Each year, Liftoff receives confidential nominations of 7th grade Logan County students, submitted by teachers, ministers, youth organization leaders, and agency staff who know the nominees personally. A selection committee reviews the nomination material and selects up to 4 students eligible to participate in Liftoff's youth development program. The Woods Foundation board makes final approval of the selections.

Liftoff is administered by the Academic Development Institute and made possible by the generosity of Robert J. Woods and Joan Jarrett Woods through the foundation they created, known as The Woods Foundation.