Before undertaking all of the steps required to build a quality mentoring program from scratch, we encourage you to investigate the prevalence of mentoring already happening in your community. There’s a good chance that there is already an organization or service provider offering the type of programming you are considering. You might also find key allies to partner with that are serving the population of youth who you want to mentor or that are addressing the same needs you are targeting. The Mentoring Connector tool can help you identify what services are already being offered, and by whom, in your community. If you determine that there is a need for new mentoring services in the community, the remaining steps below can help you build a strong program.