Building A Successful Mentoring Program

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We provide you a way to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice, the latest and perhaps most important work in years to advance quality mentoring. This comprehensive tool kit includes tools, templates, and advice for implementing and adhering to the second edition of the Elements of Effective
Practice rigorous guidelines that, when followed, will help to ensure quality mentoring.

1. How to Build
A Successful Mentoring Program
Using the
Elements of Effective Practice TM
A S T E P - B Y- S T E P T O O L K I T F O R P R O G R A M M A N A G E R S

2. MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership
1600 Duke Street, Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703-224-2200
Web site: www.mentoring.org
AOL Keyword: mentor
Online version of the tool kit: www.mentoring.org/eeptoolkit
Copyright 2005. MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership
All rights reserved. Published 2005.
Printed in the United States of America.
Reproduction rights: Permission to reproduce or photocopy portions of this tool kit with
attribution is granted by MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership.
Tools and resources submitted for inclusion in this tool kit have been edited or condensed from their original version
in order to accommodate the design and intent of this publication.

3. CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Acknowledgements ix
Section I. About MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership 1
Our State and Local Mentoring Partnerships 1
Resources
• State and Local Mentoring Partnerships 3
• National Mentoring Institute 5
Section II. About the Tool Kit 7
Why Create a Tool Kit? 7
Guidelines for New—and Existing—Programs 7
What You’ll Find in the Tool Kit 8
Glossary of Terms 9
Let’s Get Started! 10
Section III. Introduction to Mentoring and Program-Building 11
What Is Mentoring Today? 11
What Makes a Successful Mentoring Relationship? 11
The Five Types of Mentoring 12
What Elements Constitute a Safe and Effective Mentoring Program? 13
What’s the Next Step? 14
Section IV. How to Design and Plan a Mentoring Program 15
Start with the Need 15
Design the Parameters for Your Program 15
Plan How the Program Will Be Managed 21
• Select the Management Team 21
• Establish Policies and Procedures 22
• Implement Ongoing Staff Training and Professional Development 22
• Develop a Financial Plan 22
• Implement the Program 23
• Plan How to Evaluate the Program 23
Checklist of Program Progress: Program Design and Planning 25
Additional Resources 27
Tools Located on CD Tab A
CONTENTS iii

4. Tools by Category
• Program Planning
• Program Parameters
• Program Planning and Management
• Policies and Procedures
• Financial Planning
• E-mentoring
Section V. How to Manage a Program for Success 53
Form an Advisory Group 53
Develop a Comprehensive System for Managing Program Information 55
Design a Resource Development Plan That
Allows for Diversified Fundraising 57
Design a System to Monitor the Program 58
Create a Professional Staff Development Plan 59
Advocate for Mentoring 60
Establish a Public Relations/Communications Effort 61
Partner and Collaborate with Other Organizations 63
Checklist of Program Progress: Program Management 65
Additional Resources 69
Tools Located on CD Tab B
Tools by Category
• Advisory Group
• Program Information Management
• Resource Development
• Professional Staff Development
• Advocacy
• Public Relations/Communications and Marketing
• Collaboration
Section VI. How to Structure Effective Program Operations 91
Build the Right Structure 91
Recruit Mentors, Mentees and Other Volunteers 91
Screen Potential Mentors and Mentees 96
Orient and Train Mentors, Mentees and Parents/Caregivers 100
Match Mentors and Mentees 103
Bring Mentors and Mentees Together for Mentoring Sessions That Fall
within the Program Parameters 104
Provide Ongoing Support, Supervision and Monitoring of Mentoring
Relationships 105
Recognize the Contributions of All Program Participants 106
Help Mentors and Mentees Reach Closure 107
iv HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

5. CONTENTS
Checklist of Program Progress: Program Operations 109
Additional Resources 113
Tools Located on CD Tab C
Tools by Category
• Recruitment
• Screening
• Orientation
• Training
• Matching
• Activities
• Ongoing Support and Supervision
• Mentor Recognition
• Structured Match Closure
Section VII. How to Establish Evaluation Criteria and Methods 163
Measure Program Process 163
Measure Expected Outcomes 163
Create a Process to Reflect on and Disseminate Findings 164
“Gauging the Effectiveness of Youth Mentoring,” by Dr. Jean Rhodes 164
The Nuts and Bolts of Evaluating Mentoring Programs 165
Checklist of Program Progress: Program Evaluation 169
Additional Resources 171
Tools Located on CD Tab D
• Program Evaluation
Section VIII. Wrap-Up and Feedback 181
Evaluation Form 183
Endnotes 187
CONTENTS v

6. FOREWORD
You have in your hands How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements
of Effective Practice, the latest and perhaps most important work in years to advance quality
mentoring. This comprehensive tool kit includes tools, templates and advice for implementing
and adhering to the second edition of the Elements of Effective Practice—rigorous guidelines that,
when followed, will help to ensure quality mentoring.
The tool kit was made possible by a generous grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
and is the latest offering from MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership and the vital network
of State Mentoring Partnerships. For more than a decade, we have been leading the movement to
connect America’s young people with caring adult mentors. We serve as the “mentor’s mentor,”
providing a wide range of resources and technical assistance to more than 4,300 mentoring
programs across the nation.
In 1990, we joined with United Way of America to convene a blue-ribbon panel of mentoring
experts to produce the nation’s first set of rigorous mentoring guidelines, the first edition of the
Elements of Effective Practice. Those Elements served as the gold standard for quality mentoring
for more than a decade.
Since then, the world of mentoring has changed. New types of mentoring have taken hold,
requiring new guidelines. In 2003, through the generosity of the Charles Stewart Mott
Foundation, we again convened a blue-ribbon panel of mentoring experts to produce the
second edition of the Elements of Effective Practice, which reflects the latest mentoring research,
experience and practices. Among the experts contributing to the effort were two of the nation’s
top mentoring researchers: Dr. Jean Rhodes of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and
Dr. David DuBois of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Whether you are new to mentoring or an old hand, this tool kit will save you time and effort,
because it contains materials and information you need to start or maintain a quality mentoring
program. The tool kit is written to follow the format of the Elements—but it allows you to take
portions of the tool kit in a different order, depending on where you are in starting or
strengthening your mentoring program.
We hope you will use the tool kit with great success. For further assistance, we encourage you to
reach out to your State Mentoring Partnership or visit Mentoring.org, to find the latest resources
for the mentoring field. And, as always, we very much welcome your feedback.
In Partnership,
Gail Manza Tonya Wiley
Executive Director Vice-President
FOREWORD vii

