Youth Empowered Philanthropy

Why Should You Join?

• To develop soft skills such as leadership, public speaking, critical thinking and decision making.
• To build relationships with peers and the nonprofit community.
• To become more aware of community needs and challenges and learn how to address community needs by serving and giving back to your community.
• To learn about philanthropy and what it means to be a philanthropist.
• To serve as community resources and leaders through real decisions, real money, and real impact.

Criteria:

• For the 2024 -2025 school year, new applicants must be a Sophomore or Junior at Canterbury, Concordia, Homestead, New Haven, North Side, Northrop, Snider, South Side, and Wayne High Schools.
• Be in good academic and behavioral standing.
• Able to attend a 2-hour meeting once a month from 11 AM – 1 PM.
• Available to volunteer for monthly service projects as determined by YEP members.

Meeting Dates for 2025-2026:

• Saturday, September 13 – YEP Half Day Retreat
• Wednesday, October 29 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 19 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 10 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, January 14 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, February 11 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 18 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 15 – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• May – TBD

Youth Empowered Philanthropy (YEP) begins accepting grant applications in December. Nonprofits can submit a short application for operational funding.

• Grant applications open November 1, 2025 and close December 1, 2025.
• Applications are short and only take 5-10 minutes to apply.
• Nonprofits can apply for funding from YEP members.
• Nonprofits must be located in Allen County and serving Allen County to apply.
• Grants range between $1,000 – $5,000.
• All grant applications will be reviewed and decided on by the current cohort of YEP members.
• Nonprofits that advance will be asked to host a site visit with students via phone, zoom, or in person.
• Nonprofits will be notified in March on funding decisions.

Looking for YEP student volunteers? Please reach out with your request to yep@cfgfw. All requests will be monitored and approved by the current cohort of YEP members.

• YEP students only volunteer between the months of October – May. Your project must fall within this timeline.
• Volunteers are high school students. Your project must be willing to accept volunteers 15 years of age and up.
• Volunteer time requests will close on December 2, 2025.
• Nonprofits must be located in Allen County and serving Allen County to apply.
• All applications will be reviewed and decided on by the YEP members.

Each year, students in our Youth Empowered Philanthropy (YEP) program participate in a hands-on grantmaking process, learning about community needs and nonprofit funding challenges. On March 5, the 2024 -2025 YEP cohort gathered to make funding decisions, marking the culmination of months of site visits, research, and thoughtful discussions. This year, a key topic of discussion was the financial vulnerability of organizations reliant on federal grants and external funding. After careful deliberation, students allocated $10,000 in grants to the following local nonprofits:

• The League – $3,000
• Mustard Seed – $1,500
• Positive Resource Connection – $2,500
• The Literacy Alliance – $3,000