Start-Up Considerations

After talking to your president and Bonner Foundation staff, the next step in creating a program is to think about how the Bonner Leaders program could work on your campus.

Several questions to consider are:

1. Who would coordinate the AmeriCorps Bonner Leaders Program on your campus?
2. Which office would the program be based in?
3. How could this program work with currently existing service initiatives on your campus?
4. When would you like to implement the program?
5. What additional sources of funding could your campus leverage to supplement the students’ scholarship package?
6. How many Leaders would you want to recruit for the first year?
7. What community partners would be candidates for participation in this program?
8. How would you handle the summer component of the Bonner Leaders Program?
9. What campus and community professionals could assist with training and enrichment activities for students?
10. How can students assist you with the creation of the program?

If, after considering these questions and discussing them with Bonner Foundation staff, your campus and the Bonner Foundation are ready to engage in a long-term relationship, the next step may be a campus visit by a Bonner Foundation staff member. These visits are important because they serve as a time for you and the Foundation to become better acquainted and to discuss pertinent issues for the program. They are also an ideal time for other campus administrators to meet with a Foundation staff member to ask questions about the program.

Possible people for a Bonner Foundation staff member to meet with include:

1. Director of the Bonner Leaders Program
2. Student leaders in community service
3. Development officer
4. Public relations professional
5. Financial aid director
6. President
7. Dean of student activities
8. Campus chaplain

If you have any questions please contact Robert Hackett. He can be reached at (609) 924-6663 or via e-mail rhackett@bonner.org or by completing a Request for Follow-up on this website.