Nusea

Any American city is invited to join NUSEA by developing an urban squash and education program that meets NUSEA’s membership criteria. There are two types of membership: Provisional and Full. Provisional membership is granted to a program for its first full year of operation under NUSEA guidelines. Full membership is granted to a program for its second and subsequent years of operation under NUSEA guidelines. Programs granted Provisional membership are given a one year grant of $10,000. After twelve months elapse from the time a program becomes a Provisional member, it may apply in writing to become a Full member of NUSEA. A site visit will be conducted and, if Full membership is granted, the program will receive a one year, final grant of $5,000.

Programs must be either a Provisional or Full member to participate in the Urban Team and Urban Individual Squash Championships. All member programs will be visited and formally reviewed once each year.

Criteria to Join:

Staffing

Employ at least one full-time staff member as the Executive Director who has made a commitment to work for the organization for a minimum of two years

Non-Profit Status and Incorporation

Be incorporated and be recognized by the federal government as a 501(c)(3) organization

Enrollment

Work with at least ten children annually

Attendance

Attendance must be recorded daily

Utilization

Measure weekly utilization as percentage of capacity. If 100% defined capacity per day is fifteen kids and the week’s average daily attendance is ten kids, utilization is 67% for that week.

Retention

Measure both individual and team retention on an annual basis by reporting the percentage of students who start and finish the program each year and the percentage of each team/cohort that starts and finishes the program each year.

Student Length of Stay/Reason for Departure

Document the entry and exit date (month and year) for every student who enrolls in your program. Also document the reason for each student’s departure from program (ie moved, lost interest, expelled, private school).

Programming/Schedule

Provide participants with at least 160 hours of school year program activities (squash, academic and other) annually per student; to ensure that the programming is spread out over a considerable period of time, as opposed to consolidated over a small number of days, no weekday session can account for more than three hours of program activities when you add up total hours of weekday program activities.

Academic Program

Provide participants with at least 80 hours of weekday academic activity time annually (as part of the minimum 160 hours of programming described in #7), including but not limited to homework help, literacy, math and standardized test prep (not arts and crafts, sports, drama, etc.)

Squash Program

Provide participants with at least 80 hours of weekday squash instruction and practice

Community Service Program

Require the average participant to complete at least fifteen hours of community service a year

Board of Directors and Officers

Have a board of directors with officers

Population

Involve children from schools that have a student body of which at least 70% is eligible for the federal government’s free lunch program (other data may be used to demonstrate economic need if required)

Insurance

Own directors and officers insurance, liability insurance and any other appropriate insurance policies

Partnerships

Demonstrate strong partnerships with the following groups: parents, school(s), volunteers, community groups, and the facilities that your organization utilizes for its practices and activities.

Budgets/Budgets versus Actuals

Possess projected budgets for the first two years of operation and track all budgeted revenues and expenses versus actual revenues and expenses.

Balance Sheet

New Programs: Must have at least $100,000 of cash assets in the bank at the time of application.

Current Member Programs: Must have at least 40% of current year's operating budget in the bank. For example, if a member program has a $300,000 operating budget it must maintain balances of at least $120,000. Programs need to report their fiscal year-end balance sheets to NUSEA each year.

Fundraising and Finances

New programs must present at least 50 donors before applying to become a NUSEA provisional member. All programs mus demonstrate a sound fundraising plan with a specific strategy and present annually to NUSEA a detailed written fundraising plan and an independent review/audit.

Transportation

Possess a sound transportation plan

Measurement

Fully use and keep current the NUSEA data platform for all student and organizational metrics contained herein.