How to Build A Successful Mentoring Program

MENTOR 201 South St Boston, MA 02111

Online version of the toolkit: eep

Copyright 2005. MENTOR

All rights reserved. Published 2005. Printed in the United States of America. Reproduction rights: Permission to reproduce or photocopy portions of this toolkit with attribution is granted by MENTOR.

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

CONTENTS

Foreword

vii

Acknowledgements

ix

Section I.

About MENTOR

1

Our State and Local Affiliates

1

Resources

? State and Local Affiliates

3

? National Mentoring Institute

5

Section II. About the toolkit

7

Why Create a toolkit?

7

Guidelines for New--and Existing--Programs

7

What You'll Find in the toolkit

8

Glossary of Terms

9

Let's Get Started!

10

Section III. Introduction to Mentoring and Program-Building

11

What Is Mentoring Today?

11

What Makes a Successful Mentoring Relationship?

11

The Five Types of Mentoring

12

What Elements Constitute a Safe and Effective Mentoring Program?

13

What's the Next Step?

14

Section IV.

How to Design and Plan a Mentoring Program

15

Start with the Need

15

Design the Parameters for Your Program

15

Plan 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

CONTENTS

iii

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 Form an Advisory Group Develop a Comprehensive System for Managing Program Information Design a Resource Development Plan That

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

Checklist of Program Progress: Program Management

Additional Resources

Tools Located on CD

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

53 53 55

57 58 59 60 61 63

65

69

Tab B

Section VI. How to Structure Effective Program Operations

91

Build the Right Structure

91

Recruit Mentors, Mentees and Other Volunteers

91

Screen Potential Mentors and Mentees

96

Orient and Train Mentors, Mentees and Parents/Caregivers

100

Match Mentors and Mentees

103

Bring Mentors and Mentees Together for Mentoring Sessions That Fall

within the Program Parameters

104

Provide Ongoing Support, Supervision and Monitoring of Mentoring

Relationships

105

Recognize the Contributions of All Program Participants

106

Help Mentors and Mentees Reach Closure

107

iv

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

CONTENTS

Checklist of Program Progress: Program Operations

Additional Resources

Tools Located on CD

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

109 113 Tab C

Section VII.

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

Checklist of Program Progress: Program Evaluation

Additional Resources

Tools Located on CD ? Program Evaluation

163 163 163 164 164 165

169

171

Tab D

Section VIII. Wrap-Up and Feedback

181

Evaluation Form

183

Endnotes

187

CONTENTS

v

FOREWORD

You have in your hands How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice. This comprehensive toolkit includes tools, templates and advice for implementing and adhering to the second edition of the Elements of Effective Practice--rigorous guidelines that, when followed, will help to ensure quality mentoring.

The toolkit was made possible by a generous grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and is the latest offering from MENTOR and the vital network of State Affiliates. For more than a decade, we have been leading the movement to connect America's young people with caring adult mentors. We serve as the "mentor's mentor," providing a wide range of resources and technical assistance to more than 4,300 mentoring programs across the nation.

In 1990, we joined with United Way of America to convene a blue-ribbon panel of mentoring experts to produce the nation's first set of rigorous mentoring guidelines, the first edition of the Elements of Effective Practice. Those Elements served as the gold standard for quality mentoring for 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 Mott Foundation, 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 nation's top 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 toolkit will save you time and effort, because it contains materials and information you need to start or maintain a quality mentoring program. The toolkit is written to follow the format of the Elements--but it allows you to take portions of the toolkit in a different order, depending on where you are in starting or strengthening your mentoring program.

We hope you will use the toolkit with great success. For further assistance, we encourage you to reach out to your State Affiliate or visit , to find the latest resources for the mentoring field. And, as always, we very much welcome your feedback.

In Partnership,

Gail Manza Executive Director

Tonya Wiley Vice-President

FOREWORD

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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

We gratefully acknowledge the guidance, feedback and unwavering support for the development of the toolkit provided by members of our Advisory Council:

2005 Advisory Council

Jean Lahage Cohen Mentoring Partnership of Long Island

Joyce Corlett Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

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

Susan K. Patrick The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership

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

Rosemary Townsend Baylor University Health Services

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

State and Local Affiliates

We would like to thank our network of State and Local Affiliates for their support of this toolkit. We extend our sincere appreciation to the following Affiliates that shared resources and ideas:

California Governor's Mentoring Partnership Mentoring Partnership of Long Island

The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership

The Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership

Florida Mentoring Partnership, Volunteer Florida Foundation Iowa Mentoring Partnership The Maryland Mentoring Partnership Mass Mentoring Partnership Memphis Mentoring Partnership

The Mentor Center of Palm Beach County The Mentoring Partnership of New York Oregon Mentors Texas Governor's Mentoring Initiative Virginia Mentoring Partnership

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ix

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

MENTOR Lead Staff

Kristi Zappie-Ferradino

Harvard Graduate School of Education inc. Kinship of Greater Minneapolis University of Texas at San Antonio Youth Development Strategies, Inc. YouthFriends

Project Staff

Colleen Appleby-Carroll Kathy Johnson Jennifer Richter Cindy Sturtevant

Editor's note: All tools and resources submitted for inclusion have been edited and customized to accommodate the needs of the toolkit.

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

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