Dickinson County Endowment Fund
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Dickinson County Endowment Fund
Date of application:
8/15/2007
Application submitted to:
Dickinson County Endowment Fund
Organization Information
Name of organization
ISU Extension – Dickinson County
Organization Address
1600 15 th Street
Phone
712-336-3488
Name of contact person regarding this application
Karen Byers
Type of funding sought (circle one):
City, State, Zip
Spirit Lake, IA
51360
Fax
712-336-3498
Phone
712-336-3488
EDUCATIONAL
Charitable
Legal name (as listed with IRS)
Employer Identification Number (EIN)
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Web site www.extension.iastate.edu/dickinson
E-mail ksbyers@iastate.edu
Civic Patriotic
Public Religious
Project focus area
(circle all that apply) YOUTH SERVICES
Natural Resources
Recreation
Is your organization an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit?
Family Services
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT x
Housing
Transportation
Conservation
Yes No
If no, is your organization a 170b unit of government?
Yes No
If no, you must have a fiscal agent. Please list name, address, phone and fiscal agent contact person:
Iowa 4-H Foundation - Joe Leisz, ISU Extension 4-H Building, Ames, IA
50010 Phone: 515-291-4402
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
What is your fiscal calendar? (Mo/Yr) to (Mo/Yr)
July 2006 to June 2007
Fiscal agent’s EIN number
Describe your organization’s charitable purpose, program activities, and population served.
(4-5 sentences)
The mission of Iowa State University Extension (ISUE) is to build partnerships and provide research-based learning opportunities to improve quality of life in Iowa. More specific to the 4-H & Youth Development program area, the mission is to empower youth to reach their full potential working and learning in partnership with caring adults. In Dickinson County, youth seventeen years of age or younger represent approximately 3600 people or 22% of the population.
List any major changes that have taken place in your organization in the last two years.
ISUE has been serving youth for over 100 years through the world’s largest youth organization -- 4-H.
Recent programming has focused on leadership, teambuilding, and youth adult-partnerships in after school programs, school enrichment activities, and numerous special interest initiatives.
Dickinson County Extension has partnered to create and deliver 4 annual countywide high school student council retreats for nearly 100 students each year. The retreat success sparked interest in leadership programming for middle school students. Thanks to financial support from DCEF in
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Dickinson County Endowment Fund
2006, the Ricochet Middle School Leadership program was piloted during a 9-week exploratory class period with all 6 th grade students in the Spirit Lake School District. Nearly 100 students learned about 5 Dimensions of Leadership: Information, Attitudes, Communication Skills, Decision
Making and Stress Management. They participated in adventure-based, hands-on experiential learning activities; identified and met with community leaders; and identified and conducted community leadership projects. The success of this 6 curriculum being adopted for 6 th grade students for the 2007-2008 school year, as well as support for the now 7 th th grade leadership program has lead to this
grade students to participate in a Ricochet Level II program.
Briefly describe your organization’s history (year organized) and major accomplishments.
What evidence can you provide that you will be able to carry out your project?
Iowa has the honor of being the birthplace of the 4-H & Youth Program in 1902. By 1916 Dickinson County was providing this opportunity for youth. Today, this programming is not only offered in every county in the state, but has grown nationally and internationally to become the world’s largest youth organization. Ties with Iowa State University ensure that youth program initiatives are founded with research-based methods. In addition, Extension & 4-H Programs in Dickinson County have a rich history of partnerships with other community organizations, business entities, and non-profit groups. Projects have had a successful history because of state and local level partnerships.
Examples of these partnership successes include: 4 years of Lakes Area Student Council Annual
Retreats (LASCAR) and 2 pilot “Ricochet: An Extreme Middle School Leadership Adventure” in the
Harris-Lake Park and Spirit Lake Schools. Both of these leadership initiatives have been supported by local Kiwanis groups, Priority #1, banks, restaurants, and other businesses. Additionally, ISUE has secured approximately $4500 in grants from America’s Promise, Alcohol & Drug Treatment
Unit, and the Iowa Department of Public Health to support these two leadership initiatives. The high school LASCAR concept is award-winning, receiving a $1000 National Great Idea Award from
America’s Promise and an Iowa Association of Extension Council’s Outstanding Program of the Year
Award. We believe our middle school leadership initiative with 7 th graders will be equally successful.
