Our Impact

The true work of Boys & Girls Clubs – the heart of what they do – lies fittingly at the center of our Formula For Impact.

The Five Key Elements For Positive Youth Development

  • A Safe, Positive Environment

  • Fun

  • Supportive Relationships

  • Opportunities and Expectations

  • Recognition

To create the optimal Outcome-Driven Club Experience, Clubs provide high-yield activities and targeted programs, actively encourage young people to attend more frequently, and employ Five Key Elements for Positive Youth Development.

The latter component emerged as critically important in a 2004–05 research effort conducted by the Search Institute and BGCA to identify quality strategies and practices that Clubs use to promote the positive, healthy development of youth. The findings showed that Clubs have the potential to increase their impact on young people when they make concerted efforts to implement five key elements in their operations.

Subsequent research conducted for BGCA highlighted the importance of regular attendance for achieving impact. A 30-month study published in 2009 found that youth were more likely to demonstrate greater positive outcomes related to Academic Success, Good Character and Citizenship, and Healthy Lifestyles when they attended the Club at least 52 times per year. The positive effects were even greater when they attended 104 times per year.

Now, through the data being collected in National Youth Outcomes Initiatives (NYOI), we have new insights on just how much of a positive difference these components of a high-quality Club experience may make for young people.

Some Key Definitions

NYOI measures regular attendance by collecting member attendance data from Clubs on a weekly basis. Once a Club has submitted sufficient member attendance data (at least six months’ worth), the system calculates a Frequency of Attendance score for each member.

Members who are scored as Highly Engaged are those who attend the Club, on average, two or more times per week. Engaged members attend on average, at least once a week, but less than twice a week.

Occasional Attenders attend on average, less than once a week. In addition to asking questions related to our priority outcomes, the National Outcomes Survey asks youth about their perceptions of the Club using questions related to the Five Key Elements for Positive Youth Development. Responses to these questions are scored to identify how many members are having an Optimal Club Experience and how many are not.

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Boys & Girls Clubs of America Legal Notice

Effective June 20, 2019

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (“BGCA”) is a national organization that serves local independent member organizations (“Local Boys & Girls Clubs”). Together Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Local Boys & Girls Clubs form one of the nation’s largest networks of local youth organizations. Boys & Girls Clubs are dedicated to promoting the health, social, educational, vocational and character development of youth throughout the United States of America. Each Boys & Girls Club organization is a separate legal entity; is governed by an independent board of directors, executive committee, or other governing body; and is solely responsible for its own affairs, including, but not limited to, matters of safety, compliance with federal, state, and local laws, physical facilities, uses of technology, finances, policies and programs, and personnel policies and decisions.

Each Local Boys & Girls Club has sole authority to hire, terminate, prescribe the duties of and establish the terms of employment of its employees and officers. As the national organization, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has no authority with respect to the policies or decisions of Local Boys & Girls Clubs. Accordingly, each Local Boys & Girls Club controls its own affairs, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America does not control and cannot be held responsible for the actions of Local Boys & Girls Clubs. Boys & Girls Clubs of America Privacy Policy Generally: This site is provided by BGCA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered at 1275 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. This Privacy Policy applies to the personal data provided to BGCA when you browse this website, make a donation, register for an event, sign up for a newsletter, or otherwise provide us with information via the website located at www.bgca.org or any other domain names owned or controlled by BGCA (the “Website”). It also applies to personal data you may provide to BGCA via telephone, email, regular mail, social media, texting or in response to personal solicitations. BGCA respects the privacy of every visitor to our websites. Your privacy is a priority, and we go to great lengths to protect it. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect and use information about our online visitors.