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MENTOR gratefully acknowledges the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for its generous
support for the tool kit. We thank An-Me Chung, program officer of the foundation, for her
leadership and vision in the development of this resource for the mentoring community.
We gratefully acknowledge the guidance, feedback and unwavering support for the development
of the tool kit provided by members of our Advisory Council:
Advisory Council
Jean Lahage Cohen Susan K. Patrick
Mentoring Partnership of Long Island The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership
Joyce Corlett Jean Rhodes, Ph.D.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America University of Massachusetts, Boston
David DuBois, Ph.D. Rosemary Townsend
Community Health Sciences Baylor University Health Services
School of Public Health
University of Illinois at Chicago Susan Weinberger, Ed.D.
Mentor Consulting Group
Chair, MENTOR Public Policy Council
State and Local Mentoring Partnerships
We would like to thank our network of State and Local Mentoring Partnerships for their support
of this tool kit. We extend our sincere appreciation to the following Mentoring Partnerships that
shared resources and ideas:
California Governor’s Mentoring Partnership Mentoring Partnership of Long Island
The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership The Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership
Florida Mentoring Partnership, Volunteer The Mentor Center of Palm Beach County
Florida Foundation
The Mentoring Partnership of New York
Iowa Mentoring Partnership
Oregon Mentors
The Maryland Mentoring Partnership
Texas Governor’s Mentoring Initiative
Mass Mentoring Partnership
Virginia Mentoring Partnership
Memphis Mentoring Partnership
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix

8. Other Contributors
Applied Research Consulting Harvard Graduate School of Education
Best Buddies International icouldbe.org inc.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the iMentor.org
Greater Twin Cities
Kinship of Greater Minneapolis
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
University of Texas at San Antonio
Camp Fire Georgia Council
Youth Development Strategies, Inc.
Dare Mighty Things
YouthFriends
Friends for Youth
Girl Scouts of the USA
MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership
Lead Staff Project Staff
Kristi Zappie-Ferradino Colleen Appleby-Carroll
Kathy Johnson
Jennifer Richter
Cindy Sturtevant
Editor’s note: All tools and resources submitted for inclusion have been edited and customized
to accommodate the needs of the tool kit.
x HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

9. Section I.
About MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership
MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR), State and Local Mentoring Partnerships serve as “men-
founded in 1990, is leading the movement to connect toring central” for their states or communities, provid-
America’s young people with caring adult mentors, ing leadership, resources and a rallying point for men-
because all children deserve the opportunity to achieve toring providers in their area. State Mentoring
their potential. As a result of certain life circum- Partnerships serve a unique role as a clearinghouse for
stances, 17.6 million young Americans today are in information and resources. They do not provide direct
special need of mentors. Of that number, 2.5 million mentoring services. Instead, they work to enable direct-
already are in mentoring relationships. The remaining service mentoring organizations to:
15.1 million young people constitute what we call the
nation’s “mentoring gap.” MENTOR exists to close • Increase the number of young people with mentors
that gap. To that end, MENTOR serves as the nation’s in the state;
premier advocate and resource for expanding quality • Increase resources in the state dedicated to
mentoring initiatives. Working with a strong network mentoring;
of Mentoring Partnerships located across the United
• Promote quality standards for mentoring programs;
States, MENTOR leverages resources and provides the
and
technical expertise, tools and innovation that mentor-
ing programs need to serve young people in their • Expand mentoring programming and
communities effectively. opportunities tailored to the needs and
circumstances of young people.
OUR STATE AND
LOCAL MENTORING A list of State and
The result is better service, greater collaboration,
PARTNERSHIPS smarter use of resources and more youth in quality
Local Mentoring
mentoring relationships.
To meet the demand of pro- Partnerships is located
viding mentors to the esti- at the end of this
To find a State or Local Mentoring Partnership in your
mated 17.6 million young section. community to assist you with training, technical assis-
people in the United States
tance and implementing the Elements of Effective
who want or need them,
Practice, see the appendix at the end of this section
hundreds of new mentoring programs are started
or visit Mentoring.org.
every year. But as existing mentoring programs are
already painfully aware, the resources to fund and staff
these ventures are scarce. RESOURCES
• State and Local Mentoring Partnerships
There is an answer: State Mentoring Partnerships. By • National Mentoring Institute
bringing together public and private sector leaders
across the state, eliminating duplication of efforts and
offering centralized services, State Mentoring
Partnerships can help mentoring programs make the
most of limited resources.
A B O U T M E N T O R / N AT I O N A L M E N T O R I N G PA RT N E R S H I P 1

10. SECTION I
State and Local
Mentoring Partnerships
Alabama Maine
• Mentor Alabama • Maine Mentoring Partnership
www.ago.state.al.us/mentor/ www.mainementoring.org
Arizona Maryland
• Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona: • The Maryland Mentoring Partnership
The Mentoring Partnership www.marylandmentors.org
www.volunteertucson.org
Massachusetts
California • Mass Mentoring Partnership
• Governor’s Mentoring Partnership www.mentoring.org/mass/
www.mentoring.ca.gov
• The Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership Michigan
www.mentoring.org/los_angeles/ • Mentor Michigan
www.michigan.gov/mentormichigan
• Colorado Mentoring Minnesota
www.mentoringcolorado.org • Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota
www.mentoringworks.org
• The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership Nebraska
www.preventionworksct.org • All Our Kids, Inc.: The Midlands
Mentoring Partnership
Delaware www.allourkids.org
• Delaware Mentoring Council
www.delawarementoring.org New York
• The Mentoring Partnership of New York
Florida www.mentoring.org/newyork/
• Florida Mentoring Partnership • Mentoring Partnership of Long Island
www.volunteerfloridafoundation.org www.mentorkids.com
• Mentor Center of Palm Beach County
www.mentoringpbc.org North Carolina
• North Carolina Mentoring Partnership
Georgia www.volunteernc.org/code/mentor.htm
• Georgia Mentoring Partnership
www.georgiamentoring.org Ohio
• The Mentoring Center of Central Ohio
Iowa www.firstlink.org/public/mentoring/mentoring.php
• Iowa Mentoring Partnership
www.iowamentoring.org Oregon
• Oregon Mentors
www.ormentors.org
S TAT E A N D L O C A L M E N TO R I N G PA RT N E R S H I P S 3

11. Pennsylvania Utah
• United Way’s Campaign for Mentors (Philadelphia) • Utah Mentoring Partnership
www.uwsepa.org www.utahmentors.org
• The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern
Pennsylvania Vermont
www.mentoringpittsburgh.org • Vermont Mentoring Partnership
www.vtmentoring.org
Rhode Island
• Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership Virginia
www.rimentor.org • Virginia Mentoring Partnership
www.mentoring.org/virginia/
Tennessee • Fairfax Mentoring Partnership
• The Memphis Mentoring Partnership www.mentorfairfax.org
www.memphismentors.org
Washington
Texas • Washington State Mentoring Partnership
• Governor’s Mentoring Initiative www.washingtonmentoring.org
www.onestarfoundation.org
• San Antonio: Making Mentoring a Partnership
www.utsa.edu/mentoring/
4 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

