Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota
For Mentoring Programs
 

The following resources were grouped to provide organizations and institutions with quality information to ensure effective and meaningful programming.


Getting Started 

Elements of Effective Practice: www.mentoring.org/find_resources/elements_of_effective_practice
The Elements of Effective Practice include measures any mentoring program can implement to offer the best mentoring possible.

The Elements of Effective Practice Tool Kit is comprised of tools, templates and advice that compliment the Elements of Effective Practice. The toolkit is available for free download at the link above or from the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota in hard copy format. Contact April McHugh aprilm@mentoringworks.org, Director of Training and Community Partnerships, for more information on purchasing a copy.

Best Practices for Mentoring Programs: www.emt.org/userfiles/BestPractices.pdf
This report, an effort to build on the knowledge of what works, The Evaluation, Management and Training (EMT) Group interviewed 50 mentor program managers throughout California to uncover the practical wisdom they had gained working on the front lines of mentoring.

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Program Design & Planning  

General Program Design

Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring: A Guidebook for Program Development: http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20699/n/off/other/1/name/foundationspdf
Meant to give your program a solid understanding of what it takes to build a successful program, with the expectation that you will build on this foundation by continuing to implement new ideas, apply new mentoring research, and refine your program’s strategies and services over time.

Generic Mentoring Program Policy and Procedure Manual: http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20701/n/off/other/1/name/policypdf
This resource makes it simple for mentoring programs to create their own customized manual to guide both policy and day-to-day services. Be sure to download the Customizable Template:
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20702/n/off/other/1/name/policy_TEMPLATEdoc

Mentoring for Specific Populations

Tools For Mentoring Adolescents: www.mentoringworks.org/Training_Institute_Tools_and_Resources.html
Tools for Mentoring Adolescents were developed by the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota in collaboration with the Search Institute to support and strengthen relationships between mentors and mentees.

Partners for Youth with Disabilities: www.pyd.org
Partners for Youth with Disabilities, Inc. (PYD) is committed to empowering young people with disabilities to reach their full potential for personal development.

E-Mentoring

iMentor: www.imentor.org
Since 1999, iMentor has been cultivating relationships between young people and volunteer adult mentors though an innovative combination of e-mail correspondence and in-person meetings.

ITP: www.telementor.org
The International Telementor Program (ITP) facilitates electronic mentoring relationships between professional adults and students worldwide, and is recognized as the leader in the field of academic based mentoring. ITP serves students in K-12 and home school environments as well as college and university settings.

http://www.icouldbe.org
icouldbe.org mentors the next generation through the Internet. icouldbe.org links teens electronically to mentors in a wide range of careers.

MENTOR E-Mentor Training
MENTOR online e-mentor training takes you through the steps of becoming a mentor. Included in this training is the Learn to E-Mentor workbook which is a downloadable file that has been provided to help you learn how to apply your own life experience to the process of mentoring.

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Program Management 

NWREL: Technical Assistance Packet Series:
The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's National Mentoring Center is one of the nation's premier training and technical assistance providers for youth mentoring programs and initiatives and has over 20 years experience providing training, resources, and online services to local mentoring programs and federal and state agencies.

#1: The ABCs of School-Based Mentoring (2007):
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20696/n/off/other/1/name/abcspdf
This newly revised version incorporates the latest research from Public/Private Ventures and other mentoring leaders into a guide for school and community partners.
#2: Mentoring Sexual Minority Youth (2000):
www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/packtwo.pdf
#3: Recruiting Mentors: A Guide to Finding Volunteers to Work with Youth (2001):
www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/packthree.pdf
#4: Building Relationships: a Guide for New Mentors (2001):
www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/packfour.pdf
#5: Training New Mentors:
www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/packfive.pdf
#6: Supporting Mentors:
www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/packsix.pdf
#7: Same-Race and Cross-Race Matching:
www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/packseven.pdf
#8: Measuring the Quality of Mentor Youth Relationships: A Tool for Mentoring Programs:
www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/packeight.pdf

Sustainability Planning and Resource Development for Youth Mentoring Programs: http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20703/n/off/other/1/name/sustainabilitypdf
This resource examines effective planning strategies, corporate giving, foundation support, government grants, individual giving campaigns, local fundraising events, and short articles on the ethics of fundraising and increasing board involvement.

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Program Operations  

Managing Mentors and Volunteers

Points of Light: Volunteer Center Membership Directory: http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/directory.cfm?State=MN
The Volunteer Center Membership Directory provides detailed profiles of members that comprise the Volunteer Center National Network. All Volunteer Centers listed are full members, seeking full membership, or a satellite office location of the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network. Here is a summary of the statistics gathered from Volunteer Centers.

Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration: http://www.mavanetwork.org/resubresource.htm
MAVA provides a wealth of news and information available to leaders of volunteers.

Working With Mentors: www.emt.org/MentoringProgramResources/workingwithmentors.htm
Recruitment strategies, screening, training, and matching ideas for working with mentors.

Recruiting: www.mentoring.org/start_a_program/operations/recruitment
Here you'll find resources to help you design a recruitment campaign, including sample recruitment materials and more.

Recruiting Mentors – A Guide To Finding Volunteers To Work With Youth: www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/28_publication.pdf
Drawing on effective practices used by volunteer-based organizations and on research findings about mentoring, the following material describes recruitment strategies that programs can adapt to meet their particular circumstances.

Preparing Participants for Mentoring

Preparing Participants for Mentoring: The U.S. Department of Education Mentoring Program’s Guide to Initial Training of Volunteers, Youth, and Parents: www.edmentoring.org/pubs/training.pdf
This guidebook is designed to help mentoring programs prepare for and deliver initial training sessions for mentors, parents, and youth participants. Many of the concepts and techniques in this book will also be useful for ongoing training situations as your program provides continued support to participants.

Training New Mentors: http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20697/n/off/other/1/name/trainingpdf
A comprehensive guide to providing mentoris with initial training, complete with over a dozen ready-to-use training activities.

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General Resource 

Mentoring: A Promising Strategy for Youth Development: www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2002_02_01_RB_Mentoring.pdf
Do mentoring programs work? Or, to put it another way: Are young people who participate in these programs better off because of this participation? To address these questions, Child Trends reviewed studies of ten youth mentoring programs, including both nationwide and locally based programs. This Research Brief brings together highlights from these multiple studies.

Child Trends DataBank: www.childtrendsdatabank.org
Child Trends is and independent, nonpartisan research center providing information on groundbreaking research, policy insights, program guidance, and exposing emerging trends and issues.

Learns: The Tutor http://nationalserviceresources.org/leanrs/tutor
In-depth articles for tutor, mentor, and other youth-focused programs

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Resource Collections to Visit 

Handouts from Mentoring for Meaningful Results (published by the Search Institute): 
The Search Institute, whose 40 Developmental Assets have formed a key component of most youth work today, have made several sections and handouts from their widely acclaimed Mentoring for Meaningful Results guidebook available. These can easily be incorporated into mentor or parent orientations.

What Is My Role as a Mentor?
My Mentor’s Role in My Life
Setting and Reaching Goals
Supporting Your Child’s Relationship with a Mentor (for parents)

MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership: www.mentoring.org/find_resources
MENTOR’s resource page is added to regularly to keep you up-to-date on the latest in mentoring information.

National Mentoring Center at NWREL: www.nwrel.org/mentoring/topic_pubs.php
Resources on program design, mentor recruitment, participant training, volunteer screening, school-based mentoring/tutoring, relationship support, sustainability and fundraising, and mentoring special populations.

Corporation for National and Community Service/LEARNS: nationalserviceresources.org/resources/online_pubs/learns
LEARNS is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide training and technical assistance to projects focused on literacy, education, mentoring, and out-of-school time. LEARNS is a partnership of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) and the Bank Street College of Education (BSC).

Tutor/Mentor Connection: www.tutormentorconnection.org/links/tabid/560/default.aspx
The mission of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) is to provide an organized framework that empowers and encourages adult volunteers to contribute their time, effort, ideas and advocacy toward creating life-changing solutions for children in educationally and economically disadvantaged areas.

Youth Empowerment Seminars (YES!): yess.co.nz
Based out of Australia, YES! focuses on practices and resources for volunteer adult mentors involved in mentoring relationships; Teachers as mentors of students; and School Peer Mentor Programs, where older students guide and encourage younger students to reach their potential in a safe and secure school environment.

Peer Resources: peer.ca/mentor.html
Peer Resources is Canada's leading organization for mentor research, training, consultation, and program development.

YouthFriends: Resource Center www.youthfriends.org/resourcecenter/yflibrary.html
YouthFriends is a school-based mentoring network that connects caring adult volunteers with young people. Here you can find activity ideas, reading resources, tips for volunteers, and more.

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Tools for Mentoring Adolescents
Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver's Choice
Program Information Form

Quick Links
Getting Started

Programming Design & Planning

Program Management

Program Operations

General Resource

Resource Collections to Visit


Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota - 81 South Ninth Street, Suite 200 - Minneapolis, MN 55402
612.370.9180 - mentor@mentoringworks.org
State Partner of MENTOR