Grantwriter's Blog

The Importance of a Grantwriting Team in Editing Proposals

2012-02-29T15:27:00.001-05:00

Talking about the importance of identifying/setting up a grantwriting team within an organization is one of my recommendations that I will frequently climb up onto the proverbial soap box for. I firmly believe that having a team in place to support a grant application, even if the head of the team is an actual grantwriter, helps improve your success in your grant seeking efforts tremendously. There are countless reasons...

A major one is that everyone has a slightly different writing style, and by including multiple people in the process, you finished application is more likely to be clearly understood by any reviewer than if just written and edited by one person.

Another biggie is that because different members of your grantwriting team will have different roles in the application development process - budgeting, evaluation, program design, etc. and make the gathering of application components easier than as one individual trying to identify the proper source for information within the organization.

The one that resonates with me the most today though is that when you are in the thick of an extremely long narrative, or even a short narrative where you are struggling to fit in your full idea within a small character limit, you as the head of the grantwriting team will become too familiar with the text and miss key holes or questions left within your document. Having multiple sets of eyes edit your final document will improve the quality of your applications simply because everyone reads it differently and will pick up on different assumptions that were made in the narrative and therefore questions that would likely arise for an outside reviewer.

It is because of this last reason that I recommend when you are putting your grantwriting team together that you are clear in the expectations for reviewing/editing a proposal. When a word document is sent out for review, to give a quick review and write back in an email "looks great to me!" isn't doing a service to your team or your organization. No narrative is perfect. Everyone on the team should be reading with more focus and looking to catch a few minor edits or questions that the text left them with in order to strengthen the proposal. You are all ultimately working for the same goal - to secure additional funding to support your important work - and spending the extra five minutes spent reviewing a narrative in more detail will greatly increase your likelihood of achieving that goal!

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – February 27, 2012

2012-02-27T06:50:00.001-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share. Big news in the Education heading below with the FY2012 release of "i3" funding applications from the Department of Education today.

Education

Investing inInnovation Fund – Demonstration Project

Notice of Intent to Apply Deadline: March 15, 2012

Deadline: April 9, 2012

These grants will (1) allow eligible entities to expand anddevelop innovative practices that can serve as models of best practices, (2)support partnerships between eligible entities and the private sector andphilanthropic community, and (3) support eligible

entities in identifying and documenting best practices thatcan be shared and taken to scale based on demonstrated success.

Under this program, the Department awards three types ofgrants: ‘‘Scale-up’’ grants, ‘‘Validation’’ grants, and ‘‘Development’’ grants.The three grant types differ in the evidence that an applicant is required tosubmit in support of its proposed project; the

expectations for ‘‘scaling up’’ successful projects duringor after the grant period,

either directly or through partners; and the funding that asuccessful applicant is eligible to receive. This notice invites applicationsfor Development grants. The Departmentanticipates publishing notices inviting applications for the other types of i3grants (i.e., Validation and Scale-up grants) in the spring of 2012.

*One major change tonote is that the “i3” Development Grant process has been modified to include arequired pre-application step. This isnot just a notice of intent to apply so that the department can prepare to haveenough reviewers, but rather, will be the first step of review, and applicantsmust be invited, based on the review of their notice of intent to applysubmission, to submit a full proposal.

Health

Dannon NextGeneration Nutrition Grant

Deadline: March 30, 2012

In 2012, Dannon willdonate a grant of $30,000 to one program nurturing healthy eating habits amongchildren in each of the communities where a Dannon facility is located. To qualify, organizations must need fundingfor a current nutrition education program for children up to age 18 or be ableto launch such an initiative by late 2012. Programs should be creative in their approach, involve communitypartners, include professional nutrition staff or consultants, and be designedto impact children’s eating habits today for a healthier tomorrow. The initiative must also:

• Promote nutritioneducation to nurture healthy eating habits among children, including theconsumption of low-fat yogurt

• Serve communitieswhere Dannon facilities are located (Auglaize, Darke, Mercer or Shelby Counties, OH; Salt Lake County, UT; Tarrant County, TX; or Westchester County, NY)

• Be a program of atax exempt non-profit according to Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, but not aprivate foundation as defined under Section 509(a).

Mental Health

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Deadline: April 13, 2012

Beginning in 2011, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation willfocus funding in the following priority areas:

· Addressing the mental health needs of ourreturning veterans

· Addressing the overrepresentation of thementally ill in the criminal justice system

**Please feel free to pass this listing along to yourcolleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly or inyour email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any fundingannouncements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like tohave listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

3 Grantwriting Rules to Live By

2012-02-22T09:23:00.002-05:00

I've been busy reading the first two books that I've been asked to review as part of my participation in CharityChannel's "We Review" panel which reviews nonprofit industry related books. The two books I'm reviewing are both related to grantwriting (stay tuned for those reviews in the next few weeks!) and they got me thinking...

In these two books as well as others I've read, some of the lists of key "rules" and techniques include many many steps or key items to address for grantwriting success. Personally, I like to keep things as simple as possible. I went back and revisited a post I made in February of 2009 about 3 Grantwriting Rules to Live By. If you missed the original post, you can see it here.

More than three years and a few million dollars in funds raised for clients later, I questioned whether or not I would modify these three rules. Truth is, I still think that these three fundamental rules are the key to any successful grantwriting strategy. There are countless technical tips and writing style tweaks that can help increase your success, but those tips and tweaks aside, if you follow these three golden rules, you will have a great start.

However, there have been some significant changes in the grant field in the last three years and so I'm going to add a few additional thoughts for each rule relevant to some of these industry changes, specifically the large percentage of funding applications that are now submitted online.

1. Follow Each Funder's Instructions to the Letter

Only upload files and attachments in exactly the file extension and named specifically as requested by the funder. The funder has a reason why they asked for only word/excel, or only pdf. They also have a reason, likely related to how they store and sort the multitude of electronic applications received, for how they ask you to name your documents or title your email. Don't get your proposal knocked out of consideration before your document is ever even opened.

2. Meet All Deadlines Set Out By the Funder

Pressing the "submit" button by 5pm on a deadline is as important and unflexbile as having it delivered by courier by 5pm on a deadline. Work to submit all proposals well in advance of the deadline so that technical glitches with uploads don't cause heart ache with missing deadilnes as copier and printer issues have with paper submissions.

3. Proof Read, Proof Read, Proof Read

With the character and word count systems implemented in most online grant submission programs, not only do you need to proof read for spelling and grammar errors as carefully as ever, but now you need to proof read after inserting your text into the online systems to ensure that none of your text has been truncated. Simply cutting and pasting text from Word isn't enough as systems can truncate your text without providing you an error message. Reread each and every field in its entirety before submitting. Don't leave your potential funder wondering about the final point of your need statement or program description.

Happy Grant Writing!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – February 20, 2012

2012-02-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

Happy President's Day! Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Community Service

September 11^th National Day of Service and Remembrance

Deadline: March 14, 2012

TheSeptember 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance initiative grants aremade to eligible organizations engaged in service activities that meet vitalcommunity needs and honor the sacrifice of those who lost their lives onSeptember 11, 2001, or who rose in service as a result of that tragedy.

Emergency Services

Public Access to Defibrillation Demonstration Project

Deadline: March 19, 2012

Thisannouncement solicits applications for the Public Access to DefibrillationDemonstration Project (PADDP). The Office of Rural Health Policy's (ORHP) PADDPgrant program will fund applications that propose to develop and implementinnovative, comprehensive, community-based public access defibrillationdemonstration projects that: (1) provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation andautomated external defibrillation to cardiac arrest victims in unique settings;(2) provide training to community members in cardiopulmonary resuscitation andautomated external defibrillation; and (3) maximize community access toautomated external defibrillators (AED). The purpose of this grant program is to:(1) purchase AEDs that have been approved, or cleared for marketing by the Foodand Drug Administration; (2) provide basic life training in automated externaldefibrillator usage through nationally recognized courses; (3) provideinformation to community members about the public access defibrillationdemonstration project to be funded with the grant; (4) provide information tothe local emergency medical services (EMS) system regarding the placement ofAEDs in the unique settings; and (5) further develop strategies to improveaccess to AEDs in public places.

Women & Girls

OVW FY 2012 Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program

Deadline: March 29, 2012

TheEnhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Laterin Life Program provides or enhances training and services to address elderabuse, neglect, and exploitation, including sexual assault, domestic violence,dating violence, or stalking, involving victims who are 50 years of age orolder.

OVW Fiscal Year 2012 Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program

Deadline: March 26, 2012

TheLegal Assistance for Victims (LAV) Grant Program is intended to increase theavailability of civil and criminal legal assistance needed to effectively aidadult and youth victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence,and stalking who are seeking relief in legal matters arising as a consequenceof that abuse or violence. Criminal legal assistance is limited to criminalmatters relating to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, andstalking. LAV Grant Program funds may not be used to provide criminal defenseservices. The objective of the LAV Grant Program is to develop innovative,collaborative projects that provide quality representation to victims of sexualassault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. “Legal assistance”includes assistance to adult and youth victims of sexual assault, intimatepartner domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking in: a) family, Tribal,Territorial, immigration, employment, administrative agency, housing matters,campus administrative or protection or stay away order proceedings, and othersimilar matters; and b) criminal justice investigations, prosecutions andpost-trial matters (including sentencing, parole, and probation) that impactthe victim’s safety and privacy.

