2025 - 26 Deadlines
Registration Opens
September 2, 2025
Registration Closes
March 25, 2026
Y-Corps Institute
April 18, 2026
10AM - 4PM EST
Whitaker Family YMCA - Lexington, KY
Service, Fundraising, and Service Focus Deadline
June 14, 2026
Fundraising Goals (through Donor Box)
1st Year | $400+
2nd Year | $600+
3rd/4th Year | $750+
Captains | $1,000+
Service Hour Goals (through MobileServe Y-Corps general participants use the code: 087003
Y-Corps Captains use the code: 93B4F3)
50+ hours
Service Focus Project (through MobileServe)
10 - 20 hours of your 50-hour minimum
Y-CORPS DICTIONARY
Welcome to your Y-Corps journey! Here’s a guide to key tools and expectations to help you succeed and make the most of your experience.
Goals: Fundraising & Service Hours
Your fundraising and service hour goals are tailored to your level of Y-Corps experience. Keep in mind, these are minimum goals—we encourage you to exceed them! Goals must be met by June 14, 2026.
Fundraising Goals
- 1st Year: $400+
- 2nd Year: $600+
- 3rd & 4th Year: $750+
- Captains: $1,000+
DonorBox
This is the fundraising platform you'll use. After creating your account and submitting your $25 "deposit," you'll be able to share your personalized link with others. Donations will go directly to your page, helping you reach your fundraising goals.
Service Hours Goals
- 50+ hours
MobileServe
This platform allows you to track your service hours. After creating your account, use code 087003 to join our Y-Corps 2026 dashboard. Keep track of your hours and stay on top of your service milestones. Make sure to upload photos with your hours!
Service Focus Project: Making a Lasting Impact
True service is about going beyond volunteerism and creating long-term, meaningful change. Your Service Focus is your chance to contribute deeply to a community, working with one organization to advocate for and serve its needs. This project allows you to create or join an ongoing effort that maintains the important narratives of the people and places you serve.
Key Info:
- 10 - 20 hours of your 50-hour minimum.
- Choose an organization you're passionate about and collaborate with them to identify how you can contribute in a continuous and impactful way.
- Complete this project by June 14, 2026 and document your hours on MobileServe.
- Y-Corps general participants use the code: 087003
- Y-Corps Captains use the code: 93B4F3
- Once you complete your Service Focus hours, you’ll reflect on your experience by submitting a Google Form. Also linked below, for those who want to get a head start!
Y-Corps Institute (YCI)
The Y-Corps Institute is an in-person experience where all Y-Corps students will come together for workshops, service learning, and fundraising activities. It’s also a chance to prepare for your summer service trip and meet your teammates.
Details:
- Date: Saturday, April 18th
- Location: Whitaker Family YMCA in Lexington, KY
- Time: 10 AM – 4 PM
- Required Attendance: You must attend this event. If you have any concerns, please contact Nicole at nicole@kyymca.org.
Captains: Your Leaders and Guides
Our Y-Corps Captains are students with extensive experience in Y-Corps who have been selected through an application process. Captains serve as your trip leaders and will guide you throughout your Y-Corps journey. They will also lead the Y-Corps Institute and check in with you regularly to offer support and guidance.
What Does the Trip Look Like?
Each Y-Corps trip is a unique adventure filled with service, learning, and fun. Every day includes a variety of stops:
- Service Stops – Volunteer projects where you’ll serve directly in communities.
- Culture Stops – Opportunities to learn what makes each area unique.
- Fun Stops – Time to enjoy exciting activities with your team.
- Food Stops – Meals shared together at local restaurants or community spaces.
You’ll travel as a team on a school bus, staying in gyms or community centers (often YMCAs) and sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag. One dining-out meal per day is built into the schedule (some covered by you, some by the Y), while your other meals will be “bin meals”—food stored on the bus like sandwiches, chips, crackers, fruits, veggies, and more.
It’s hard work, but it’s also one of the most rewarding and memorable experiences you’ll ever have.
Participate, Don’t Anticipate
One of the most exciting parts of Y-Corps is the element of surprise. Students are not given the trip schedule in advance—this helps everyone stay present, flexible, and fully engaged in the experience as it unfolds. To ensure safety and peace of mind, parents and guardians will receive the trip schedule two weeks before the trip. We strongly encourage parents not to share this information with students, so participants can truly embrace the “participate, don’t anticipate” mindset that makes Y-Corps such a unique and meaningful journey.
