• Program Enhancement
• Fundraising
• Symposium

With a highly successful, five-year track record, the ADA decided in 2006 to look for ways to expand Give Kids A Smile. A National Advisory Board was constituted to guide expansion efforts, focusing on three primary areas: program enhancement, fundraising and staging an annual symposium to highlight Give Kids A Smile program promising practices.

Program Enhancement

Give Kids A Smile will identify other access-to-care programs that would like to come under the program's umbrella. Negotiations with several national and local access programs are under way. Partners will be access-to-care programs with a history of significant achievement, or corporations that support Give Kids A Smile with significant resources.

Partners will have access to the Give Kids A Smile grant program and national publicity venues through ADA publications, media relations and marketing.

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Fundraising

An organized fundraising initiative will build a Give Kids A Smile fund within the ADA Foundation for an annual grant program. CareCredit, an ADA affinity partner in the patient care financing field, is the founding donor to the fund with a contribution of $100,000. To facilitate the process for this inaugural grant year, state and local dental societies, along with members of the GKAS National Advisory Board, will be invited to nominate program to apply for competitive grants. Thus, GKAS programs won’t be asked to self nominate at this time. The grant process will be re-evaluated each year by the GKAS National Advisory Board and the ADA Foundation to continue to meet the needs of the GKAS communities of interest.

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Symposium

A symposium on Give Kids A Smile promising practices will be held each of the next three years; the first event was held Aug. 27, 2007, in Chicago. The second symposium will be held June 13, 2008. The Dental Trade Alliance Foundation is sponsoring the symposium. Symposium proceedings are available free to all interested parties.

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