Help and FAQs

This is a list of the most frequently asked questions regarding the YAB grant process. Please read and consider carefully before contacting the Youth Advisory Board for help.  If necessary, contact Brad using the Contact Us form. (Brad cannot give specific information on any one project, but is always available for general program questions.)

What’s New for 2012

• The issue areas for “Driver’s Safety” and “Natural Disaster Preparedness” have been replaced with “Community Safety and Natural Disaster Preparedness” and “Social Health and Wellness.”
• The ‘Projects’ tab received a makeover, now displaying previous years’ projects in a searchable map view.  Check out some previous programs in your area!

Budget

If you haven’t already seen the tutorial video on how to complete and submit the budget file, please take a look here: 

I don't understand the formulas. Why does in-kind reduce the total request? 
The budget is set up to automatically calculate the locked columns in gray. The YAB is interested to see your overall operating budget for the project, and what portion of funding may be coming from other sources. The following formula is followed:

• Quantity  x  Unit Cost = Total Cost
• Total Cost minus (In-kind + cash or earned income) = Total Request

What are in-kind contributions?
An in-kind contribution is a non-cash input which can be given a cash value.  For the most part, this refers to donations of time, space, or materials.  If an organization is going to donate space to your project, that is an in-kind contribution.  The YAB sees in-kind contributions as a demonstration of your efforts to obtain additional resources to aid your project. 

What is cash or earned income? 
Cash or earned income can be a few different things. If your project is going to generate any revenue that can be used towards its sustainability, we’d like to know. Also, if there are professionals who are using their paid time to work with your organization on your project that can also be entered here. Lastly, if our grant is going to be supplemented by other grant monies from the government or other organizations, tell us here.

Why is the budget spreadsheet protected? How do I get the password?
All of the fields you need to fill out on the Line Item Budget tab are unlocked and signified by the white background. The spreadsheet will then calculate all of the gray boxes for you to determine your request, and chart the data on the Analysis tab. There is no password necessary for filling in the unlocked boxes. Simply fill out your line item budget, including the quantity and unit cost, and the rest will be populated for you. If there is a cash or in-kind contribution, you can fill in these numbers and the final request amount will be adjusted. The protection is in place to protect the formulas and structural integrity of the file.

Can you explain the 20% limitation on salaries?
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board funds sustainable service-learning grants that effect student achievement. By limiting the amount that organizations can spend on salaries we feel that more money will go towards project costs that support the sustainability of the grant. As a general rule, the less that you spend on salaries and administrative costs, the better chance that your grant has to be funded. Remember, grantees are judged on deed to dollar ratio.

What do you mean by deed to dollar ratio?
We define deed to dollar as the greatest impact that a grant can have for the money requested. A sustainable grant requesting $100,000 that will positively impact student achievement and limits its administrative costs is looked upon more favorably than a grant requesting $100,000 with questionable sustainability and using 20% of the grant on salaries and administrative costs.

Is there a limit on administrative/indirect costs?
Except for the 20% limit on salaries, there is no hard limit on administrative costs, because we understand that each organization has a different administrative cost structure.  However, as a general rule, the higher your administrative costs, the less likely your project is to be funded by the Board.

Timeline

When will we find out if we were selected as a grantee?
All applicants will be notified of their application status by the end of September.

How long would we have to use the grant money?
We expect the program to be implemented and the grant utilized during the 2012-2013 school year and summer, which is roughly from September 2012 to September 2013.  If applying for purely a summer program, you would refer to summer 2013.

What do you mean by connecting with State Farm and the State Farm YAB?
If accepted as a grantee the Youth Advisory Board would like to see the work that you are doing. Please use this space to help us identify some significant times and events that will occur during your grant. Will there be any opportunities for someone from State Farm to experience your grant? Let us know. Also, let us know how you will use any technology available to you to keep State Farm and the YAB “in the loop†about your grant.

What do you mean by engaging the media? 
The media can mean a lot of things. Television, newspapers, radio, blogs, internet sites, etc. are all mediums that a grantee can use to publicize the impact of its grant. What media are you going to target and how?

What do you mean by educating others about the problem and solutions our grant addresses?
One of the best things you can do as a grantee is to educate others! The YAB wants to fund projects that take an active role in spreading service-learning as an effective teaching strategy. As such, what are you going to do to make sure that others understand the issue that you are addressing and what they can do to be a part of a larger community contributing to solve problems?

What do you mean by VIP & Elected Officials?
We want our grantees to be beacons of the student achievement that occurs through service-learning projects. As a grantee, we are interested in how you will engage your community to learn and be a part of your project. One great way to create awareness of your project is through the support and approval of VIP’s and elected officials. This can be anyone of influence or significance in your community that can help raise awareness about student achievement and how service-learning helps to address everyday educational challenges.

Eligibility

Who is eligible to receive a grant? 
All non-profit, tax-exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) or another tax-exempt portion of the IRS code are eligible for funding to the extent that they collaborate with and engage K-12 public school curriculum and achievement as part of the grant.

Eligible organizations include, but are not limited to:

• Public K-12 schools and school districts
• Colleges and Universities
• Governmental organizations
• Other Non-profit organizations

There is a slightly different eligibility component for Canadian applicants:

State Farm may provide charitable donations to Canadian organizations that are equivalent to a U.S. public charity and are registered with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency as a charitable organization.  Canadian State Farm Youth Advisory Board applicants must adhere to this component as well as meet the public, K-12 curriculum requirements listed above.