Diane

Nonprofit Oversight and Its Impact on Grant Funds

2012-02-17T12:56:00.004-05:00

The New York State Attorney General released a report this week, Revitalizing Nonprofits Renewing New York that the Leadership Committee for Nonprofit Revitalization presented. While many of you do not reside in New York, it is not just my local bias of residing in Empire State that makes me think this report is worthy of bringing it to your attention. Rather, I think the report is worth discussing as it illustrates the growing trend at the local and federal level for the increasing conversation about government oversight and restrictions on non-profit governance. Oversight that ultimately can affect the specifics of eligibility for grants and contracts that nonprofits receive through their local and state governments. Another proposal has been discussed in New Hampshire recently to implement a requirement that at least one board member of each nonprofit go through formal training in order to guarantee a level of accountability and knowledge within each nonprofit Board of Directors. In this specific report out of New York, the two recommendations for nonprofit accountability fell under the headings of additional oversight and accountability and focusing on board development/recruitment/training/accountability.

While additional oversight and governance was looked at, the report was also a unique opportunity for nonprofit leaders to provide feedback to legislators and government staff about recommendations on how to make nonprofits more efficient in their work with the state and how to provide an environment that is supportive of the nonprofit organizations conducting critical work throughout the state. The two recommendations discussed in this portion of the report focused on building a better partnership between state government and nonprofits as well as simultaneously creating a more hospitable environment for nonprofits. Both great topic areas with specific discussions that could help be game changers for those nonprofits who do seek/receive state grants.

How does this report impact state grant funding? Obviously way too early to tell. I think the key take away is that with state grant funding (and federal too!) it is a balancing act for nonprofits. Nonprofit leadership must consider the contract/grant amount, the burden of the application process, billing, reporting, and follow-up necessary in order to receive the promised funds and then weigh that staff expense burden before pursuing state funding as a source of grant revenue.

To me the real catch of the conversation is that for nonprofits that do not receive state grants, perhaps having decided that state grants are not their preferred/appropriate means to sustain their organization and achieve their mission, oversight changes may essentially be unfunded mandates that will force additional charity regulation and reporting. Then for those nonprofits who do choose to participate in the state funding process and have incorporated state grant funding into their organizational budgets, the price tag on staff burden for successfully receiving and maintaining funding through the state will also increase. For organizations in either situation, unless done carefully, it ultimately a loss for tax payers and individual donors to nonprofits.

CharityChannel's Grants & Foundation Review

2012-02-15T12:14:00.003-05:00

We all have our go to trade newsletters/publications/emails. CharityChannel's Grants and Foundation Review articles have always been one such publication that I always read in its entirety. I'm humbled to announce that I have been selected to be a contributing author!

While I have some ideas percolating for what articles I would like to write as part of my contributions to the Review, I wanted to put the question to you, those who will likely be part of my reader audience.

What topics would be useful to you to see articles written about related to the many facets of the grant writing profession and fundraising avenue?

I also plan to use your suggestions to help frame some of my upcoming blog posts, so please, the more suggestions the better!

Please leave your suggestions as a comment, or email them to me directly at diane@dhleonardconsulting.com.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions. I can't wait to share my first article published as part of the Grants and Foundation Review with you in the next few months!

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – February 13, 2012

2012-02-13T07:58:00.000-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I thought would be of interest to many of you and wantedto share.

Community Service

National Day of Service and Remembrance Grants

Deadline: March 14, 2012

The September 11th National Dayof Service and Remembrance initiative grants are made to eligible organizationsengaged in service activities that meet vital community needs and honor thesacrifice of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, or who rose inservice as a result of that tragedy.

Environment

American Water – Environmental Grant Program

Deadline: March 10, 2012

To qualify for Environmental Grant funding, a proposed project must be:

Located within an American Water service area
Completed between May and November of the grant funding year
Be a new or innovative community initiative, or serve as significant expansion to an existing program.

Grants will be available inAmerican Water service areas in ten states — California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Open Spaces Sacred Places – The TKF Foundation

Deadline: June 29, 2012

TheTKF Foundation announces the final phase of the Open Spaces Sacred Places(OSSP) National Awards Program. The program was enacted in 2 phases, aPlanning Grant Phase, now closed, and an open call for proposals. Final Awardswill fund development of significant new sacred public green spaces in urbansettings that demonstrate a combination of high quality design-build andrigorous research about user impacts. The total remaining funding pool is $4million. Funding will be provided to cross-disciplinary teams that are able to1) conceptualize, plan, design and implement an open and sacred green space, 2)conduct associated research study(ies), and 3) communicate scientificfindings. TKF seeks to identify projects replicable in theirintent. Projects should also be generalizable in the challenges theyaddress to serve as potential archetypes for urban areas across the

U.S.

Nonprofits

Social Innovation Fund

To be eligible for a SIFintermediary award, an applicant must:

• Be an existing grantmakinginstitution or an eligible partnership;

• Properly propose to be eithera geographically-based or issue-based SIF that will focus on improvingmeasurable outcomes;

• Have a strong track record ofusing rigorous evidence to select, invest in, support, and monitor thereplication and expansion of grantees;

• Have a well-articulated planto:

oSelect, replicate and expand subgrantees that have been shown to have at leastpreliminary evidence of effectiveness; and

oCollaborate with a research organization to undertake rigorous evaluations tomove subgrantees to at least moderate levels of evidence.

• Have appropriate policies onconflicts of interest, self-dealing, and other improper practices; and

• Demonstrate eithercash-on-hand or commitments (or a combination thereof) toward meeting 50percent of the first year matching funds, based on the amount of grant fundsrequested. For example, a request of $1 million needs to be accompanied bydocumentation of $500,000 on-hand at the time of application.

The Social Innovation Fund onlyexpands service opportunities, it focuses national service on key outcomes;builds the capacity of individuals, nonprofits, and communities to succeed; andencourages innovative approaches to solving problems, including through theestablishment of the Social Innovation Fund. The Social Innovation Fund is itself aninnovative program that awards grants to existing grantmaking institutions, or“intermediaries,” who in turn subgrant funds to promising community-basednonprofit organizations to validate and grow outcomes-focused approaches tochallenges facing local communities in three priority issue areas: • YouthDevelopment; • Economic Opportunity; and • Healthy Futures. The SocialInnovation Fund directs resources toward increasing the evidence base, capacityand scale of the organizations it funds in order to improve the lives of peopleserved by those organizations. The operating model of the Social InnovationFund has been explicitly designed to advance these objectives and isdistinguished by four key elements: (1) reliance on intermediaries with strongskills and track records of success to do the critical work of selecting,validating, and growing high-impact nonprofit organizations; (2) requirementsthat each federal dollar granted by the Social Innovation Fund be matched 1:1by the intermediaries with money from private and other non-federal sources andthat subgrants by these intermediaries be matched 1:1 by subgrantees; (3)requirements that all grantees engage each of their subgrantees in formalevaluations of program performance and impact; and (4) a commitment toknowledge sharing and other initiatives that advance social innovation moregenerally in the nonprofit sector.

Victims

Wraparound Victim Legal Assistance Network Demonstration Project

Deadline: April 19, 2012

OVC will fund up to six sitesto develop collaborative models for comprehensive, wraparound, pro bono, legalassistance networks to meet the range of legal needs of crime victims. This isa 4-year project, with sites receiving up to $400,000 for the first 15-monthphase, with the potential of continuation funding for 3 additional years.

Women & Girls

Ms. Foundation Fellowship

Deadline: April 30, 2012

The Ms. Foundation for Womenwill select an individual to receive this Fellowship from a diverse pool ofapplicants working in a variety of fields. Successful applicants will addressthe critical issues facing women in the U.S., ideally in the areas of: (1)economic justice, particularly full access to quality and affordable child careand improving working conditions for care providers in the informal sector; (2)effectively communicating the need for access to and public funding forreproductive health care and family planning; (3) prevention of child sexualabuse; and/or (4) innovative ways of working - strategies and approaches thatcut across these issues. Their idea should have the potential to galvanizelarge numbers of individuals to make structural change, and to capture theattention of the media and other key influencers.

Diane

The Three C’s (Part 3 of 3)

2012-02-08T11:30:00.000-05:00

For the third and final installment in the article, “TheThree C’s,” I wanted to share with you a few of the many resources and articlesthat are available to nonprofits related to collaboration, collective impact,and cooperation.

Miss one of the initial two articles? Read them here: Part 1 and Part 2.

Here is a sampling of some of the go to tools and articlesthat I like to reference or look at when working with or thinking aboutcollaborations, collective impact discussions and cooperation betweenorganizations:

As part of The Collaboration Prize, in partnership with TheFoundation Center, there is now a searchable database available to the public that includes new collaboration models. The database containsdetailed information on 250 collaborations nominated for the 2009 Prize, andwill be further expanded to include new collaboration models resulting from the2011 Prize process, as well as other examples that are not part of TheCollaboration Prize project of nonprofits working together. Information isarranged by searchable categories, including ways to collaborate, reasons tocollaborate, challenges and outcomes.

There is a really unique online tool that you can take to judge the potential success of your proposedcollaboration. The tool is provided as a free resourcethrough the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and only takes about 15 minutes to gothrough.

There was a great article written and published in theStanford Social Innovation Review late in 2011 that has already picked up steam with large United Way organizations that are looking at how to maketheir declining campaign dollars stretch farther to increase seemingly alwaysgrowing problems in their communities.

I’d love to hear from you aboutyour experiences in seeking grant support for programs utilizing any of the“Three C’s” and any other key resources or articles that you reference and relyon! Please leave a comment on this postor contact me at diane@dhleonardconsulting.com.

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – February 6, 2012

2012-02-06T07:23:00.001-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

* An interesting funding trend I wanted to highlight. Most of you are likely familiar with and haveformed your own opinion about the social media type “grants” that many forprofit organizations are now providing in place of or in addition to their moretypical community grants. There isanother new trend that is on the rise – that of health related fundingcompetitions. There is an interestingarticle that sheds some more light on why the competitions for changes inhealth care programming are coming about. This week’s funding listing includes two such competitions, and thereare at least two more similar competitions opening later in February that willbe included in this listing once open.

