826 National

Application

We have closed our first round of applications for the 2005-2006 year. Thank you to all who have applied. Please check our website next year for more information about our next round of open applications. Although we are not planning on opening any new chapters until early 2007, we here at 826 would like to encourage anyone and everyone who is interested in starting an organization of their own to do so! Please see our FAQ page for great web resources to help you get started. We have also posted a list of questions below for you to consider as you begin developing your ideas:

Community assessment: Where will you be located and what are the demographics of the neighborhood? Who are the students you hope to serve? Why do you think they need you?
Local schools: List and describe the schools in the neighborhood that you hope to serve. Include evidence gathered from local teachers regarding their needs.
Space plan: Describe your space requirements. This might include areas for tutoring, computers, performance, and staff.
Educational Resource: It is essential to have an experienced educator on your leadership team. If you have someone in mind (this person might be you), please describe his or her qualifications.
Board members: Please provide bios and references for prospective board members. The board must represent the community you plan to serve.
Literacy and literary organizations: Identify other literacy organizations in your city. In what ways have you studied what they provide? How will your organization be different? How can you collaborate?
Financial plan: Please provide a two-year start-up fundraising plan. Include a list of local foundations that might help fund this potential organization. How else do you plan to support your organization? How much money do you estimate you will spend in the first year?
Volunteers: Provide evidence of a potential volunteer community. How will they learn about your organization?
Community partnership: Identify potential partner schools and community groups.

Please address each of these questions in a query letter no longer than three pages in length. We will begin accepting letters on December 1, 2005. After we receive your letter, we will review it carefully to determine if you are an ideal candidate for our organization. If you are selected as one of the small group of potential 826 chapters, we will ask you to submit a more detailed application, which we will then use to make our final decisions.

Thanks again for your interest in the 826 National project. Good luck!

"Then the tutors and students pair up and work together for between thirty minutes to an hour on the student's draft. Thus begins a one-on-one relationship (mediated through 826) between student writer and tutor, working through multiple drafts before arriving at the completed essay. My students are very grateful for this essentially professional service, which would privately be very expensive and beyond the means of many. And their writing improved remarkably from the expert one-on-one attention that my workload does not allow for."

Heather Woodward
School of the Arts

"And, just wanted to say what a good time I had on Monday at the tutoring session. I can't get over what a very cool organization 826 is -- every community should have such a resource!"

Madeleine Clare
826 volunteer tutor

"All of the students completed the playwriting project, even those students that have difficulty finishing any project. The product of most of the students showed improvement over past writing projects. It was very easy and wonderful to work with your staff and your volunteers. Everyone was very reliable and professional. It was a very enjoyable experience."

Katie Eller
4th and 5th grade teacher
John Swett Elementary School