Please note that trip routes (both in-state and out-of-state) change from year to year. Y-Staff Trip Leads also change from year to year.
We’re excited for you to begin this transformative experience! Stay on top of your goals, engage in service, and make an impact that lasts.
Y-CORPS SERVICE FAQS
Q. If I host/plan a fundraising event, do those hours count as service?
These do not count as direct/indirect service hours. While philanthropy is one of the types of service required for Y-Corps, the impact of your philanthropy is measured by your fundraising total, not the hours served. You are still getting Y-Corps recognition for the effort/hours you put in, but that recognition is demonstrated through your fundraising.
Q. Why are my service hours not yet approved on MobileServe?
Every few weeks, Nicole will go through your hours to approve them (if not already approved). If for some reason your hours are not yet approved, it is likely you are in between check-ins and they will be approved by the date of your next check-in.
Q. What if my service hours are not approved?
In some cases, when Nicole reviews your hours for approval, some hours may not be approved. There are several reasons this can happen, but here are the two most common:
- Missing Supervisor Information – Please make sure your supervisor information is logged with your hours!
- Hours Not Applicable – In some cases, your hours are not applicable to Y-Corps. This includes hours logged for school assignments, projects and performances that are part of your normal coursework or expectations for a class, or hours done for pay/salary.
Y-CORPS FUNDRAISING FAQS
Q. I received a cash or check donation, what do I do?
All cash or check donations must be mailed to the Kentucky YMCA using the Y-Corps Deposit Slip. You must fill out ALL of the donor information for each donation on the deposit slip. We will add the donation into your fundraising page once we receive your deposit slip. The IRS requires all non-profits to send donors a Contribution Receipt through the mail, so we need your help with this.
Q. I received a donation made out to me, not the KY YMCA. What do I do?
You can endorse the check to us by signing the back and writing “Payable to the KY YMCA” or by depositing it and mailing in a check from your account, while submitting all the original donor’s information on your deposit slip.
Q. Can I turn my cash donations into a single check before mailing?
Yes, but you MUST list each individual cash donation and donor information on your deposit slip, along with the check number that includes the donation. Please do NOT turn your cash donations into an online donation via a personal credit card, as this will create an error in our system.
Q. If I do a fundraising event, how do I record it on my deposit slip?
If possible, please bring copies of the Deposit Slip with you to your Fundraising Event. Ask anyone that gives to provide their donor information so we can send them a Contribution Receipt. If the fundraiser is anonymous, like a Penny Drive, Bake Sale, or Donation Jar with multiple small donations, this is the ONLY time that you would simply put the name of the fundraiser (ex: Tracy’s Y-Corps Bake Sale – $100) on the deposit slip without any donor information.
Q. If I do a fundraiser with other Y-Corps members, how do we report it?
Once you have your grand total, divide it evenly between participating Y-Corps members. If the donations are in cash, divide the cash and have each Y-Corps member submit it with a deposit slip. If you get a check from a business or organization that assisted with the fundraiser, submit the check with a deposit slip and indicate which Y-Corps members should receive an equal portion of the total.
Q. If a business or organization donates, how do I record it on the deposit slip?
If you have a donation that would like to be recognized as a business or organization (ex: Church Group, Rotary Club), you still must complete the information on the deposit slip. List the business/organization’s name and mailing address and get an email address for someone in the business/organization.
Q. What do I need to know about the online donor fees?
For the first time ever, your donors have the option to cover the fees that are taken out by the online credit card processing system and website host for your fundraiser. When they choose to do this their intended gift amount comes in full to the KY YMCA. These gifts often show up as having an odd dollar amount rather than a flat dollar amount. The online fundraising system includes their “fee given” amount into your fundraising totals. We encourage you to keep track of all your donation amounts and try to ensure that without the “fee given” amounts that you are raising your Y-Corps goal. It is not a requirement to raise more than what your thermometer says, but simply an opportunity for you to raise as much as you can for the YMCA Scholarship Fund. If you have questions about this, you can reach out to Abbey Costello at abbey@kyymca.org.
ON-TRIP SICK POLICY
It is the policy of the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association that if a student gets sick more than twice, they will need to leave the conference. If a Y-Staff member feels the two times were not related to food or nerves, then we recommend they go home, but it is overall the parent/guardian and Y Staff member’s decision. At any time, if a student has a fever, they must be sent home. If a student cannot be picked up immediately due to distance, the Y-Staff member will try to move them or their roommates to another room in order to not spread illness. We reserve the right to send home any students deemed unwell.