Case Summary 2014

1. The Mission of the TeamMates Mentoring Program is to positively impact the world by inspiring youth to
reach their full potential through mentoring. The vision is to serve 10,000 youth by 2015 and be nationally
recognized as the leading school-based mentoring program. Core values include commitment to youth, safety,
integrity and trust, and inclusion. Established more than twenty-three years ago by Tom and Nancy Osborne,
TeamMates was formed in an effort to provide support and encouragement to school-aged youth. The goal is to
see youth graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education. TeamMates has touched the lives of
thousands of youth and currently provides a mentor for 7,000 youth across 124 chapters in Nebraska and Iowa.
The impact of the TeamMates match on the mentee is profound. Program wide:
 56% of mentees showed improved academic achievement after being matched with their mentor.
 87% maintain or experience fewer disciplinary referrals at school.
 85% maintained or had fewer unexcused absences.
 More than 95% of mentees report that they are happy when they meet with their mentor, that
their mentor talks to them about what they do well, they feel important when they are with their
mentor and that they trust their mentor.
Data collection from Gallup’s Clifton Strengths Project has helped affirm what TeamMates had already
believed to be true:
 Strengths-based mentoring positively influences student engagement with school.
 Students in the control group who received no strengths training as part of their mentoring
program were significantly less likely to strongly agree that they looked forward to seeing their
mentor over time.
 There is a positive correlation between a student looking forward to seeing their mentor and
overall levels of hope, engagement and well-being.
TeamMates has been recognized as a “Best Practice” mentoring organization which means the structure, policy
and procedures are in place for a safe and consistent program. TeamMates adheres to the Elements of Effective
Practice which were developed by the National
Mentoring Partnership as the national standards for
running a quality mentoring program.
To support a mentor/mentee match, it costs the
TeamMates Mentoring Program $450 compared to the
national average cost per match for mentoring programs
of $1,000 to $2,000 per match. TeamMates is an
effective and efficient mentoring organization due in part
to its school-based match meeting venue, allowing for
low-cost and in-kind support from participating school
districts which keeps costs low.
In 2006, the National Mentoring Partnership identified a
significant “mentoring gap” and issued a nationwide call
to action. The partnership estimates over 15 million
youth are in need of a mentor each year. In order to
respond to the call, TeamMates set a goal to reach 10,000
youth by the end of 2015.
4,806
5,605
6,072 6,500
7,500
10,000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Match Growth
2010-2016Chapter Wide

2. Local Chapters
The TeamMates Mentoring Program is structured as a parent organization (Central Office) with individual
chapters (subordinates) in local communities and school districts. Listed below are the chapters that are
established in communities across Nebraska, Iowa and California. To date, TeamMates has 124 chapters and
serves over 7,000 youth.
The TeamMates Difference
Strategic Planning – The TeamMates Mentoring Program operates under a strategic plan that includes
our mission, vision, and core values. Over 90 local chapters have developed their own visions and
initiatives based on the program-wide strategic plan. The CHAPTER chapter of TeamMates has taken
part in this process and set a vision to serve 100 youth by Spring 2017 with matches attaining 24 or more
average mentoring hours per school year. In order to bring about this vision, the CHAPTER chapter has
adopted the following initiatives.
 Strategic Partnerships – Work to clarify relationships with other organizations in order to better
structure partnerships and reach more youth
 Recruitment/PR – Target businesses who will allow mentors to leave during the day, highlight
the hospital’s engagement with TeamMates, work with TeamMates Central Office staff to learn
about recruitment tools, and take advantage of the national recruiting campaign for National
Mentoring Month in January.
 Mentor Support/Appreciation – Create a 1-year plan to address mentor support and appreciation
including: accountability, strengths, building relationships within schools and celebrating 24+
visits. Also use social media to better reach mentors and collaborate with other chapters at the
TeamMates Leadership Summit regarding activities for mentor support.
Strength Based Mentoring – TeamMates partnered with Gallup to begin utilizing the Clifton Strengths
Project in 2010. Results from those chapters currently using a strength-based approach to mentoring
have demonstrated a positive impact on participating students, particularly in the areas of engagement
with school, the development of current strengths, levels of hope, and overall well-being. Importantly,
mentees that participated in strengths-based mentoring were more likely to strongly agree that they look
forward to seeing their mentor over the course of their relationship. As a result, chapters utilizing
strengths-based approaches to mentoring, such as CHAPTER, are more likely to have stronger
relationships and improved outcomes for mentees.
Post-Secondary Emphasis – The goal of TeamMates is to see youth graduate from high school and
pursue post-secondary education. To accomplish this goal, TeamMates mentors are trained to talk to
mentees about graduating from high school and how to help mentees access post-secondary education.
In order to create easier access to post-secondary education, the TeamMates Central Office offers
multiple scholarships ranging from $1,000 to full tuition. One scholarship, the Osborne Scholarship,
provides a mentee with full tuition over four years at Hastings College. Other scholarships include full
tuition scholarships to the Nebraska State Colleges – Chadron, Peru and Wayne.
In addition to financial assistance, TeamMates matches are able to continue meeting while the mentee is
enrolled in post-secondary education. If the mentor is unable or unwilling to travel to the mentee’s post-
secondary institution, TeamMates can provide that youth with a mentor from the new institution or the
surrounding community. In the two years since expanding into post-secondary mentoring, TeamMates
has maintained a 98% retention rate among those mentors who follow their mentees to post-secondary
education.
Length and Quality of Relationship – The length and quality of mentoring relationships are critical to
the mission of TeamMates. The national average for the length of a match is 9 months, but TeamMates’

