Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, GA An Overview Jimmy Herndon PADM 7040 September 19, 2005

Legal description of the Club. Boys & Girls Clubs of America is a national organization that serves local independent member organizations. Each Boys & Girls Club organization is a separate legal entity, is governed by an independent board of directors, executive committee or other governing body and is solely responsible for its own affairs, including, but not limited to, matters of safety; compliance with federal, state and local laws; physical facilities; uses of technology, finances; policies and programs and personnel policies and decisions. Each Local Boys & Girls Club has sole authority to hire, to terminate, to prescribe the duties of and to establish the terms of employment of its employees and officers. The national Boys & Girls Clubs of America has no authority with respect to employment policies or decisions of Local Boys & Girls Clubs. Accordingly, each Local Boys & Girls Club controls its own affairs and Boys & Girls Clubs of America does not control and cannot be held responsible for the actions of Local Boys & Girls Clubs. The Boys and Girls Clubs of America is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes. SOURCE: BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA NATIONAL OFFICE

Membership Trends The average member reflects the community in which they live. Due to the Club trying to provide services to the community not duplicated anywhere else the clubs are often in underserved minority areas. These may be poor white community, black communities or non-English speaking Hispanic communities. As noted on pg. 173 of Andreasen & Kotler the Clubs membership has grown from 1,000 clubs in the 1990’s to over 3,000 clubs in The Clubs also went being a $180 million organization to an organization with more than $1 billion in their overall budgets.

Mission of the Clubs According to the Clubs it’s mission is “To provide a quality developmental program which empowers metro Atlanta youth, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to become productive adults”. The boys and girls provides after school programs in structured environments for kids of all ages. The club is a place where kids can feel safe and participate in sports and other activates at little to no cost to the member. (Boys and Girls club website)Boys and Girls club website)

The club seeks to establish new locations in areas where there are no similar services available to assist. According to the Metro Atlanta Boys and girls website the cost to have a child as a member per year is $857. No child has ever been turned away due to the child not being able to pay their dues. Each child’s dues are set at $25, which are often only partially paid, paid over time or covered by donations.

The boys and girls club of Atlanta has been in existence since The boys and girls clubs of Atlanta oversees 23 clubs in 11 Atlanta metro counties. The club currently serves more than 30,000 boys and girls. Growth continues at a steady pace each year. The club strives to better children though specialized programs to target at risk youth. The club utilizes five different core programs to target individual youth. The club also has team sports such as basketball, football and baseball.

Boys and Girls Club Programs The club utilizes 5 core programs, these include: Character and Leadership Development Education and Career Development Health and Life Skills The Arts Sports, Fitness and Recreation

Character and Leadership Development Children are taught basic skills necessary to succeed in the job market though a workshops, providing community service to others and work study program to familiarize teens with what it takes to succeed. These activities are achieved though a combination of volunteering and donations raised by the

Education and Career Development Volunteer mentors provide assistance to children by assisting them with homework and providing mentoring when often times there is none at home. Most clubs in the metro area have a few computers and a small library where kids can study and find quiet time to do school work or leisure reading.

Health and Life Skills The boys and girls clubs strive to educate its members about eating healthy, personal grooming, to the dangers of alcohol, smoking and drugs. The clubs also have specialized gang prevention classes that target at risk youth before they become involved with gangs and help those involved turn to positive activities within the clubs.

Sports Programs The boys and girls clubs in metro Atlanta are basically equipped the same, but vary in size. The equipment often includes a basketball court, baseball equipment, football equipment. All of the sports depend on donations from the public and the government.

Results of the Programs 87 percent of Club members graduate from high school compared with a national average of 66 percent. 25 percent of those members finish college, far exceeding the 16 percent national average. In neighborhoods with Boys & Girls Clubs, teen pregnancy and arrests related to substance abuse decrease by as much as 50 percent. Of at-risk youth referred to Clubs, 94 percent have no further encounter with the law. 84 percent of Club members have learned about drug and alcohol prevention through Club programs, such as SMART Moves, which educates members about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, pre-mature sexual activity and gang involvement. 85 percent of teen members learned about abstaining from premature sex through Club programming. Only 26 percent of Club members report having had sex - compared with the national average of 53 percent. SOURCE:

Volunteering for the Club The Clubs offer many ways to volunteer in a structured environment To volunteer you must pay a $2 fee to help with the background check cost which are required of everyone working in or around the club. The Executive track of volunteering allows volunteers to help make executive decisions along side of executives in the business and non profit world. The Mentoring track allows volunteers to participate in programs that help youth with reading, coaching and life skills The club also allows volunteers to become mentors and help in other non traditional ways based on the limited time commitments of some volunteers. The club also allows corporations to sponsor clubs and help organize fundraisers such as golf tournaments and road races held each year in metro Atlanta. Volunteers from the club come from virtually all walks of life, everyone from parents of club members to boardroom executives volunteer for the clubs.

Obstacles and Problems The main problem I found is addressing those who want to volunteer and want to participate in the clubs but do not speak English. In recent years the Hispanic population in the metro Atlanta area has exploded. I do not believe the clubs are doing enough to address the problems at this time. The clubs do acknowledge this is a problem and are taking steps to advertise on Hispanic radio and television in the area. Money is always an obstacle for the club. The individual clubs compete for funding from the national organization. The national organization does an excellent job at fundraising, as well as the money it receive from the U.S. congress each year.

Funding The Boys and Girls Clubs of America is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes. Source of Funds Contributions 38,366,604 Government grants and contracts (net) 19,913,832 Unrealized gains on investments (net) 7,261,432 Member organization dues 7,040,946 Realized gains on investments (net) 6,777,481 Fundraising events 5,092,527 Investment income (net) 2,632,839 Income from funds held in trust by others 1,024,748 Other 930,900 Total Income $89,041,309 SOURCE:

Programs: 75% Fund Raising: 6% Administrative: 19% Total income $89,041,309 Program expenses$50,440,793 Fund raising expenses3,857,606 Administrative expenses13,136,962 Total expenses $67,435,361 Income in Excess of Expenses 21,605,948 Beginning net assets 203,199,656 Ending net assets 224,805,604 Total liabilities 22,635,513 Total assets $247,441,117 SOURCE: