Youth Participation Kit: Tools and Templates

If you’ve found an organisation that you’d like to get involved in, the first step is making contact.

Many organisations will advertise opportunities for young people and may provide an email address or a survey for you to complete.

If there isn’t anything advertised and you’re still interested in getting involved, it’s okay to reach out and ask. We’ve put together some tips for emailing and calling an organisation.

Helpful Tips and Tricks

• Research the organisation before you reach out and find out what they’re working on and how their work aligns with your values.
• Introduce yourself with your name and why you’re reaching out – try to make this personal so that the organisation your contacting can learn about you and why this is important to you.
• Be specific about why you’re reaching out – are you asking for a volunteering opportunity or for them to provide sponsorship for a program you’re a part of?
• Ask for a response to your request or questions – they’re more likely to get back to you!
• Provide them with a way to contact you, such as an email address or your phone number if you leave a message.

Email Templates

For enquiring about participation opportunities:

Subject: Youth Participation Opportunity / Enquiry

Dear [organisation name],

My name is [your name], and I’m a young person interested in getting involved with [organisation/project/cause]. I would love to learn more about how I might participate, contribute ideas, or support your work.

Could you please let me know if there are any current opportunities, programs, or ways for young people to participate or connect?

Thank you for your time - I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Email / phone number if appropriate]

For seeking sponsorship for an event or program:

Subject: Sponsorship opportunity for youth initiative

Dear [organisation name],

My name is [your name], and I’m a young person involved in [insert information about the organisation or group you’re a part of].

We are excited to be organising [insert information about the event or program you’re seeking sponsorship for], which will be held [insert information about the timing of the event or program, for example the date, time and location].

To make this [event or program] possible, we are reaching out to local organisations like yourself who share our commitment to supporting [insert information about the cause, for example supporting young people to learn life skills, protection efforts for local wildlife etc.].

Your sponsorship would help to cover essential costs such as [insert costs that the organisation could pay for like equipment, food, workshop supplies etc.], which would greatly contribute to the success of the [event or program].

In return, we’d be glad to recognise your support through [insert the benefits of sponsorship such as mentions during the event, organisation logo on flyers, acknowledgement on social media]. More importantly, your support would show local youth that their community values and believes in them.

I would be open to a phone call or meeting to share more details and discuss how we can partner together to make this [event or program] a success.

Thank you for your time - I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Email / phone number if appropriate]

For seeking support for fundraising donations:

Subject: Sponsorship opportunity for youth initiative

Dear [organisation name],

My name is [your name], and I’m a young person involved in [insert information about the organisation or group you’re a part of].

We are currently raising money for [insert information about what you are fundraising for] which will make a difference to [insert information about who will be supported by the fundraising, for example is it for local young people? Or for an overseas cause?] by [what impact will the donations make, for example will it enable free participation in a program? Or provide clean drinking water for a community?].

We are kindly asking for your support through donating to this fundraiser. Any amount you can give will make a real difference, and we would be so grateful for your contribution.

You can donate by [insert instructions on how to donate, for example a link to a ‘go fund me’ webpage].

Thank you for considering supporting our work.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Email / phone number if appropriate]

Phone Call Script

• “Hi, my name is [your name], and I’m calling to ask if there are any opportunities for young people to be involved in [organisation/project/cause].”
• Mention why you’re interested (for example, the organisations work is aligned to your passions and interests, you have skills that you’d like to contribute, or you’d like to learn from the people at the organisation).
• Ask who you should speak to or if you can leave your details.
• Thank them for their time.

Have a think about what questions the organisation may ask you before you call and practice some answers so that you feel confident and ready to go! Some questions could be:

• How did you hear about our organisation?
• What time commitment can you give for volunteering?
• Do you have any skills or experience that would help you to make a positive contribution?

Employers are looking to hire people with diverse skills and passion for their work. Being involved in the community is a great way to develop and show what skills you have, it also shows a commitment and dedication that will catch the eye of people reading your resume.

When you’re writing applications for jobs or volunteering roles, make sure you include details of your participation in previous work, volunteering, school and community activities including sports.

There aren’t any ‘rules’ about how you do this, so you can be flexible and try different ways to highlight all the great things you’ve done and have been a part of. Remember to give short sentences or dot points of what you did as a way of highlighting key skills the employer may be looking for.

You can also consider including links to an organisation or community groups website with more information. This can help the potential employer know more about the type of work or organisations you’ve been involved in.

Remember, it’s very important to ask the person if it’s ok to put them down as a referee before sending your resume out with their name and contact information on it.

Your resume should include clear examples of the kinds of things you’ve been able to achieve, from simple things like ‘participated in school debating team’, ‘fundraised for my netball club’, to ‘created and managed a project plan’, and ‘negotiated with local community leaders to gain their support for the cause’.

Including achievements that you’re particularly proud of will also show your passion. Don’t worry about whether your achievements are big enough – we all start somewhere!

You’ll also need to include referees when applying for most roles. A referee is someone who knows you in a professional way and can tell potential employers about your skills and qualities.

It’s likely that someone you worked with would be a great referee for you. If you haven’t had a job before, you could also ask a teacher or sporting coach to be a referee for you.

You can view our example resume in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 7–10.

Things to include in your Resume (checklist)

• Your name and contact details (you do not need to include your home address.
• A short ‘about me’ section (your passions and hobbies).
• Skills (for example: communication, teamwork, problem-solving).
• Any volunteering, jobs, or leadership experience (including the time period that you did it for).
• Education (what year you graduated, any certificates or courses).
• Awards or achievements.
• Referee/s.

Quick tips

• Keep it to 1–2 pages.
• Use clear headings and dot points.
• Try to start with an ‘action word’ for your dot points – for example start your sentences with words like wrote, led, assisted, participated, achieved.
•  Ask an adult for a template or example.
• Applications like Microsoft Word, Pages and Canva are also places to find templates.
• Visit Jobs and Skills WA for guidance and resources.
• Ask someone to proofread it.
• Be honest about your experience – there is no need to exaggerate!
• Be clear about whether your experience has been paid work or volunteer roles.
• Make sure that you can provide evidence for your experience listed if you get asked about it during an interview.
• Your local Jobs and Skills Centre offers free assistance to help you put a great CV or resume together. Visit Jobs and Skills Centres | Jobs and Skills WA to find a centre near you.

A cover letter is a document that you should try to include in every application for a position (unless the advertisement clearly says not to). 

The purpose of a cover letter is to show that you are a good fit for the position, and that your skills and qualities match the needs of the organisation. It’s a chance to show your personality, enthusiasm and communication skills. 

While your resume lists your skills and experience, your cover letter is a place to provide a little bit more detail through specific examples to show that you are suitable for the role. 

You can view our example cover letter in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 11–12.

Things to include 

• Your name and contact details. You don’t have to include your home address, but you should include your phone number and email address.
• The name of the position and the organisation that you’re applying for (this can be as a heading or in the opening paragraph of the cover letter).
• Examples of your experience and relevant skills that show you are the perfect person for the role.
• Professional language – it’s important to avoid using slang and to instead use full sentences to demonstrate your communication skills.
• A simple call to action inviting the organisation to contact you, for example, ‘I look forward to hearing from you to discuss my application.’

Quick tips

• Check to see if the position advertisement has a page limit for applications – if it does, make sure you don’t go over!
• Make sure you address any specific points that the position advertisement asks you to talk about. For example, sometimes they may ask you to provide. examples of your experience for specific topics (called selection criteria) like communication skills, organisation skills, and experience.
• Tailor the letter to the position and the organisation – don’t send the same letter for every position you apply for.
• Have a trusted person proofread your cover letter to make sure there aren’t any typos.
• Try to speak the organisations ‘language’ – read their website and try to mirror the way they talk about their work if you can. This shows that you understand their industry and would fit in with the organisation.
• Do not rely on AI to write your cover letter – it’s obvious to organisations when a cover letter has not been written by the applicant. While AI can be a useful tool to help get you started, it is important to personalise and refine your cover letter so that it sounds like you and fits the position that you’re applying for.

There are many resources available online that can help you to create a cover letter.

Your local Jobs and Skills Centre offers free assistance to help you put a great cover letter together. Visit Jobs and Skills Centres | Jobs and Skills WA to find a centre near you.

If you’re applying for a volunteer or paid role (like joining a youth advisory group, helping at a community event, or being part of a paid participation role), you might be asked to do an interview.

Interviews are an opportunity to share your experiences, perspectives, and motivations for getting involved.

Here are some tips to help you feel confident and prepared:

Know what the role is about

• Read any information given to you about the role and research the organisation. If you can, look at their website, social media, and Google them to see if anything interesting pops up.
• Write down what the role involves, when it happens, and what skills they are looking for.
• Think about why you are interested in the role and what you hope to learn or contribute.

Think about your strengths

You don’t need lots of experience! Adults want to hear about your interests, values, and ideas. Think about things you’re good at, like listening, teamwork, sharing ideas, creativity, or caring about others.

Be ready to share examples, like helping a classmate, participating in a school or university club, or standing up for something important to you.

Practice answering questions

Some common interview questions that you could be asked are:

• ‘Why do you want to have this role?’
• ‘What does participation mean to you?’
• ‘Can you share an example of when you worked in a team?’
• ‘How would you share your ideas or help others feel included?’