12. SECTION I
NATIONAL MENTORING INSTITUTE
The National Mentoring Institute serves as the • Online Community: Offers free, online discus-
education, research and training arm for MENTOR/ sions on a variety of issues related to mentoring—
National Mentoring Partnership, offering a wealth of mentor recruitment and retention, marketing,
products and services to the entire mentoring field. e-mentoring and risk management. Designed to
The Institute’s menu of resources and services includes exchange ideas and best practices and to pose
the following: questions to experts from the field. Visit the
Online Community at Mentoring.org/community.
ONLINE SERVICES
• Mentoring.org: The nation’s most comprehensive PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
source for mentoring information and resources, • Elements of Effective Practice: MENTOR’s hall-
focusing on the needs of mentors, caring adults, mark product, which provides research and field-
community leaders and mentoring program staff. tested guidelines on how to run safe and effective
Includes a Research Corner, with analysis of the mentoring programs. Key components include
latest research in the mentoring field; information Program Design and Planning, Program
on how to advocate for mentoring and secure Management, Program Operations and Program
funding; referrals to online and print resources; an Evaluation. Available to download at
E-mentoring Clearinghouse; and tools for starting, Mentoring.org/elements.
managing, sustaining and evaluating mentoring
programs. • How to Build a Succcessful Mentoring Program
Using the Elements of Effective Practice:
• National Mentoring Database: Includes over A comprehensive tool kit with customizable
4,300 youth mentoring programs and serves as a tools and templates on how to implement and
volunteer referral service, enabling prospective adhere to the Elements.
mentors to search for a local mentoring program
and express an interest in learning more. Mentor- RESEARCH AND EVALUATION
ing programs that agree to adhere to the Elements
• Research Summit: In 2003, MENTOR convened
of Effective Practice are invited to register for this
35 leading researchers in the field for a National
free service at Mentoring.org/register.
Research Summit on Mentoring. Summit parti-
cipants reviewed the current state of mentoring
• After-school Program Clearinghouse: Devoted to
research and then articulated where mentoring
after-school programs that may or may not have a
research should be headed in the coming years.
mentoring component. Features information on
Their work was translated into several priority
how to implement or strengthen a mentoring pro-
areas for future research. For more information
gram, as well as an inclusive list of resources for
about the National Research Agenda for Mentoring,
activities, collaboration, curricula, research and
visit Mentoring.org/researchagenda.
evaluation materials for after-school programs at
Mentoring.org/afterschool.
• State-by-State Trends in Mentoring Survey:
Bi-annual survey that identifies national and state
trends in mentoring as reported from our network
of mentoring programs.
N AT I O N A L M E N T O R I N G I N S T I T U T E 5

13. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE • Technical Assistance: Information, resources and
• Online Training: Self-guided training for both men- support for MENTOR’s network of State and Local
tors and mentees involved in either traditional face- Mentoring Partnerships, which provide training and
to-face mentoring (Mentoring.org/mentor_training) technical assistance to direct service mentoring pro-
or e-mentoring (Mentoring.org/emc). grams. In addition, advisory services are provided
on a contractual basis to corporations and other
organizations interested in starting, expanding or
strengthening a large-scale mentoring initiative.
MENTOR is leading the movement to connect America’s young people with caring adult mentors.
For more information, please visit Mentoring.org.
6 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

14. Section II.
About the Tool Kit
Congratulations! You’ve chosen to make a tremen- more. It may seem a bit daunting: “Where do I
dous difference—or already are making that differ- begin?” “What should I focus on first?” “How do I do
ence—in the lives of young people who can benefit all these things effectively?”
greatly from the guidance and encouragement of a
nurturing mentor. Few endeavors do more to shape The simple fact is, youth mentoring programs are far
young people’s aspirations and help them realize their more successful when they follow proven, effective
potential. In return, few endeavors reap more pro- mentoring practices and strategies. This tool kit places
found rewards for all who become involved in the at your fingertips a single source of mentoring best
mentoring process—because mentoring works. practices and tools that you can implement from the
start. The materials it contains build on the practices
Mentoring is not a new concept; it has its roots in established in the Elements of
ancient Greece. And throughout the millennia, men- Effective Practice, guidelines
The appendices for
toring—providing guidance and counsel to a younger for running safe and effective
Sections IV-VII include
individual—has occurred spontaneously as informal mentoring programs, first
a Checklist of Program
relationships: a supervisor at work who takes an published in 1990 and
interest in a young person’s upward mobility; a Progress for each revised and updated in the
teacher who takes extra time with a struggling or section of the Elements. second edition in 2003.
promising student; an older family member who pro-
vides a shoulder to lean on when needed. GUIDELINES FOR NEW—AND EXISTING—
PROGRAMS
In recent years, as growing numbers of people have Not only does this tool kit outline the Elements of
recognized the tremendous power of mentoring, for- Effective Practice, it also is your guide to implementing
mal mentoring programs like yours have been crop- them. It is structured to aid both those who are start-
ping up throughout the public and private sectors. ing a new program and those who seek to improve
More and more community organizations, businesses specific elements of an ongoing program. Let’s take a
and governments are launching formal mentoring ini- look at how this tool kit can fill the particular needs
tiatives. Consequently, we have seen a growing need of your program.
for skilled mentors and effective mentoring programs
that adhere to sound management and operation • Building a Program: Begin by asking yourself
practices. some questions, such as: What do I need to budget
for and how do I get it funded? Is there a “best”
WHY CREATE A TOOL KIT? way to mentor; if so, what is it? How do I recruit
Building a successful mentoring program is challeng- mentors and ensure that they’re sufficiently
ing. There are a myriad of components to establish trained? How do I reach out to the community for
and oversee: the actual mentoring process; mentor support? How do I engage young people in the
recruitment and training; day-to-day operations; pub- program? Where will the mentoring meetings take
lic relations efforts; fundraising activities; budget allo- place? How will I know that the mentoring rela-
cations; evaluative data collection and tracking; and tionships are working?
ABOUT THE TOOL KIT 7

