentor-ing initiative can answer a clear need among youth inyour community.

Next, youll need to confirm that people are ready andwilling to invest in your program (with financial help,human resources, in-kind gifts, etc.) and that demandand support for your program services will be ongo-ing. Finally, you will need to determine whether yourorganization has the capacity, commitment and capa-bility to run a quality mentoring program.

DESIGN THE PARAMETERS FOR YOUR PROGRAM

The program design phase will help you determinethe following:

Which youth populations your program will serve;

What specific type of mentoring you will offer;

Where mentoring pairs will meet;

Whom you will partner with (e.g., a school, corporation, faith-based community); and

Whom you will involve as advisors, staff andparticipants.

Begin designing your pro-gram using the 12 parametersoutlined in the Elements ofEffective Practice. Lets lookbriefly at each parameter andhow it will help shape yourprogram. Use the tools at the

end of this section to help you further.

1. Define the youth population that the programwill serve. Based on the results of your needsassessment, youll be able to identify certain char-acteristics about the youth you want your program

15HOW TO DESIGN AND PLAN A MENTORING PROGRAM

Section IV. How to Design and Plan a Mentoring Program

See the InformationalOverview of the Typesof Mentoring in the

appendix at the end ofthis section.

MENTORING TOOL

to serve. Ask yourself, Who needs the program?Whos already being served by other programs oragencies? and Who are the young people our pro-gram is capable of serving?

The following are other factors to consider:

Age. Do you wish to serve elementary, middleor high school youth?

Gender. Do you intend to serve boys or girls, or both?

Mentoring need. Do you want to help youthimprove their reading or academics? Or are youlooking to help them improve their social skillsand relationships with others? Or are you focus-ing on helping them learn about the world ofwork, potential career paths and the skills theywill need to succeed?

Common characteristics. Are you working witha specific audiencefor example, youth withdisabilities or from a certain income bracket? Ifyou are starting a workplace mentoring pro-gram, are you looking to include youth of a certain age group? If yours is a faith-based program, will you look to recruit youth from a specific congregation or of a particular faith?

2. Identify the types of individuals you will recruitas mentors. Once you have decided on your targetyouth population, you can refine your criteria forthe type of people you wish to recruit as mentors.For instance, if you are targeting elementary schoolchildren who could benefit from improved socialskills, perhaps senior citizens would be a goodmatch. If you are looking to help young peopleimprove their reading or academic skills, collegestudents might be particularly appealing. If helpingyoung people learn about the world of work orpossible career options is your focus, you mightwant to recruit employees from the public, privateand nonprofit sectors.

Your sources for mentors are almost limitless: cor-porations; civic organizations; faith-based institu-tions (such as churches, mosques or synagogues);government agencies; police and fire stations; sen-ior citizen groups; colleges; sorority/fraternityalumni; and labor groups, among others.

While your sources for mentors may be plentiful,actually recruiting mentors can be challengingbecause you are asking people to volunteer a pre-cious commodity: their time. By offering flexibleoptions, you can help overcome their reservations.In fact, according to MENTORs 2002 NationalPoll, 57 million Americans would seriously considermentoring if they had flexible options that matchedtheir schedules and interests. This tool kit containsdetailed information and tools you need to explorethose options and recruit effectively.

3. Determine the type of mentoring the programwill offer. After you define the youth populationyou want to serve and the kinds of individuals youintend to recruit as mentors, you must determinethe type of mentoring youll offer. Responsiblementoring can take many forms: traditional men-toring (one adult to one young person); groupmentoring (one adult to up to four young people);team mentoring (several adults working with smallgroups of young people, with an adult-to-youthratio not greater than 1:4); peer mentoring (caringyouth mentoring other youth); and e-mentoring(mentoring via e-mail and the Internet). (SeeSection III for a brief overview of each type ofmentoring.) The following are some issues youmight consider: One-to-one and peer mentoringwill require more mentors than the other types ofprograms; group and team mentoring will allowyou to reach more young people with fewer men-tors; and e-mentoring will be the least restrictive interms of bridging geographic and time differences,because people can e-mail 24 hours a day, sevendays a week, no matter where they are, as long asthey have access to a computer.

