Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Graduation is the overreaching goal of TeamMates. While the national graduation rate is 88%%, 96% of students who were matched with a mentor in the TeamMates Mentoring Program during the 2019-2020 school year graduated from high school on time. A study commissioned by MENTOR Nebraska revealed youth mentoring provides $8 of societal benefit to the state for every $1 invested and $2,695 in law enforcement cost savings. Funding for this program would provide $5.6MM of impact on our state and provide $24MM of savings to law enforcement. Over 10,000 students benefited from having a caring relationship with their TeamMates mentor during the this past school year. For the mental health and well-being of our mentees, remaining connected with their mentors during this challenging time is critical to ensure that they receive consistent guidance and support to reduce the negative impact of isolation, fear, and uncertainty.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
School Based Mentoring
Founded in 1991 by Dr. Tom and Nancy Osborne, TeamMates Mentoring is a school-based mentoring program. Currently over 10,000 youth in grades 3 -12 in 180+ chapters across Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming are matched with a caring adult volunteer mentor. Our matches meet for about an hour each week during the school year, with the goal of seeing the youth reach high school graduation with a plan for post-secondary education in place. TeamMates+, the TeamMates Post-Secondary preparation and mentor programs, focuses on four key areas of development for the student mentee with the support of their mentor: Career and Life Skill Development, Post-Secondary Education Access, Scholarship Resources, and Post-Secondary Mentoring. Mentors are encouraged to begin talking to their mentees about their career aspirations in late elementary school by helping mentees understand their strengths and identifying attainable goals.
Beginning in high school, TeamMates offers training to mentors and mentees to help prepare the mentee to plan for and apply to college or other post-secondary training. Mentor and mentee attend training sessions together and the mentor is then able to assist their mentee in the application process. TeamMates offers more than $3 million in scholarships in cash and in partnership with colleges and universities in the service area annually.
Where we work
Awards
Best Practices 2009
W M Kellogg Foundation
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of groups brought together in a coalition/alliance/partnership
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
School Based Mentoring
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
The number of youth served at the end of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 school year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The vision of TeamMates, established in the spring of 2015, is to become the gold standard of school-based mentoring programs and serve over 12,000 annually. A key component of reaching this vision is to increase the average match length from 32 months to over 3 years.
We seek to achieve 100% of mentees who have graduated from high school during the school year to report a plan for post-secondary education after high school. Even if a student does not submit an application for TeamMates scholarships, we expect them to report a plan for post-secondary education after they reach high school graduation with the goal that all students in TeamMates can pursue training or education that will help them achieve successful adulthood. When the match is officially "exited" in our database, an entry is required on whether or not the student reported a plan and what that plan entails.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Strategic Initiative
Program Impact
1. Review current outcomes measurements and identify additional impact goals
2. Develop and implement more effective impact measurement tools
3. Understand expectations and needs of our stakeholders
4. Develop and implement a communication plan for sharing outcomes with stakeholders
Expansion, Retention & Recruitment
1. Expand to 5 states and maintain a minimum of 150 chapters
2. Develop mentor recruitment plan to reach 12,000 matches
3. Increase match retention in program & post-graduation
4. Strengthen school district engagement
Financial Sustainability Louise Pickens & Carla Patton-Ochsner Ensure short-term and long-term financial sustainability of TeamMates
1. Streamline chapter accounting practices
2. Develop a comprehensive plan for raising annual operating income, diversifying the donor base outside of the Omaha Metro area
3. Develop long-term financial sustainability plan
4. Diversify funding streams outside of donated income
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
TeamMates Mentoring Program has over 180 local chapters in communities throughout Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It's chapter structure engages local leaders and allows them to best meet the needs of youth in their community with support from the TeamMates Central Office, which ensures that each chapter meets national standards for safe, effective mentoring programs.
Data is gathered on each student to measure improvement in grades, attendance and behavior and both mentors and mentees are surveyed annually. For the students in TeamMates who are approaching high school graduation, a plan for post-secondary education and scholarship applications for students headed to college help to inform future success. Annually, we look for trends in the data to tell us where students likely need more support and training.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since its inception in 1991, TeamMates Mentoring Program has provided a mentor to over 43,000 youth in communities across our five-state region. In the 2019-2020 school year, our program matched 10,949 youth with caring adult mentors in 180+ districts. TeamMates+ served 292 students at 39 colleges. With a 96% graduation rate, in May 728 students successfully completed high school. It was our largest class yet.
On March 13, 2020 TeamMates closed our offices and all staff began working remotely in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools in all of all of the five-state area were significantly impacted. Some closed; many weren't able to invite mentors into the buildings. In response to this unprecedented event, TeamMates has adapted match support and communication with the following activities:
1. Virtual Match Meeting Communication
2. Communication Exchange and Scheduled Instant Messaging Sessions
3. Increased Mentor Learning Academies
4. Ongoing Match Support for mentees, mentors, parents, and schools
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person),
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome,
Financials
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Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
TeamMates Mentoring Program
Board of directorsas of 07/26/2022
Dr. Deepak Gangahar
Retired
Term: 2021 -
Steve Erwin
Retired
Cynthia Milligan
Retired
John Northrop
Northrop Enterprises, LLC
Lisa Olson
Omaha Public Power District
Tom Osborne
TeamMates Mentoring Program
Chad Tramp
McGladrey Wealth Management LLC
Tony Urban
McGladry, LLP
Sarah Waldman
TeamMates Mentoring Program
Zach Wiegert
Tetrad Property Group LLC
Jane Miller
Gallup
Mark Graff
MNB
Nick Crusick
Bison, Inc.
Kyle Hanson
Wolverine
Tony Veland
AIM Institute
Deepak Gangahar, MD
Retired
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/12/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.