Environment

TogetherGreen Innovation Grants

http://www.togethergreen.org/Grants/Default.aspx

Deadline: April 2, 2012

The TogetherGreen Innovation Grants Programsupports creative and ambitious projects that engage diverse communities andfind innovative solutions to environmental challenges.

Innovation Grant awards go to organizations withinthe Audubon network that are working with partners in their communities, andthat have the passion, commitment, and vision to move people to take action andachieve lasting conservation results.

In 2012, we will award at least 40 grants, rangingfrom $5,000 to $80,000, with an average grant size of $25,000.

Health

Alzheimer’s Challenge

https://www.alzheimerschallenge2012.com/

Deadline: March 16, 2012

The Alzheimer’s Challenge 2012 seeksthe development of simple, cost-effective, consistent tools that could beeasily used to assess memory, mood, thinking and activity level over time tohelp improve diagnosis and monitoring of people with Alzheimer’s disease.Today, easy to use, reliable, objective and cost-efficient methods to track andmonitor Alzheimer’s disease -- which is not a normal part of aging -- remain anunmet need. The Alzheimer’s Challenge 2012 supports the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) call to harness new thinking todeliver better care and better health at lower cost and provides anentrepreneurial springboard to harness new thinking and approaches to improveAlzheimer’s care.

The Alzheimer’s Challenge 2012includes awards totaling $300,000. This incorporates $25,000 to five finalistsand $175,000 to one winner of the Challenge.

Following the March 16, 2012 submission deadline, fivefinalists will be selected and announced by April 16, 2012. Each finalist will be awarded $25,000.Concept refinement will be completed by mid June 2012 with finalistpresentations to follow. The winner of the Challenge will be announcedat the end of June 2012 and awarded a $175,000 prize. Judges will be drawn fromexperts in the Alzheimer’s community and other related fields.

Allscripts Million Hearts Initiative CDS Challenge

www.allscripts.com/cdschallenge

Deadline: February 27, 2012

TheAllscripts Million Hearts Initiative CDS Challenge offers a $50,000 prize tothe person or group that creates a publicly available resource that acceleratesthe delivery of optimal care for the millions of patients in the United States with cardiovascular disease throughclinical decision support functionality. Our goal is to accomplish this byfacilitating the translation of the CDS rules associated with the MillionHearts Initiative into an unambiguous, machine-readable format that can be"read" by any Electronic Health Record (EHR). Allscripts will providematerials, including an XML format that participants may use in the developmentof the solution if desired.

The winningsolution will be selected from qualified applicants by a panel of judges inaccordance with the terms and conditions of the Challenge which will be madeavailable at the official start of the Challenge. At a minimum, the winningsolution will include a publicly accessible web site or service providing thefollowing four features:

Unambiguous prose expressions of clinical guidelines that support each of the core components of the Million Hearts initiative: ABCS: Aspirin for people at risk, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management and Smoking cessation.
Available download of unambiguous prose expressions of EHR-based CDS interventions aligned with the clinical guidelines described in (1) above.
Available download of logical, computable (XML) expressions of EHR-based CDS interventions aligned with the clinical guidelines described in (1) above.
Available download of comprehensive value sets that provide coded values for each of the data elements referenced in the XML-based interventions described above.

Music

Commissioning Music

https://www.newmusicusa.org/commissioning-music-usa

Deadline: March 19, 2012

Applications are submitted by asingle commissioner or consortium of commissioning organizations and areevaluated by an outside panel of artists and presenters. If selected toparticipate in the program, Commissioning Music/USA offers between $10,000 and$20,000 in support of the composer’s commissioning fee and copying expenses.

For the purposes of theseguidelines, Meet The Composer considers a collaborative relationship to havethe following qualities:

· Equal creative roles

· Non-directorial workingrelationship (i.e. one collaborator is not directing the work of another)

· Copyright ownership in the work isheld jointly by the collaborators

The 2013 round of CommissioningMusic/USA will consider applications for concert works, i.e. stand-alonemusical works created by a single composer and performable in a “concert”setting, in the following categories: chamber, jazz, orchestral, chorus, andsolo works. Applications and guidelines for the 2013 round will be availablelater in 2012.

Diane

Great Article: Busting Grant Myths by Betsy Northrup

2012-02-03T12:37:00.000-05:00

Originally written by Betsy Northrup and published by Charity Channel on January 11, 2012, Busting Grant Myths is republished here with Betsy's permission. It's a great article that I think is cleverly written and holds a great many truths about grant myths. Enjoy!

Busting Grant Myths

by Betsy Northrup

I like the Discovery Channel show MythBusters. Aside from an errant cannonball launched through a home in December and a few dubious myth topics (e.g. Can a fast fish cause your reel to catch fire? Is it possible to stay afloat in bubbly water?), it’s science entertainment at its best, using scientific methods to validate or bust myths. I have often wished there was a similar show dedicated to busting grant myths because there is a lot of misinformation about grants, even from within the non-profit sector.

In my career, I have encountered three big myths that need busting.

Myth #1: Grants are gifts, and gifts are grants.

Grants and gifts have some similarities. Both are external financial support for your organization and are given because a funder believes in your mission. But grants and gifts are fundamentally different, and when we substitute one word for the other, we can create needless internal confusion and set the stage to under perform on grant requirements. So what’s the difference and why does it matter?

A gift is, well, a gift. Meriam-Webster defines it as “something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.” Gifts have a few key characteristics that distinguish them from grants. First, and for lack of a better phrase, gifts don’t have any strings attached. Gift givers don’t impose contractual requirements on the recipient, nor do they threaten to take the gift back if it isn’t spent by a certain date. Gifts can be restricted to a certain project or purpose, such as a building campaign or a scholarship fund but the recipient is given broad power to apply the gift in compliance with the donor’s intent. Gifts don’t come burdened with formal accountability reporting requirements. However, it is always prudent for the recipient to provide courtesy reports annually or more often depending on the circumstances. Courtesy reports are a hallmark of good stewardship and a great way to build and strengthen donor relationships.

A grant is a gift on steroids, if you will. Grants are highly restricted and usually accompanied by a specific statement of work, including clearly delineated methodology, a timeline, and a detailed budget. When done well, the grant proposal (or application) provides a blueprint for the project and guides implementation and execution. The grant proposal becomes an integral part of the grant contract which is enforceable by law.

Grants are often burdened with extensive financial and programmatic compliance reporting requirements, and grantees are held accountable for the agreed upon deliverables or outcomes. They are characterized by a specific start date and end date. While extensions might be available, the grantee runs a significant risk of having to return unexpended grant dollars if the funds aren’t obligated as promised. And unlike most gift givers, grantors have explicit expectations of what their funds will accomplish.

For all of the reasons explained above, the words ‘gift’ and ‘grant’ are simply not interchangeable. Grants and gifts must be handled differently, both financially and programmatically. A grant mislabeled as a gift is likely to fall short of funder expectations.

Myth #2: Think outside the box.

I’m not sure when it happened but at some point along the non-profit management continuum, thinking inside the box fell out of vogue. I remember sitting in a meeting with eight other non-profit professionals as we all introduced ourselves. More than half of those in the room proudly stated that they “loved to think outside the box.” When it was my turn, I said, “My name is Betsy, and I love to think inside the box.” They giggled and immediately (and erroneously) grouped me with the other rigid, left-brained thinkers they knew.

In my experience, however, in-the-box thinking is integral to the grant process. Requests for Proposals are focused and demand an equally focused response that fits within the parameters of the funding opportunity, or within the proverbial box. It takes a great deal of intellectual rigor to be innovative within the lines but that is exactly what most grant opportunities demand. The sides of the proposal box are constructed by a number of different internal and external constraints, including budget, staff capacity, organizational infrastructure, health and safety regulations, geography, funder preferences and sustainability. Once awarded, the grant comes in a box of its own, with sides carefully constructed by the grant contract and reinforced with extensive compliance reporting.

Successful grant proposals and projects require a whole-brained approach - analytical, logical and sequential planning carefully blended with creative and intuitive program design. Rigid or not, grant professionals should continue to think inside the box funders present. When grant professionals color too far outside of the lines, they either don’t get the grant or they don’t get a second grant.

Myth #3: Grant professionals can secure grants for anything.

I was recently sitting on the tarmac in Atlanta when the man sitting next to me asked, “So what do you do for a living?” When I told him I was a grant writer, he nearly jumped out of his seat to shake my hand. He spent the next 15 minutes talking about a project he was trying to get funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) hoping I could share a professional pearl or two to help position the proposal for the next competition. Having never written a technology proposal or reviewed NSF guidelines, I really had nothing to offer but my best wishes. It did make me think, though, that there is a pervasive myth or false perception of grant professionals. To some, inside and outside of the non-profit sector, a grant professional is seen as a ‘grant whisperer’ of sorts, a person with the innate and elusive ability to coax money out of any funder. While I like the imagery, it is the myth I’d most like to dispel.

