Boys & Girls Clubs serve nearly 4 million children annually across our great nation. Every day in communities, children head to the Club after school, where they spend time with friends, get help with their school work, learn valuable life skills, and connect with caring adult staff, mentors and volunteers.

 

The social value that Clubs provide to youth, families, and communities is tremendous and well documented. Youth benefit from having daily access to a safe place offering activities that are relevant, challenging and fun. Parents benefit from having an affordable place for their children to be cared for while they're at work. And communities benefit because, during the afterschool hours when youth are most at-risk of becoming engaged in delinquency and crime, Clubs are instead engaging them in constructive, character-building activities.

 

The impact of Clubs extends well beyond their social value, however — Clubs create economic value as well. By averting costly social problems such as juvenile crime and teen pregnancy, Clubs save taxpayer dollars. By enabling parents to work, Clubs increase family incomes. By helping children earn their high school diplomas, Clubs significantly boost their future earning power. And through their own business activities, as employers and as purchasers of goods and services, Clubs generate millions of dollars in economic activity throughout the state every year.

 

In 2015, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America engaged the Institute for Social Research and the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan to conduct a national study to estimate the return on investment (ROI), or the benefit-cost ratio, of the services Boys & Girls Clubs provide to youth and their families. The study showed that Boys & Girls Club services and programs produce significant and lasting value for youth, families, and their communities.

 

• Every dollar invested in Boys & Girls Clubs returns $9.60 in current and future earnings and cost-savings to their communities. The greatest benefits are from Club members’ improved grades and reduced alcohol use and their parents’ earnings.

• Clubs spend $1.4 billion annually on operating costs, resulting in $13.8 billion in lifetime benefits to youth, families and communities.