July 25, 2006
Mr. William Shofner
Wells Fargo Northern California Region
MAC A0735-011
355 Memorial Way
Chico, CA 95926
Dear Mr. Shofner:
Enclosed is our proposal entitled: “California SAGE: An Entrepreneurship and Community
Service Program Linking High Schools to Universities. Thank you for considering our request
for funding in the amount of $7,452 from the Wells Fargo Foundation. California SAGE is an
innovative model that (1) links secondary students to university mentors and the business
community, (2) challenges students to complete real-world projects related to
entrepreneurship and community service and (3) showcases the projects in a competitive
“tournament” which recognizes outstanding high school teams based on their creativity,
innovativeness and effectiveness.
With Wells Fargo funding, we can take California SAGE to new heights. The partnership
between Wells Fargo and the Chico State University Foundation contributes to one of Wells
Fargo’s primary education areas in that SAGE is a “program that encourages school
partnerships with parents and guardians, the business community or the community in which
the school is located.” For example, each participating SAGE high school is awarded “points”
for how well it recruits local business, civic and community leaders to sit on their advisory
boards. At last year’s California SAGE competition on April 28-29, 2006 we enlisted over 80
judges from the community to help us evaluate the quality of the entrepreneurship and
outreach projects completed by each high school. Judges included Chico Mayor Scott Gruendl
and members of Congressman Wally Herger’s staff. I am also very happy to report that, for
the first time, both Pleasant Valley High School and Chico High School participated in
California SAGE.
Specifically, the $7,452 grant funds will be used to: (1) sponsor the Friday Night Welcome
Reception for Judges and Teachers ($1,000); this reception will be held on Friday night, April
27, from 6 pm to 9:30 pm at the Chico Boys & Girls Club; (2) provide lunches for students,
teachers and guests on Saturday, April 28 (150 * $8 = $1,200), (3) defray the costs of
preparing the judges’ packets which contain judging instructions ($500); (4) co-sponsor the
Saturday night awards ceremony (200 * ($21/3)) = $1,400; other co-sponsors include Allstate
and Walgreens); (5) defray the costs of the California SAGE champion high school team to
participate in the USA SAGE national competition in New York City on May 24-26, 2007
($1,000); (6) scholarships to two “Outstanding Chico State SAGE Mentor” ($1,000);(7)
defray the costs of SAGE T-shirts ($800); and (8) charge mandatory 8% fee for project
administration as required by the University Foundation($552 = total direct costs of $6,900 *
.08).
As an official SAGE sponsor, we will display a Wells Fargo banner at the Welcome
Reception and at the Awards Ceremony and include Wells Fargo as a sponsor on all press
releases and media. We expect approximately 250 guests (80 judges, 50 spouses/guests, 30
teachers, and 40 CSU, Chico students) to attend the awards ceremony. Also, on Saturday, we
will name one of the competitive SAGE leagues after Wells Fargo (e.g., Wells Fargo
Freeway).
You should note that Wells Fargo generously contributed $2,500 to California SAGE last
year.
Included with this cover letter is a packet that includes:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
A brief proposal providing more details about California SAGE
Sample annual report completed by last year’s California SAGE participants
Sample press received about SAGE
A copy of the University Foundation’s 501 c 3 tax-exempt letter
SAGE Business Plan dated July 2007
In closing, the Chico State University Foundation is a non-profit, tax exempt 501(c) (3)
charitable organization. California SAGE is a program within the University Foundation. The
Federal Tax I.D. is 95-1230865. One of the programs administered by the University
Foundation is Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE). We invite
Wells Fargo to be one of our external partners by funding this grant request and, thereby,
availing those benefiting from this grant to many resources available on our university
campus.
Sincerely,
Dr. Curtis L. DeBerg
SAGE Project Director
P.S. If the Wells Fargo Foundation would like to entertain a proposal for USA SAGE (which
includes 10 states, not just California), we will be happy to submit a proposal upon request.
Alternatively, details can be found in the SAGE Business Plan included in the accompanying
packet.
California SAGE: An Entrepreneurship and Community Service Program Linking High
Schools to Universities
I. How the Funds Requested Will Serve a Low- to Moderate-Income Population
This proposal request $7,452 from Wells Fargo. The requested funds will serve approximately
20-25 California high school “SAGE” teams, directly affecting 500 students in grades 9-12, of
which about 50% will come from low- and moderate-income backgrounds. The project
headquarters are located on the campus of California State University, Chico, in Butte County.