While there are dozens of federal grant-making entities and thousands of private foundations distributing billions of dollars annually, grants are difficult to secure. One’s success is almost wholly dependent upon the quality and validity of the proposed project and the ‘goodness of fit’ that exists between the project and the funder. In my role as a grant profesional, I have met with people who have an idea, or sometimes just a notion of an idea, and are convinced that there is grant money to fund it. They might be right but before we can even begin to vet the possibilities of funding, the idea needs to grow up into a program with either a solid hypothesis and research methodology or a program design with measurable objectives and clearly enumerated outcomes. Ideally, the idea matures into a program model with a detailed budget and eventually grows into a competitive grant proposal. Though, more often than not, the idea languishes in an unspecified vision and in a state of infancy too vague for the grant professional to advance to a funder.Thus, the grant professional is dependent upon content experts to provide detailed program information. While good grant professionals can help shape and position program ideas into competitive proposals and help staff or faculty establish fruitful relationships with funders, we cannot conjure programs or cajole funders into funding program fragments. It is the job of grant professionals to assist grant seekers to develop and fine tune their ideas into successful grant projects that are specific, strategic and perfectly suited to both the applicant and the potential funding organization.

*Thanks again to Betsy for permission to republish her article!

The Three C’s (Part 2 of 3)

2012-02-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

So exactly how should the “The Three C’s” (collaboration,collective impact, and cooperation) influence your grant seeking efforts, if atall? (If you missed the first article ofthe three part series you can read it here.)

There are now grant awards available that only collaborativeprograms are eligible to apply for such as The Collaboration Prize. There are also now some larger metrocommunity United Wayorganizations that are requiring that collaboratives be in place in order to beeligible for funding. In order to accesscertain pots of funding, being actively engaged in programmatic collaborationsand larger scale collective impact agenda planning seem to be a new trendquickly becoming a key to success in securing grant funding.

Certainly there are still numerous funders that providegrant funding without requiring collaboratives be in place, or that anorganization be part of a larger community discussion. So, in response to this new trend in grantfunding, should you/your organization’s programmatic and leadership staff goout and quickly start joining collaboratives in order to be more attractive tofunders? Absolutely not.

Instead, I recommend that as new program developmentopportunities come along, an evaluation of current programs is conducted, orduplication in the community or underserved/unmet needs in the community arediscussed, to broaden the conversation to include how potential collaborativesor cooperative efforts could better address the issue. I firmly believe that those organizationsthat have adopted such a model of doing business and integrated the philosophyof collaboration, collective impact and cooperation into their way of doingbusiness will be the most successful with their grant requests in thelong-term.

Stay tuned for the third and final installment of “The ThreeC’s” for information on different resources available related to successfulnonprofit collaboratives and academia’s input on collective impact.

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – January 30, 2012

2012-01-30T10:03:00.000-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Fire & Emergency

SAFER

http://www.fema.gov/firegrants/safer/index.shtm

Deadline: 2-24-12

*This application period opens TODAY 1/30/12.*

The Staffing for Adequate Fireand Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) was created to provide funding directlyto fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in orderto help them increase the number of trained, "front line" firefightersavailable in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local firedepartments' abilities to comply with staffing, response and operationalstandards
established by the NFPA and OSHA

Education

Intel Schools of Distinction

http://www.intel.com/about/corporateresponsibility/education/soda/index.htm

Deadline: February 23, 2012

Every year, Intelhonors U.S.schools demonstrating excellence in math and science education throughinnovative teaching and learning environments. To be considered as an Intel Schoolof Distinction, schools must develop an environment and curricula that meet orexceed benchmarks put forth by national mathematics and science contentstandards.

Up to three schoolsat each level—elementary, middle, and high school—will be named as finalists inthe math and science categories. The 18 schools will receive a cash grant of $5,000 from the Intel Foundation and a trip to Washington, D.C., for a four-member team from theirschool and district. Six winners will be selected from the finalists andreceive an additional $5,000 cash grant for a total of $10,000. One ofthese winners will be selected as the "Star Innovator" and willreceive an additional $15,000 grant for a total of $25,000. All fivewinning schools and the Star Innovator will also receive products and servicesfrom program sponsors.

Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act Grants

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=139633

Deadline: March 29, 2012

* Thestatutory authority for this program limits eligibility to domestic public andprivate nonprofit entities that are current or former Drug-Free CommunitiesProgram (DFC) grantees.

Thepurpose of this program is to prevent and reduce alcohol use among youth age12-20 in communities throughout the United States.The STOP Act program wascreated to strengthen collaboration among communities, the Federal Government,and State, local and tribal governments; to enhance intergovernmentalcooperation and coordination on the issue of alcohol use among youth; to serveas a catalyst for increased citizen participation and greater collaborationamong all sectors and organizations of a community that first demonstrates along-term commitment to reducing alcohol use among youth; to disseminate tocommunities timely information regarding state-of-the-art practices andinitiatives that have proven to be effective in preventing and reducing alcoholuse among youth; and to enhance, not supplant, effective local communityinitiatives for preventing and reducing alcohol use among youth.

Health

Center for School Health

http://coe.wayne.edu/centerforschoolhealth/programs.php

Deadline: March 30, 2012

Building HealthyCommunities: Engaging Elementary Schools Through Partnership is acomprehensive, school-wide childhood obesity prevention program led by theCenter for School Health in the College of Education at Wayne State University. The Building Healthy Communities partners share a corecommitment to decreasing the risk and incidence of childhood obesity,especially in Michigan's low-income urban areas.

Selected schools will receive a healthy school transformationpackage of program materials curriculum, equipment, professional development,mentoring and technical support valued at $30,000. This package aims tocreate school-wide environments that support education and opportunities forhealthy eating and physical activity for students and their families.

Together, eight components in the Building Healthy Communitiesprogram engage principals, classroom teachers, physical education teachers,librarians and media specialists, after-school program leaders, other schoolstaff and parents to provide consistent messages encouraging children to choosehealthy foods and be physically active throughout the school day and beyond.

Literacy

Dollar General Adult Literacy Grants

http://www2.dollargeneral.com/dgliteracy/Pages/adult_grants.aspx

Deadline: February 28, 2012

Dollar General Literacy Foundation Adult Literacy Grants award fundingto nonprofit organizations that provide direct service to adults in need ofliteracy assistance. Organizations must provide help in one of the followinginstructional areas:

Adult Basic Education
General Education Diploma Preparation
English Language Acquisition

Maximum grant is $15,000.

Dollar General Family Literacy Grant

http://www2.dollargeneral.com/dgliteracy/Pages/family_literacy.aspx

Deadline: February 28, 2012

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation Family Literacy Grants providefunding to family literacy service providers. The Foundation uses the federalgovernment's definition of family literacy when reviewing grant applications.Organizations applying for funding must have the following four components:

Adult Education Instruction
Children's Education
Parent and Child Together Time (PACT)
Parenting Classes

Maximum grant is $15,000.

Partnerships/Collaborations

Metlife Foundation Community-Police Partnership AwardsProgram

http://www.lisc.org/section/ourwork/national/safety/awards

Deadline: March 11, 2012

Cash grants will be awarded in the following twocategories:

Neighborhood Revitalization Awards (Five at$20,000-30,000): These awards celebrate exemplary collaborationbetween community groups and police that yields crime reduction as well aseconomic development outcomes, such as real estate development, businessattraction and job growth.

Special Strategy Awards (Five at $15,000):Community and police partners who have achieved significant accomplishments inone of the following areas will receive awards:

· Applied Technology

· Aesthetics and GreenspaceImprovement

· Diversity Inclusion &Integration

· Drug Market Disruption

· Gang Prevention & Youth Safety

· Seniors & Safety

Poverty

http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/programs/pathways-poverty

Deadline: 2/28/12(LOI)

The program focuses on helpingneedy young people and adults gain a quality education. For projects servingyouth, The Herb Block Foundation seeks proposals which focus on improvingstudent achievement and healthy development of young people of middle schoolage and above. Projects may include in-school and community-based educationalprograms, after-school activities, and mentoring programs. Programs designed toincrease high school graduation rates are encouraged to apply.

Diane

The Three C’s of Grant Writing (Part 1 of 3)

2012-01-25T11:48:00.000-05:00

Funder’sdollars are getting tighter, application processes are getting tweaked, and Iwould say we are all continuing to see an increase in the use of “The ThreeC’s” by funders. What are “The ThreeC’s” you ask? In alphabetical order, notby order of importance: collaboration, collective impact, and cooperation. From the local United Ways to the large national funders, the variousmethods of working together, increasing efficiencies, and increasing the valuerealized for each dollar granted are under strict scrutiny by grant makers.

While thethree terms share some key attributes, they are distinctly different whenlooked at as part of a program’s design and implementation. Here are the three working definitions I usefor “The Three C’s”:

Collaboration:Organizations submit joint proposals for funding to address common issues oforganizational capacity and program outreach where they have similar outcomesto accomplish.

CollectiveImpact: Organizations are part of alarger commitmentof a group of important actors/organizations from different sectors to a commonagenda for solving a specific social problem.

Cooperation:Organizations explain the networking and information sharing that is occurringwith other similar organizations in their community and include any sharedvalues that the organization has with similar organizations in their community.

How should “The Three C’s” influence your grant seekingefforts, if at all? Check back next weekfor part 2 of 3 about “The Three C’s” for DH Leonard Consulting’s perspectiveon how collaboration, collective impact, and cooperation should influence yourgrant seeking efforts.

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T08:01:00.002-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

A few formatting updates that you can expect to see in theweekly Funding Opportunity Listing:

1 – We’re moving the weekly posts to Monday instead ofTuesday. What better way to start yourweek, than with a new list of interesting grant funding opportunities to peruseand think about as sources for program growth or expansion?!

2 – You’re going to begin to see more local/regionalopportunities from throughout the country mixed in throughout the post. Often we’ve left local and regionalopportunities off unless they were great broad opportunities in the interest ofkeeping the post as applicable to as many of you as possible. By including these it will make the post abit longer to read through, but I’m hopeful you also end up with someadditional relevant opportunities to pursue as a result of the change.

I’d appreciate your feedback on the new formatting changesas they are roled out. Thanks! Now on to this week's opportunities….

