Statement of Need — Youth Program

📝 The structure — fill in YOUR words

1. THE PROBLEM (2-3 sentences)
   In [your neighborhood/city], [number] young people ages [range]
   [specific problem, e.g. 'have no safe place to go after school'].

2. THE PROOF (2-3 facts)
   - Fact 1: [statistic from a real source — school district,
     census, police data, or your own sign-in sheets]
   - Fact 2: [another real number]
   - Name your source for each fact: 'According to [source]...'

3. THE GAP (2 sentences)
   Existing programs [name them] serve [number], leaving
   [number] unserved. [Your org] is positioned to close this gap
   because [one reason].

✅ A good example

"In the Northside neighborhood, roughly 400 teenagers ages 13–17 have no supervised place to go between 3pm and 6pm. According to our school district's 2025 survey, 62% of parents worry about after-school safety. The two existing programs serve 90 teens combined, leaving over 300 unserved. Our center sits two blocks from the high school and already serves 120 families — we're the natural place to close this gap."

🚫 Common mistakes

• Writing about YOUR organization instead of the COMMUNITY'S problem — need comes first, you come later.
• Using national statistics when local numbers exist — funders fund YOUR neighborhood, not the country.
• Saying 'there is a dire need' with zero numbers — that's an opinion, not a need statement.

💡 Tips

• Call your city council office or school district — they often have the exact numbers you need, free.
• Your own sign-in sheets and waitlists count as data. '47 families on our waitlist' is powerful.
• Keep it under one page. If a tired reviewer can't get it in 60 seconds, it's too long.