4. Structure the mentoring program as a stand-alone program or as part of an existing organiza-tion. Many factors will help you determinewhether to structure your program to stand aloneor as part of another organization. Cost is a majorfactor. The cost of starting a stand-alone programwill probably be more than the cost of partneringwith another organization. Duplication of servicesis another factor to consider. You will want to dosome research to ensure that you are not duplicat-


SECTION IV

ing a service that exists. A third factor is legal liabil-ity. Do you want to assume liability and the relatedcosts for insurance against risk? Or do you wantyour program to be part of a larger organizationthat will be legally accountable? A fourth factor toconsider is organizational infrastructure. Programsthat plan to stand alone have to build organization-al infrastructure, such as personnel, financial andtechnology systems. Most freestanding programs gothrough the process to become a nonprofit 501(c)(3) so they may accept charitable contributions.Talk with your State or Local MentoringPartnership, United Way or Volunteer Center tofind out what mentoring programs are already inyour area and to identify resources to help youbecome a 501 (c)(3) if needed. If you find that asimilar mentoring organization exists, contact thehead of that organization to talk about your plansand about a possible partnership. If, after that con-versation, you still want to pursue a stand-aloneprogram, you will need to line up your leadership,financial backing and other forms of support. Onceagain, your State or Local Mentoring Partnership,United Way or VolunteerCenter can help you with this process.

5. Define the nature of thementoring sessions1. Inparameter 1, when decid-ing which population youwant to serve, you touchedon the type of need your program will address.Now is the time to make a definitive decisionabout the nature of your mentoring sessions.Regardless of the nature of the mentoring sessions(i.e., character, social or leadership development;school-to-career; or academic success), the coreactivity of mentoring is the development of rela-tionships that will, in turn, enable you to achieveother program goals. While all mentoring programsaim to promote positive youth outcomes, each pro-gram has its own specific goals. Some programshave broad youth-development goals, while othersfocus on improving academic performance, learn-

ing how to succeed in the world of work or reduc-ing risky behaviors. The following are the threemost common models for mentoring programs.

Character, social and leadership development.This model focuses primarily on building a rela-tionship between a young person and a caringadult who can serve as a role model and lifecoach. In this model, the mentor and thementee decide the types of activities they will dotogether. Their main interest is just to spendtime together, talking or playing games, visitingmuseums, and so on. While some of their activ-ities may be academic in nature (e.g., readingtogether), there are no defined expectations forimproving the mentees academic skills oracquiring new skills and knowledge. The focusis on building the relationship.

School-to-career. This model, which incorpo-rates a more intentional effort to help youngpeople explore a career direction, is most fre-quently used at the middle school and highschool levels. It is particularly effective for highschool students, who tend to drop out of tradi-tional mentoring programs.

The activities between the mentor and thementee in this model may include the following:

Career exploration. A young person followsone or more adult employees on the job overthe long term to learn more about a particularoccupation. Career exploration is a more in-depth process than just job shadowing.

Job/life skills. Mentors help youth develop theskills they need to get a job and succeed in theworkplace. Youth learn skills, such as how toprepare a resum, manage time and resolveworkplace conflicts.

Postsecondary education/internships. Mentorsprovide information related to postsecondaryeducation, including internship opportunitiesthat may or may not be paid.


For tips on buildingrelationships, see thetraining and supporttools in Section VI

on the CD.

MENTORING TOOL

Academic success. This model incorporates amore intentional effort to exert a positive influ-ence on a childs academic success. The activitiesbetween the mentor and the mentee are deter-mined jointly by the school and the mentor (theschool may provide an activity guide to men-tors). In this type of program, mentors helpyouth with class work and/or special projects ona regular basis, either in the classroom or at theworkplace. The mentoring pairs read together,do homework, talk about being successful inschool, and so on.

An academically focused mentoring program isdifferent from a program focused strictly ontutoring or reading. The academically focusedmentoring program puts more emphasis onbuilding a relationship between a mentor and amentee. It also gives mentors more flexibility tospend time talking with their mentees aboutboth academic and nonacademic issues. Readingand tutoring programs can be modified toinclude a mentoring component that providesmentor training to adult volunteers.

6. Determine what the program will accomplishand what outcomes will result. The nature of yourmentoring sessions (parameter 5) will help deter-mine the types of outcomes you want to achievefor the overall program and for all the participants:mentors, mentees and sponsoring organizations.

