There are three major steps to the Youth Venture process. You must complete each step to be eligible for the Lorax grant. GenV.net is full of tools to help you through the process, and there are Youth Venture staff you can contact for additional help along the way.
Your Idea
The first step is coming up with an idea and a team. To be considered for the Lorax grant, a venture team must:
- be youth-created, -led, and -managed
- be community-benefiting (youth get to define and justify how their idea meets this criterion)
- be structured as a lasting organizations (meaning not just a one-time event, for example, but rather, an ongoing entity—like a new school club, a business, or a new community organization)
- involve a strong team (meaning at least two people), with clear, attainable goals and budget (each team will receive up to $1,000 based on their demonstrated need—actual costs to start-up their venture), and the commitment to lead their venture
- have at least one Ally—a supportive adult who guides and encourages the team without taking control (Youth Venture can help suggest and connect youth to Allies if they need one)
If you need help coming up with an idea, check out the tools here. They are designed to help you brainstorm Venture ideas, research your idea and figure out what kind of organization you want to form. Once you've got an idea, the next step is:
Your Action Plan
The Action Plan is your application for the Lorax grant. There are two ways to fill out your application: download and submit or fill it out online. You can download your applications here, or fill them out online here. If you want to check out the tools designed to help you with the application, click here and here. After you've filled out and submitted the Action Plan, Youth Venture staff will review it, and may make recommendations and ask you to make revisions. When you've finished revising, and Youth Venture staff have gone over your Action Plan and say you're ready, you'll go to:
Selection Panel
The Selection Panel is a group of community members that you will present your ideas to. The Selection Panel will judge your idea based on a set of criteria that can be found here. Once your application is ready, Youth Venture staff will help you get ready to present at panel, using the tools found here.
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