We will not collect any identifying or personal information about you while you are here except as set forth in this Privacy Policy. EU and UK Residents: BGCA values the data protection principles established by the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act of 2018, including transparency and accountability, collecting data for legitimate, limited purposes, minimizing data collected, maintaining accurate data, maintaining data for reasonable periods, and taking appropriate data security measures. However, BGCA has taken proactive steps to (a) avoid offering goods or services to EU and UK residents, (b) avoid soliciting donations from EU and UK residents, and (c) avoid monitoring the behavior of EU and UK residents. Minors: BGCA does not intend to collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

While we encourage children to visit our site and learn more about our programs, children under the age of 13 are not authorized to make a donation or purchase, sign up for an event or program, or otherwise provide any personally identifiable information without consent from a parent or legal guardian. We recommend that parents approve and closely supervise the activity of their children at this and all other online sites and discuss with their children restrictions regarding the online release of personal information to anyone they don’t know. The Information BGCA Collects We respect your privacy as our online guest, and we will not collect any identifying or personal information about you while you are here except as set forth in this Privacy Policy. Information You Provide Directly: BGCA collects information in several ways from different parts of this site. BGCA may collect personal information from you when you register with this site or sign up for a program (Alumni & Friends, etc.), initiative, or event. BGCA also may ask you for personal information at other times, such as when you ask a question, submit a comment, or report a problem with this site. If you contact BGCA, BGCA may keep a record of that session or correspondence, including a record of your e-mail address. BGCA may also occasionally ask users to complete surveys for research purposes. There also may be services on this site that require you to fill out an online form or send BGCA an e-mail message in order to utilize these services. BGCA collects any information that you provide in such circumstances, including any personal information. We may also ask you for identifying and personal information to: Inform you of new services, changes or promotions, directly or via a third-party advertising or social media network: For the purposes of improving the relevancy and targeting of marketing, the information collected may be provided to third-party advertising or social media networks to generate “lookalike” or custom audiences. This activity is governed by the network’s own privacy policy and terms and conditions – you can learn more about Facebook ads here and other types of online advertising here. Invite you to receive periodic e-mail updates about our progress: When you accept, or “opt in,” we ask you to give us your e-mail address and respond to some questions that help us tailor our information to your interests. You can “opt out” of receiving these periodic updates at any time. Processing any online donations you make to Boys & Girls Clubs of America: When you make an online donation, we ask you for your name, address, telephone number, email address, and credit card information. When you donate to honor someone else, we do not use the information you give us about that person for any other purpose. Processing registration information for online sweepstakes or contests on the Boys & Girls Clubs of America website: When you agree to give us identifying and personal information for online sweepstakes or contents, you are giving that information to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in accordance with the applicable contest rules, and the parties we have involved in operating this site. You are giving it solely to enable the services this site provides. Display Club locations when searching via “Find a Club”: When you search for a Club, you may choose to share your exact location via your browser or manually enter a location. This data is only used to display the closest Club locations to you. Information We Receive Automatically When You Use Our Services. BGCA also may collect visitor information through Google Analytics, including IP addresses, domain names, and similar items regarding users of this site to measure the number of visits, pages visited, average time spent on this site, and similar metrics. This information is typically retained for 38 months. “Cookies” may be used in connection with this site. A cookie is a small amount of identifier data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. By using cookies, information is potentially collected without your express knowledge. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies but permit you to change the setting to refuse cookies or to be alerted when cookies are being sent. While refusal to accept cookies will not prevent the use of some portions of this site, other portions of this site may not function properly without cookies. Generally, BGCA may use cookies and the information they provide to: (a) remind us of who you are; (b) access your account information in order to deliver to you better and more personalized service; (c) estimate our audience size; (d) determine the nature and extent of repeat usage; and (e) measure certain traffic patterns to understand how users’ habits are similar or different from one another, so that BGCA may improve our site. We also use many cookies on the BGCA.org domain for the purposes of traffic collection and analysis, third-party advertising modeling and remarketing, and testing for conversion rate optimization. How BGCA Uses the Information It Collects BGCA uses the information it collects through this site to improve its marketing and promotional efforts, to improve its content, and to customize this site’s services, content, and layout. BGCA may provide the information it collects through this site to third parties who provide services on BGCA’s behalf and, with your permission, to BGCA’s business partners. BGCA may use the information it collects through this site to inform you of new services, changes, or promotions. If you do not want us to send you this type of information, please let us know by contacting us at