Section 4. Recruiting Youth to Your Mentoring Program

What do we mean by recruiting youth?

Young people bring creativity, knowledge, interests, relationships, and leadership potential to their communities. At the same time, some may face barriers to opportunities, supportive relationships, education, employment, recreation, or other resources that can help them pursue their goals.

A mentoring program can create opportunities for young people to build supportive relationships with caring adults, explore interests, strengthen skills, connect with resources, and work toward goals that matter to them. Mentoring will not be the right fit for every young person, so a thoughtful recruitment strategy should help young people and families understand what the program offers and decide whether they want to participate.

Recruiting youth means actively reaching out to young people who may be interested in your mentoring program, making the opportunity accessible and welcoming, and providing enough information for them to make an informed choice about participation. Recruitment should be ongoing so that new young people can learn about the program as opportunities become available.

Whom should you recruit?

Before recruiting participants, be clear about what your mentoring program is designed to offer. What are its goals? What kinds of mentoring relationships will it provide? What ages or communities does it serve? What activities, opportunities, and supports are available?

Once you understand the purpose of the program, you can decide who may benefit from and be interested in participating. Eligibility criteria should be connected to the program's actual goals rather than based on assumptions that certain young people need to be "fixed" or rescued.

Depending on your program, you might especially want to reach young people who:

• Would like an additional supportive relationship with a trusted adult
• Face economic barriers or have limited access to educational, recreational, career, or community opportunities
• Want to strengthen academic, employment, leadership, technical, creative, or other skills
• Are navigating challenges related to school engagement, attendance, transitions, or educational goals
• Have disabilities or other access needs and would benefit from a mentoring program that provides appropriate accommodations and support
• Are interested in exploring careers, education, hobbies, leadership, community involvement, or other personal goals with a mentor

These are only examples. Your program may serve a broad range of young people rather than focusing on particular barriers or circumstances.

Most important is the young person's interest in participating. Mentoring relationships work best when young people have meaningful choice about whether to join the program and, whenever possible, about what they want from the relationship.

Explain the program clearly, answer questions, and invite participation without pressure. Young people may need encouragement or time to decide, but recruitment should not rely on coercion, shame, or the message that something is "wrong" with them if they do not participate.

Where should you recruit?

Strong community relationships can help you reach young people who may be interested in your mentoring program. Instead of trying to identify young people simply by observing where they "hang out," work through trusted community networks and create opportunities for young people to hear about the program directly.

Connect with organizations and people who already work with young people and families. They may be able to share information about your program, make appropriate referrals, or help you understand what would make the opportunity accessible and appealing.

Possible partners include:

• Schools
• Community and service organizations
• State and local public agencies
• Faith and spiritual communities
• Parents and caregivers
• Teachers and other educators
• School counselors, social workers, and student support staff
• Local mentoring organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Pediatricians, family physicians, clinics, and other health professionals
• YMCAs, recreation centers, libraries, and community centers
• Parent-teacher organizations and family engagement groups
• Local businesses and chambers of commerce
• Student organizations and youth clubs
• Boys & Girls Clubs and other youth-serving organizations
• Family counselors, therapists, and behavioral health organizations
• Coaches, arts instructors, and other adults who regularly work with young people
• Local health departments and public health programs

Maintain relationships with referral partners once they are established. Keep them informed about eligibility, available spaces, application procedures, accessibility, transportation, languages offered, and other changes that could affect young people's participation.

How do you recruit youth?

Recruitment should begin once your program is prepared to accept participants and has the mentors, staff, training, safeguards, and resources needed to support them.

Recruitment strategies will vary by community and program, but several basic steps can help you develop an approach that is clear, equitable, and responsive to young people.

Establish eligibility criteria for participating in your program

Develop clear criteria so young people, families, and referral partners understand who the program is designed to serve. Criteria should be relevant to the program's purpose and should not unnecessarily exclude young people who could benefit.

Ask:

• Which young people is our program designed to serve?
• What age range will we serve?
• What goals, interests, barriers, or circumstances is the program prepared to address?
• What supports or accommodations may participants and families need to take part fully?
• Are there any other eligibility requirements that are genuinely necessary for the mentoring model?

Clear information can help young people and families decide whether the program fits what they are looking for.

Create strategies to encourage referrals to your program

Referrals from trusted schools, community organizations, families, health professionals, youth-serving programs, and other partners can be an effective way to reach potential participants.

Start with questions such as:

• Who already has trusted relationships with young people who may be interested in the program?
• How can someone refer or connect a young person to the program? Is the process simple, clear, and accessible?
• How will we explain the program to referral partners so they can describe it accurately?
• What steps will young people and families need to complete before participating?
• How will we make fair decisions if more young people want mentors than the program can currently support?
• How will young people be able to express interest directly rather than needing an adult to refer them?