Aging

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America

Deadline: February 1, 2012

*Note, you MUSTbe a current AFA member in order to beeligible.

AFA’s Bi-Annual Grant offersfunding to AFA’s nonprofit member organizations for new or existing programsand services that improve the lives of those living with Alzheimer’s disease ora related dementia, and their families.

This grant is offered during the spring and fall of each year and if you missthe February deadline, you can apply in their fall cycle which has an August 1^stdeadline.

NCAA-Metlife Foundation Leadership Award

Deadline: February 17, 2012

*Note, you MUSTbe a current NCCA Organizational Member in order to beeligible.

The NCCA-MetLife Foundation Leadership Award recognizes threestate-of-the-art programs in creativity and aging. Programs can takeplace in a variety of settings including: healthcare, arts institutions, orcommunities providing exemplary arts programming to the demographic theyserve. There will be three Leadership Awards awarded annually, one ineach of the following categories:

1. Health and Wellness
2. Lifelong Learning
3. Community Building

To be considered for this awardprograms must be:

In existence for three years.
A non-profit or government organization located within the United States.
Involve the older adult participant as the creator in age appropriate, high-quality creative expression programming.
Describe how the art program impacts the health and wellness of the older adult participant; improves upon educational objectives; or builds community using the arts.

Bicycling

Bikes Belong

Deadline: February 29, 2012

The Bikes Belong Grants Program has two application categories:

1. Facility

2. Advocacy

For the facility category, Bikes Belong will acceptapplications from nonprofit organizations whose missions are bicycle and/ortrail specific. They will also accept applications from public agencies anddepartments at the national, state, regional, and local levels, however theyencourage these municipalities to align with a local bicycle advocacy groupthat will help develop and advance the project or program.

For the advocacy category, Bikes Belong will only fundorganizations whose primary mission is bicycle advocacy.

A key goal of the Bikes Belong grants program is to support bicycling inas many places as possible. Because of our limited funds, we rarely awardgrants to organizations and communities that have received Bikes Belong fundingwithin the past three years.

Education

McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation

Deadline: April 15, 2012

The Foundation currently has two separate grant cycles openand accepting applications through the April 15^th deadline.

1. AcademicEnrichment Grants

The McCarthey Dressman EducationFoundation offers Academic Enrichment Grants designed to develop in-class andextra-curricular programs that improve student learning. The Foundationconsiders proposals that foster understanding, deepen students’ knowledge, andprovide opportunities to expand awareness of the world around them.

The Academic Enrichment Grantsprovide funding for programs that nurture the intellectual, artistic andcreative abilities of children from low-income households. The McCartheyDressman Education Foundation awards grants to individuals in amounts up to $10,000per year for a maximum of three years, provided the eligibility requirementscontinue to be met.

2. Teacher Development Grants

The Teacher Development Grantsprovide funding to individuals or small teams of teachers in the formation andimplementation of groundbreaking k-12 classroom instruction. The grants provideopportunities for teachers to integrate fresh strategies that encouragecritical inquiry and to observe their effects on students. Teachers have theopportunity to reflect and write about their projects, as well as to sharetheir results with other teachers. The Foundation awards grants to individualsin amounts up to $10,000 per year for a maximum of three years, provided theeligibility requirements continue to be met.

Environment

Constellation EcoStar Grants

Deadline: March 10, 2012

EcoStar Grants are available toprojects that fit into one or more of five stewardship categories: pollutionprevention, education and outreach, energy efficiency, conservation andcommunity activism.

Projects must fit into at least one of five environmentalfocus areas:

1 – Pollution Prevention

2 – Education

3 – Energy Efficiency

4 – Conservation

5 – Community Activism

Health

AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation

Deadline: March 1, 2012

Recently, the AstraZenecaHealthCare Foundation launched the Connections for CardiovascularHealth program with the mission of improving cardiovascular healthwithin the

United States

and its territories. This program awardsFoundation grants of $150,000 and more annually

To qualify for a Foundationgrant, nonprofit organizations based in the

United States

must be engaged in charitablework (at the community level or otherwise) that addresses theFoundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular Health mission andmeets key criteria, such as:

· Addressing cardiovascular healthissues within the Unites Statesand its territories

· Recognizing and working toaddress an unmet need related to cardiovascular health in the community

· Responding to the urgency aroundaddressing cardiovascular health issues including cardiovascular disease orconditions contributing to cardiovascular disease

· Improving patients’ lives inconnection with the services provided

Intergenerational

Eisner Foundation – Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence

Deadline: March 16, 2012

The Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence is a$100,000 cash award given annually by The Eisner Foundation. The Eisner Prizeis designed to recognize excellence by an individual or a non-profitorganization in uniting multiple generations, especially seniors and youth, tobring about positive and lasting changes in their community.

Nonprofit Capacity/Innovation

Skoll Awards

Deadline: March 1, 2012

The Skoll Foundation presents theSkoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship each year to a select few socialentrepreneurs who are solving the world’s most pressing problems. The SkollAward includes a core support grant to the organization, to be paid over threeyears, and a noncash award to the social entrepreneur presented at the SkollWorld Forum on Social Entrepreneurship every spring.

Awards criteria: Winners have atested and proven social innovation that addresses an issue of criticalimportance and is positioned for large-scale impact.

Skate Parks

Tony Hawk Foundation

Deadline: February 1, 2012

Tony Hawk Foundation grants areavailable for the construction of free, quality public skateparks servingat-risk youth in low-income communities in the

U.S.

New eligibility requirements willencourage applicants to aim for higher quality skateparks. Ramp-style parksmade from wood, steel, or polymer structures will no longer be eligible for agrant from the Tony Hawk Foundation. Previously, these structures offered aless expensive, though temporary, solution to the immediate need to createskateparks. But a wider range of more durable concrete solutions has recentlymade the option of a permanent concrete skatepark possible with even the mostmodest skatepark budget.

Beginning with the Winter 2012grant season, skatepark projects must feature cast-in-place concrete(shotcrete) or permanent precast concrete designs (that do not feature steeltransition plates) to be eligible to apply for Tony Hawk Foundation grants.

Furthermore, the previousfoundation policy of only allowing each community to apply for a grant a totalof two times has been rescinded. Communities that have not previously beenawarded a Tony Hawk Foundation grant may now continue to apply.

Diane

Great Data Tools for Children Related Applications

2012-01-19T09:06:00.003-05:00

Here is another one of those great go to data resources that I wanted to share for your grantwriting toolbox...Kids Count Data Books funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The New York State Council on Children and Families, the NY grantee for the Kids Count project just emailed out about the availability of their Kids County 2011 Data Book as a pdf or hard copy. If you are doing nonprofit/grantwriting work in New York, and want to access your own copy of the full data, click here. Or if you want to use the data interactively and select by county, you can go here.

If you are doing nonprofit/grantwriting work related to children in a different state or nationwide and you haven't downloaded the National 2011 Kids Count Data Book or want to access individualized information about a different state, you can do so here.

I'm curious to know what some of your other favorite data sources are for children related projects, let me know!

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – January 17, 2012

2012-01-17T08:45:00.002-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Arts

Preservation Assistance for Smaller Institutions

Deadline: May 1, 2012

PreservationAssistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions—such as libraries,museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations,town and county records offices, and colleges and universities—improve theirability to preserve and care for their significant humanities collections.These may include special collections of books and journals, archives andmanuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings,architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine art objects,textiles, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture, historicalobjects, and digital materials.

Environment

NOAA – Restoration Initiative in Areas of Concern

Deadline: February 16, 2012

NOAAdelivers funding and technical expertise to restore Great Lakes coastal habitats. Thesehabitats support valuable fisheries and protected resources; improve thequality of our water; provide recreational opportunities for the public's useand enjoyment; and buffer our coastal communities from the impacts of changinglake levels. Projects funded through NOAA have strong on-the-ground habitatrestoration components that provide social and economic benefits for people andtheir communities in addition to long-term ecological habitat improvements.Through this solicitation, NOAA seeks to openly compete funding available forhabitat restoration in

U.S.

Great Lakes Areas of Concern(http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/) under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative asanticipated in the President's FY2012 Budget. Applications should be submittedfor any project that is to be considered for this funding, even for thoseprojects already submitted as applications to other NOAA competitions.

Housing

Choice Neighborhood Implementation

Deadline: April 10, 2012

ChoiceNeighborhoods Implementation Grants support those communities that haveundergone a comprehensive local planning process and are ready to implementtheir “Transformation Plan” to redevelop the neighborhood. HUD is focused ondirecting resources to achieve the following three core goals: 1. Housing:Transform distressed public and assisted housing into energy efficient,mixed-up income housing that is physically and financially viable over the longterm; 2. People: Support positive outcomes for families who live in the targetdevelopment(s) and the surrounding neighborhood, particularly outcomes relatedto residents’ health, safety employment, mobility, and education and 3.Neighborhood: Transform distressed, high-poverty neighborhoods into viable,mixed-up income neighborhoods with access to well –functioning services, highquality public schools and education programs, high quality early learningprograms and services, public assets, public transportation, and improvedaccess to jobs. The plan must focus on the revitalization of a severelydistressed public housing or HUD-assisted multifamily housing project locatedin a distressed neighborhood.