SAGE is an acronym for Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship, and this
program addresses a real need in our schools. SAGE is needed because financial concepts and
entrepreneurship are not taught well in the schools. According to the Jumpstart Coalition for
Personal Literacy, 50% of U.S. high school seniors don’t make the grade in their knowledge
of managing money, investing, and savings. Also, a recent Gallup survey found that, even
though 70% of high school students want to start their own business, more than half
acknowledged that their understanding of business issues is poor. “The sad fact is that most
children today receive no formal education about business and free enterprise. Our schools
aren’t required to teach it and most teachers don’t understand it themselves. Unless we start
today to correct this situation, the free enterprise system will continue to be at risk tomorrow”
[Think This is Kid Stuff? Think Again..., National Federation of Independent Business
Education Foundation].
California SAGE promotes entrepreneurship and community service by linking CSU, Chico
university students to California secondary schools. A total of 20-25 high schools will
participate in the SAGE program in spring 2006, with the culminating event taking place on
April 27-28, 2007 on the Chico State campus. Approximately half of participating high
schools are from inner cities (e.g., five schools from Oakland are participating: Castlemont,
Fremont, McClymonds, Oakland Tech, Oakland High. Also, several high schools from rural,
communities are included, e.g., Yreka, Woodland, Willows. We are also pleased that we
added Chico’s two main high schools last year: Pleasant Valley High School and Chico High
School.
IIa. What is SAGE? What do we do?
SAGE’s vision and mission are:
Vision
Creating better futures through business entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship
and community service.
Note that the first word in our vision statement is creating—be it the creation of a new
product, a new service or a better way of doing things. Business entrepreneurs (i.e., “forprofit” entrepreneurs) stimulate economic growth and improve standards of living through
their creativity, innovation and hard work. The value they add is measured by profits. Social
entrepreneurs are also innovators, but their ideas often address major problems in their
communities. The value they add is much harder to measure, but the problems they address
are often much more difficult to solve.
Mission
To advance youth entrepreneurship and community service around the world,
emphasizing ethical business practices, social responsibility, civic engagement and
environmental awareness.
The first part of our mission contains the words “entrepreneurship” and community service.”
We believe that all “for-profit” entrepreneurs should return some of these profits back to the
community, because it is the community that provides the market for the entrepreneur’s goods
and services.
SAGE’s main supporters currently include Walgreens and Allstate. Other supporters include
Umpqua Bank and Tri-Counties Bank.
This proposal meets three primary objectives of the Wells Fargo Charitable Contributions
program under the Education category:
1. It provides financial support to 9-12th grade institutions, working in collaboration with
the Chico State University Foundation (a 501 c 3 organization), promoting financial
literacy and basic business skills;
2. Many of the high schools participating have a disproportionately high number of lowand moderate-income students;
3. This program emphasizes high school partnerships with local colleges, universities,
business organizations and civic leaders.
IIb. Why College Students?
One goal of the SAGE program is to make a difference in the community by learning,
practicing, and teaching the principles of entrepreneurship and community service. While
completing community outreach projects, the students develop teamwork, leadership, and
communication skills. The Chico State outreach projects are aimed at helping those they serve
achieve economic self-reliance.
IIc. Whom We Serve
The “service-learning” projects completed by Chico State business emphasize the teaching of
financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills to at-risk and disadvantaged teens from
alternative high schools, charter high schools, business academies and juvenile hall. Many of
the schools are classified as Title I schools, meaning that they are located in economically
disadvantaged neighborhoods. The university students has taught their younger protégés how
to start, finance, operate, and market their own micro-enterprises. Business ethics are
emphasized throughout. At the end of the program, many of the younger students have the
opportunity to sell their goods at a public trade fair.
The majority of the high schools that participate in SAGE will come from underserved
communities. For example, consider the high schools that participated in California SAGE the
past two years. California SAGE directly impacted 18 high schools and 240 students from the
following high schools (many of which are in traditionally-underserved areas of California).







Benicia High School
Castlemont High School
(Oakland)
Chico High School
Dixon High School
Golden West High School
(Visalia)
Highlands High School
McClymonds (Oakland)
Montclair High School

Oakland Tech










Pleasant Valley High School
Sacramento High School (Bus.
Academy)
Santa Monica High School
South San Francisco High School
Will C. Wood High School (Vacaville)
Willows High School
Woodland High School
Youth Empowerment High School
(Oakland, formerly Fremont High)
Yreka High School
IId. History
SAGE was founded nine years ago under the name “Cal-High SIFE.” This program matched
college business students with underserved and/or economically disadvantaged high schools.
