Charles & Jack Fund: How LGBTQ+ Youth-Serving Nonprofits Can Prove Outcomes in Their $20K Application

In today’s competitive funding market, a compelling mission story alone may not carry your $20,000 application. As a small or mid-sized nonprofit leader, you often know exactly how your programs change lives, but you may struggle to express that change through consistent numbers. This is where a simple, funder-ready outcomes story becomes invaluable.

Your organization does life-changing work for LGBTQ+ youth. With the Charles & Jack Fund deadline only seven days away, you can make your application more memorable by connecting your story to clear evidence of reach, wellbeing, belonging, and follow-through.

1. Confirm Your Fit

The Charles & Jack Fund for LGBTQ+ Advancement supports organizations and programs that create supportive, inclusive, and affirming environments for LGBTQ+ youth under age 24. The Community Foundation of Louisville is offering up to six grants of up to $20,000 through this funding round.

Your organization may be eligible if you are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Metro Louisville or elsewhere in Kentucky and your work directly serves LGBTQ+ youth ages 24 and under. The funding can support any purpose connected to your work, including general operating expenses. Review the official fund page and the 2026 grant application before you finalize your response.

For example, your eligible work may include youth drop-in programs, mentoring, housing support, mental health services, school-based programming, leadership development, or community-building activities. You do not need to force your program into a new model. You need to explain what you already do and show how your work affects young people.

The application deadline is Friday, August 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Use the remaining time to strengthen the connection between your activities, your outcomes, and the specific needs of the youth you serve.

2. Make Impact Visible

Your mission story creates emotional connection, but outcome data helps a community-led review committee understand the scale and effect of your work. The Community Foundation of Louisville also communicates grant impact at the community level, so your application becomes stronger when you show how your program contributes to broader youth wellbeing and inclusion.

The Foundation’s reporting approach uses a three-part I²L² framework: Influence, Leverage, and Learning. The framework asks you to describe your successes, the changes your work created, the resources or partnerships your funding helped attract, and what you learned along the way. You can review the Charles & Jack Fund process document for additional context.

For instance, “Your program provides a safe place for LGBTQ+ youth” is an important statement. “Your program provided 480 youth visits, and 87% of surveyed participants reported feeling safe and accepted during program activities” gives the reviewer a clearer way to understand your influence.

You do not need a complex evaluation department or an expensive data platform. You need a few consistent measures that show who you reach, what changes for participants, and whether young people remain connected to support.

3. Quantify Three Outcomes

You can make your application more credible by organizing your evidence around three practical outcome areas. Choose measures that fit your program model and that you can support with existing records, surveys, attendance logs, or participant feedback.

Reach and Participation

Start by showing how many LGBTQ+ youth you serve and how consistently they participate. Report the number of unique youth, total visits or contacts, age ranges, relevant demographic information, and attendance patterns.

For example, your impact snapshot might show that you served 126 unique youth, recorded 438 program visits, and had 74 participants attend at least three sessions. If you collect demographic information, you can also show the ages, counties, race or ethnicity, gender identities, or other categories that help explain whom your program reaches.

Use the information you already collect, and protect participant privacy. You do not need to disclose identifying details to demonstrate reach. A clear statement about your data collection process can also build trust: “You record unique participants at intake, track attendance by date, and review totals monthly to avoid double counting.”

Wellbeing and Connectedness

Your work may help young people feel safer, more accepted, and less isolated. These changes matter, but you need a consistent way to capture them.

The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey found that 66% of LGBTQ+ young people reported recent symptoms of anxiety, while 53% reported recent symptoms of depression. These national findings do not prove your program’s effect, but they explain why affirming relationships and accessible support are critical outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth-serving programs.

You can use a short, anonymous survey with questions such as:

• “I feel like I belong in this program.”

• “I feel safe and accepted when I participate.”

• “I have at least one supportive adult I can turn to.”

• “This program helped me feel more connected to other people.”

• “My overall wellbeing is better than when I started.”

For example, you might report that 82% of respondents agreed they felt a stronger sense of belonging after participating. Clearly label this as a participant-reported result, include your response count, and avoid claiming clinical improvement unless you use an appropriate clinical instrument and qualified staff.

Program Completion and Follow-Through

Participation matters most when youth can stay engaged long enough to receive the intended benefit. Track how many young people enroll, complete a program cycle, attend a targeted number of sessions, receive a referral, or take a documented next step.

The Trevor Project reports that 84% of LGBTQ+ youth wanted mental health care during the past year, but half of those youth could not access it. That gap highlights the value of tracking what happens after a referral, workshop, intake appointment, or first contact.

For example, your records might show that 72% of youth enrolled in a six-week support group completed at least four sessions, while 61% continued into peer leadership, counseling, housing support, or another service. Those figures help you show more than activity. They show whether your program creates a pathway toward sustained support.

4. Clean Your Data

You can improve your application significantly without building a new dashboard. Focus on four data-hygiene checks: consistent definitions, complete intake records, reconciled totals, and a one-page impact snapshot.

First, define each number before you use it. Decide whether “youth served” means unique participants, visits, households, referrals, or enrollments. Then use the same definition throughout your application. Next, review intake records for missing ages, duplicate names or IDs, incomplete service dates, and inconsistent program labels.

Your final review should reconcile your totals. If your attendance sheet shows 438 visits but your narrative says 462, resolve the difference before submission. If your survey includes 37 responses, state that response count rather than presenting the result as representative of every participant.

By doing so, you can create a 1-page impact snapshot that includes:

• The number of unique youth served

• Key demographic or geographic information

• Attendance or completion patterns

• Two or three participant-reported outcomes

• A brief youth story or anonymized quote

• One lesson learned and one next step

5. Use the Final Seven Days

You have 7 days between today, Friday, August 21, and the application deadline. Use a focused work plan instead of trying to perfect every historical record.

On days one and two, gather your attendance records, intake files, referral logs, survey results, and previous grant reports. On days three and four, agree on definitions and calculate your core totals. On days five and six, write the outcome narrative and connect each number to a youth-level change. On day seven, check eligibility, attachments, word limits, links, and submission confirmation.

For example, your application can follow this simple structure:

1. Need: Explain the conditions affecting LGBTQ+ youth in your community.

2. Response: Describe the specific program or services you provide.

3. Reach: Show how many youth participate and how often.

4. Outcome: Describe changes in belonging, safety, wellbeing, or engagement.

5. Next step: Explain how up to $20,000 would strengthen or expand the work.

Do not wait for perfect data. A transparent statement such as “You began collecting post-program surveys in January and now have 42 responses showing increased reported belonging” is more credible than an unsupported promise. Your goal is to present the strongest accurate picture available before the application closes at 11:59 p.m. ET.

If you need a fast review, the Genesis Board + Funder Reporting System service helps you organize KPI definitions, data workbooks, scorecards, funder reporting structures, and dashboards. You can also book a free consultation to discuss a Genesis Reporting Diagnostic focused on your Charles & Jack Fund application.

Final Thoughts

Your application can be both deeply human and measurable. By documenting reach, participant wellbeing, connectedness, completion, and follow-through, you can help reviewers see the full value of your LGBTQ+ youth-serving work.

The Charles & Jack Fund represents an important opportunity to strengthen affirming environments for young people across Metro Louisville and Kentucky. If you are preparing an application now, use the next seven days to turn your existing program records into a clear, accurate, and funder-ready impact story.

Your organization does life-changing work. Make sure your numbers prove it.