15. These are just some of the questions that you
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE
should attempt to answer before you establish a
mentoring program. If you’re at a loss as to what to
do first, don’t panic. The tool kit will help you find The first edition of Elements was developed
the answers and make solid decisions. When you in 1990 by a panel of mentoring experts
follow the tool kit sections, step-by-step, a solid brought together by MENTOR/National
program will emerge from the ground up. Each of Mentoring Partnership and United Way of
the components of your mentoring initiative will America. It was based on solid research that
function in ways that support the others to facili- affirms the importance of accountability and
tate a well-focused, cohesive program. responsibility in meeting young people’s needs.
For more than a decade, the initial Elements
• Improving on Current Practices: The desire for served as the gold standard for mentoring.
continuous improvement is the hallmark of every
successful endeavor. The tool kit is designed so that The second edition of Elements—developed by
you don’t need to go through the entire kit for help a newly formed group of many of the nation’s
in improving a specific element of your program. foremost authorities on mentoring—updates the
Do you need guidance in constructing an original version. It offers new ideas and prac-
evaluation process that accurately measures your
tices that reflect the latest in mentoring policies,
results, or benchmarks your procedures against
practices, experience and research. The tool kit
similar programs? This tool kit can help. Perhaps
you’re not receiving the support you’d like from is an excellent companion to the Elements. A
other community organizations or your mentor copy of the Elements is included with this tool
volunteer base is falling below your needs. Maybe kit, and you can download additional copies at
you wish to raise the profile of your mentoring Mentoring.org/elements.
program. Or you may wish to ensure that the type
of mentoring you’re offering is the most effective
for the youth you’re serving.
Not to worry. Just keep the tool kit within easy reach. that is the case with your program, we recommend
When you’re ready to make improvements in a partic- that you work toward integrating the Elements into
ular area of your program, simply turn to the appro- your program incrementally. It will take time, but will
priate section. Remember, too, that the tool kit is be more than worth the effort.
available online at Mentoring.org/eeptoolkit, where
you can download it and customize the tools to fit WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN THE TOOL KIT
your needs. As noted earlier, this tool kit builds on the Elements of
Effective Practice, which address four major compo-
By carrying out the strategies detailed in this tool kit, nents of a safe and effective mentoring program:
you can be confident that your program is offering the
best mentoring possible. At the same time, we recog- • Program Design and Planning;
nize that the Elements outlined in the tool kit are vast
• Program Management;
and detailed (this is to ensure the best mentoring pos-
sible for our youth). Initially, not all mentoring pro- • Program Operations; and
grams will have the resources to implement and adhere • Program Evaluation.
to every component of the Elements in their entirety. If
8 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

16. SECTION II
The tool kit dedicates a section to each of these com- GLOSSARY OF TERMS1
ponents. In each section, you’ll find step-by-step Mentoring: Mentoring is a structured and trusting
information on how to implement a specific compo- relationship that brings young people together with
nent, using proven practices that help ensure a strong caring individuals who offer guidance, support and
overall program. Of course, how you initially plan and encouragement aimed at developing the competence
design your program will and character of the mentee.
affect the other components.
Throughout the tool
Therefore, in each section Types of Mentoring: Responsible mentoring can
you’ll find the following kit, you will find
occur in these forms:
information: “mentoring tool” boxes
that reference specific
• Traditional mentoring: One adult to one young
• What constitutes the tools and resources. person.
program component and
• Group mentoring: One adult to up to four young
how it relates to the other Boxes with
people.
components; a CD icon
indicate that a tool can
• Team mentoring: Several adults working with
• A Checklist of Program
small groups of young people in which the adult-
Progress against which to be found on the CD
to-youth ratio is not greater than 1:4.
measure your program
practices; • Peer mentoring: Caring youth mentoring other
Boxes with a youth.
• Customizable tools—such Book icon indicate
as forms, checklists and • E-mentoring: Mentoring via e-mail and the
that the tool is in the Internet.
related sample documents
print version of the
on CD—to help you.
tool kit as well Locations of Mentoring: Mentoring can take place in
(Select tools are also
included in the print as on the CD. a wide array of settings, such as these:
version of the tool kit.); • Workplace;
and • School;
• Additional resources for further research and • Faith-based organization;
reference. • Juvenile corrections facility;
For your convenience, we have included a glossary to • Community setting; and
help you understand how we use different terms in • “Virtual community,” where e-mentoring takes
this tool kit. place.
ABOUT THE TOOL KIT 9

17. Duration of Mentoring: Because relationships and a
sense of bonding occur over time between mentors
and mentees, the duration and consistency of each
mentoring relationship is very important. At a mini-
mum, mentors and mentees should meet regularly at
least four hours per month for at least a year. There
are exceptions, such as school-based mentoring, which
coincide with the school year, and other types of spe-
cial mentoring initiatives. In such special circum-
stances, mentees need to know from the outset how
long they can expect the relationship to last, so they
can adjust their expectations accordingly.
LET’S GET STARTED!
It’s an exciting venture to build a new mentoring pro-
gram or fine-tune a current one, as both will result in
better opportunities for young people. With this tool
kit, you have an invaluable resource that can facilitate
your efforts. Remember, too, that you never have to
struggle with mentoring issues on your own. Many
useful resources are available to you, including online
training and community forums at Mentoring.org;
mentor training and recruitment resources, as well as
technical assistance, training and guidance, from
MENTOR’s State and Local Mentoring Partnerships;
and even practical advice from your mentoring col-
leagues. Take advantage of these resources.
Visit Mentoring.org often to find the latest resources
and research for improving your program. For exam-
ple, a copy of this tool kit is available online at
Mentoring.org/eeptoolkit to allow you to customize
the tools to your own needs. In addition, we encour-
age you to provide us with feedback on the tool kit,
by filling out the Evaluation Form at the end of the
tool kit. Your feedback will allow us to enhance the
online version of the tool kit and respond to emerging
mentoring trends.
Now, roll up your sleeves and let’s get started.
10 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

18. Section III.
Introduction to Mentoring and Program-Building
WHAT IS MENTORING TODAY? • Conducting reasonably intensive
Mentoring is a time-proven strategy that can help screening of potential mentors;
young people of all circumstances achieve their poten- • Making matches based on interests that both
tial. Mentors are caring individuals who, along with the mentor and the mentee share;
parents or guardians, provide young people with sup- • Providing more than six hours of training
port, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and a con- for mentors; and
structive example.
• Offering post-match training and support.
But mentoring is not a one-size-fits-all proposition.
These four practices can help ensure successful men-
Every young person who would benefit from a men-
toring relationships that endure over time. More
toring relationship has individual needs. Effective
detailed information on how to implement or adhere
mentoring programs offer enough flexibility to help
to these practices is outlined in Section V, How to
meet each mentee’s personal needs, yet allow mentor-
Manage a Program for Success, and Section VI, How
ing relationships to flourish
to Structure Effective Program Operations.
within a safe structure.
Read “What Makes
Mentoring Work,” by
There are other ways mentors can sustain effective
WHAT MAKES A mentoring relationships, including these:
SUCCESSFUL MENTORING Dr. Rhodes, in the
RELATIONSHIP? Research Corner at • Maintain a steady presence in the mentee’s life.
According to Dr. Jean Mentoring.org/ That means showing up for scheduled meetings or,
Rhodes, professor of psychol- research_corner. when that is not possible, telling the mentee in
ogy at the University of advance, in order to avoid any disappointment.
Massachusetts, Boston, the A phone call, e-mail or fax can help when a face-
most significant predictor of positive mentoring to-face meeting isn’t possible.
results is whether mentors and mentees share a close, • Focus on the mentee’s needs––not the mentor’s
trusting relationship. Such relationships do not just own wants and needs. Mentors should look to
happen. They need ongoing support and monitoring, improve the mentee’s prospects while respecting the
particularly during the early stages, to ensure that the young person’s life circumstances and perspective.
relationships do not terminate prematurely. As Dr. This includes not trying to transform the mentee
Rhodes notes, when the tool of change is a close rela- or impose the mentor’s own values on the mentee.
tionship––as is the case with mentoring–– everyone
• Pay attention to the mentee’s need for fun.
should proceed with care.
• Get to know the mentee’s family without getting
In an article entitled “What Makes Mentoring Work?,” over involved. Mentors need to understand that
written for the Research Corner at Mentoring.org, they are not substitutes for parents.
Dr. Rhodes described four program practices that • Seek out and use the help and support of
are essential for strong and effective mentoring mentoring program staff.
relationships. Those practices are as follows:
INTRODUCTION TO MENTORING AND PROGRAM-BUILDING 11