Request Summary
Describe the proposed project, including the goals and objectives. Discuss the community need for the project, what populations it will serve, the benefits for the community as a result of the project and the community support for the project.
 The project proposal is for financial support for the expansion of the “Ricochet: An Extreme
Leadership Adventure II” with 7 th grade students in Dickinson County.
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“Ricochet” is designed to help youth discover their leadership abilities and look toward the possibilities they have to impact their communities and county.
The program is designed with three levels of leadership training – Ricochet I, II, and III, each providing approximately 15 contact hours with the students.
The leadership program combines discussions and hands-on challenge-type activities for youth to get a better understanding of leadership in their communities, as well as a community leadership service project selected and implemented by the youth participants.
Two Ricochet Leadership Level I programs have been successfully conducted with students in Harris-
Lake Park & Spirit Lake School Districts.
Over 100 students have been reached with new leadership skills and 6 volunteers (including two high school students) have been trained to facilitate the Ricochet I Leadership Program (SLMS)
Ricochet provides opportunities for adult, youth and community partnerships through volunteerism and financial support. Volunteer adults and high school students assist with program delivery,
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Dickinson County Endowment Fund

 leadership discussion panels, refreshments and more. Financial support is needed to purchase
Ricochet II program supplies, participant t-shirts, training equipment, staff time and travel for training trainers and conducting the program, rental fees for facilities, possible transportation costs, marketing, recognition & thank you items, etc.
Extension proposes a train-the-trainer format to train community leaders and high school students to help deliver the Ricochet II program with 7 th grade school students during the ’07-’08 school year.
The ultimate outcome of the program is for youth to see themselves as leaders in their communities.
We plan to expose them to community leaders and opportunities and encourage them to see opportunities they have which in turn would provide economic development in Dickinson County.
Population served
(estimated #):
100 youth +
12 trainers
Total project cost: $4230.00
Grant monies needed:
(Mo/Yr) to (Mo/Yr)
October 2007 to May 2008
Total requested from the DCEF $2500.00
Are matching funds
YES being used?
In-kind contributions?
What percentage of total funds raised are matched dollars?
$1430.00
41%
Outline other resources or partners identified to assist with the project; the nature of the in-kind contributions if any, and any other funding secured, applied for and proposed for the project:
 As a team of Northwest Iowa Youth Specialists, we are writing for two grants through Iowa State
University to publish the Ricochet curriculum. While these dollars are not allocated specifically to the
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Dickinson County Program, they will help with in-kind materials like facilitator guides and curriculum.
We have received a $10,000 grant to publish Ricochet Level I and move forward with Ricochet Level
II.
We are asking for $2500 from the Dickinson County Endowment Fund to expand the leadership
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 program to the next level – Ricochet II for 7 th grade students.
We will be seeking financial and in-kind support from local businesses, organizations, and others based on the amount of funding secured prior to the asking.
ISUE will provide staff, as well as, in-kind donations with curriculum development, challenge training equipment, printing, marketing, phone calls, some travel expenses.
We plan to seek in-kind donations for facilities, refreshments, etc. for the students.
We will also continue to seek out and apply for other grant opportunities as they become available throughout the program year.
Indicate desired impact and how you will measure and evaluate the results of the project. Be specific regarding community needs/issues your project will address.
