Here are some 2022 reflections from staff and organizers of Give Next, a school based youth grantmaking program for middle and high school students.
New Student Outcomes
Prior to this school year, we looked critically at how we are measuring Give Next success and what we want to achieve through the program. We’ve revised our student-level outcomes to help drive our impact. We’ve always known that Give Next builds connection, between youth and their peers and youth and their community, so we’ve maintained our focus there and added two new outcomes.
The grantmaking process is the tool through which we:
- Shift Power – Center youth voice to embrace their role in strengthening community.
- Build Understanding – Encourage youth to examine complex social issues.
- Connect – Build strong, positive relationships with peers and connection to community.
Welcome, Estes Park High School!
We are excited to have expanded to Estes Park High School this year. We are now in all three school districts in Larimer County. We are thrilled to welcome the community of Estes Park to Give Next alongside these other great schools.
- Berthoud High School
- Blevins Middle School
- Boltz Middle School
- Cache La Poudre IB World Middle School
- Centennial High School
- Estes Park High School
- Fort Collins High School
- Fossil Ridge High School
- High Plains School
- Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School
- Lesher IB World Middle School
- Lincoln IB World Middle School
- Loveland High School
- Lucile Erwin Middle School
- Mountain View High School
- Polaris Expeditionary Learning School
- Poudre Community Academy
- Poudre High School
- Preston Middle School
- PSD Global Academy
- Riverview PK-8 School
- Rocky Mountain High School
- Thompson Valley High School
- Turner Middle School
- Walt Clark Middle School
- Wellington Middle School
Mission Statements
The students in all 26 schools have done the hard work of agreeing to a mission that will guide their grantmaking. Many groups focused on mental health as the pandemic continues to take a toll, and several groups focused on climate change challenges. As part of the process, students were encouraged to consider systems and structures and examine root causes that lead to their selected issue. Seventy-one organizations submitted 429 grant applications seeking more than $1.2 million in grant funding. The students have until April to review the applications, interview nonprofits, debate, and decide where they will distribute their grant funding.
Students chose four areas to focus their grantmaking.
Give Next has grown so much over the years and we couldn’t have done it without our first classroom donors and schools who are still with us now! A special thanks to classroom donors Dohn Construction, Encouraging Educational Excellence, Denise and Patrick Juliana, and Woodward Charitable Trust, as well as the schools who have been with us since the beginning: Fort Collins High School, Lesher Middle School, and Poudre High School.