Museums

21^st Century Museum Professionals

Deadline: March 15, 2012

Museumprofessionals need high levels of knowledge and expertise as they help createpublic value for the communities they serve. The purpose of the 21st CenturyMuseum Professionals grants program is to increase the capacity of museums byimproving the knowledge and skills of museum professionals in multipleinstitutions. These grants are intended to reach broad groups of museumprofessionals throughout a city, county, state, region, or the nation. Grantfunds may support a wide range of activities, including the development andimplementation of classes, seminars, and workshops; resources to supportleadership development; collection, assessment, development, and/ordissemination of information that leads to better museum operations; activitiesthat strengthen the use of contemporary technology tools to deliver programsand services; support for the enhancement of pre-professional trainingprograms; and organizational support for the development of internship and fellowshipprograms.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to yourcolleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly or inyour email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any fundingannouncements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like tohave listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Grantwriting Tools: Updates to Census.gov

2012-01-12T14:25:00.001-05:00

I imagine that as do I, many of you have a "toolbox" of grantwriting tools including your go to websites for statistics, hard copy reports and resources, etc. One source that I often start with when seeking data about a specific target population is with census data. Therefore I've been interested to follow the redesign of the Census.gov website and how the most frequent tools are being presented.

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is the link to the a quick video on You Tube that provides a general overview about the new layout on the Census website.

I would love to hear from you about what are some of your go to statistical websites or sources.

Best Wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – January 10, 2012

2012-01-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Agriculture

2012 Conservation Innovation Grants

Deadline: January 31, 2012(for pre-proposals)

Thepurpose of CIG is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovativeconservation approaches and technologies, while leveraging the Federalinvestment in environmental enhancement and protection in conjunction withagricultural production. CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer ofconservation technologies, management systems, and innovative approaches intoNRCS policy, technical manuals, guides, and references, or to the privatesector. CIG does not fund research projects. Projects intended to testhypotheses do not qualify for a CIG grant. CIG is used to apply or demonstratepreviously proven technology. It is a vehicle to stimulate development andadoption of conservation approaches or technologies thathave been studiedsufficiently to indicate a high likelihood of success, and that are a candidatefor eventual technology transfer or institutionalization.

Arts

**Anorganization may submit only one application through one of the following FY2013 Grants for Arts Projects categories: Art Works or Challenge AmericaFast-Track.

NEA – Challenge AmericaFast-Track

Grants.gov link

NEA link

Deadline:May 24, 2012

TheArts Endowment's support of a project may start on or after January 1, 2013. The Challenge AmericaFast-Track category offers support primarily to small and mid-sized organizationsfor projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations --those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography,ethnicity, economics, or disability. Age alone (e.g., youth, seniors) does notqualify a group as underserved; at least one of the underserved characteristicsnoted above also must be present. Grants are available for professional artsprogramming and for projects that emphasize the potential of the arts incommunity development. This category encourages and supports the following twooutcomes: •Engagement: Engaging the public with diverse and excellent art.•Livability: The strengthening of communities through the arts.

NEA GAP – Arts Works

Grants.gov Link

NEA Link

Deadline:March 8, 2012

TheArts Endowment's support of a project may start on or after January 1, 2013. The NEA's guiding principleis embodied in one sentence: "Art works." "Art works" is anoun; the creation of works of art by artists. "Art works" is a verb;art works on and within people to change and inspire them. "Artworks" is a statement; arts jobs are real jobs that are part of the realeconomy. Art Works encourages and supports the following four outcomes:•Creation: The creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence,•Engagement: Public engagement with diverse and excellent art, •Learning:Lifelong learning in the arts, and •Livability: The strengthening ofcommunities through the arts.

Employment

Kessler Foundation – Signature Employment Grants

Deadline: February 3, 2012 (Concept Paper)

Signature Employment Grants areawarded nationally to fund new pilot initiatives, demonstration projectsor social ventures that lead to the generation of new ideas to solve thehigh unemployment and underemployment of individuals withdisabilities. Preference is given for interventions that overcome specificemployment barriers related to long-term dependence on public assistance,advance competitive employment in a cost-effective manner, orlaunch a social enterprise or individual entrepreneurship project.Signature grants are not intended to fund project expansions or bring provenprojects to new communities, unless there is a significant scale, scope orreplicable component. Innovation lies at the core of all signature employmentgrants.

Environment

Sustain Our Great Lakes

Pre-Proposals Due: February 15, 2012

2012Community Grants Program

Supports habitat restoration andenhancement projects that simultaneously: 1) improve local habitatconditions; and 2) build local conservation capacity

Grant awards range from $25,000 to $150,000

2012Stewardship Grants Program

Supports large-scale habitatrestoration and enhancement projects that will have enduring and significantpositive impacts on the ecological condition of the Great Lakesbasin

Grant awards range from $150,001 to $1,500,000

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – January 3, 2012

2012-01-03T09:14:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! I hope that the start of 2012 finds you refreshed personally and professionally. I had fun setting goals for the upcoming year over the holidays some of which are related to this blog and the way that DH Leonard Consulting presents grant related articles, funding opportunities, and other related information to you. I hope that you find the changes helpful in the upcoming months as I roll them out.

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Disability

Ruderman Prize in Disability

Deadline: March 15, 2012

The Ruderman Family Foundation has established theRuderman Prize in Disability to support the pursuit of Excellence andInnovation, in services, advocacy and support of Jews with disabilitiesworldwide. The Foundation seeks to recognize organizations anywhere in theworld that support the Foundation’s goals of: 1) promoting the full inclusionof all persons with disabilities; and 2) increasing public awareness of boththe contributions and needs of persons with disabilities worldwide. The Foundationwants to invite nominations or applications by innovative, forward thinkingorganizations which provide or promote programs that raise awareness or promoteinclusion for Jewish individuals with disabilities.

Victim Advocacy

Victim Assistance Academies

Deadline: February 14, 2012

Thisgrant opportunity offers up to six first-year awards of $35,000 for thedevelopment of State Victim Assistance Academies (SVAA) that will providecomprehensive, academically based, fundamental education and training forvictim assistance providers, victim advocates, criminal justice personal, andallied professionals who routinely work with victims of crime. Applicants mustdemonstrate a commitment from the state Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) victimassistance and compensation program offices to help develop the Academy.

Youth

Kick Butts Day

Deadline: January 27, 2012

What is the purpose?

· To fund Kick Butts Day eventsthat would not take place if not for additional funding.

· To engage youth across thecountry on Kick Butts Day, and ensure that Kick Butts Day events will happen inevery state (March 21, 2012).

· To ensure that there are evenmore Kick Butts Day events than usual in 2012. Our goal is to have over 1,100events!

What can you use the grant for?

· Local transportation for youthparticipating in event;

· Administrative expenses such ascommunication (phone, fax, e-mail, postage), copying and print services thatare directly related to event;

· Materials needed for the event(trash bags, paper, art supplies, etc.);

· Educational Items (brochures,palm cards, flyers etc that can be handed out at events);

· Refreshments and recognitionthat are integral to the project — the total amount should not exceed$150.

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – December 27, 2011

2011-12-27T08:24:00.001-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Arts

Our Town

Deadline: March 1, 2012

Through Our Town, subject to the availability of funding, theNational Endowment for the Arts will provide a limited number of grants,ranging from $25,000 to $150,000, for creative placemaking projects thatcontribute toward the livability of communities and help transform them intolively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core. OurTown will invest in creative and innovative projects in which communities,together with their arts and design organizations and artists, seek to:

Improve their quality of life.
Encourage creative activity.
Create community identity and a sense of place.
Revitalize local economies.

Environment/Education

NFWF: America’s Great Outdoors

Deadline: January 27, 2012

The

America

's Great Outdoors: ConnectingYouth to the Outdoors Initiative will leverage federal dollars with additionalcontributions from corporations, foundations and other non-federal sources toprovide critical financial support for new conservation job training programs.The initiative is modeled on existing successful programs, such as FederalYouth Conservation Corps and Public Lands Corps, to achieve both work andenvironmental learning goals through hands-on implementation of habitatrestoration, assessment, monitoring, and other conservation related projects.

Fire Departments

FEMA - SAFER “Get Ready” Guides

Recruitment and Retention

The purposeof the Recruitment and Retention grants is to assist fire departments and/orstatewide or local volunteer firefighter interest organizations with therecruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters who are involved with, ortrained in, the operations of firefighting and emergency response. These grants are intended to create a net increasein the number of trained, certified, and competent firefighters capable ofsafely responding to emergencies within the grantee’s geographic response area.

Hiring

The purposeof the Hiring grants is to improve or restore local fire departments’ staffingand deployment capabilities so they may more effectively respond toemergencies.

Deadline: Yet to be released

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – December 20, 2011 Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

2011-12-20T09:00:00.002-05:00

Before getting to this week's funding opportunities...this is my 100th blog post for Grantwriter's Blog! I hope that those of you who follow the blog regularly have learned some tidbits from the articles or editorials I've posted and enjoy getting a wide variety of new funding opportunities delivered to your inbox every week! To celebrate my 100th post, I'd like to offer 100 minutes of DH Leonard Consulting services as a thank you to the first organization to share the blog via Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter who then leaves a comment, emails me, or calls the office to let me know that you've passed this blog on as a resource to your colleagues.

Now on to the weekly funding opportunities...

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Children

Shade Structure Grant Program

The American Academy of Dermatology's shade structure grant programawards grants up to $8,000 each for the purchase of permanent shadestructures designed to provide shade and ultraviolet (UV) ray protection foroutdoor areas. The AAD also provides a permanent sign to be displayed near theshade structure. The AAD receives support for this program through its members.

To be considered for future grants, applicants must:

Be a nonprofit organization or public school that primarily serves children and teens who are 18 and younger.
Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to sun safety and skin cancer awareness by having a sun safety/skin cancer awareness program in place for at least one year prior to application.
Be recommended by an AAD member dermatologist.

Environment

Sustain our Great Lakes

** Notice – Application will be released on January 3, 2011. Information about the upcoming applicationthat will be released and the webinar that is scheduled for Januay, 2012.

