TGI Members make site visits to Metro Detroit education and health nonprofits

Members of CAAP’s Teen Grantmaking Initiative (TGI) recently visited two of their potential grantee organizations. Site visits are a great opportunity for the youth to learn more about the health and educational programs they are considering funding in 2013. Student Leadership Services is a youth-led initiative that trains students in school-based health initiatives. The Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation is dedicated to preserving and revitalizing the Grandmont Rosedale communities of northwest Detroit by organizing a wide range of community improvement programs. Thank you to our hosts for being generous with their time and resources - the youth had a great experience, and are looking forward to revealing their grantmaking decisions in the coming weeks! 

TGI is giving up to $5,000 to organizations that provide education and health services for Detroit area youth

The Teen Grantmaking Initiative (TGI), a project of the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP), today announced its 2013 request for proposals from organizations that serve young people in metro Detroit. TGI will award grants of between $1,000 and $2,000 to nonprofits that address educational success or improved health outcomes for youth in the community.

• The 2013 request for proposals can be found online at www.centeraap.org.

This will be the second round of grant-making conducted by TGI, the only Arab American youth philanthropy program in the United States. Last year, the group awarded grants totaling $4,600 to 12 organizations. Some of the programs they funded target HIV and teen pregnancy prevention, develop life skills for teen mothers, and provide after-school tutoring and sports programs for low-income students.

“Last year we conducted a needs assessment among youth in the community,” said Rasha Khanafer, 16, TGI youth chair. “Based on the results of the needs assessment, we decided to focus our current grantmaking on supporting the academic success of youth and meeting the health needs of youth. We are excited about impacting the lives of youth in our community through these program areas.”

Launched by CAAP in 2011, TGI is a group of 20 high school students committed to making an impact in their communities through fund-raising, grant-making and community service.

“The group was formed to make a lasting impact on local youth by deepening their understanding of philanthropy and community service, and by nurturing the future generation of leaders making a difference in their community,” said Jamie Kim, TGI adult advisor.

“The youth have worked hard this past year learning about the issues impacting youth in their communities,” said Kim. “Through the process of grant-making, youth gain valuable skills in nonprofit program management, consensus building and grant review.”

Young grant-makers seek teens’ opinions

Eating disorders? Gun violence? Jobs? Drug use? A group of budding grant-makers wants to know what issues area teens consider most important.

Members of the Teen Grantmaking Initiative (TGI), a project of the Center for Arab American Philanthropy, met Sunday to weigh what they consider to be most important to young people and how their grant-making can support those issues.

After hearing from Breannah Alexander, program associate for Youth Philanthropy at the Council of Michigan Foundations, about why a needs assessment is vital to their work as grant-makers, the teens reviewed needs assessments created by other youth advisory councils and formatted their own assessment, keeping aspects they liked and changing the pieces that didn’t fit.

Now they’re asking their peers to weigh in. Area teens can fill out TGI’s needs assessment survey by clicking here.

Unlike other youth advisory councils whose funds are generally allocated to programs in a specific region, TGI has no such restrictions. The teens can decide to make grants to any demographic group, local, national or international, that they find most compelling.

TGI members on Sunday discussed where their funds would be most impactful, including an innovative program in Utah that helps disabled adults and an organization in Africa that helps feed poor children. Ultimately, they decided to focus on metro Detroit because they understand the needs of this region.

The teens will use the information gained from their needs assessment to further focus their grant-making.

Planting Roots of Youth Philanthropy

This past Sunday, a group of 20 teens involved in ACCESS ACTS (Active Community Teen Service), a youth community service project sponsored by ACCESS, gathered to launch the Center for Arab American Philanthropy’s own Teen Grantmaking Initiative (TGI). Together, they formed TGI’s mission statement  “to make a difference in our community through grantmaking and community service.” The group also decided that they will raise money for the initiative to make their own contribution to the funds they will grant to nonprofit organizations.

Jamie Kim, a program consultant for the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP), taught the students about the importance of philanthropy, helping them understand that a philanthropist is anyone who gives their time, money and resources to help others. Kim stated,

You are all already philanthropists. Now, it’s up to you to decide what is important to you and use your power to change the world.

The teens also learned about the meaning of terms like “nonprofit organization,” “foundation,” and “endowment” to help them visualize how TGI fits into the greater philanthropic system.

The teens will meet once a month over the course of the school year. They will perform a needs assessment of youth in the community, which will help inform which issue areas they will choose as their focus. Once they have chosen their focus areas, they will ask nonprofit organizations in the community to submit grant proposals. The teens will then review these proposals and decide how they want to allocate their funds. 

The Center for Arab American Philanthropy’s Teen Grantmaking Initiative is a project of ACCESS.