Serve Connecticut is accepting proposals for mini-grants to support youth-led service initiatives in Connecticut. Funding for this opportunity is made possible by the AllState Foundation and America’s Service Commissions.

Mini-grants are available to support engagement of youth ages 5-25 in meaningful youth-led service or service-learning programs/projects benefiting the community during the grant term of January 1, 2025 – September 30, 2025. Qualifying projects/initiatives do not have to last the entirety of the grant term; but all funded activities and expenditures must occur within those dates.

Eligible applicants include schools, out-of-school time programs (afterschool or summer), municipalities, agencies and and/or youth-serving organizations. Youth-led groups are welcome to apply with sponsorship of an eligible applicant listed above.

To qualify for funding, proposed youth-led service initiatives:

• may be new or existing;

• must prioritize engaging youth that may currently be underrepresented in youth service in our state;

• must actively engage youth in the determination, design, development, and implementation of the proposed service project/initiative;

• must include opportunity for participating youth to reflect on and demonstrate learning from their service project/initiative experience;

• must benefit a defined community (school community, neighborhood, town, etc.) or cause (veterans, seniors, animal welfare, etc.) in a manner that meets a documented need.

Mini-grant funding may be used to fund:

• youth-led service project/initiative development and implementation (examples: materials, supplies, personnel, promotion, travel/transportation, etc.), and/or

• removal of barriers to youth participation in youth-led service projects/initiatives (examples: participant stipends or education awards, program tuitions/registration fees, transportation, etc.).

Funding may not be used for religious instruction, materials not directly related to the proposed program/project, capital expenses, or donations to other organizations.

Awards & Application Process

Applicants must submit a Youth-Led Service Mini-Grant Budget to support their funding request amounts; a template budget is provided at the Application Link below. Serve Connecticut will accept funding requests of up to $8,000. The number of funding awards distributed will depend on the sizes of the qualifying funding request budgets received. Serve Connecticut reserves the right to award lesser amounts than requested to maximize access to available funds.

Serve CT is no longer accepting applications as of 11:59pm, Monday, December 2, 2024. A Microsoft Word version of the Youth-Led Service Mini-Grant Application is appended to this document for preparation purposes only; only applications submitted electronically via the link provided above will be considered.

Funding determinations will be announced by Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

Each application will be assessed according to the following criteria:

  • Demonstrates engagement of youth leadership in determination, design, development, and implementation of the proposed service initiative or project.
  • Demonstrates engagement of underserved, underrepresented and/or disconnected youth.
  • Demonstrates intended benefits to a defined community (school community, neighborhood, town, etc.) or cause (veterans, seniors, animal welfare, etc.) with measurable outcomes.
  • Demonstrates a documented need for the type of service being provided.
  • Demonstrates inclusion of opportunity for participating youth to reflect on and demonstrate learning from their service project/initiative experience;
  • Budget is aligned to project/program design as described and demonstrates likelihood of supporting proposed activities.
  • Demonstrates applicant agreement to participate in required communication, training, event participation, progress/financial reporting, and media coverage associated with Youth-Led Service Mini-Grant funding award acceptance.

October 29, 2024

Release Date of Funding Opportunity Notice

December 2, 2024

Applications & Budgets Due

December 17, 2024

Funding Determinations Announced

January 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025

Grant Term

Award Guidance

Grant awards will be provided to awarded recipients in full at the onset of the grant period. Grant recipients will report and reconcile expenditures against revenue at the end of the grant period; any unspent grant funds will be returned to Serve Connecticut.

Awarded applicants must participate in the following requirements:

Training/Technical Assistance:

Each awarded mini-grant recipient representative team must participate in one group orientation meeting in January/February 2025 and a minimum of two grant cohort group meetings during the course of the grant term. The content of these meetings will be designed to support mini-grant recipients with their project/initiative implementation and to introduce relevant youth service and service-learning resources and opportunities to youth and adult participants. These meetings will be held virtually at the mutually defined convenience of Serve Connecticut staff and mini-grant recipients.

Communication:

Each awarded mini-grant recipient must designate one adult representative and one youth representative to act together as team as project/initiative liaisons with Serve Connecticut staff. Underserved, underrepresented and/or disconnected youth should be encouraged to serve in the youth representative role.

Progress & Financial Reporting:

Each awarded mini-grant will submit one mid-point and one final progress/financial report. The deadlines for each of these reports will be determined individually by the timeline of each awarded project/initiative. For example, a project/initiative conducted during the school year will have different reporting deadlines than a project/initiative conducted during a summer program. All final progress/financial reports will be due no later than September 30, 2025.

Youth Service Mini-Grant Celebration and Youth Service Summit:

Awarded mini-grant recipients are invited to participate in a Youth Service Mini-Grant Celebration and Youth Service Summit to be held on a date TBD in September/October 2025 in the greater Hartford, CT region. This event will feature the achievements of Serve Connecticut Youth-Led Service Mini-Grant recipients and their youth participants, and will also provide content designed to support youth-led community engagement and to elevate and enhance the work of youth service-learning and service opportunity providers across the state. Applicants are encouraged to include transportation costs associated with attending such an event (example, the cost of engaging a school bus or van) in their proposed budget.

Media Coverage:

Each awarded mini-grant recipient will be expected to participate in media coverage to 1) ensure that youth leadership and youth voice is centered in all awarded projects/initiatives, 2) promote a culture of youth leadership and youth voice through service and community engagement across the state, and 3) to document from youth and adult participants what worked well and what opportunities for growth were revealed as a result of participation in the Youth-Led Service Mini-Grant.

Examples of media coverage include but are not limited to: Serve Connecticut Communications Staff attendance at project/initiative events to take pictures/film content; Serve Connecticut requests for pictures, “great stories” and/or written/verbal testimonials from mini-grant recipient youth and/or adult participants for inclusion in newsletters, news releases, legislative/gubernatorial outreach, and/or social media; etc.

NOTE: Serve Connecticut will provide media releases to mini-grant recipients to be signed by any participating youth (with guardian signature required for those 17 and younger) and adults associated with the awarded mini-grant recipient. Serve Connecticut understands that some individual youth participants may not be able to be featured in photos or film or named in news releases or promotional documentation; Serve Connecticut will make all necessary accommodations to respect the privacy of those youth participants who must opt out of media participation.

Please reach out!

Serve Connecticut welcomes inquiries and suggestions related to our State Service Commission’s youth service activities; please reach out to Director of Programs Kate Scheuritzel at kate.scheuritzel@ct.gov.