Wetlands, streams and coastalhabitats are vital to life in the Great Lakes basin. Byproviding services essential for sustaining human health, wildlifepopulations, and commerce and industry, they nurture our families, communitiesand economies.

Through a unique public-privatepartnership, SustainOur Great Lakes works torestore, protect and preserve the fragile habitats and ecosystems that form theworld’s largest freshwater system. Partnering with conservation organizations,governments and groups on the local level, we support programs dedicated toprotecting and restoring the Great Lakes watershed.Together, we will help keep this resource healthy for future generations.

Health

Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health

Deadline: January 27, 2012

Thepurpose of this program is to address significant disparities in Perinatalhealth including disparities experienced by Hispanics, American Indians,African-Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and immigrantpopulations. Differences in perinatal health indicators may occur byvirtue of education, age of mother, income, disability, or living inrural/isolated areas. To address disparities and the factorscontributing to them in these indicators, it is anticipated that the proposedscope of project services will cover the pregnancy and interconception phasesfor women and infants residing in the proposed project area. Inorder to promote longer interconception periods and prevent relapses of riskbehaviors, the woman and infant are to be followed through the infant's secondyear of life and/or two years following delivery.

Land

Merck Family Fund

Deadline: February 1, 2012

Conserving Ecologically Valuable Land

Urban sprawl, resource extraction,and poorly enforced environmental regulations place enormous pressures onnatural resources. Natural areas need a combination of land protections andsustainable use policies to ensure clean air, clean water, and sustainability.The geographic focus of this area will be the southeastern United States, with priority given to the Southern Appalachians and the states of Tennessee,North Carolina, Kentucky,South Carolina, Georgia,and Virginia.

Making Paper Production Sustainable

Paper production is a highly toxic,carbon-emitting, water-intensive, and forest-reliant industry. There are anumber of ways to improve the environmental impact of the sector. The goal isto increase the rates of recycled paper in large paper sectors, reduce sourcingfrom endangered forests, and maximize clean production.

Promoting Energy Efficiency

The cheapest and fastest way to reducedemand for electric power is through energy efficiency. In order to maximizethe carbon and financial savings, a combination of motivational factors areneeded for implementation including low cost, simplicity, accessibility, andregulatory oversight. The goal is to support state and regional policies in theNortheast and Southeast that provide incentives and subsidies for energyefficiency implementation.

Youth

TRIO - Upward Bound

Deadline: January 30, 2012

TheUpward Bound (UB) Program is one of the seven programs known as the FederalTRIO Programs. The UB Program is a discretionary grant program that supportsprojects designed to provide the skills and motivation necessary to complete aprogram of secondary education and to enter and succeed in a program ofpostsecondary education. There are three types of grants under the UB Program:Regular UB grants; Veterans UB grants; and UB Math and Science grants. Thisnotice only announces deadlines and other information for regular UB grants.

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – December 13, 2011

2011-12-13T08:39:00.003-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Bikes

Bikes Belong Grant Program

Deadline: February 29, 2012

The Bikes Belong Grant Programstrives to put more people on bicycles more often by funding important andinfluential projects that leverage federal funding and build momentum forbicycling in communities across the

U.S.

These projects include bike paths and rail trails, aswell as mountain bike trails, bike parks, BMX facilities, and large-scalebicycle advocacy initiatives.

The Bikes Belong Grants Program has two application categories:

1. Facility

2. Advocacy

For the facility category, Bikes Belong will acceptapplications from nonprofit organizations whose missions are bicycle and/ortrail specific. We will also accept applications from public agencies anddepartments at the national, state, regional, and local levels, however weencourage these municipalities to align with a local bicycle advocacy groupthat will help develop and advance the project or program.

For the advocacy category, Bikes Belong will only fundorganizations whose primary mission is bicycle advocacy.

Literacy

Libraries and Families Award

Deadline: February 6, 2012

The 2012 Better World Books/NCFL Libraries and Families Awards willreward innovative library-based literacy programs for families. Existingprograms and brand-new programs will be considered. Applications will beevaluated using the following award selection criteria.

Required

· Project must be library-based andimplemented by library staff, and grant funds must be awarded directly to alibrary or library organization (e.g., Friends of the Library groups, libraryfoundations, etc.).

· Programs must be located within the

United States

· Project must be completed between April 2012and March 2013.

· Applicant must commit to sharing program andparticipant stories with NCFL and Better World Books on an ongoing basis.

· Project must be fully supported by yourlibrary director or administrator.

Music

Music Matters Grants

Deadline: February 17, 2012

Music Matters Grants for 2012 will focus onfinancial need in school and non-profit music programs throughout the

United States

. Grants will be awarded inApril of 2012, with funds distributed by the end of 2012. Grant amounts forthis cycle are up to $6,000 each and are made on an annual one-time basis.

Grant Eligibility

Music education – vocal or instrumental – must be the key component of any music program requesting funds.

Public or charter school programs serving a minimum of 50% low-income students (defined by students receiving free and reduced lunch), OR non-profit/501(c)(3) programs directly funding music education, serving students regardless of their ability to pay, should apply.

Schools and programs must already have an existing music program/curriculum in place. Grant funds cannot be used to pay salary of regular music instructor; however, stipends and performance fees for guest instructors and musicians are eligible for consideration.

Grant requests must articulate specific music program needs – for existing and/or planned projects. Detailed budgets must be included with the application, including existing music program budget, proposed project budget, and for non-profits, total organization budget.

Music education programs must meet national standard non-discrimination policies.

Programs should serve students in grades K-12.

Veterans

VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families

Deadline: February 15, 2012

TheSupportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program is a new VA programthat awards grants to private non-profit organizations and consumercooperatives who will provide supportive services to very low-income Veteransand their families residing in or transitioning to permanent housing. Thegrantees will provide a range of supportive services designed to promotehousing stability.

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – December 6, 2011

2011-12-06T08:29:00.001-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Arts

Our Town - NEA

Deadline: March 1, 2012

TheArts Endowment’s support of a project may start on September 1, 2012, or anytime thereafter. A grant period of up to two years is allowed. Grant ProgramDescription Art works to improve the lives of

America

’s citizens in many ways.Communities across our nation are engaging design and leveraging the arts tocreate livable, sustainable neighborhoods with enhanced quality of life,increased creative activity, distinct identities, a sense of place, and vibrantlocal economies that capitalize on existing local assets. The NEA defines theseefforts as Creative Placemaking: "In creative placemaking, partners frompublic, private, nonprofit, and community sectors strategically shape thephysical and social character of a neighborhood, town, tribe, city, or regionaround arts and cultural activities. Creative placemaking animates public andprivate spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves localbusiness viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together tocelebrate, inspire, and be inspired."

Housing

Housing Counseling – HUD

Deadline: January 12, 2012

*Note: This funding was originally cut for 2012, so it’sexciting to see that it has been restored even if now running ~6 months behind.

Thisprogram supports the delivery of a wide variety of housing counseling servicesto homebuyers, homeowners, low- to moderate-income renters, and the homeless.The primary objectives of the program are to improve financial literacy, expandhomeownership opportunities, improve access to affordable housing and preservehomeownership. Counselors provide guidance and advice to help families andindividuals improve their housing conditions and meet the responsibilities oftenancy and homeownership. Additionally, counselors may provide counselingservices to homeowners to prevent or resolve mortgage delinquency, default, andforeclosure, with the primary objective to preserve homeownership. Counselorsprovide guidance and advice to help families and individuals meet theresponsibilities of homeownership and modify or refinance their loans.Counselors also help borrowers avoid inflated appraisals, unreasonably highinterest rates, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that canresult in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and eventuallyforeclosure. Counselors can also assist homeowners with inquiries related tomortgage scams, and reporting instances of potential mortgage scamvictimization. Applicants funded through this program may also provide ReverseMortgage Counseling to senior homeowners who seek to convert equity in theirhomes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical costs,living expenses, or other expenses.

Libraries/Museums

Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums

Deadline: February 1, 2012

The Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums are aspecial funding opportunity within the IMLS National Leadership Grants program.These small grants encourage libraries, museums, and archives to test andevaluate specific innovations in the ways they operate and the services theyprovide. Sparks Grants support the deployment, testing, and evaluation ofpromising and groundbreaking new tools, products, services, or organizationalpractices. You may propose activities or approaches that involve risk, as longas the risk is balanced by significant potential for improvement in the wayslibraries and museums serve their communities.

The Web conference schedule for theFY12 Sparks Grants program is as follows:

December 7, 2011, at 4:00-5:00 PM.Eastern Time
January 4, 2012, at 4:00-5:00 PM. Eastern Time

National Leadership Grants

Deadline: February 1, 2012

National Leadership Grants support projects that address challengesfaced by the museum, library, and/or archive fields and that have the potentialto advance practice in those fields. Successful proposals will seekinnovative responses to the challenge(s) identified in the proposals, and willhave national impact.

The National Leadership Grant program accepts applications under fourmain categories:

Advancing Digital Resources—Support the creation, use, presentation, and preservation of significant digital resources as well as the development of tools to enhance access, use, and management of digital assets.
Research—Support research that investigates key questions that are important to museum, library, and archival practice.
Demonstration—Support projects that produce a replicable model or practice that is usable, adaptable, or scalable by other institutions for improving services and performance.
Library Museum Collaboration Grants— Support collaborative projects (between museums and/or libraries and other community organizations) that address the educational, economic, cultural, or social needs of a community. In 2012, a funding priority will be projects that promote early learning.

