Destination Graduation: Ensuring Youth Succeed in School, Career & Life

Major Gift Proposal Template

May 2014

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You transform lives

Dear <Funder>,

We are sincerely grateful for you and your family’s support of Valley of the Sun United Way and

our community. We appreciate your loyal participation on our Community Impact Committee,

your family’s long-time membership in the Tocqueville Society and our Foundation Circle. We

truly value the trust you place in us as we transform lives every day and create the systemic

change that will strengthen the Valley for generations to come. We count you all as advocates

and leaders in this work.

Our ability to set and achieve bold goals is made possible by the support of individuals like you.

We partner with individuals, public entities and private organizations…all directed toward

making a lasting difference in the lives of many. We simply could not do this without the

investment of philanthropists and leaders such as you and your family.

It is our intention, with this proposal, to share our work as well as our aspirations and to invite

you to be part of the solution. By investing in our community’s youth and their success in school,

career and life, you will reshape the Valley for generations to come.

We greatly appreciate your consideration of this proposal.

Sincerely,

Merl E. Waschler

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The Issue: College and Career Readiness in

Maricopa County

Graduating from high school is a pivotal achievement in a young person’s life. If a young person

does not graduate from high school – or they graduate but are not college or career ready -- it

puts them at a tremendous disadvantage as an adult.

The American high school graduation rate is 80%, the highest since 1974 (US Department of

Education, 2013). However, our community is lagging behind:

Arizona’s high school graduation rate has steadily declined: of students entering 9th

grade, only 68% will graduate from high school, and only 9% will complete a four-year

bachelor’s degree.

50% of Arizona students who do graduate high school do not qualify for admission to a

state university.

42% of Arizona employers say their employees lack the basic skills to be successful.

In the United States, Arizona ranks 47th in education spending per K-12 pupil (ASU

Morrison Institute for Public Policy, 2013).

Students in high-poverty schools who successfully navigate grades six through ten on time and

on track are three times more likely to graduate high school than those who struggle or

become disengaged in those middle years.

Students Face Challenges Outside of School

One in four Arizona children under age 18 live in poverty (U.S. Bureau 2010). Circumstances

such as homelessness, working a job, caring for siblings, lack of adult supervision,

transportation challenges, hunger, abuse, crime, and the household’s lack of valuing an

education create extreme barriers to academic success. The education levels of adults in a

household also influence the children. While these adults may want the best for their kids, they

may not understand how to navigate the formal education system and how to support their

children in academic success.

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The Issue: College and Career Readiness in

Maricopa County (Con’t)

The Challenge for Schools

Many of our schools also face barriers when providing support to at-risk students:

No central data source exists to follow students from middle to high school. (e.g.

grades, attendance, behavior, course completion, personal / family challenges).

No integration for student monitoring and interventions within a school.

Lack of administrative coordination of multiple school and community services to

impact the right students at the right time for academic and personal success.

Starting in High School is Too Late

Most high school dropout prevention efforts begin toward the end of high school – which is

often too late. Research from Johns Hopkins University (Dr. Robert Balfanz) shows student

readiness for college and career is boosted when focused on middle school activity and

successful middle-to-high school transition:

Students in high-poverty schools who successfully navigate grades six through ten on

time and on track, by and large, graduate from high school (75% or higher graduation

rates).

Students in high-poverty schools who struggle and become disengaged in the early

secondary grades and in particular have an unsuccessful sixth and/or ninth grade

transition, do not graduate (25% or less graduation rates).

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THE SOLUTION

The Goal: Ensure more students graduate from high school ready for college or career.

By ensuring students graduate from high school, more adults can be on a solid path to financial

stability and better careers – making our community stronger in the process. Academic

achievement is the gateway to plentiful and higher-paying jobs that are vital to the health and

prosperity of individuals, the Valley and our state.

Our Strategy: Destination Graduation

Based on national best practices developed by Johns Hopkins University and executed in school

districts across the country, Destination Graduation is a Valley of the Sun United Way program

that combines the use of real-time data with personalized intervention so middle school

students can stay on track and make a successful transition to high school.

Our focus is on reaching the right students at the right time with the right intervention. This

is only possible when data is current, accessible and available to all adults that impact a

student’s success – teachers, counselors, coaches, tutors, service providers and parents.

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THE SOLUTION

Destination Graduation is an early warning response system built on a

three-prong approach featuring:

1) Early Warning Technology – This is a technology used by a school or system of partner

schools to collect, update and make real-time early warning indicator data accessible

(attendance, behavior and grades) to all school personnel. This includes using data to

flag concerns, plan interventions and measure progress.

2) On-Site Support Team – This group reviews and analyzes the data to make decisions.

At the hub of this team is the Destination Graduation Coach who is a youth

development and intervention specialist trained to use data to inform, plan and

implement interventions.

