REACHBY ESTHER FUNDS FOUNDATION

For churches, nonprofits and businesses

Your people can keep a student in school.

Most students who leave college don't leave over grades. A congregation, a nonprofit or a business can be the reason one stays: with a gift, a workshop, a service drive or a door opened.

Every resource for you

Five ways to stand with students

Tell your students REACH exists.
Copy the announcement below into your bulletin, your newsletter or your group chat.
Put an Emergency Grant in your name.
$250 pays one student's emergency to the landlord, clinic or school, in your church's, family's or company's name. Name a grant →
Host a REACH workshop.
A youth night, a back-to-school Sunday or a community event: REACH comes to you and the whole room plays along. Request a REACH visit →
Lead a service drive.
Care packages, pantry and hygiene drives for students near you: collect first, then give. Reach Your Community →
Fundraise or partner.
Start a fundraiser for the EFF Student Fund, sponsor REACH, mentor students or offer internships. 100 ways to partner →

Keep these close

Print them, put them on the fridge, the bulletin board or the staff room wall.

For churches

Pray for your students by name at the start of each semester.
Ask each college student one question: is anything in the way of school right now?
Keep a small fund, or name an EFF Emergency Grant.
Send care packages at midterms and finals.
Celebrate graduates from the pulpit.

For nonprofits and businesses

Offer paid internships and job shadows.
Mentor a student through their first year.
Sponsor a REACH stop or a REACH Box.
Match your employees' gifts to students.
Hire graduates.

Words you can copy

Paste them as they are, or make them yours.

A Sunday announcement

If you're in college, or getting ready to go, and anything is getting in the way (money, a bill, a hard semester), there is free help through Esther Funds Foundation's REACH: reach.estherfundsfoundation.org. And if you'd like to help a student stay in school, talk to us about putting an EFF Emergency Grant in our church's name.

Every resource for you

From the REACH Library: checked every morning, official sources and EFF’s own tools.

✦ Help right now

Official source ↗Believe in Students: the FAST FundFaculty and staff on campus hand emergency money straight to their own students. Known for: the FAST Fund network, local funds set up campus by campus with one national organization behind them.

Official source ↗Scholarship America: Emergency AidThe largest scholarship provider in the country also runs emergency aid, because one unexpected bill is enough to end a degree. Emergency grants usually run under $1,000 and are tied to staying enrolled.

Official source ↗Food Recovery NetworkStudent chapters recover surplus campus dining food and deliver it to people facing hunger nearby. Known for: grants that help new campus chapters launch, including at community colleges.

▲ Getting ready for college

Official source ↗iMentorMatches every student in a partner high school with a college-educated mentor for three to four years.

◆ Made for students like me

Official source ↗Aid after a conviction or incarcerationWhat federal student aid you can get with a conviction or while incarcerated, including Pell Grants, from the Department of Education.

↗ Career & income

Official source ↗CareerOneStopExplore careers, assessments, training, scholarships, and local American Job Centers.

➜ Grad school & after

Official source ↗City YearYoung AmeriCorps members serve full-time in schools, coaching the students most at risk of dropping out. A service year after college, and a way to be the reason someone stays.

∞ Family & friends

Official source ↗Big Brothers Big Sisters of AmericaLocal agencies match children and teens with screened adult mentors, in communities and in schools. Find a mentor for a young person, or become one.

Official source ↗Boys & Girls Clubs of AmericaLocal clubs in nearly every community run graduation-focused programs, including diplomas2Degrees for teens aiming at college. Find a club near you.

✺ Lead & give

From EFFREACH WorkshopsLive workshops where the whole room plays along on their phones. Join with a code, or host one from MyEFF.

From EFFREACH on Tour 2027Bring REACH to your school, college, church or community in person, partner with a chapter, or sponsor a stop.

GuideReach Your CommunityLead care packages, pantry and hygiene drives, advocacy, mentorship, and readiness projects.

GuideReach Beyond CampusStart a chapter, grow student leadership, donate, and build partnerships that outlast one event.

GuideREACH for ProfessionalsMentor students, sponsor programming, offer career access, partner with EFF, or return as an alum leader.

From EFFFund a student's next stepSupport scholarships, emergency aid, educational tools, and student care.

Official source ↗The Hope Center: student basic needs researchResearch and practical guides on food and housing insecurity among college students, for staff who want to act on it.

Official source ↗Swipe Out HungerStart or grow a campus meal-sharing and anti-hunger program.

From EFFPartner with EFFSponsor, volunteer, bring REACH to your organization, or open a door for students. 100 ways to partner.

From EFFFundraise for studentsStart your own fundraiser for the EFF Student Fund: a birthday, a church drive, a team challenge.

From EFFPut an Emergency Grant in your name$250 pays one student's emergency to the landlord, clinic or school, in your family's, church's or company's name.

Official source ↗Communities In SchoolsPlaces a site coordinator inside a school to connect students to whatever they need (food, tutoring, counseling, a ride) through local affiliates.

Official source ↗Check & Connect (University of Minnesota)An evidence-based model: a mentor checks a student's attendance, grades and behavior, then connects with help and family outreach, fast.

Official source ↗National Dropout Prevention CenterThe research and training center for dropout prevention at Clemson University, with a library of strategies organized by what the evidence supports.

Official source ↗Attendance WorksFights chronic absenteeism, the earliest warning sign of dropping out, with data tools and campaigns for schools, districts and families.

Official source ↗Everyone Graduates Center (Johns Hopkins)Builds early-warning systems that flag students going off track in middle and high school, and the school models that respond.

Official source ↗Complete College AmericaA national alliance pushing states and colleges to raise completion, with strategies like 15 to Finish and corequisite support.

Official source ↗Achieving the DreamA network of community colleges coached to use their own data to close equity gaps and raise completion.

Official source ↗The Education Trust (EdTrust)Research and advocacy on equity in education, including the gaps in degree attainment our students sit inside.

Official source ↗StriveTogetherA national network of cradle-to-career partnerships: whole communities aligned on shared student outcomes from birth to a job.

For such a time as this

“Who knows but that you have come to your position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

Partner with EFF Fundraise for students

REACH by Esther Funds Foundation · reach.estherfundsfoundation.org · In crisis, call or text 988.