7. Determine when the mentoring will take place.The nature of your mentoring sessions will alsohelp determine when the mentoring takes place. Ifacademic support is your focus, mentoring willprobably take place during or immediately afterschool. (One exception would be e-mentoring,which can take place any time.) If career guidanceis your focus, mentoring will probably take placeduring or after school, but during the mentorswork hours. If socialization is your focus, mentor-ing could take place any time, including weekends.

8. Determine how often mentors and mentees willmeet and how long the mentoring matchesshould endure. Ensure that the amount of timeyou require for mentoring sessions will be adequateto accomplish the outcomes you set in parameter 6.The success of mentoring lies in mentors andmentees developing and sustaining close personalrelationships. Because it takes time to develop arelationship, the duration and consistency of amentoring relationship is very important. At a minimum, mentors and mentees should meet regularly at least four hours per month for at least a year. (There are exceptions. Mentors and menteesin school-based mentoring, for example, will meetduring the school year rather than during the fullcalendar year. In such special circumstances,mentees need to know from the outset how longthey can expect the relationship to last so they canadjust their expectations accordingly. It should benoted that research has shown that school-basedmentoring programs with a summer componentdevelop stronger mentoring relationships than thosewithout this component.)

9. Decide where the mentoring matches will meet.Once again, the nature of your mentoring sessionswill help determine where they take place. You havemany options to choose from: workplace, school,faith-based organization, juvenile corrections facili-ty, community setting or the virtual community.Here are some guidelines.

Workplace-based mentoring. Takes place at thebusiness. At the elementary level, a class orgroup of children is transported to the business,where they meet with their mentors. At the sec-ondary level, workplace-based programs mayinclude internships and job shadowing. Schoolpersonnel and the company coordinator super-vise the program. The following characteristicsare common to workplace mentoring programs:

Offer young people the chance to develop arelationship with one or more employees whobecome friends, role models and advocates forthem;


SECTION IV

Typically take place at the workplace, eitherduring or after school hours;

May take various forms, including tutoring,job shadowing, career exploration and gameplaying;

Typically ask the mentor for a commitment ofat least one year; and

Require mentor screening and ongoing sup-port and supervision.

School-based mentoring. Takes place at theschool. The mentor comes to the school to meetwith the child, typically for an hour a week.School personnel supervise the program. Thefollowing characteristics are common to school-based mentoring programs:

Offer students the chance to develop a rela-tionship with one or more adults, other thanparents and teachers, who become friends, rolemodels and advocates for them;

Typically take place at school, either during orimmediately after school hours;

May take various forms, including tutoring,game playing and sports;

Typically ask the mentor for a commitment ofat least one school year; and


Faith-based mentoring. Congregations of allfaiths are fertile places to develop mentoringprograms. They have a long tradition of instill-ing spiritual values and moral strength. As partof a faith-based institution that can draw freelyon the talents and time of committed volun-teers, mentoring puts faith into practice, andeveryone benefits. When considering faith-basedmentoring, determine whether the mentoringwill simply take place in a faith-based settingwithout religious overtones or will strive totransmit religious values. If the latter, youll want

to recruit mentors of a particular faith. The fol-lowing characteristics are common to faith-basedmentoring programs:

Offer young people the chance to develop arelationship with one or more adults whobecome friends, role models and advocates forthem;

Are based in a house of worship and reflect thevalues and beliefs of that religion;

Typically occur after school hours and/or onweekends;

May take various forms, including careerexploration, life skills development, game play-ing and going to sports, entertainment or cul-tural events;

May serve young people from the congrega-tion or from the local community; and


Mentoring through juvenile corrections. Takesplace at a corrections facility. Mentors come tothe site to meet with the youth, typically for oneto two hours a week. The following characteris-tics are common to mentoring programs at ajuvenile corrections facility or post-release:

Offer young people the chance to develop arelationship with one or more adults whobecome friends, role models and advocates forthem;

Increase a youths awareness of educational,cultural, recreational and career opportunities;

Focus on helping youth accept their responsi-bilities and realize their potential;

Typically ask the mentor for a commitment ofat least one year;

May ask mentors to assist the youth in transi-tioning out of the residential setting;