The college students became coaches and mentors, helping high school students develop skills
to enter today's workforce or go on to college. In 2003/2004, 17 high schools and over 300
high school students (mainly from inner cities) came to Chico State to present the results of
their entrepreneurship and community outreach projects. Each high school was placed into a
competitive league, much like athletic competitions. Teams were judged on the creativity and
innovation of their projects; judges were recruited from the civic, education and business
communities. Four years ago, the name was officially changed from Cal-High SIFE to
Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE).
IIe. Major Accomplishments
The SAGE program has received outstanding state and national attention. For example:
1. George Lucas Educational Foundation –
http://glef.org/businesslearning.html
Here, you will see a 10-minute video documentary,
accompanied by an article titled, “Students Make a Business of
Learning.” This article and video were launched in September
2003.
2. Entrepreneur Magazine –
In Editor Rieva Lesonsky’s June, 2003 Editorial titled, “Higher
http://www.entrepreneur.com/Magazines/Co
py_of_MA_SegArticle/0,4453,309494----1,00.html
Learning,” Rieva made some very positive remarks about
SAGE.
3. TeenStartups.com –
http://www.entrepreneur.com/mag/article/0,1
539,310490,00.html
This website, owned and operated by Entrepreneur Media,
contains an article titled, "Starting a Business the SAGE Way."
This article was written in July 2003.
4. Global Education Partnership –
http://www.geponline.org/GEP%20News/Int
ernational%20SIFE%20Champions.shtml
This article was written right after the Inaugural SAGE World
Cup in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 13, 2003. It is titled,
“Oakland Youth Entrepreneurs Win International
Entrepreneurship Competition.”
5. PPAS System http://www.afterschool.org/search/online/stor
y.cfm?submissionID=348&log=direct
SAGE has been nationally recognized as a featured program in
the “Promising Practices in Afterschool System.” The PPAS
System is an effort to find and share good things that go on in
afterschool programs countrywide. Funded with support from
the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, it is one of approximately
100 practices that have been recognized as promising. The
SAGE activity is currently the “Featured Program” (until May
30, 2004).
6. Mongabay.com http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0718-sage.html
Mongabay.com aims to raise interest in wildlife and wildlands
while promoting awareness of environmental issues. Originally
the site was based around a text on tropical rainforests ("A Place
Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests - Their Wonders and the
Perils They Face") that Rhett Butler developed four year period
(1996-2000), but today the site has expanded in a number of
different directions. In 2004 Butler developed
WildMadagasacar.org to focus on the incredible biodiversity of
Madagascar and in 2005 he released a kids’ version of the
rainforest site. The SAGE article was included in May 2005.
7. The Corporation for National &
Community Service Resource Center http://epicenter.nationalserviceresources.org/inde
x.taf?_function=practice&show=summary&Lay
out_0_uid1=33578
By invitation, SAGE was asked to submit information to the
Corporation for National and Community Service. After review,
the Corporation decided to list SAGE as an “Effective
Practice: Integrating entrepreneurship education with servicelearning programs.”
This web page is for teachers, instructors, program developers
and others who help students of all ages find their own
entrepreneurial opportunities.
The Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES), is a
nonprofit organization that assists schools, school districts, and
community groups in the work of creating or redesigning
schools to elevate overall achievement. BayCES is committed to
the transformation of education - to ensure that all students can
reach high standards and that no student is poorly served due to
her/his race, gender, home language, or economic status.
BayCES has taken the lead locally and in the national school
reform movement in three key areas:
 Equity through data-based inquiry and collaboration at
multiple levels — classrooms, schools, and districts
 Personalization through small schools
 Community partnerships to leverage district-level
policy change and to build authentic school-community
connections.
This website provides speeches, photos, and results of 2006
National SAGE Competition in Abuja, Nigeria.
8. Consortium of Entrepreneurship Education
– http://www.entre-ed.org/_arc/d-comps.htm#s
9. The Bay Area Coalition for Equitable
Schools http://www.bayces.org/newsletter/april/apr_fe
ature.htm
10. The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria:
http://usembassy.state.gov/nigeria/wwwhsage
2006.html
11. Inc.com –
http://www.inc.com/criticalnews/articles/2006
05/sage.html
12. Nigeria SAGE–
http://www.sagenigeria.org
13, Santa Monica Daily News http://www.smdp.com/article/arti
cles/1465/1/Samohi-studentstake-top-honor-in-nationwidecompetition/print/1465
12.http://www.khmerkrafts.com/Khm
erKrafts/TripJournal.aspx
This article describes the results of the May, 2006 USA SAGE
competition in Brooklyn, NY
Nigeria SAGE is now an officially-recognized NGO by the
Nigerian government.