19. By contrast, less effective mentors: structure, which includes time for personal sharing.
The sponsoring mentoring program might specify
• Do not meet regularly with the mentee; certain activities that the group must participate in,
• Adopt an authoritative tone; or in some cases the mentor may choose or design
• Put more emphasis on changing the mentee’s appropriate activities. Some group mentoring activ-
behavior than on developing a warm relationship ities may be intended as teaching exercises, while
based on trust and respect; and others may simply be for fun.
• Try to transform the mentee by imposing a set
of values inconsistent with the mentee’s life • Team Mentoring. Team mentoring involves several
circumstances. adults working with small groups of young people,
with an adult-to-youth ratio no greater than one to
four.
THE FIVE TYPES OF MENTORING
The type of mentoring program you offer will shape • Peer Mentoring. Peer mentoring provides an
your program’s structure and operation—including the opportunity for a caring youth to develop a guid-
goals you want your mentoring program to achieve; ing, teaching relationship with a younger person.
the length and frequency of mentor commitment you Usually the mentoring program specifies activities
require; and the kinds of activities that take place. that are curriculum-based. For example, a high
school student might tutor an elementary school
The following definitions of mentoring types are student in reading or engage in other skill-building
based on those in the second edition of the Elements activities on site. These youth mentors serve as pos-
of Effective Practice. (A brief overview of what each itive role models. They require ongoing support
type of mentoring relationship might look like appears and close supervision. Usually in a peer mentoring
in the “Informational Overview of Types of relationship, the mentor and the mentee meet fre-
Mentoring Programs” in the appendix of Section IV.) quently over the course of a semester or an entire
school year.
• Traditional One-to-One Mentoring. One-to-one
mentoring places one adult in a relationship with • E-mentoring (also known as online mentoring, or
one youth. At a minimum, the mentor and mentee telementoring). E-mentoring connects one adult
should meet regularly at least four hours per month with one youth. The pair communicate via the
for at least a year. There are exceptions—such as in Internet at least once a week over a period of six
school-based mentoring, which coincides with the months to a year. Some programs arrange two or
school year—and other types of special mentoring three face-to-face meetings, one of which is a kick-
initiatives. In such special circumstances, mentees off event. Often the mentor serves as a guide or
need to know from the outset how long they can advisor in school- or career-related areas; for exam-
expect the relationship to last so they can adjust ple, helping the mentee complete a school project
their expectations accordingly. or discussing future education and career options.
During the summer months, e-mentoring can serve
• Group Mentoring. Group mentoring involves one as a bridge for mentors and mentees in traditional
adult mentor forming a relationship with a group one-to-one relationships.
of up to four young people. The mentor assumes
the role of leader and makes a commitment to
meet regularly with the group over a long period of
time. Most interaction is guided by the session
12 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

20. SECTION III
WHAT ELEMENTS CONSTITUTE A SAFE AND • The setting of your mentoring program
EFFECTIVE MENTORING PROGRAM? (e.g., faith-based site, community organization,
Incorporating all the Elements of Effective Practice is school/university, workplace);
the way to ensure that you build a high-quality men- • The program’s stakeholders;
toring program. But we understand that implement- • How to promote your program;
ing the Elements in their entirety may take time,
depending on your program’s staffing and funding. • The best way to evaluate the progress and success
Also, it can be helpful to start of your program; and
small in order to pay careful • A protocol to ensure that your program staff
attention to the nuances and MENTORING TOOL regularly contact mentors and mentees to dis-
needs of your program—as a cuss how their relationships are going.
Refer to the “Tips on
rule of thumb, it is recom- the Five Types of
mended that new mentoring 2. Program Management. Ensuring that your mentor-
Mentoring” in the
programs start off with only ing program is well managed is crucial. A well-man-
appendix of aged program promotes accuracy and efficiency;
15 to 25 matches in the pilot
Section IV. establishes credibility; and enables you to gauge
progress effectively and identify areas that need
This tool kit organizes the improvement. If you follow the guidelines in Section
Elements into four categories, with a section devoted V, you will build a solid plan for managing your
to each category. Here’s a brief introduction to the program––one that includes the following elements:
• An advisory group;
1. Program Design and Planning. This is the first— • A comprehensive system for managing program
and the key—element in building your program, information;
because the design is the blueprint you will follow • A resource development plan that
to carry out all other aspects of the program. allows for diversified fundraising;
When you have completed the design and plan-
• A system to monitor the program;
ning, you will have made the following decisions:
• Strategies for staff development;
• The youth population you will serve, the type of • Strong pro-mentoring advocacy efforts in
mentoring your program will offer and the both the public and private sectors; and
nature of the mentoring sessions;
• Effective public relations and communications
• The types of individuals you will recruit as efforts.
mentors (e.g., senior citizens, corporate
employees, college students); 3. Program Operations. Efficient, consistent everyday
• Your program goals and expected outcomes for operations are important to the success of any
mentors, mentees and sponsoring organizations; mentoring program. How well the people involved
• When and how often mentors and mentees in your program fulfill their responsibilities can
will meet; mean the difference between chaos and stability,
• How long you expect mentoring matches to confusion and clear-cut expectations, motivation
endure; and passivity. Section VI offers proven strategies for
the following operational functions:
• The purposes of your mentoring program
(e.g., socialization, academic support, job/career • Recruiting mentors, mentees and other volunteers;
guidance);
• Screening potential mentors and mentees;
INTRODUCTION TO MENTORING AND PROGRAM-BUILDING 13