3. average length of match is over three years. This includes the addition of 1,500 new mentors each year.
Part of TeamMates’ success in attaining long-lasting and high-quality relationships is our adherence to
the Elements of Effective Practice.
 Recruitment
 Screening
 Training
 Matching
 Monitoring and Support
 Closure
These standards allow us to set up a safe, effective environment for both mentors and mentees. Another
essential piece of TeamMates’ achievement in this area is the exceptional quality of our mentors.
TeamMates mentors are caring adults in local communities, aged 18 and above with a high school
diploma or GED equivalent. The average mentor is 46 years old and a full-time professional who
volunteers in other capacities in the community.
Many Communities, One Team – The CHAPTER Chapter is connected to the largest mentoring
movement across the state of Nebraska, encompassing 124 communities and over 7,000 matches. As
part of something larger than themselves TeamMates youth and their mentors take great pride in being
called a TeamMate.
The ability to rely on a large network offers local chapters several benefits. Annual leadership summits
and partnership meetings provide leadership development opportunities for coordinators and board
members. The TeamMates Central Office provides support to chapters in the form of mentor screening,
financial assistance, database management, insurance and liability, grant funding, and data collection.
Additionally, local chapters have the opportunity to participate in recognition ceremonies and outside of
school events. Each year approximately 1,500 matches from 35 chapters attend the University of
Nebraska’s Spring Football Game in which mentees see high school graduates walk across home plate at
the Lincoln Saltdogs stadium and give their TeamMates testimonies. Other events include a Creighton
University basketball game in which mentees share time with mentors outside of their home community
and get to see college life in action.
Conclusion – Program-wide TeamMates celebrated the high school graduation of 468 mentees this
spring, and that number will increase to 600 in 2015. CHAPTER will celebrate 5 high school
graduating mentees in 2015, we expect four graduates in 2016 and 10 in 2016. TeamMates places
critical importance on high school graduation and development of a plan for post-secondary education
with the goal of seeing TeamMates youth reach their full potential. Younger TeamMates mentees are
beginning to take notice and we have seen an increase in graduates and in applications for TeamMates
scholarships. TeamMates offers young people the chance to achieve their dreams by putting a strong
mentor advocate in their lives who is there to provide the guidance needed to help them realize success.
We have all had mentors in our lives who helped us achieve success, young people need mentors more
than ever to achieve the same.
We hope that you will give your great consideration to our request for $xx,xxx annually in support of
the CHAPTER chapter. Expanding the opportunity for young people to have a TeamMates mentor
without affecting the quality of the current program is a critical concern for organizational leadership. A
long-term investment in TeamMates ensures that thousands of youth far into the future will have the
opportunity to have a positive adult mentor in their lives, giving them a greater chance to grow into
successful adulthood.