This guide discusses preparing volunteer tutors for success in educational environments and describes the startup year of these programs. Research and experience in the field suggest that a good beginning is key to the long-term survival of new programs. The startup year is the most challenging. It requires leadership to muster the energy and resolve, often in resistant environments, to try something new. It requires crafting a working model, identifying mistakes, refining the system, and establishing reporting systems to track progress and success. Important features of successful tutor programs include the following: planned partnerships with schools, research-based practices, structured sessions, a variety of strategies and materials, ongoing training, and evaluation for continuous improvement. A single person, the program director, usually orchestrates all of these startup elements and activities. (Contains sources of additional information and lists of resources, including organizations, manuals, relevant studies and Web sites, and an annotated bibliography on literacy and tutoring, mentoring, and volunteer program development. Contains 35 resources.) (DFR)