Youth completing the Ricochet Adventure will be able to:
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 identify characteristics of leaders identify themselves as a leaders share ideas more easily with others recognize what causes communication breakdowns explain the connection between values and decisions use a decision-making model to make a group decision use positive techniques for managing the stress associated with leadership identify a leadership service project in their community; develop an action plan for the project; and complete the project in their community
Ricochet is intended to be a three-part leadership development program. The program is founded on research by, VanLinden and Fertman in “Youth Leadership: A Guide to Understanding Leadership
Development in Adolescents”. Ricochet is an experiential program during which youth improve their leadership skills by reflecting on their experiences, sharing their ideas, listening to others, making good
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Dickinson County Endowment Fund decisions, and managing their stress. Participants will also be deciding upon and conducting a community leadership service project.
Our future goal is to involve all Spirit Lake 6 th , 7 th and 8 th grade students in the three Ricochet program phases to help prepare rural Iowa youth to become leaders in their communities both today and tomorrow.
After completing the program youth will be able to accept leadership roles in the community, for instance serving on a local library board, a mayor’s task force, city recreation board or school advisory committee.
What is the timeline for this project?
We plan to continue Ricochet I with 6 th grade students and introduce Ricochet II to 7 th grade students in
Spirit Lake Middle School in the spring semester.
Is this a project that will be sustained? If so, how will you sustain it?
We plan to sustain the program for a number of years. The ISUE Team that created this Ricochet Adventure is developing and piloting Ricochet II and III for middle school students. Pilots of these phases will be ongoing during the year. Future plans are to see the pilot group of 6 th graders continue with Ricochet II and the following year with Ricochet III. We plan to build the program’s long-term sustainability by offering phase I to all 6 th graders, phase II to all 7 training more trainers to help with the facilitation. Ultimately, we hope that community leaders see the value in this training and help support it for years to come! Additionally, we will continue to seek out grant funding at all levels. th graders and phase III to all 8 th graders in following years and
Attachments
In order to be considered for funding, your application MUST include the following items:
Copy of latest Federal IRS Tax-exempt status letter
List of Board of Directors, Director, Staff
Copy of most recent CPA audit, financial statement or tax return (IRS 990 form)
Signed ‘Letter of Intent’ to act as a fiscal agent – only if you are not 501(c)3 or 170b status
Signed Applicant Board Approval Agreement (see below)
Board Approval from Applicant Organization :
We approve submission of this grant request and certify that the purpose of this request is charitable and that monies received from the Dickinson County Endowment Fund will be used solely for the project stated in this application.
Date Board Chairman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For DCEFund use only:
Board of Directors
Determination: Approved Denied Date
This application has been approved in the amount of $ _____________.
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Dickinson County Endowment Fund
Organization Budget
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Dickinson County Endowment Fund
Project Budget
INCOME
Source
Support
Government grants
Foundations
Corporations
United Way or other federated campaigns
Individual contributions
Fundraising (Refreshments - $300)
Membership income
In-kind support
(
County Staff Time - $1430)
Investment income
Revenue
Government contracts
Earned income
Other (specify)
Total Income
Amount
$
$
$
$
$
$ 300.00
$
$1430.00
$
$
$
$
$
$1,730.00
EXPENSES
Item
Salaries and wages (indicate number of staff and full- or part-time.)
1 - Area Youth Field Specialist
SUBTOTAL
Insurance, benefits and other related taxes
Consultants and professional fees
Amount
$
$ 1440.00
$
$
$ 1440.00
$
$
Travel
Equipment
Supplies (Folders, Pencils, T-shirts, name tags, etc…)
Printing and copying (Train-the-trainer Binders -
$500 and supplies; Registration Materials,
Brochures, Posters, and Student Packets $600)
Telephone and fax
Postage and delivery (2 mailings @.50 x120)
Rent and utilities (Trainer site & youth site)
$ 400.00
$
$ 1200.00
$ 1100.00
$
$ 120.00
$ 550.00
In-kind expenses
Depreciation
$
$
Other (specify) (Leadership Service Project supplies - $500; Celebration Ceremony
Certificates & Supplies x $3/person = $360; )
$ 860.00
Total Expense
$
$4230.00
Difference (Total Income less Total Expense) $2500.00
%FT/PT
75% time
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Dickinson County Endowment Fund
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