Have a caseworker on site to supervise men-toring meetings; and


Community-based mentoring. In community-based mentoring, the mentor and the menteedecide where and when mentoring activities willtake place. The following characteristics arecommon to community-based mentoring pro-grams:

Offer young people the chance to develop arelationship with one or more adults, otherthan parents and teachers, who becomefriends, role models and advocates for them;

Often take place outside of specific sites, aswhen mentors and mentees plan activities suchas going to the movies or going to a park;

May take various forms, including tutoring,career exploration, life skills development,game playing and going to sports, entertain-ment or cultural events;

Typically ask the mentor for a commitmentof at least one year;

Involve a higher level of risk management,because activities take place in the communitywithout outside supervision; and


Agency-based mentoring. Takes place at a com-munity site, such as an after-school program orBoys and Girls Club. Mentors meet with youthat the program site, and agency staff memberssupervise the activities. The following character-istics are common to agency-based mentoringprograms:

Offer young people the chance to develop arelationship with one or more adults, otherthan parents and teachers, who becomefriends, role models and advocates for them;

May take various forms, including tutoring,career exploration, life skills development,game playing and going to sports, entertain-ment or cultural events;

Typically ask the mentor for a commitment ofat least one year;


E-mentoring. E-mentoringalso known asonline mentoring, telementoring or teletutor-ingdescribes a mentoring relationship that isconducted via the Internet. The primary goal of

e-mentoring is the same asthat of face-to-face mentor-ing: establishing a trusting,nurturing, positive relation-ship between a mentor and ayoung person.

Programs may use any of the electronic commu-nications available, including e-mail, secure Websites or custom communications software, such asMentors Online: The E-mentoring Tool Kit. Themajor benefit of this form of mentoring is that itcan overcome some challenges associated with tra-ditional, face-to-face mentoring, especially thetime constraints that prevent many adults frommentoring.

The following characteristics are common to e-mentoring programs:

May take various forms including career explo-ration, life skills development and academicsuccess;


Visit our E-mentoringClearinghouse at

Mentoring.org/emc.

SECTION IV

May help young people deepen their under-standing of the positive potential of onlinecommunications;

May be the exclusive vehicle for young peopleand mentors to connect or may serve as anadditional communication tool for those whoordinarily meet in person;

Typically ask the mentor for a commitmentof at least one year; and


10. Identify your program stakeholders and deter-mine how you will promote your program. Nomatter what type of mentoring program youbuild, your stakeholders will include your advisorygroup (see Section V for information on develop-ing an advisory group), your management team,mentors, mentees and parents/caregivers.Depending on the nature of the mentoring yourprogram offers, stakeholders could also includeorganizations with which you partner, such asschools, faith communities, juvenile facilities,community groups, the media and the generalpublic.

11. Decide how to evaluate the programs success.We have a number of tools that can help you eval-uate whether you have succeeded in accomplishingwhat you set out to do. Section VII describes pro-gram evaluation in detail.

12. Establish a case management protocol to ensurethat the program has regular contact with bothmentors and mentees about their relationship.For mentoring relationships in your program toflourish and endure, your staff will need to be intouch with mentors and mentees on an ongoingbasis. That way, they can assess how well each rela-tionship is progressing and offer guidance andadvice along the way. Regular contact betweenprogram staff and mentors and mentees can helpavoid conflict, get relationships back on track andhelp you accomplish your program goals.

PLAN HOW THE PROGRAM WILL BE MANAGED

Select the Management Team

The size of your staff will depend on the size andscope of your program. At the very least, you will need a program coordinator. (Larger programs mayneed more than one coordinator. Some programs haveone paid staff member and designate other program

responsibilities to a team ofcommitted volunteers or,in the case of a school-

based program, a group ofteachers or guidance coun-selor staff.)

Choose someone with strongleadership abilities and man-

agement skills who can manage a wide range ofresponsibilities, including:

Managing the overall program;

Developing consistent procedures for recruiting andreferring young people;

Overseeing development and implementation of allpromotional and educational efforts;

Cultivating and maintaining all necessary externalcontacts and relationships for implementing andmaintaining the mentor program (e.g., with partnerorganizations);

Recruiting, screening, training and supervisingmentors;

Matching mentor pairs;

Developing and maintaining all records, policiesand procedures;

Coordinating mentoring activities;

Checking in regularly with mentors and offeringongoing support;

Developing a plan to recognize program participants;

Developing a plan to evaluate the program,including soliciting participant feedback;

Tracking program statistics, including budgetarycosts, hours and so forth; and

Documenting development of the mentor program.