3) Tiered Intervention – Programs are individualized based on the specific needs of a

school and a student.

Early Warning Technology

On-Site Support Team

Tiered Intervention

Uses real-time data that is easily accessible.

Available throughout a specific school and across middle and high schools.

Tracks the “ABCs”:

Absenteeism Behavior Course completion

A team of teachers, tutors, and Destination Graduation Coaches monitor data and flag risks. They develop and implement interventions. Data is used to:

Identify students at risk of dropping out

Identify students at risk for remediation in postsecondary

Monitor student progress and effectiveness of intervention

Identify students on track for college and career

Tier 1 Support services that all students need, such as middle-to-high school transition activities. Tier 2 Targeted support such as small group mentoring for students who need to build resiliency skills. Tier 3 Personal 1:1 support such as tutoring for students who are struggling in math or English.

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An Integrated Approach:

Creating system change can only occur when districts and schools work together. This requires

an integrated approach that creates consistency and evaluation to ensure success. Each level

of the program has a defined role for the program to achieve its goals.

The District Level -- Establish Early Warning Technology and Select School Sites

United Way staff works with district leaders (superintendent, academic, technology and

support services leaders), to plan and implement the early warning technology at the district

level, including which schools will use the system for 6th – 9th grade students.

The School Level -- Implement Early Warning Technology at Identified School

United Way staff works with school leadership to determine how the Early Warning Technology

will be used on campus and by whom. School staff, beyond the Destination Graduation Coach,

is trained to foster team collaboration around student success. School leaders – administrators,

social workers, and counselors – work with United Way staff to complete a site plan that is

responsive to identified data trends as well as current or emerging needs on campus.

Destination Graduation Coaches work with the school to develop and manage an annual site

plan focused on:

Tiered interventions to be provided for the year

Identification of students for specific supports

Responsible staff for managing the supports

Professional and team development around the use of early warning indicator data

The Student Level – Personalized Intervention

Students are identified for personalized intervention by Destination Graduation and school staff

using early warning data. These students meet with the Destination Graduation Coach who

works to develop a close relationship with the student. The student discusses goals and

personal challenges with the coach for comprehensive case management. Some students are

identified to participate in Jobs for Arizona Graduates (JAG) programming. These students meet

with the coach in a classroom setting two to three times per week. During the sessions, they

learn important skills to help them get back on track. Other students enter tutoring or

mentoring programs to achieve academic or skill-building goals. These students also attend

regularly scheduled meetings with the Destination Graduation Coach to assess both educational

and personal achievements. Other interventions such as campus visits and college/career

panels are scheduled with school staff.

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Destination Graduation Schools

Phoenix Union High School District & Partner K-8 Districts

Schools Currently Served by Destination Graduation (3000 6th-9th grade students)

125,000 students XXX High School

80% live in poverty XXX High School

94% ethnic minority XXX K-8

76% graduation rate XXX K-8

XXX K-8

XXX K-8

XXX- K-8

Schools for Potential Destination Graduation Expansion

XXX Middle School (600 students)

XXX School District (1 school, 200 students)

XXX High School (600 students)

XXX School District (3 schools, 500 total students)

XXX High School (600 students)

XXX School District (3 schools, 2100 students)

XXX School District (2 schools, 450 students)

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Our Progress: Accomplishments to Date We are scaling up to reach more students. This year, 2,363 students participated in the

Destination Graduation program. Our goal is to ultimately reach all 6th – 9th grade students in

the participating schools and provide the individualized support services that these students

require.

Middle-to-High School Transition

We have provided support to 1,698 students this year. Activities include high school and

college campus visits, high school enrollment paperwork completion, college and career

speakers, classroom mentoring to teach students about high school success planning and

achievement, and ACT registration and preparation. Next year, we intend for all students in the

program to participate in transition activities and support.

Student Support Services

We partner with schools to identify students who will benefit most from targeted student

support services such as 1-on-1 tutoring and mentoring. This year 428 students received this

more intense form of support. We hope to grow this number by 40% next fiscal year.

Destination Graduation Coaching

Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates (JAG) provides Destination Graduation Coaches serving the

comprehensive case management for students needing multiple supports. We currently have

335 students working with a coach and hope to expand this number by 65% next year.

Students Participating

Middle-to-High School Transition

Student Support Services

Destination Graduation Coaching

FY12 887 673 240 109

FY13 1447 1263 360 330

FY14 2363 1698 428 335

FY15 (goal)

2950 2950 600 550

The table above reflects the number of services delivered to Destination Graduation students

since the beginning of the program. Since students may require multiple levels of services,

these are not unduplicated numbers.

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What We’ve Learned So Far

We launched our first Destination Graduation program at two schools in the 2011-2012 school

year. As with any new program, we’ve gained valuable insights that continually help shape and

improve the program.