21. • Providing orientation and training for mentors,
mentees and parents/caregivers;
• Matching mentors and mentees;
• Bringing mentors and mentees together for
activities and sessions that fall within established
program parameters;
• Supporting, supervising and monitoring
mentoring relationships;
• Recognizing the contributions of all program
participants; and
• Helping mentors and mentees reach closure.
4. Program Evaluation. Ongoing quality improve-
ment is a hallmark of effective mentoring pro-
grams. How well you serve young people depends
on how accurately you assess your program’s suc-
cess and identify areas that need improvement.
Section VII will help you establish the following:
• A plan to measure your program process
accurately;
• A process for measuring whether expected
outcomes have occurred; and
• A process that reflects on evaluation findings
and disseminates them to appropriate parties.
WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP?
Now that you’re equipped with an overview of the
essential elements of a mentoring program and an
understanding of the five types of mentoring, you’re
ready to embark on creating a vision for your
program. Section IV, How to Design and Plan a
Mentoring Program, will guide you through the
design and planning phase. As you’ve seen, the
Elements of this initial phase are intricately related to
the type of mentoring your program will offer.
While the same design and planning guidelines apply
for all mentoring programs, how you implement them
may vary according to the type of mentoring.
14 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

22. Section IV.
How to Design and Plan a Mentoring Program
You’re ready to embark on the very important work of tion you glean to confirm that your proposed mentor-
designing and planning the who, what, when, where ing initiative can answer a clear need among youth in
and how of your mentoring program. By taking time to your community.
carefully think through all aspects of your program, you
will ensure that you’re able to serve young people most Next, you’ll need to confirm that people are ready and
effectively and sustain your efforts over the long term. willing to invest in your program (with financial help,
human resources, in-kind gifts, etc.) and that demand
The program design and planning stage enables you and support for your program services will be ongo-
to create a roadmap of how you will manage, imple- ing. Finally, you will need to determine whether your
ment and evaluate your mentoring program. Keep in organization has the capacity, commitment and capa-
mind that you can modify your plan as you go along, bility to run a quality mentoring program.
as circumstances and experiences dictate. For example,
many of the decisions you make during this phase will DESIGN THE PARAMETERS FOR
be affected if you are partnering with another agency YOUR PROGRAM
or group. However, by planning in advance how you The program design phase will help you determine
will select your management team, establish policies the following:
and procedures, develop a financial plan and imple-
ment and evaluate your program, you can be sure that • Which youth populations your program will serve;
your program adheres to the second edition of the
• What specific type of mentoring you will offer;
Elements of Effective Practice. Sections V, VI and VII
will provide more detailed information and resources • Where mentoring pairs will meet;
on how to put your plan into action. • Whom you will partner with (e.g., a school,
corporation, faith-based community); and
START WITH THE NEED • Whom you will involve as advisors, staff and
Your decision to start a mentoring program stems participants.
from your belief that a need exists for such a pro- MENTORING TOOL
gram. But before you can amass the support you will Begin designing your pro-
See the “Informational
need to launch a program, you must verify that the gram using the 12 parameters
Overview of the Types outlined in the Elements of
need does, in fact, exist. How do you go about deter-
of Mentoring” in the Effective Practice. Let’s look
mining the need?
appendix at the end of briefly at each parameter and
Begin with your local government or a community- this section. how it will help shape your
wide organization, such as United Way, that conducts program. Use the tools at the
periodic, comprehensive community needs assess- end of this section to help you further.
ments. Or you might elect to conduct your own envi-
ronmental scan, a process that allows you to identify 1. Define the youth population that the program
state and local priorities, needs and opportunities in will serve. Based on the results of your needs
the context of the current economic environment. assessment, you’ll be able to identify certain char-
Whichever method you decide on, use the informa- acteristics about the youth you want your program
HOW TO DESIGN AND PLAN A MENTORING PROGRAM 15

23. to serve. Ask yourself, “Who needs the program?” While your sources for mentors may be plentiful,
“Who’s already being served by other programs or actually recruiting mentors can be challenging
agencies?” and “Who are the young people our pro- because you are asking people to volunteer a pre-
gram is capable of serving?” cious commodity: their time. By offering flexible
options, you can help overcome their reservations.
The following are other factors to consider: In fact, according to MENTOR’s 2002 National
• Age. Do you wish to serve elementary, middle Poll, 57 million Americans would seriously consider
or high school youth? mentoring if they had flexible options that matched
• Gender. Do you intend to serve boys or girls, their schedules and interests. This tool kit contains
or both? detailed information and tools you need to explore
• Mentoring need. Do you want to help youth those options and recruit effectively.
improve their reading or academics? Or are you 3. Determine the type of mentoring the program
looking to help them improve their social skills will offer. After you define the youth population
and relationships with others? Or are you focus- you want to serve and the kinds of individuals you
ing on helping them learn about the world of intend to recruit as mentors, you must determine
work, potential career paths and the skills they the type of mentoring you’ll offer. Responsible
will need to succeed? mentoring can take many forms: traditional men-
• Common characteristics. Are you working with toring (one adult to one young person); group
a specific audience––for example, youth with mentoring (one adult to up to four young people);
disabilities or from a certain income bracket? If team mentoring (several adults working with small
you are starting a workplace mentoring pro- groups of young people, with an adult-to-youth
gram, are you looking to include youth of a ratio not greater than 1:4); peer mentoring (caring
certain age group? If yours is a faith-based youth mentoring other youth); and e-mentoring
program, will you look to recruit youth from (mentoring via e-mail and the Internet). (See
a specific congregation or of a particular faith? Section III for a brief overview of each type of
mentoring.) The following are some issues you
2. Identify the types of individuals you will recruit might consider: One-to-one and peer mentoring
as mentors. Once you have decided on your target will require more mentors than the other types of
youth population, you can refine your criteria for programs; group and team mentoring will allow
the type of people you wish to recruit as mentors. you to reach more young people with fewer men-
For instance, if you are targeting elementary school tors; and e-mentoring will be the least restrictive in
children who could benefit from improved social terms of bridging geographic and time differences,
skills, perhaps senior citizens would be a good because people can e-mail 24 hours a day, seven
match. If you are looking to help young people days a week, no matter where they are, as long as
improve their reading or academic skills, college they have access to a computer.
students might be particularly appealing. If helping
young people learn about the world of work or 4. Structure the mentoring program as a stand-
possible career options is your focus, you might alone program or as part of an existing organiza-
want to recruit employees from the public, private tion. Many factors will help you determine
and nonprofit sectors. whether to structure your program to stand alone
or as part of another organization. Cost is a major
Your sources for mentors are almost limitless: cor- factor. The cost of starting a stand-alone program
porations; civic organizations; faith-based institu- will probably be more than the cost of partnering
tions (such as churches, mosques or synagogues); with another organization. Duplication of services
government agencies; police and fire stations; sen- is another factor to consider. You will want to do
ior citizen groups; colleges; sorority/fraternity some research to ensure that you are not duplicat-
alumni; and labor groups, among others.
16 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