info@bgca.org. We will not disclose your personal information collected through this site to third parties except as described in this Privacy Policy without first informing you of such change in our disclosure practices and providing you a choice regarding such disclosure. How BGCA Shares the Information It Collects BGCA understands the importance of privacy and confidentiality to users of this site. BGCA may provide the information it collects through this site to third parties who provide services on BGCA’s behalf and, with your permission, to BGCA’s business partners. For example, we use one or more third-party financial institutions to process our credit card transactions. They receive the credit card number and other personal information of our donors only to verify credit card numbers and to process credit card transactions in a secure environment. We also occasionally hire other companies to perform limited services on our behalf. We only provide those companies the information they need to deliver the service and prohibit them from using that information for any other purpose. Aggregated, depersonalized traffic data is shared with certain advertisers to optimize campaigns. From time to time, BGCA may also share donor names and mailing addresses with other reputable nonprofit organizations on a limited basis in exchange for limited access to the names and addresses of their constituents. We have found this is a cost-effective method of reaching additional potential constituents. These organizations will not have continued access to your name and address if you choose to respond to their initial mailing and opt out. We do not share email address data in connection with this list exchange. We respect our donors’ choices and control over their information. You, as a donor, may, at any time, have your name excluded from any donor list exchange activity. To ask that your name be excluded from list exchange activity or to otherwise change how BGCA contacts you, please email us at donor_relations@bgca.org. BGCA may disclose information it collects through this site when required to do so by a court, regulatory agency, subpoena, law, regulation, or other body of competent jurisdiction and authority, and for administrative and other purposes that BGCA deems necessary to maintain, service, and improve its products and services and to protect its rights and property. Finally, if you become involved in any violation of security, violation of this website’s Terms of Use, or violation of any party’s or third party’s rights, BGCA may release information about you to assist in investigating, resolving, or remediating any such incidents. Integrity and Security Use of SSL and Encryption. In order to enhance privacy and security, BGCA maintains a current Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption Certificate on official BGCA Sites that permit a donor or supporter to provide their personal data. Restricting Who Has Access To Your Information. BGCA employs commercially reasonable managerial and technical measures to help protect the security and integrity of the personal information it collects online through this site. You acknowledge, however, that no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while BGCA strives to protect your personal information, BGCA cannot ensure the security of any information you transmit to or from this site. What Are My Rights? You always have a right to: Request access to your personal information; Review the personal information that BGCA has collected about you through this site; Request information about how your specific data is being used; Opt out of communications from BGCA and/or request that we not share your information with other organizations; and Request that your data be erased. To make any of the requests above or if you have any other questions or complaints regarding BGCA’s privacy practices, please contact us at info@bgca.org. Please include your full name, address, phone number, and e-mail address in your opt-out request, and indicate how you would like your information restricted. Privacy Practices of Other Sites This Privacy Policy only address the use and disclosure of information BGCA collects online through this site, not information that BGCA collects through other sources. For your convenience, this site may contain links, or addresses, that you can simply click to open other useful sites where we do not control the content or privacy policy. Carefully review the approach these sites take to your privacy before you use them or provide them with information. We assume no liability for any unauthorized actions of third parties or accidental transmission errors that may disclose information about you, and BGCA is not responsible for these other sites’ privacy practices, which may be different from BGCA’s privacy practices. Changes To This Privacy Policy BGCA may revise this Privacy Policy at any time by updating this posting. Please consult this Privacy Policy regularly. California Privacy Rights If you are a resident of California, you may request or opt out of your personal information being shared with third parties. You are also entitled to request the following information which we will provide to you free of charge: A list of the types of personal information which we disclose to third-parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year; and The names and addresses of all third parties that receive personal information in these categories from us in the preceding calendar year, and examples of the products or services marketed by these businesses: (a) name and address; (b) electronic mail address; (c) age or date of birth; (d) names of children; (e) electronic mail address of children; (f) number of children; (g) the age or gender of children; (h) height; (i) weight; (j) race; (k) religion; (l) occupation; (m) telephone number; (n) education; (o) political party affiliation; (p) medical condition; (q) drugs, therapies, or medical products or equipment used; (r) kind of product purchased, leased or rented by customer; (s) real property purchased, leased or rented; (t) the kind of service provided; (u) social security number; (v) bank account number; (w) credit card or debit card number; (x) payment history; and (y) information pertaining to assets, liabilities or credit worthiness. Please direct your opt out request or request for these types of information to info@bgca.org or Boys & Girls Clubs of America Attn: Legal Department 1275 Peachtree St. NE Atlanta, GA 30309