See job descriptionsfor program

coordinators and other staff in Section IV

on the CD.

MENTORING TOOL

Your program coordinator will need at least 8 to 10hours of training to carry out these responsibilities. We have included sample position descriptions forprogram coordinators, which you can use as a guide,on the CD. For additional training and technical assistance, contact your State or Local MentoringPartnership or local Volunteer Center.

Establish Policies and Procedures

In addition to selecting a management team, you willneed to establish policies and procedures that reflectyour program decisions and practices that everyonewill follow. Establish policiesand procedures in these areas:

Where and whenmentoring takes place;

How mentors areoriented, trained andscreened;

How mentors and mentees are matched;

Who supervises mentoring pairs and how oftenthat individual is in contact with eachmentor/mentee pair;

Whom a mentor or a mentee should contact whenproblems arise;

How to handle complaints;

How to resolve problems in relationships or bringrelationships to closure; and

How to evaluate your success.

Section V offers more detail and tools on this subject.

Implement Ongoing Staff Training andProfessional Development

As you select your management team, remember thatyou will need to plan and design an ongoing stafftraining and professional development process. InSection V, we offer a training agenda you can use inthis process. At this stage, you will need to considerwho will carry out the training, how often, where and

when. Youll also need to estimate how much youshould allot for training and professional development.Contact your State or Local Mentoring Partnership,local United Way or Volunteer Center to see if theyoffer such training. Also use them as a resource to helpyou design your staff development plan.

Develop a Financial Plan

During the design and planning stage, youll want todevelop a financial plan that includes a budget foryour program, along with an estimate of how muchfunding you will need to start and sustain the pro-gram. You will need to identify and secure a diversifiedstream of funding so you do not rely too heavily onone source. As part of your plan, youll need to deter-mine how long you can expect to receive funding fromeach source so you can develop new sources beforefunding runs out. And you will need to establish con-trols and auditing requirements, as well as a system

for managing your programfinances. To get you start-ed, we have included several tools on the CD

related to this section:

Budget Items for aMentoring Program, laysout the many types of

expenses you may incur as you establish and runyour program.

Program Liability and Risk Management, helpsyou assess your potential liability and risk so youcan shop around for adequate insurance and addthose costs to your budget projections.

Financial Internal Controls Checklist, provides alist of procedures you will need to follow to keepyour program financially healthy.

Section V will take you through the actual process ofmanaging program finances and designing a resourcedevelopment plan for diversified funding.


See Section V foradditional information

on policies andprocedures.

See resourcedevelopment tools in Section V on

the CD.

MENTORING TOOL

SECTION IV

Implement the Program

The design and planning phase is a good time to thinkthrough all aspects of dealing with program partici-pants, from recruitment, screening, orientation, train-ing, to matching and supporting mentoring pairs. It isalso the time to think about how you will recognize thecontributions of program participants and help men-tors and mentees reach closure. The Sample ProgramImplementation Timeline at the end of this sectionwill help get you started; Section VI offers more toolsand resources for implementing your program.

Plan How to Evaluate the Program

At this planning and design stage, think about howyou intend to evaluate your programs effectiveness,including the type of data youll collect, how you willcollect it and from which sources. Section VII takesyou through the evaluation process step-by-step.


SECTION IV


As your program starts to build a solid foundationbased on implementing the Elements of EffectivePractice, use the checklist below to gauge yourprogress. Checking off items on this list indicates thatyou are putting the proper components in place togrow a quality, sustainable program.

If your program is already well established, you can usethe checklist to gauge the soundness of your currentpolicies, procedures and organizational structure.

Note: The design, focus and structure of your programmay mean that some of these components will not beapplicable or will need to be modified to match your spe-cific program structure.

PRE-IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ELEMENTS OFEFFECTIVE PRACTICE:

Our program conducted a community needs assessment or environmental scan.