24. SECTION IV
ing a service that exists. A third factor is legal liabil- ing how to succeed in the world of work or reduc-
ity. Do you want to assume liability and the related ing risky behaviors. The following are the three
costs for insurance against risk? Or do you want most common models for mentoring programs.
your program to be part of a larger organization
that will be legally accountable? A fourth factor to • Character, social and leadership development.
consider is organizational infrastructure. Programs This model focuses primarily on building a rela-
that plan to stand alone have to build organization- tionship between a young person and a caring
al infrastructure, such as personnel, financial and adult who can serve as a role model and life
technology systems. Most freestanding programs go coach. In this model, the mentor and the
through the process to become a nonprofit 501 mentee decide the types of activities they will do
(c)(3) so they may accept charitable contributions. together. Their main interest is just to spend
Talk with your State or Local Mentoring time together, talking or playing games, visiting
Partnership, United Way or Volunteer Center to museums, and so on. While some of their activ-
find out what mentoring programs are already in ities may be academic in nature (e.g., reading
your area and to identify resources to help you together), there are no defined expectations for
become a 501 (c)(3) if needed. If you find that a improving the mentee’s academic skills or
similar mentoring organization exists, contact the acquiring new skills and knowledge. The focus
head of that organization to talk about your plans is on building the relationship.
and about a possible partnership. If, after that con- • School-to-career. This model, which incorpo-
versation, you still want to pursue a stand-alone rates a more intentional effort to help young
program, you will need to line up your leadership, people explore a career direction, is most fre-
financial backing and other forms of support. Once quently used at the middle school and high
again, your State or Local Mentoring Partnership, school levels. It is particularly effective for high
United Way or Volunteer school students, who tend to drop out of tradi-
Center can help you MENTORING TOOL
tional mentoring programs.
with this process.
For tips on building
The activities between the mentor and the
relationships, see the
5. Define the nature of the mentee in this model may include the following:
training and support
mentoring sessions1. In
parameter 1, when decid- tools in Section VI – Career exploration. A young person follows
ing which population you on the CD. one or more adult employees on the job over
want to serve, you touched the long term to learn more about a particular
on the type of need your program will address. occupation. Career exploration is a more in-
Now is the time to make a definitive decision depth process than just job shadowing.
about the nature of your mentoring sessions.
– Job/life skills. Mentors help youth develop the
Regardless of the nature of the mentoring sessions
skills they need to get a job and succeed in the
(i.e., character, social or leadership development;
workplace. Youth learn skills, such as how to
school-to-career; or academic success), the core
prepare a resumé, manage time and resolve
activity of mentoring is the development of rela-
workplace conflicts.
tionships that will, in turn, enable you to achieve
other program goals. While all mentoring programs – Postsecondary education/internships. Mentors
aim to promote positive youth outcomes, each pro- provide information related to postsecondary
gram has its own specific goals. Some programs education, including internship opportunities
have broad youth-development goals, while others that may or may not be paid.
focus on improving academic performance, learn-
HOW TO DESIGN AND PLAN A MENTORING PROGRAM 17

25. • Academic success. This model incorporates a 8. Determine how often mentors and mentees will
more intentional effort to exert a positive influ- meet and how long the mentoring matches
ence on a child’s academic success. The activities should endure. Ensure that the amount of time
between the mentor and the mentee are deter- you require for mentoring sessions will be adequate
mined jointly by the school and the mentor (the to accomplish the outcomes you set in parameter 6.
school may provide an activity guide to men- The success of mentoring lies in mentors and
tors). In this type of program, mentors help mentees developing and sustaining close personal
youth with class work and/or special projects on relationships. Because it takes time to develop a
a regular basis, either in the classroom or at the relationship, the duration and consistency of a
workplace. The mentoring pairs read together, mentoring relationship is very important. At a
do homework, talk about being successful in minimum, mentors and mentees should meet
school, and so on. regularly at least four hours per month for at least
a year. (There are exceptions. Mentors and mentees
An academically focused mentoring program is in school-based mentoring, for example, will meet
different from a program focused strictly on during the school year rather than during the full
tutoring or reading. The academically focused calendar year. In such special circumstances,
mentoring program puts more emphasis on mentees need to know from the outset how long
building a relationship between a mentor and a they can expect the relationship to last so they can
mentee. It also gives mentors more flexibility to adjust their expectations accordingly. It should be
spend time talking with their mentees about noted that research has shown that school-based
both academic and nonacademic issues. Reading mentoring programs with a summer component
and tutoring programs can be modified to develop stronger mentoring relationships than those
include a mentoring component that provides without this component.)
mentor training to adult volunteers.
9. Decide where the mentoring matches will meet.
6. Determine what the program will accomplish Once again, the nature of your mentoring sessions
and what outcomes will result. The nature of your will help determine where they take place. You have
mentoring sessions (parameter 5) will help deter- many options to choose from: workplace, school,
mine the types of outcomes you want to achieve faith-based organization, juvenile corrections facili-
for the overall program and for all the participants: ty, community setting or the virtual community.
mentors, mentees and sponsoring organizations. Here are some guidelines.
7. Determine when the mentoring will take place. • Workplace-based mentoring. Takes place at the
The nature of your mentoring sessions will also business. At the elementary level, a class or
help determine when the mentoring takes place. If group of children is transported to the business,
academic support is your focus, mentoring will where they meet with their mentors. At the sec-
probably take place during or immediately after ondary level, workplace-based programs may
school. (One exception would be e-mentoring, include internships and job shadowing. School
which can take place any time.) If career guidance personnel and the company coordinator super-
is your focus, mentoring will probably take place vise the program. The following characteristics
during or after school, but during the mentors’ are common to workplace mentoring programs:
work hours. If socialization is your focus, mentor-
ing could take place any time, including weekends. – Offer young people the chance to develop a
relationship with one or more employees who
become friends, role models and advocates for
them;
18 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

