Free tool

The one-page project brief

A brief is what you hand an adult so they can say yes. It's nine short answers, and it's the difference between "can I volunteer sometime" and a project someone is expecting. Fill it in here, then copy or print it. Nothing is saved anywhere.

Five rules before your first brief

You're picking a project, not perfecting one. Keep it small enough that you actually finish it.

  • Start with a problem you can see, not a title that sounds good.
  • Pick one organization and one named adult before you write a word.
  • Name a second adult. The first one may not answer, and that is normal.
  • Make it small enough to finish in four to six weeks.
  • Every project helps someone other than you.
  • One page. If it doesn't fit, the project is too big.

Write your brief

0 of 9 answered. No email, no account, nothing leaves your browser.

Start with you, not the organization. What are you trying to prove or figure out this year?

Example: I want proof I can lead a group of people my own age without being assigned the role.

Name two or three. Any more and the project loses focus.

Example: Leadership, organization, persuasion.

One real organization and one named adult there who agrees to the project.

Example: Westside Public Library. Sponsor: Dana Ruiz, youth services librarian.

Ask them before you write this. If you can't quote them, you haven't asked yet.

Example: Summer meal families don't know activities exist, so turnout drops after week two.

Small enough to finish. Three concrete actions beats one big promise.

Example: Interview five families, redesign the weekly flyer, and post it in three locations.

Optional: Frameworks that may strengthen this project

Frameworks are methods commonly taught in college courses and used by employers, organizations, and industries. If one of these applies to your project, it may help you strengthen the work, connect it to your major, create stronger evidence, and build better stories for future interviews.

Pick a real finish date. Projects without an end date become activities.

Example: June 8 to July 20. About two hours a week.

A number you can actually count. It doesn't have to be big.

Example: Weekly attendance goes from about 12 kids to 20 by the last week.

Decide this now, because you can't collect it after the fact.

Example: Attendance log, before and after photos of the flyer, two parent quotes.

The named adult who'll be able to say what you did. Ask them at the start, not the end.

Example: Dana Ruiz, who sees the attendance numbers every week.

Need a project first?

Get a second set of eyes on it

Most briefs are too big on the first pass. In the High School Cohort, students bring a brief to the monthly session and leave with a version they can actually finish. Students under 18 enroll through a parent or guardian.

Request an individual seatStart a private cohort

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