The Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) is a grant offered by Key Club International to promote more impactful service. Clubs applying for the grant may request between US$250 and US$2000. If the application is approved, that money will go directly towards the planning or execution of a service project.
The YOF can be applied to a variety of service projects — but every YOF service project must meet the needs of your Key Club’s community. To decide what project to embark on, your club can do a community needs assessment. After finding a cause to support, your club should choose an effective service project that supports activities of at least one cause areas identified by the Kiwanis Children’s Fund: health and nutrition; literacy and education; and youth leadership development.
Remember, the YOF can be used for service projects of any scale, so we encourage your club to be creative and proactive when applying!
The application is processed through Foundant, our online grant-management system. To apply, you must have a Foundant club account:
- If you’re a returning recipient, use the account that your club has used previously.
- To create a club account, click on “Create New Account” from this login page. Then click “Apply” and process with your preferred language.
Along with the application process, you will need to input the name of your Key Club, the club ID number, and the Key Club district — all of which can be found from the Membership Update Center, or at keyclub.org/muc.
This year, the YOF includes two application cycles:
- The first cycle’s application deadline is October 15 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
- The second cycle’s application deadline is March 1 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Note that the deadlines are Eastern Time, so if you’re in a different time zone, make sure to submit it at the appropriate time where you live.
And please remember a few other matters as you consider applying:
- To be eligible for YOF funding, a Key Club must have paid the previous year’s dues. If the club has received the YOF in prior years, a YOF Grant Final Report must have been submitted within a year of the money being received.
- A Key Club cannot receive more than one grant per year. If your club was granted funding from the first cycle, an application for the second cycle will not be considered.
- When filling out the application, give a thorough description of your service project — and provide specific details about how the grant money would be used.
- The service project should receive at least 25% of its total funding from your club and require no more than 40% of total funding from the YOF grant.
After a cycle’s application deadline, all eligible applications are reviewed by the Partners and Programs Committee on the Key Club International Board. All grant applicants will be notified of the recipients via email four weeks after the deadlines.
For more information about the Youth Opportunities Fund, visit keyclub.org/yof.