Teachers are overwhelmed, so schools must manage change in bite-sized pieces.

Initially, we attempted to completely change school culture around Destination Graduation.

What we’ve learned is that we must work with our partners to create an annual plan to achieve

benchmarks for Destination Graduation. We must define what success will look like using

annual data and create manageable plans for cross-school, cross-district activities.

Student data management is complicated and often inconsistent within districts, let alone

across districts.

We quickly learned to start simple while we build a larger solution. The initial Early Warning

Technology we tested was not user-friendly, and we are currently examining other options. In

the meantime, we are using existing technology and data sources to manage student

interventions. We are still effectively coordinating student services and data as we continue to

evaluate alternative systems.

Schools don’t know a lot about the services outside of their schools and need help accessing

quality, effective programming for their students.

There is an opportunity for United Way to support this in a larger way than originally planned.

We truly understand quality out-of-school activity offerings across the Valley. In order for

schools to rely on our expertise, we need to build trust among school staff. It takes time to

strengthen these relationships for a long-term partnership.

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Destination Graduation Transforms Lives

Meet Luis

When you meet Luis, he looks like a typical high school student – he does homework, he carries

a backpack, he hangs out with his girlfriend.

You wouldn’t know that in his short life, he’s experienced more than most adults. Luis has lived

in a car. He’s worried about having enough food. Then, as a fifth-grader, the unimaginable

happened – his parents abandoned him.

Through it all, Luis knew the one thing that could get him to a better life was a good education.

He just needed the adult support and guidance to keep him on that path.

Fortunately, Destination Graduation launched at Central High School to help Luis and other

freshmen with the academic and social support they needed to overcome barriers and stay on

the path to graduation.

Although Luis slept on a relative’s couch, he still woke himself up every day and got himself to

school. At school, his volunteer mentor, Noel, worked with him one-on-one. Luis ended the

year with straight A’s and a clear vision for his future – college.

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Destination Graduation Financial Model

The major costs for Destination Graduation fall into three categories: Early Warning Technology, Student Supports, and Destination Graduation Coaches.

Early Warning Technology – Currently, Valley of the Sun United Way invests $XYZ for Early Warning Technology. This includes the initial purchase of technology, training for participating schools, as well as maintenance costs. As school districts begin to increase the use of the technology, they will assume paying a larger portion of the costs, with a goal of complete transition of cost to each school district within 3 – 5 years.

Student Supports– Currently, Valley of the Sun United Way invests $XYZ annually for student supports at each Destination Graduation school site. This is partially funded by a corporate donor.

Destination Graduation Coaches - Destination Graduation Coaches ($XYZ annually) are covered in part by the provider, the community and Valley of the Sun United Way. There is also a current challenge grant available from an individual donor who will contribute $XYZ to support two Destination Graduation Coaching positions when a new gift agreement is in place for Destination Graduation. Coaches are $XYZ per year for elementary schools, and $XYZ per year (two positions) for middle and high schools.

Destination Graduation program expenses are covered in part by corporate gifts, Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates (JAG), and Valley of the Sun United Way. United Way has realigned a portion of its annual workforce campaign revenue toward this important work, and has invested over $XYZ for Destination Graduation in the current fiscal year.

While some of the ongoing and projected costs are covered by various public and private sources, there is still a revenue gap of $XYZ for FY15 in meeting these expenses. In order to fill the revenue gap, our lead strategy is to build program investment for operational expenses through corporate and private donors. We will also continue to seek traditional and non-traditional funding sources to create a funding base for the future.

See the following page for the full financial model of Destination Graduation.

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Your Investment Will Ensure Youth Succeed

All of the pieces are in place to increase the high school graduation rate in Maricopa County, and more importantly, to ensure that our youth are on a path to success in college, career, and in life. Our youth and their achievement of major goals such as high school graduation remains the critical factor in the economic health of our local community.

Our Destination Graduation plan is being effectively implemented to ensure that our youth are on a path to success in college, career, and in life. There is momentum with multiple partners, school districts, and growing interest by community leaders with positive initial evaluation results.

We need your help now to ensure that we have operational funding for the technology, student support, and case management … the cornerstone pillars of this unique program.

As part of our continued conversations, we present two investment opportunities below for your consideration:

Option 1 - $250,000:

Your gift of $250,000 will allow us to fully fund two new Destination Graduation Coaches in an expansion school for five years ($50,000 for two positions per year). The coaching staff is critical for enabling Destination Graduation to meet the needs of students faced with the most serious issues in and out of school.

Option 2 - $500,000:

Your gift of $500,000 will allow us to fully fund two new Destination Graduation Coaches in an expansion school for five years ($50,000 for two positions per year), as well as to fully fund the Early Warning Technology for current use or proposed expansion.