Practice answering with a friend, family member, or teacher.

Take your time and remember there are no perfect answers – the person interviewing you just wants to get to know you.

STAR method

When you’re asked questions in an interview, sometimes it can be hard to know how to structure your answer. That’s where the STAR method comes in. STAR is a simple framework that can help you to give clear, detailed, and confident answers.

In the STAR method, you structure your answers by explaining:

• S – Situation. Set the scene and tell the panel what was happening
• T – Task. Explain your role and the job that needed to be done
• A – Action. Describe what you actually did
• R – Result. Share the outcome and what happened because of the action that you took.

This structure will help you to keep your answers focused and helps the interview panel to see your skills in action.

There are a number of other methods that may be useful such as the CAR method (context, action, result) or the SAO method (situation, action, outcome).

Here are some examples of the STAR method: 

Example 1: Leadership

Interview question: Can you give an example of when you have shown leadership?

Here’s how you could answer this question: 

• Situation: Last year, I was coaching my local netball team of younger players. We had an important game coming up, and some of the team members were feeling nervous and not very confident.
• Task: As the coach, it was my responsibility to encourage the players and make sure everyone felt supported and ready to play their best.
• Action: I organised a fun training session where we focused on teamwork games instead of drills. I also checked in with a couple of players one-on-one to give them positive feedback and remind them of their strengths.
• Result: On game day, the team played really well together, and even though we didn’t win, the players were proud of themselves and said they felt much more confident. The parents also told me they noticed the team’s improvement and energy.

Example 2: Problem solving

Interview question: Can you give an example of solving a problem?

Here’s how you could answer this question:

• Situation: At my part-time job in a café, on one of our busiest mornings, the coffee machine suddenly broke down.
• Task: As one of the staff on shift, I needed to help manage customer expectations and keep things running smoothly while the machine was fixed.
• Action: I quickly explained the situation to customers, suggested alternative drinks like teas, cold brew, and smoothies, and made sure people waiting were offered water and snacks. I also kept updating the manager so they could organise repairs.
• Result: Most customers were understanding, and several even commented that we handled it really well. My manager thanked me for staying calm and thinking on my feet under pressure.

Example 3: Teamwork

Interview question: Tell me about a time you worked well in a team.

Here’s how you could answer this question:

• Situation: In Year 12, I worked on a group project for my media class where we had to make a short film.
• Task: My role was to coordinate the script and help the group stay on track with deadlines.
• Action: I organised a schedule that split the project into smaller tasks, made sure everyone had a role they were comfortable with, and set up a group chat so we could easily communicate outside of class.
• Result: We finished the film ahead of time, and our teacher praised the teamwork and creativity. Our film was shown at the school showcase night, and received positive feedback from the audience. Everyone in the group felt proud of what we had achieved together.

Prepare some questions that you could ask the organisation

Interviews aren’t just about the organisation seeing if you are a good fit for them – they are also a chance to make sure the role suits your needs and skills as well. There is usually time at the end of the interview for you to ask questions of your own.

Some questions you could ask might be:

• ‘How often does the group meet?’
• ‘Will there be support or training for young people?’
• ‘Is there anything I need to bring or prepare for meetings?’

Asking questions like these can show you’re genuinely interested and help you understand what to expect.

It’s important to be yourself!

It’s okay to be nervous; just take deep breaths and speak clearly. Remember, the adults are not there to test you but to learn about you and see how you can be involved.

Share your thoughts honestly. If you don’t know something, it’s okay to say, ‘I’m not sure, but I would like to learn’ or ‘I hadn’t considered that’.

Other interview hacks

• Plan to arrive with time to spare (or log in early if it’s online).
• Wear something comfortable and neat that helps you feel both confident and professional.
• Get a good sleep the night before and eat something beforehand so you have energy.
• Take a water bottle to the interview (it is okay to take sips of water between questions if needed).
• Ask for feedback if you aren’t chosen for the position so that you can use it to learn for future opportunities.

Remember: you have a right to be there! 

You deserve to have opportunities to get involved. Interviews are a way for you to share your ideas and passion, and for adults to support your participation. Whether you get the role or not, it’s a great step in building your skills and confidence for the future.

If you’re planning your own project for the first time, it can feel a bit overwhelming. You might not know where to begin, what you need to think about, or how to keep everything organised along the way.

Below is a set of handy blank templates that can be used to plan, run, and review a project step by step. There is also a completed example of each template to show what they might look like when they’re filled in.

These examples are designed to give inspiration and a starting point, but there are many other useful examples online!

You don’t have to use every template, and you don’t have to get it perfect; they are just here to help you get started, stay on track, and feel more confident in bringing your project to life.

