Hosting an Intern

The grant application period for the 2012 Nonprofit Internship Program has closed.  Please check back with us next year, or contact Holly at hkingsbury@denverfoundation.org with any questions.

The Denver Foundation's Nonprofit Internship Program strives to engage young people, especially those from populations traditionally underrepresented in the nonprofit sector, by offering meaningful internship opportunities with Metro Denver nonprofit organizations. 

The Nonprofit Internship Program will provide at least 10 grants of $5,000 each to nonprofit organizations in the seven-county Metro Denver area.  The grant must be used to pay for expenses related to hiring a summer intern.  Specific requirements include:
     *  Pay the intern a wage of $12/hour for 330 hours over the course of the
summer ($3,960 total).
     *  Pay the intern as an employee of the organization, not as an independent
contractor.
     *  Pay related payroll taxes for a summer intern.

Funds remaining after the intern's salary and payroll taxes have been paid may be used to cover a portion of the supervisor's salary, and/or additional administrative expenses associated with hosting a summer intern.

Through this program, organizations will:
     *  increase capacity through a motivated and highly qualified paid intern,
     *  incorporate a fresh perspective, and
     *  achieve short- and/or long-term organizational goals.

ELIGIBILITY
Eligible organizations must:
     *  Be a recipient of a grant from The Denver Foundation's Community Grants Program in the past three years (2009, 2010, 2011)
     *  Submit a clear job description for the intern that provides education opportunities as well as an opportunity to contribute to the organization in a meaningful way
     *  Demonstrate capacity: have a designated, experienced supervisor, appropriate work space, etc.
     *  Provide a structured and interactive opportunity: ideally, opportunities will engage and/or expose students to several aspects of the work of a nonprofit organization, such as programmatic work, fundraising, governance, etc.
     *  Have a clearly articulated commitment to building inclusiveness and diversity, and be engaged in strategies to become more inclusive as an organization.
     *  Organizations that received a grant to host an intern in the past are eligible to apply.  However, those organizations that hosted an intern during the previous year's program (2011) are not eligible to apply for the 2012 program - they are required to take a year off before applying again.
     *  Pay students as employees of the organization and not as independent contractors. 

HOW TO APPLY
Interested applicants must respond to the request for proposals available below. The deadline to submit a proposal is October 31, 2011.

Internship Program Guidelines and Request for Proposals

A Pre-Application Workshop was held on Tuesday, September 27^th and recorded as a webinar. To watch the webinar, please click here. The actual webinar starts at the 3 minute mark.  You must turn the volume up high on your speakers! While viewing the webinar is optional, the content helps to provide additional context to the information contained in the Request for Proposals and will certainly be helpful as you think about your application. Viewing the webinar (or not) will not impact your eligibility for this grant program, or any other grant program of The Denver Foundation. 

The deadline for organizations to apply to host an intern is Monday, October 31, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.

GRANTEE COMMITMENTS AND WHAT TO EXPECT
By submitting a proposal to The Denver Foundation’s Nonprofit Internship Program, organizations agree to the following conditions and requirements if selected to host an intern.

Selecting an Intern
Host organization grantees will interview up to five pre-screened candidates for an internship opportunity. Interviews will take place in March, after a review of intern applicants by The Denver Foundation and the Internship Program Committee. It is required that selected organizations interview all intern candidates sent to them. Students with an existing paid or volunteer relationship to an organization may not apply to work with that organization. Likewise, organizations may not select an intern with whom they have an existing paid or volunteer relationship.

Paying an Intern
Using the $5,000 grant, organizations must pay their intern a wage of $12 per hour for 330 hours of work, with total intern pay of $3,960. Grantees should use remaining grant funds (~ $1,000) to pay costs associated with the internship –employer portion of payroll taxes, portion of supervisor salary, supplies, etc.

Most organizations choose to have their intern work an average of 33 hours per week for ten weeks, between the kick-off event (early June, 2012) and closing session (early August, 2012). However, organizations and interns may establish an alternate schedule and start/end date, as long as the intern attends all Learning Workshops, Kick Off Session, and Closing Session, and works the full 330 hours stipulated by the grant funding.

Important Dates
     *  Thursday, December 15, 2011, Selected grantees notified
     *  Monday, January 23, 2012, Deadline for students to apply to the Nonprofit Internship Program.
     *  Tuesday, February 28, 2012, Grantee Orientation (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.).
     *  Monday, March 5, 2012, Organizations receive information about intern candidates.
     *  Tuesday, March 6 – Friday, March 30, 2012, Organizations interview intern candidates.
     *  Monday, April 2, 2012, Organizations notify selected intern.
     *  Thursday, April 5, 2012, Organizations notify all interviewed candidates. 

Host organizations must allow their intern to attend the Kick-Off Event, the Closing Session, and 5 mandatory Learning Workshops, and pay their intern an hourly wage for time spent at these meetings. Exact dates will be available in early 2012.

The intern’s supervisor will attend the Inclusiveness Learning Workshop (date TBD) and the Closing Session (date TBD). The Learning Workshops are a key component of the Program, and provide additional information about specific topics in the nonprofit sector as well as opportunities for peer learning and community building.

Questions

Please contact Holly Kingsbury, Philanthropic Partnerships Associate Program Officer, at hkingsbury@denverfoundation.org or at 303.300.1790 ext. 147 with any questions.