Strong referral networks depend on communication and trust. Keep partners informed about the program, but avoid asking them to identify young people based only on stereotypes or assumptions about who "needs" mentoring.

Make the program relevant and appealing to young people

Young people are more likely to participate in programs that reflect their interests, goals, schedules, and priorities. Rather than guessing what will appeal to them, ask.

Use youth advisory groups, listening sessions, surveys, informal conversations, or planning meetings to learn what young people would like the mentoring experience to include. Their input might influence activities, meeting formats, locations, communication methods, matching preferences, or the skills and experiences you seek in mentors.

Young people who enjoy the program may also choose to tell friends about it. Peer-to-peer communication can be a useful part of recruitment, but participants should never feel responsible for recruiting others.

Example: Building a mentoring program with community partners

Suppose a local public-safety agency wants to develop a youth mentoring program to strengthen relationships with young people and increase awareness of careers in public service.

Before designing the program, organizers meet with young people, families, schools, and community organizations to learn how young people currently experience the agency, what concerns they have, and what kinds of activities would actually interest them.

Based on that input, the program might include career exploration, recreation, community-service projects, conversations about public safety and community trust, and opportunities for young people to ask questions about the agency's role. Participation would be voluntary, and young people would have ways to provide feedback about their mentors and the program.

The goal would not be to persuade young people to adopt a particular view of the agency, but to create opportunities for relationship building, learning, dialogue, and exploration.

Other activities might include:

• Written, digital, or video exchanges with young people or mentors in another community, when appropriate and safely supervised
• Sports, fitness, recreation, gaming, or outdoor activities for young people who are interested in them
• Art, music, theater, media, design, neighborhood improvement, service, or other creative community projects
• Community exploration, field trips, workplace visits, college visits, cultural events, or other opportunities to learn about local resources and possibilities
• Opportunities to recognize participation, leadership, growth, creativity, collaboration, or contributions to the community

Avoid assuming that all young people enjoy the same activities. Some may be interested in sports, while others prefer art, technology, music, academics, entrepreneurship, service, gaming, outdoor activities, or simply time to talk with a trusted mentor.

Recognition can be meaningful, but it should not create the impression that only a few "outstanding" participants represent success. Programs can recognize many forms of contribution and growth without ranking young people against one another.

Participants who are comfortable doing so may share their experiences with peers through school presentations, videos, social media, newsletters, community events, or other outreach. Their participation should be voluntary, and they should have control over what personal information they share.

Advertise your program

Publicizing the program can help young people, families, and community partners learn about mentoring opportunities. Use communication channels that are actually accessible and relevant to the people you hope to reach.

Options include:

• Promote the program through school announcements, student newsletters, advisory periods, lunch activities, student organizations, or school events
• Share information at youth sports, recreation, arts, gaming, and community events
• Provide clear information to parents and caregivers through schools, community organizations, email, text messages, newsletters, or other communication channels
• Give presentations to schools, youth organizations, libraries, faith communities, businesses, parent groups, community organizations, and other potential partners
• Use printed brochures, posters, or flyers where they are likely to reach interested young people and families
• Use local newspapers, radio, television, podcasts, community newsletters, and other media when appropriate
• Maintain an accessible website or online page describing the program for young people, families, mentors, and referral partners. Include current contact information and a simple way to request more information or express interest in participating.
• Use social media, text messaging, community apps, or other digital channels used by local young people and families, while following appropriate privacy and safeguarding practices

Recruitment materials should describe young people as potential partners and participants, not as problems the program is trying to fix. Show what the program offers: supportive relationships, shared interests, skill-building, leadership, career and education exploration, new experiences, community connection, and opportunities to pursue personal goals.

Pay attention to what is happening in the community and where young people and families already gather. Community fairs, school events, recreation programs, cultural festivals, neighborhood events, libraries, and youth-led activities may all provide opportunities to share information about the program.

Also consider barriers that may prevent participation even when a young person is interested. Transportation, fees, scheduling, disability access, language, childcare responsibilities, technology, family concerns, or uncertainty about the program may all affect participation. Recruitment works best when the program is prepared to reduce these barriers wherever possible.

In Summary

Recruiting young people to a mentoring program is more than identifying who adults think needs help. It means creating an opportunity that young people understand, value, and can choose to participate in.

Begin with a clear purpose and fair eligibility criteria. Build relationships with schools, families, youth-serving organizations, health and community partners, and young people themselves. Make referral and enrollment processes simple and accessible, and ask young people what kinds of mentoring relationships and activities would be meaningful to them.

Most importantly, recruit from a strength-based perspective. Young people come to mentoring programs with interests, knowledge, abilities, relationships, culture, goals, and experiences of their own. A strong recruitment process communicates that mentoring is not about rescuing or correcting them. It is about expanding supportive relationships, opportunities, resources, and possibilities while giving young people meaningful choice in shaping their own experience.