Action planning

Sometimes it’s hard to explain why you’re doing a project, or what difference you hope it will make. This template is useful to complete at the start of a project as it will help you to understand what you are trying to achieve and help you to map out what steps you need to take to have success!

You can view our action planning example in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 16–17.

Project budget 

Every project costs something - even if it’s just printing flyers, buying snacks, or booking a venue. A budget helps you to keep track of how much money you expect to spend, how much money you actually spend, and whether you’re staying on track. 

It’s a clear way to make sure that you can keep an eye on your money so that you don’t run out of money before your project is finished. 

How to use the template

1. List the things that you have to spend money on (like food, printing, venue hire, equipment) in the ‘items/expense’ column. 
2. Do some research and have a think about how much you think these things will cost and put it into the ‘estimated cost' column. This will give you an idea of how much money you think you will need to run your project. 
3. As you buy the items, you can put how much money you actually spent on each thing in the ‘actual cost’ column. Try to make sure that you’re not spending more than the estimated cost for each item. 
4. Add any useful notes into the ‘notes’ column. You could put where you purchased each item from or if you got a discount here. 
5. At the end, your ‘actual cost' column should equal the same or less than the ‘estimated cost' column – meaning that you’ve kept to your budget! 

You can view our example project budget template in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 17–18.

Risk management 

When you’re running a project or event, things don’t always go exactly to plan and that’s okay! Sometimes unexpected problems come up like bad weather, equipment breaking, or people not showing up.

An important part of running a project or event is to think ahead so that you’re prepared for these challenges and can handle them if they happen. It’s not about being negative, it’s about being smart and making sure your project runs as smoothly as possible.

How to use the template

1. List the things that might go wrong (big or small!) in the ‘risks’ column.
2. Think about the chance of each risk happening – if it’s likely to happen, rate it as ‘high’ in the ‘likelihood’ column.
3. Ask yourself ‘if this risk does happen, how big of a problem would it be?’ – the answer to that question goes into the ‘impact’ column (if it’s a big problem, the impact will be ‘high’).
4. In the ‘what we will do to reduce the risk' column, write out what actions you will take to try to stop the risk from happening and, if it does happen, how will you try to make the impact as small as possible.
5. List who is in charge of taking care of each of the risks and dealing with the impacts if they happen in the ‘who is responsible’ column.

You can view our example risk management plan in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 19–20.

Meeting agenda 

Meetings can get confusing or go for a really long time if there’s no plan. An agenda helps to keep the meeting focussed, so everyone knows why they’re there, what will be talked about, and in what order. It can help to save time, make things clearer, and helps you to actually make decisions instead of going around in circles.

How to use the template

1. Write the meeting details at the top (date, time, place, who’s meeting, purpose for meeting).
2. List the key items to discuss, in the order you want to go through them.
3. Be clear on what decisions need to be made, not just topics to chat about.
4. Add time limits if you want, so you don’t spend the whole meeting on one issue.
5. Share the agenda before the meeting so people can prepare.

You can view our example meeting agenda in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 20–21.

Meeting minutes 

Minutes are notes from the meeting that help you to remember what was discussed and the decisions that were made. They’re important because people forget, and it makes it clear who’s responsible for what. Good minutes mean less confusion later and more accountability.

How to use the template

1. Start with the meeting details: date, who was there, who took notes.
2. Record the main discussion points, not every single word.
3. Write down the decisions made so that there’s no confusion later.
4. List the action items (what needs to be done, who’s doing it, and by when).
5. Share the minutes afterwards so everyone has a copy to refer to after the meeting.

You can view our example meeting minutes in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 22–23.

Project evaluation 

Once your project is over, it’s important to look back and reflect. What worked? What didn’t? What impact did you have? An evaluation helps you learn from the experience, celebrate your successes, and make things even better next time.

If you have received a grant for your project, it is likely that you will have to submit a formal evaluation to the organisation that provided you with the funding. 

How to use the template

1. Answer the reflection questions honestly and remember it’s okay if things didn’t go perfectly.
2. Write down both the positives and challenges so that you get a balanced view.
3. Think about the impact your project had on the community, participants, or your team.
4. Capture lessons learned and what you’d do differently next time.
5. Include quotes or feedback from participants if you have them.

You can view our example project evaluation in the Youth Participation Kit (downloadable at the top of this page) on pages 23–24.

• Community Impact Hub – useful tools and templates to help you plan a project that will make a difference in the local community.
• Commons Library – useful resources for campaign related activities.
• Canva – useful templates for creating posters, social media materials, PowerPoints and much more!
• Business.gov – useful guides and templates for if you want to start your own business.
• Australian Treasury – comprehensive templates for evaluating your project.