Alternatively, your gift of $500,000 could allow us to fully fund the Early Warning Technology for current use or proposed expansion ($230,000), as well as expanding the Destination Graduation program to two new schools ($270,000*). *Typical start-up costs for each school site are $135,000. This includes:

Early Warning Technology ($70,000) Student Supports ($15,000) Destination Graduation Coaches ($50,000)

As soon as your gift agreement is in place, a $50,000 matching gift from another donor will result in an immediate benefit for this program.

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Our Promise: In Partnership with You

As an investor in Destination Graduation, we will keep you informed at least twice a year about our work and count you as a trusted advisor in our continuing work to ensure youth succeed in our community. We will make sure you receive up-to-date information so you are confident in your investment choice and proud of the value you have added through this very generous gift.

We also hope that you and your family will become passionate champions of the Destination Graduation program and will help us connect with other like-minded philanthropists. This is a program that is already making a difference and could create even more change through the adoption of more schools. Your help in sharing success stories as well as the need to accelerate our work can benefit many more young people like Luis who without your help, might never realize their own personal success story.

Your gift will ensure our youth have the support they need to learn and be successful in life. It is truly a transformational investment.

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ADDENDUM

Destination Graduation is sustainable with our Economic Model.

Valley of the Sun United Way is fully committed to Destination Graduation’s success and its

future. The program and associated growth is budgeted as part of Valley of the Sun United

Way’s Economic Model through 2020. The expenses are covered by growth in revenue

including workplace campaign growth, major gifts, and endowment earnings. Our intent is that

the school systems assume part of this growth after the initial ramp-up period. We have

already worked on this shared cost model with the Early Warning Technology component of the

program (see below). Once schools stabilize their investment with Destination Graduation, the

school districts and associated providers assume more of the costs over time. We will continue

to fund the program through various private, public and corporate sources. If those revenue

streams decrease in any way, we would slow the expansion of the program to ensure that the

school sites on board remain sustainable for the future. We have numerous funding

strategies: the creation and use of endowment, philanthropy, public funding streams with

schools implementing and funding the program based upon success and cost savings from

increased classroom attendance. We have the right public and private leaders in place as we

work to secure additional funding. We also hope that the XYZ family will rally other private

support around this important issue. This is the collective impact approach and one that we

greatly believe in.

Early Warning Technology is being customized for each site.

Early Warning Technology data is a critical piece of Destination Graduation. In order to

maximize effectiveness at the school sites for program ramp-up, Valley of the Sun United Way

shoulders the expense of the preliminary implementation and training. After the initial three-

year period, school districts gradually share and eventually assume the ongoing training and

maintenance costs. Each district selects its own vendor based on budget and fit. Vendor

selection for each district is critical since the district assumes the full cost after Valley of the Sun

United Way’s initial funding. The expenditures for Early Warning Technology on page 12 are

FY15 cost estimates for vendors either within the district or third party providers. The dollar

amount reflects average cost per student, plus capacity-building funds for each district to to

launch the technology. Current vendor choices are Versafit, American Institutes for Research,

and DataCation. However, most districts undergo a request for proposal (RFP) process to have

an official selection and implementation schedule that meets their specific requirements.

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The Destination Graduation model is being adopted by other United Ways.

Valley of the Sun United Way is leading a compact group of other United Ways that are

adopting the Destination Graduation model – linking early warning data indicators to student

supports and individualized case management beginning in middle school grades. The

following United Ways are part of the Early Warning Response System Compact:

Valley of the Sun United Way (leader)

Heart of Florida United Way

United Way of Central New Jersey

United Way of Central Massachusetts

United Way of Greater Chattanooga

United Way of Greater Cleveland

United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United Way of Greater Portland

United Way of Greenville County

United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey has a similar program with the

following results:

United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey is currently working with

12 schools in the middle school years (grades six through eight).

345 teachers have been trained on best practices related to Early Warning Indicators.

The Early Warning Indicators program has impacted 1,338 students (1,068 students

maintained on track; 270 students got back on track).

United Way of Northeast Florida’s “Achievers for Life” initiative is a similar, comprehensive

dropout prevention strategy that has helped nearly 3,500 students get back on track to

graduation.

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Additional funding can expand Destination Graduation to new schools.

Given our commitment and fundraising model, we are planning to expand to the Osborn School

District (Osborn Middle School) in FY15. In FY16, we are targeting one new school in our

existing partner district, Phoenix Elementary School District; one new school district (either

Alhambra Elementary School District or Roosevelt Elementary School District), plus the high

school it feeds to, either Alhambra High School or South Mountain High School. Both of these

high schools are in the Phoenix Union High School District, one of our current Destination

Graduation partner districts.