This article describes the success of the USA SAGE Champion
from Santa Monica High School
This web site describes the success of the First Runner Up in the
USA SAGE competition from Gem State Academy in Idaho
IIf. Detailed Description of the Program We Wish Wells Fargo to Consider Funding
California SAGE - This program promotes entrepreneurship and community service by
linking CSU, Chico students to California secondary schools. We expect 20-25 high schools
to participate in California SAGE, with the culminating event taking place on April 27-28,
2007 on campus. At least half of these high schools are from inner cities, and several high
schools will come from rural, economically-challenged communities. University student
“mentors” are assigned to individual high schools to help them complete problem-based
learning projects.
Throughout each year, the high school SAGE team completes at least one project under each
of the following two broad categories: entrepreneurship and community service. Moreover,
teams are also judged favorably if they integrate civic engagement, environment, and global
aspects to their projects.
Each SAGE school is encouraged to recruit a Business Advisory Board. At the end of the
year, these projects are showcased at the California SAGE competition in April. Judges at the
California SAGE competition include successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, professors,
civic leaders and graduate students. Thus, SAGE is an ideal program for encouraging school
partnerships with the business community and the community in which the school is located.
Why is SAGE Groundbreaking?
SAGE is groundbreaking because high school students don’t compete for grades; rather, they
compete for the same type of recognition that comes with interscholastic sports. Only SAGE
is not a game—it’s real business, and students vie for the title of USA SAGE Champion based
on the effectiveness of their projects.
SAGE also cuts across boundaries between secondary education and higher education;
between education and business; between business and government; and, of equal importance,
between countries. One of SAGE’s goals is to give all participants a global perspective along
with local insight.
One of the unique aspects of this program is that university student mentors/consultants help
their assigned high school SAGE team to identify, deliver and assess projects. The
competitive element incorporated into SAGE cannot be overstated. This structure also allows
teams to “benchmark” their best projects against other secondary schools. Unquestionably,
one of the strongest motivators for a young person is positive peer pressure, and the SAGE
structure, in a subtle yet powerful manner, has incorporated this motivational technique into a
fun and competitive setting which has been so successful that the program continues to grow.
IIg. Amount of Funding Requested from Wells Fargo
We seek $7,452 from Wells Fargo, representing 23.7% of the total cost of the project. The
remaining 76.3%% has been obtained from: (1) Walgreens Foundation ($5,000), (2) Allstate
Foundation ($10,000), (3) GotVMail, Inc ($5,000), (4) Tri-Counties Bank ($1,000), (5)
Umpqua Bank, ($1,050), (6) Cisco Enterprises ($1,000), (7) RSC Associates ($1,000), and (8)
Lotspeich Accountancy ($1,000).
Specifically, the $7,452 grant funds will be used as follows:
(1) $1,000 – to sponsor the Friday Night Welcome Reception for Judges and Teachers;
this reception will be held on Friday night, April 28, from 6 pm to 9:30 pm;
(2) $1,200 – to provide lunches for students, teachers and guests on Saturday, April 29
(150 * $8 = $1,200);
(3) $500 – to defray the costs of preparing the judges’ packets which contain judging
instruction;
(4) $1,400 – to co-sponsor the Saturday night awards ceremony (200 * ($21/3));other cosponsors include Allstate and Walgreens);
(5) $1,000 – to defray the costs of the California SAGE champion high school team to
participate in the USA SAGE national competition in New York City on May 25-27,
2006;
(6) $1,000 – to provide scholarships to two “Outstanding Chico State SAGE Mentors”;
(7) $800 – to defray the costs of SAGE T-shirts ($800); and
(8) $552 – to charge the mandatory 8% fee for project administration as required by the
University Foundation ($552 = total direct costs of $6,900 * .08).
IIh. Expected Outcomes
With each high school participating, we anticipate that two university students will be
assigned as their mentors, thereby directly impacting 40 university students. Moreover, we
expect each high school to recruit an average of five Business Advisory Board members,
meaning that we will directly involve approximately 20 x 5 = 100 leaders from the local
business and civic communities, including from Wells Fargo branches.
Quantifiable and reportable outcomes include:
The quality and quantity of entrepreneurship and community service projects
completed; number of high school students participating; number of college mentors
participating; involvement of the business community in mentoring and advising
capacities.
A unique feature of this project is that the assessment of the projects is made by the business
and civic leaders who participate as judges.
IIi. Contact, Mailing and Telephone Information
Dr. Curtis L. DeBerg
SAGE Project Director
College of Business
California State University
Chico 95929-0011
cdeberg@csuchico.edu; phone: 530.898.4824