26. SECTION IV
– Typically take place at the workplace, either to recruit mentors of a particular faith. The fol-
during or after school hours; lowing characteristics are common to faith-based
mentoring programs:
– May take various forms, including tutoring,
job shadowing, career exploration and game – Offer young people the chance to develop a
playing; relationship with one or more adults who
become friends, role models and advocates for
– Typically ask the mentor for a commitment of them;
at least one year; and
– Are based in a house of worship and reflect the
– Require mentor screening and ongoing sup- values and beliefs of that religion;
port and supervision.
– Typically occur after school hours and/or on
• School-based mentoring. Takes place at the weekends;
school. The mentor comes to the school to meet
with the child, typically for an hour a week. – May take various forms, including career
School personnel supervise the program. The exploration, life skills development, game play-
following characteristics are common to school- ing and going to sports, entertainment or cul-
based mentoring programs: tural events;
– Offer students the chance to develop a rela- – May serve young people from the congrega-
tionship with one or more adults, other than tion or from the local community; and
parents and teachers, who become friends, role
models and advocates for them; – Require mentor screening and ongoing sup-
port and supervision.
– Typically take place at school, either during or
immediately after school hours; • Mentoring through juvenile corrections. Takes
place at a corrections facility. Mentors come to
– May take various forms, including tutoring, the site to meet with the youth, typically for one
game playing and sports; to two hours a week. The following characteris-
tics are common to mentoring programs at a
– Typically ask the mentor for a commitment of juvenile corrections facility or post-release:
at least one school year; and
– Offer young people the chance to develop a
– Require mentor screening and ongoing sup- relationship with one or more adults who
port and supervision. become friends, role models and advocates for
• Faith-based mentoring. Congregations of all them;
faiths are fertile places to develop mentoring – Increase a youth’s awareness of educational,
programs. They have a long tradition of instill- cultural, recreational and career opportunities;
ing spiritual values and moral strength. As part
of a faith-based institution that can draw freely – Focus on helping youth accept their responsi-
on the talents and time of committed volun- bilities and realize their potential;
teers, mentoring puts faith into practice, and
everyone benefits. When considering faith-based – Typically ask the mentor for a commitment of
mentoring, determine whether the mentoring at least one year;
will simply take place in a faith-based setting – May ask mentors to assist the youth in transi-
without religious overtones or will strive to tioning out of the residential setting;
transmit religious values. If the latter, you’ll want
HOW TO DESIGN AND PLAN A MENTORING PROGRAM 19

27. – Have a caseworker on site to supervise men- – Offer young people the chance to develop a
toring meetings; and relationship with one or more adults, other
than parents and teachers, who become
– Require mentor screening and ongoing sup- friends, role models and advocates for them;
port and supervision.
– May take various forms, including tutoring,
• Community-based mentoring. In community- career exploration, life skills development,
based mentoring, the mentor and the mentee game playing and going to sports, entertain-
decide where and when mentoring activities will ment or cultural events;
take place. The following characteristics are
common to community-based mentoring pro- – Typically ask the mentor for a commitment of
grams: at least one year;
– Offer young people the chance to develop a – Require mentor screening and ongoing sup-
relationship with one or more adults, other port and supervision.
than parents and teachers, who become
friends, role models and advocates for them; • E-mentoring. E-mentoring––also known as
online mentoring, telementoring or teletutor-
– Often take place outside of specific sites, as ing––describes a mentoring relationship that is
when mentors and mentees plan activities such conducted via the Internet. The primary goal of
as going to the movies or going to a park; e-mentoring is the same as
that of face-to-face mentor-
– May take various forms, including tutoring, Visit our E-mentoring ing: establishing a trusting,
career exploration, life skills development, nurturing, positive relation-
Clearinghouse at
game playing and going to sports, entertain- ship between a mentor and a
Mentoring.org/emc.
ment or cultural events; young person.
– Typically ask the mentor for a commitment Programs may use any of the electronic commu-
of at least one year; nications available, including e-mail, secure Web
– Involve a higher level of risk management, sites or custom communications software, such as
because activities take place in the community Mentors Online: The E-mentoring Tool Kit. The
without outside supervision; and major benefit of this form of mentoring is that it
can overcome some challenges associated with tra-
– Require mentor screening and ongoing sup- ditional, face-to-face mentoring, especially the
port and supervision. time constraints that prevent many adults from
mentoring.
• Agency-based mentoring. Takes place at a com-
munity site, such as an after-school program or The following characteristics are common to
Boys and Girls Club. Mentors meet with youth e-mentoring programs:
at the program site, and agency staff members
supervise the activities. The following character- – May take various forms including career explo-
istics are common to agency-based mentoring ration, life skills development and academic
programs: success;
20 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL MENTORING PROGRAM USING THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

28. SECTION IV
– May help young people deepen their under- PLAN HOW THE PROGRAM WILL BE MANAGED
standing of the positive potential of online
communications; Select the Management Team
The size of your staff will depend on the size and
– May be the exclusive vehicle for young people
scope of your program. At the very least, you will
and mentors to connect or may serve as an
need a program coordinator. (Larger programs may
additional communication tool for those who
need more than one coordinator. Some programs have
ordinarily meet in person;
one paid staff member and designate other program
– Typically ask the mentor for a commitment responsibilities to a team of
of at least one year; and MENTORING TOOL committed volunteers or,
in the case of a school-
See job descriptions
– Require mentor screening and ongoing sup- based program, a group of
for program
port and supervision. teachers or guidance coun-
coordinators and selor staff.)
10. Identify your program stakeholders and deter- other staff in Section IV
mine how you will promote your program. No on the CD. Choose someone with strong
matter what type of mentoring program you leadership abilities and man-
build, your stakeholders will include your advisory agement skills who can manage a wide range of
group (see Section V for information on develop- responsibilities, including:
ing an advisory group), your management team,
mentors, mentees and parents/caregivers. • Managing the overall program;
Depending on the nature of the mentoring your • Developing consistent procedures for recruiting and
program offers, stakeholders could also include referring young people;
organizations with which you partner, such as
• Overseeing development and implementation of all
schools, faith communities, juvenile facilities,
promotional and educational efforts;
community groups, the media and the general
public. • Cultivating and maintaining all necessary external
contacts and relationships for implementing and
11. Decide how to evaluate the program’s success. maintaining the mentor program (e.g., with partner
We have a number of tools that can help you eval- organizations);
uate whether you have succeeded in accomplishing • Recruiting, screening, training and supervising
what you set out to do. Section VII describes pro- mentors;
gram evaluation in detail. • Matching mentor pairs;
• Developing and maintaining all records, policies
12. Establish a case management protocol to ensure
and procedures;
that the program has regular contact with both
mentors and mentees about their relationship. • Coordinating mentoring activities;
For mentoring relationships in your program to • Checking in regularly with mentors and offering
flourish and endure, your staff will need to be in ongoing support;
touch with mentors and mentees on an ongoing • Developing a plan to recognize program participants;
basis. That way, they can assess how well each rela- • Developing a plan to evaluate the program,
tionship is progressing and offer guidance and including soliciting participant feedback;
advice along the way. Regular contact between
program staff and mentors and mentees can help • Tracking program statistics, including budgetary
avoid conflict, get relationships back on track and costs, hours and so forth; and
help you accomplish your program goals. • Documenting development of the mentor program.
HOW TO DESIGN AND PLAN A MENTORING PROGRAM 21

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