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.)

Remember: Applications are due Friday May 3, at 11:59pm Eastern.

What’s New for 2013

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 in seeing 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.

Does this grant require matching funds?
No. Matching funds are not required.

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. Additionally, you cannot add rows or edit the budget template, but you can combine your line-items into broader categories. 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.

Does 'Expert Services' count against the 20% salary limit?
No. The YAB distinguishes the two categories like this: Expert Services is for one-time experts to come in and provide services or expertise, not in a systemic way. For example, if your project decided to bring in an expert on financial literacy to give a presentation to your group, that would be considered "expert services." The Salaries and Compensation section is for longer-term, more systemic "Project Coordinator" roles, that remain with the project throughout the duration.

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?
Any program funded by the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, including the Neighborhood Assist program, does not allow indirect costs. All project funding must go directly towards the aforementioned project listed in the original project submission.

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 2013-2014 school year and summer, which is roughly from September 2013 to September 2014. If applying for purely a summer program, you would refer to summer 2014.

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 projects MUST be implemented in the 50 U.S. states, or the 3 Canadian provinces of Alberta, New Brunswick, or Ontario. Additionally, all monetary benefits should stay in the U.S. or 3 Canadian provinces.

Additionally, eligible organizations include, but are not limited to:

Public K-12 schools and school districts
Public charter schools
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. If you have received a Youth Advisory Board grant in a previous year, you are still eligible for funding. However, you must demonstrate growth in your project, either in addressing an additional issue or additional geographic area, rather than reapplying for the same project. The YAB looks to create sustainable projects that can exist even without their funding year-to-year, rather than creating a rotating network of one-year projects.

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.

What age students can participate? What is the upper age limit of "youth?"
Remember, the majority of the program must be focused towards the K12 arena, and engage and influence K-12 students. However, college-aged students can and are encouraged to participate in any programs or projects. The YAB considers the upper limit of age to be in the "college senior" age range, which is typically until about 23 or 24, but it's not a hard line. For community colleges who often contain nontraditionally-aged students, the discretion is up to the submitter, but know that a YAB goal is to empower youth-driven solutions, so if you find yourself debating or stretching the rules, it's probably not in your favor.

General

Do the character limits include spaces?
As you begin your application, you will see that the numbers count down as you type, so you know exactly how many characters you have remaining in real-time as you type. But in short, YES spaces are included.

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?
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 a project be written to impact more than one state/county/community?
Going back to the "deed to dollar" conversation - the YAB looks favorably on projects that impact certain areas DEEPLY, rather than impacting many areas in a shallower fashion. The determination is still up to the submitter, as each market and community is different, but $100,000 only goes so far. If you are looking to extend your project to a few communities or even counties, that's probably still going to provide the deep connectivity and impact that the YAB wants. However, if you are looking to expand to multiple states, you might want to review your proposal to ensure that your program can still meet the criteria for funding in EACH of those communities - connection to the K12 curriculum, youth leadership, and sustainability.

Our organization has chapters in multiple states - should we apply together, or separately?
Like the question above, the concern is that you would not be able to have the deep level of impact in specific communities that the YAB looks for in grant applications. Each chapter would be best served applying separately.

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.

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 on the application 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.

Applying to Be a Board Member

Who is eligible to apply for the board?
The board is open to all students ages 17-20 that are U.S. citizens. 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.

What makes me a good candidate?
We are constantly looking for people whose passions have shown throughout their commitment to service and service-learning. We're not necessarily looking for the person involved in "the most" activities, projects, or clubs - we want to see you follow your passions and get deeply involved with the causes and community you care about.

Can I save my application and come back to it?
Yes. You can save your application at any time and come back to it. Once it has been submitted, it cannot be edited. Incomplete applications will not be scored.

Can I send the recommendation links out before I finish my application?
Yes. You can send the links out at any time, and the recommenders can complete the online form at any time.

Become a Yabbie

Meet the Board