The results of the needs assessment areincorporated into our program planning anddesign, especially in the identification of targetpopulations and potential community partnerships.

1. Design the Parameters for the Program

Our program clearly identified the youthpopulation to be served and the youth needsand opportunities to be addressed by theprogram.

If the youth population is higher risk (e.g.,involved in the juvenile justice system, placedwith the state child welfare agency, druginvolved), our program has identifiedappropriate services to address their needs.

Our program identified the types of individualsto recruit as mentors.

Our program determined the type of mentoringto be offered (one-to-one, group, team, peer, ore-mentoring).

Our program defined the nature of thementoring sessions (career involvement,academic support or socialization).

Our program determined what the program willaccomplish and its intended outcomes.

Our program determined when the mentoringwill take place (after school, lunch time, etc.).

Our program determined how often thementors and mentees will meet and how longthe mentoring matches should endure.

Our program decided where the mentoringmatches will primarily meet (workplace, school,faith-based organization, juvenile correctionsfacility, community setting or virtualcommunity).

Our program developed a clear, appropriatemission statement to be communicated to allstakeholders.

Our program used our mission statement toguide the development of policies and programpractices.

2. Plan How the Program Will Be Managed

Select the management team

We have determined who will make up ourmanagement team.

Strong knowledge of mentoring and youthdevelopment research

Our staff has a solid understanding of youthmentoring research and best practices.

Checklist of Program Progress: PROGRAM DESIGN AND PLANNING


We have used mentoring research and othersupporting literature in the design andimplementation of our program.

Our staff has a solid understanding of youthdevelopment principles.

Written policy and procedure manual

Our program has established a policy andprocedure manual.

Our policy and procedure manual covers allaspects of program operation and providesguidance to staff on how to handle particularsituations.

Our programs policies have been approved byour board of directors and/or advisory group.

Our program provides an orientation for newstaff on contents of the policy and proceduremanual.

Copies of our policy and procedure manualreside in central locations and are easilyaccessible for all program staff.

Our program has a process in place to regularlyreview and revise the policy and proceduremanual.

3. Develop a Financial Plan

We have developed a program budget anddetermined the amount of funding needed tostart and sustain the mentoring program.

We have identified and secured a diversifiedfunding stream to start and sustain thementoring program.

We have determined the amount of time eachfunding source can be expected to provideresources.

We have established internal controls andauditing requirements.

We have established a system for managingprogram finances.

4. Implement the Program

See the Program Operations Checklist for additionalinformation.

5. Plan How to Evaluate the Program

We have decided on the evaluation design. We have determined what data will be collected

and the sources of the data.

See the Program Evaluation Checklist for additionalinformation.

Adapted from Checklist of Program Progress, Oregon Mentors, Youth Mentoring: A Primer for Funders, The ConnecticutMentoring Partnership and Elements of Effective Practice, second edition, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership.

SECTION IV


Advisory Group

Boards That Make a Difference, A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations, John Carver, 1997; second edition

Mentoring

Stand by Me: The Risks and Rewards of Mentoring Todays Youth, Dr. Jean E. Rhodes, 2002www.mentoring.org/research_corner

Group Mentoring

Group Mentoring: A Study of Mentoring Groups in Three Programs, Carla Herrera, Zoua Vang and Lisa Y. Gale(Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures; Alexandria, VA; MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, 2002).www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/153_publication.pdf

Peer Mentoring

Peer Resourceswww.peer.ca/mentor.html

National Peer Helpers Associationwww.peerhelping.org/

Teen TrendsettersTM, Reading Mentors Program, Florida Governors Mentoring Initiativewww.floridanext.com/trendsetters/

E-mentoring

E-mentoring Clearinghouse, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnershipwww.mentoring.org/emc

Starting an E-mentoring Programwww.mentoring.org/starting_an_ementoring_program

Mentors Online: The E-mentoring Toolkitwww.mentoring.org/mentorsonline

Additional resources for group, peer and e-mentoring, as well as one-to-one and team mentoring, can be found throughout the tool kit.