If my organization has received a grant from State Farm in the past, am I still eligible to apply?
Yes, you are still eligible to apply for a Youth Advisory Board regardless of receiving a prior grant from State Farm.

Are private schools eligible? 
Private schools themselves are not eligible for funding, due to the YAB focus on impacting the public K12 arena.  However, if a private school collaborates with and engages a K-12 public school and that public school agrees to apply for the YAB grant opportunity with support from the private school that would an eligible partnership.  The YAB encourages schools of all types to collaborate, but can only fund non-profit, tax-exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) and public education institutions.  

What colleges/universities are eligible?
All institutions of higher education are eligible, to the extent that they are a registered nonprofit organization.  Remember, the focus of each project MUST be the public K12 arena, so the students in college can only be PART of the target audience.

General

Can a grant address more than one issue area? 
Grants can and often do address more than one of our issue areas. However, when submitting a grant, it is important that you identify the area that your grant best identifies with. Use the narratives within your application to explain how your grant will address multiple issue areas, but when your grant is submitted it has to be submitted under one main issue area.

Can our organization apply for more than one grant? 
Yes, there is no limit to the number of submissions that an organization can make.  It is unlikely that our board would select an organization for more than one grant, so your time is best spent focusing on one grant. But, if you feel you have multiple strong project ideas, you are welcome to submit multiple grants in each of the issue areas.

Do youth have to WRITE the grant completely?
Ideally, yes! Realistically, no!  The YAB understands that due to the wide spectrum of organizations who apply for grants, it would be unfair to focus on the actual writing skill of each grant.  The YAB does not look at the crafting or flow of the application; they are looking at the underlying foundation, and checking it against their criteria.  Remember, one of the criteria is that the program is youth-driven and impact public school curriculum through service-learning, so youth MUST be involved in the creation and direction of the grant.  The YAB looks closely at, and guards against, organizations who hire grant writers to craft from scratch a proposal, and then simply “stick” it on the kids in the classroom.  The YAB wants to empower young people to drive these ideas, as they are the ones who live the issues each day.

“Youth” can be any age, from elementary up to college.  Each program should have an adult coordinator, but the students MUST be involved in every step along the creation of the project application (planning, writing, implementation, reflection.) 

Can you explain the 20% limitation on salaries? 
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board funds sustainable service-learning grants that effect student achievement. By limiting the amount that organizations can spend on salaries we feel that more money will go towards project costs that support the sustainability of the grant. As a general rule, the less that you spend on salaries and administrative costs, the better chance that your grant has to be funded. Remember, grantees are judged on deed to dollar ratio. 

What do you mean by deed to dollar ratio?
We define deed to dollar as the greatest impact that a grant can have for the money requested. A sustainable grant requesting $25,000 that will positively impact student achievement and limits its administrative costs is looked upon more favorably than a grant requesting $100,000 with questionable sustainability and using 20% of the grant on salaries and administrative costs. 

Can a grant address more than one issue area? 
Grants can and often do address more than one of our issue areas. When submitting a grant, it is important that you identify the area that your grant best identifies with. Use the narratives within your application to explain how your grant will address multiple issue areas, but when your grant is submitted it has to be reviewed under one main heading. 

Can our organization apply for more than one grant? 
Yes, there is no limit to the number of submissions that an organization can make. It is unlikely that our board would select an organization for more than one grant, so your time is best spent focusing on one grant. But, to the extent that you'd like to submit multiple grants, feel free. 

Timeline
What do you mean by connecting with State Farm and the State Farm YAB? 

If accepted as a grantee the Youth Advisory Board would like to see the work that you are doing. Please use this space to help us identify some significant times and events that will occur during your grant. Will there be any opportunities for someone from State Farm to experience your grant? Let us know. Also, let us know how you will use any technology available to you to keep State Farm and the YAB “in the loop” about your grant. 

What do you mean by engaging the media? 
The media can mean a lot of things. Television, newspapers, radio, blogs, internet sites, etc. are all mediums that a grantee can use to publicize the impact of its grant. What media are you going to target and how? 

What do you mean by educating others about the problem and solutions our grant addresses?

One of the best things you can do as a grantee is to educate others! The YAB wants to fund projects that take an active role in spreading service-learning as an effective teaching strategy. As such, what are you going to do to make sure that others understand the issue that you are addressing and what they can do to be a part of a larger community contributing to solve problems? 

What do you mean by VIP & Elected Officials? 
We want our grantees to be beacons of the student achievement that occurs through service-learning projects. As a grantee, we are interested in how you will engage your community to learn and be a part of your project. One great way to create awareness of your project is through the support and approval of VIP’s and elected officials. This can be anyone of influence or significance in your community that can help raise awareness about student achievement and how service-learning helps to address everyday educational challenges.  

Applying to Be a Board Member (not open until August)

What ages are eligible to apply for the board? 
As of January 1, 2013, you must be between the ages of 17-20. If you turn 17 after January 1, 2013 or turn 21 before January 1, 2013, you are ineligible to apply.

If I have applied in the past, am I eligible to apply again?
Yes!  As long as you fit within the age requirements listed above, you are eligible to apply multiple times.

Is there a GPA or major requirement?  
No!  We want passionate, engaged individuals who want to “change the world.”  You can be in high school, community college, or an Ivy League university – it doesn’t matter, and there’s no preference given!  Check out the Board Members tab to see that our YAB members come from all types of backgrounds.