US$600,000 will bring more students into Key Club and the GLC Master Class.
By Erin Chandler
The Kiwanis Children’s Fund has received a historic grant that will support the growth of Key Club International over the next two years. The US$600,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation — the largest ever awarded to Key Club and the second biggest to the Kiwanis Children’s Fund — will fund efforts to charter new clubs in high-growth districts and double the size of the Global Leadership Certificate Master Class.
Executive Director of Kiwanis Youth Programs Michelle Study-Campbell says, “We are thrilled for the opportunity to expand Key Club International and to provide more opportunities for students across the country. Thanks to the Carnegie Foundation’s investment in Key Club International, more students will have the chance to learn leadership skills through meaningful service — skills that prepare them to be civically engaged and informed community leaders.”
Growing Key Club
With this grant, Key Club will develop a field-based strategy that will focus on building new clubs in Key Club’s fastest growing districts. The plan will begin with local Kiwanis volunteers working toward the goal of adding 22,000 new Key Club members in two years — enough to conduct an estimated 1 million additional hours of community service.
Research shows that students who take part in structured service and leadership programs in high school are more likely to volunteer and stay civically engaged well into adulthood, and those benefits grow the longer a student stays involved. Key Club’s own numbers tell a similar story: In the organization’s 2025 survey of members, 96% of students said Key Club gave them meaningful service opportunities, and 89% said it helped them grow as a leader.
Key Club currently is present in about 15% of U.S. high schools while it continues to expand internationally. That leaves students in over 26,000 U.S. schools without access to the laboratory of leadership that Kiwanis has supported for more than a century. This grant is intended to help more students and communities benefit from the growth, engagement and fulfillment that Key Club provides.
Doubling the GLC Master Class
This grant will also allow the GLC Master Class to grow from 50 to 100 students per year in 2027 and 2028. Demand for the master class — the in-person culmination of a free, 40-course online program grounded in Key Club’s core values of leadership and service — consistently has exceeded its 50-person capacity at the Key Club International convention.
For each student who takes part in the GLC Master Class, the grant will provide funding to cover up to 50% of convention costs. In the 2025 Key Club member survey, students identified conventions and global service events as among the experiences they most want but have the least access to. This grant will help alleviate the financial barrier to these opportunities. This opportunity will be offered for the first time at the 2027 Key Club International Convention in Washington, D.C.
How Kiwanians can help
Want to help Key Club reach its goal of 22,000 new Key Club members and 200 GLC Master Class participants over the next two years? Here is what Kiwanis members can do:
- Sponsor a new Key Club in a school that currently doesn’t offer the program.
- Promote the responsibilities of Kiwanis sponsorship of Key Club.
- Support Key Club by making a gift to the Kiwanis Children’s Fund.
- Spread the word about the Global Leadership Certificate, which is free and open to every Key Club member.
As always, Key Club’s successful expansion depends on the Kiwanians who support the program. The Carnegie Corporation grant is not just an exciting development for Key Club — it’s an opportunity for the entire Kiwanis family.