Additional Resources

Faith-Based Mentoring

Amachi: Mentoring Children of Prisoners in Philadelphia, Linda Jucovy, (Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures;The Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, 2003).www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/21_publication.pdf

Church-Based Mentoring: A Program Manual for Mentoring Ministries, United Way of SoutheasternPennsylvanias Volunteer Centers, 1994; Contact MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, phone: 703-224-2200Cost $9.95 plus S&H

Church Mentoring Network: A Program Manual for Linking and Supporting Mentoring Ministries,MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, 1999; Contact MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership,phone: 703-224-2200

People of Faith Mentoring Children of Promise: A Model Partnership Based on Service and Community, National Crime Prevention Council, 2004www.ncpc.org


Program Planning

Diagnostic Tool*................................. 29

Informational Overview of Types of Mentoring Programs*..................... 33

Tips from the Experts* ....................... 41

Program Parameters

Program Implementation Timeline* .... 45

12-Month Activity Calendar

Writing a Mission Statement

Establishing Goals and Objectives and Worksheet

Mentoring Program Outline and Worksheet

Program Outline (RBS/The First Tee)

Program Planning and Management

Job Descriptions and Duties ofMentoring Program Staff

Program Coordinator PositionDescription

Workplace Mentoring Program Liaison(For community-based mentoring)

School Liaison Responsibilities

Policies and Procedures

Program Liability and Risk Management*..................................... 47

Financial Planning

Budget Items for a Mentoring Program

Financial Internal Controls Checklist

E-mentoring

E-mentoring Program Fact Sheet (Digital Heroes Campaign)

E-mentoring Program Implementation Timeline

E-mentoring Program Coordinator Roles and Responsibilities

Sign-Up Form for Mentors

Parent/Guardian Permission Form

Congratulations/Matched E-mail

E-mentee Profile Form

E-mentor Profile Form

Mentee Conversation Tip Sheet

Conversation Starters for Mentees

E-mentee Writing Lesson

SECTION IV TOOLS ON CD

* Select tools denoted with an asterisk also appear in the print version of the tool kit.

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29DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

PRIMARY QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE THE TYPE OF MENTORING PROGRAM THAT BEST MEETS YOUNG PEOPLES NEEDS:

1. What is the youth population that your program will serve?

By Age: 810 1114 1518 Other ___________

By other characteristics (geography, special needs, etc.):

2. What potential sources of mentors will you recruit from (alumni, local businesses, faith communities,students, etc.)?

Type of Mentors: Senior Citizens Corporate Employees College Students High School Students General Public Other ______________________

3. What is the nature of the mentoring sessions? (What is the problem that you are trying to address or theoutcome you are trying to achieve?)

Education/Academic Support Friendship/Socialization Job Placement/Performance Reduce Recidivism Healthy Behaviors Career Exploration Other ___________________

4. Where will the mentoring occur?

Site Based: In the Community: Workplace Out in the Community School Faith-based Organization Online: Juvenile Corrections Facility Online (Virtual Community) After-school Program Agency-based Other:

Other ___________________________

5. When will the mentoring sessions take place (e.g., during school, after school, on weekends)?

6. How often will mentors/mentees meet (once per week for an hour, two-hour meetings twice per month, etc.)and how long will the mentoring matches endure (one year, six months, etc.)?

DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

TYPES OF PROGRAMS

Select a type of mentoring program you wish to design and implement on the basis of your answers to the diagnostic tool.

One-to-One Mentoring:

Mentee Ages: 818

Prospective Mentors: Senior Citizens, Corporate Employees, College Students and General Public

Nature of Sessions: Education/Academic Support, Job Placement/Performance, Healthy Behav-iors, Friendship/Socialization, Reduce Recidivism, Career Exploration

Where Matches Meet: Workplace, Faith-based Organization, Juvenile Corrections Facility, After-school Program, School, In the Community, Agency-based, Online

E-mentoring:

Mentee Ages: 1218



Where Matches Meet: Online or in combination with face-to-face mentoring

Peer Mentoring:

Mentee Ages: 818

Prospective Mentors: High School Students and College Students

Nature of Sessions: Academic Support and Friendship

Where Matches Meet: School, Agency-based, After-school Program

Team Mentoring:

Mentee Ages: 818





Group Mentoring:

Mentee Ages: 818




31DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

Courtesy of MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership.

33INFORMATIONAL OVERVIEW OF TYPES OF MENTORING PROGRAMS

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how to build a successful mentoring program

Documents