Mentoring program launch checklist

Work through this checklist with your program team. Assign an owner and a target date to each task, then adapt it to your participants and organization.

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Illustrative planning guidance. Confirm your organization’s policies, accessibility needs, and safeguarding requirements before launch.

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1. Define the purpose

Write the need in one sentence: This program helps [participants] work toward [development goal].
Name the program owner, supporting team, and contact for participant questions.
Choose who can participate, the cohort size, start and end dates, and expected time commitment.
Choose two or three indicators to review, such as first meetings held, goal progress, and participant feedback. Record how each will be measured.

2. Prepare the experience

Decide how people will join: invitation, application, or open enrollment. Explain any approval steps.
Agree on matching criteria, mentor capacity, and how participants can request a different match.
Prepare clear participation expectations, privacy information, and a route to raise concerns.
Check accessibility, time zones, language preferences, and scheduling needs with participants.
Prepare a first-meeting agenda, goal-setting prompts, and a short orientation for both roles.

3. Invite and connect

Send an invitation that explains the purpose, commitment, deadline, and next step.
Review applications and profile information; follow up on missing information before matching.
Review suggested pairings and capacity, then explain how each relationship is confirmed.
Introduce each pair and ask them to schedule their first meeting and agree on expectations.

4. Support and learn

Check whether each pair has connected, and offer help to anyone still waiting.
Schedule a short midpoint check-in about the match, goals, and any support needed.
Give participants an easy way to pause, change a match, or raise a concern.
At the end, collect feedback and goal reflections. Review aggregate results without exposing private session content.
Record what to keep, change, and test in the next cohort.