The Web conference schedule for theFY12 National Leadership Grant program is as follows:

Wednesday, December 7, 2012, at 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.Eastern Time
Wednesday, January 4, 2012, at 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM. Eastern Time

Women & Girls

AAUW - Community Action Grants

Deadline: January 15, 2012

CommunityAction grants provide funds to individuals, AAUW branches and AAUW stateorganizations as well as local community-based nonprofit organizations forinnovative programs or non-degree research projects that promote education andequity for women and girls. Applicationsare being accepted for both one and two year grants.

One-yeargrants
($2,000 – $7,000 over one year July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013)
One-year grants provide seed money for new projects. Topic areas areunrestricted, but should include a clearly defined activity that promoteseducation and equity for women and girls.

Two-yeargrants
($5,000 – $10,000 over two years July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2014)
Two-year grants provide start-up funds for longer-term programs that addressthe particular needs of the community and develop girls' sense of efficacythrough leadership or advocacy opportunities. Topic areas are unrestricted, butshould include a clearly defined activity that promotes education and equityfor women and girls.

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – November 29, 2011

2011-11-29T09:02:00.001-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Boating

RBFF – National Youth Fishing and Boating Initiative

Deadline: December 30, 2011

Key requirements of RBFF’s grant application guidelines includeintroducing boating and fishing to minorities and underserved communities.Special consideration is given to programs that:

Offer multiple on-the-water learning opportunities.
Encourage long-term involvement of participants.
Foster multi-generational participation, e.g., engaging seniors as youth mentors.
Provide adequate screening, selection and training of staff, instructors and volunteers (including a criminal background check).
Promote conservation education and include at least one conservation experience that actively engages participants in a hands-on activity.
Provide inclusive programming.
Support existing RBFF partnerships

Housing

Lead Hazard Control Grant Program – HUD

Deadline: January 18, 2012

Theoverarching purpose of the Lead Based Paint Hazard Control Program and the LeadHazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program is to assist states, NativeAmerican Tribes, cities, counties/parishes, or other units of local governmentin undertaking comprehensive programs to identify and control lead-based painthazards in eligible privately owned rental or owner-occupied housing, with theexception that the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program is targetedfor urban jurisdictions with the greatest lead-based paint hazard controlneeds.

Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program – HUD

Deadline: January 18, 2012

Theoverarching purpose of the Lead Based Paint Hazard Control Program and the LeadHazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program is to assist states, NativeAmerican Tribes, cities, counties/parishes, or other units of local governmentin undertaking comprehensive programs to identify and control lead-based painthazards in eligible privately owned rental or owner-occupied housing, with theexception that the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program istargeted for urban jurisdictions with the greatest lead-based paint hazardcontrol needs.

Musuems

Conservation Assessment Program

Deadline: **The deadline to submit an application for the2012 Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) has been extended to 11:59pm on Thursday, December 15, 2011.**

All types of museums may participate: aquariums;arboreta, botanical gardens and nature centers; art museums/centers; children’smuseums; historic houses and sites; history, science and natural historymuseums; science technology centers and planetariums; specialized museums; andzoos. Institutions with fully surveyed living animal collections (such as thoseaccredited by the American Zoo and AquariumAssociation) may use CAP to assess the conservation needs of their non-livingcollections only.
CAP is designed to serve only those museums whosecollections and facilities can be assessed in a two-day period. Museums whosecollections and/or facilities cannot be surveyed within two days should applyfor a general conservation survey grant through the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ (IMLS) Conservation Project Supportprogram.

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – November 22, 2011

2011-11-22T09:04:00.001-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Caregivers

Innovations in Caregiving

Deadline: January 27, 2012

Five seed grants of up to $10,000 will be given to non-profit organizations,agencies, or universities chosen by an Advisory Committee consisting of expertsin caregiving, including former National Family Caregiving Award winners.

The seed grants will provide startup funds for new caregiving programs thatadapt programs/best practices identified through the National Family CaregivingAward to the unique needs of caregivers in their own communities. Grantees areencouraged to develop plans for sustaining these replicated programs. As aresource to applicants and the caregiving community at large, a ReplicationGuide has been created that features the winners of the National FamilyCaregiving Awards from 2006-2010.

All non-profit organizationsthat support family caregivers as a significant part of their mission areencouraged to apply. All applicants must be designated as 501(c)(3)organizations and have established caregiving programs.

Community Development

Your Town – National Endowment for the Arts

Deadline: January 5, 2011

Created by the National Endowmentfor the Arts in 1991, Your Town aims to enhance the quality of life andeconomic viability of rural areas through planning, design, and creativeplacemaking. This program empowers local citizens to help capitalize on uniquelocal and regional assets in order to guide the civic development of their owncommunities.

This program is intended to helpcommunities with populations of less than 50,000 and/or towns located in anon-metropolitan county or in a metropolitan county on the urban fringe. Theterms "community" and "town" are broadly interpreted; theycan relate to the area within a town's borders, or a town and its surroundingarea.

The purpose of this ProgramSolicitation is to select an organization (Cooperator) to coordinate all YourTown activities nationally.

Environment

EPA – Urban Waters Program

Deadline: January 23, 2012

EPAexpects to award between $1.8 to $3.8 million in grants for projects across thecountry that will contribute to improved water quality and communityrevitalization. The goal of these Urban Waters Small Grants is to fundresearch, studies, training, and demonstration projects that will advance therestoration of urban waters by improving water quality through activities thatalso support community revitalization and other local priorities. The fundingis part of EPA’s Urban Waters program, which supports communities in theirefforts to access, improve, and benefit from their urban waters and thesurrounding land.

Two webinars have been scheduled to assist those interestedin applying for the program.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to yourcolleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, orin your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any fundingannouncements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like tohave listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – November 15, 2011

2011-11-15T08:32:00.001-05:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Education

The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries

Deadline: December 31, 2011

Inorder to promote a love of reading, the goal of the Laura Bush Foundation (LBF)is to provide books and reading materials to the school libraries and studentsthat most need them. Consequently, funds are available onlyfor library books and magazine/serial copies and subscriptions. The Laura BushFoundation is unable to honor requests for staffing, shelving, furniture,equipment, software, videos, classroom book sets or any kind of book guides,tests or exams. The Foundation makes grants of up to $6,000 to update,extend, and diversify the book collections of the libraries that receive them.

Nonprofit

Purpose Prize

Deadline: March 22, 2012

ThePurpose Prize^®,now in its sixth year, is the nation's only large-scale investment in peopleover 60 who are combining their passion and experience for social good. ThePrize awards up to $100,000 each to five people in encore careers creating newways to solve tough social problems.

Applications will be evaluated on the followingcriteria:

· Will the person be a compellingrole model whose own story will serve to inspire others, not only to thinkdifferently about the second half of life, but also to take on newleadership roles and perform significant service in an encore career?

· Is the person an outstandingsocial innovator, working creatively and in a transformative capacity tospearhead significant change?

· Has the person initiatedimportant innovations (in a new or ongoing organization) within the past 15years?

· Does the person plan to continueto innovate and lead in the years to come?

· How important is the issue theperson is addressing? How much of an impact has the person's work had on thatissue? Is his or her work already effecting, or does it have the futurepotential to effect, systemic change?

· What does she/he plan to do inthe next five years? Would The Prize be a good investment in the future work ofthis individual?

· Is the person a highly ethicalindividual?

Women

J. Jill Compassion Fund Grant

Deadline: December 21, 2011

The J. Jill Compassion Fund supports:

Job training, education and transitional and/or affordable housing for women in need;
Programs that break down barriers for women in need to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency
General operating expenses for organizations that fall within J. Jill’s guidelines.

The J. Jill Compassion Fund will provide general operatingsupport to organizations whose mission is to provide the above services. Program support is limited to the expansionor enhancement of existing programs, rather than to fund new programs.

Youth

Taco Bell Foundation for Teens

Deadline: December 16, 2011

The Taco Bell Foundation forTeens supports organizations that provide teens with college, career andcommunity experiences that inspire them to stay in school and graduate.

Graduate to Go Experience Grantsare:

Interactive with real students and professors, community members or career professionals
Real-world, hands-on learning
Focused on college, career and/or community

There are three types of applications:

1 – Graduate to Go College Experience Grants – Fundexperiences that allow teens to explore opportunities at universities,community colleges and technical schools, and also learn about the collegeapplication process.

2 – Graduate to Go Career Experience Grants – Fund teenexperiences focused on career exploration, e.g. job shadow days, professionalmentorship programs, entrepreneurial and job readiness workshops.

3 – Keystone Grants (Boys & Girls Clubs Only) – Fundlocal Keystone Club experiences focused on: 1. Club program growth, 2. academicsuccess program (not college tours), and 3. community service projects.

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – November 8 2011

2011-11-08T09:04:00.003-05:00

* Before you read about current RFPs below, I wanted toremind you about an upcoming webinar that I’m presenting on November 15,2011 on behalf of the Grant Professionals Association, a national associationfor grant writers which I’m a member of. The webinar is 10 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with GrantFunders. You can find out moreinformation and register by going to the GPA website: http://grantprofessionals.org/professional-development/webinars/upcoming-webinars

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Environment

National Trails Fund

Deadline: December 15, 2011

*All National Trails Fund applicants are required to bemembers of the Alliance of HikingOrganizations.*

The National Trails Fund is the only privately funded,national grants program dedicated to building and protecting hikingtrails. National Trails Fund grants helpgive local organizations the resources that they need in order to secureaccess, volunteers, tools, and materials to protect America’s hiking trails.

The application is available online. Awards range from $500 to $5,000 perproject. Grants will be awarded inspring/early summer of 2012.

General

Walmart – Local Community Contribution

Deadline: December 1, 2011

Areas of Focusfor Potential Grantees

The WalmartFoundation has areas of focus including Education, Workforce Development /Economic Opportunity, Health and Wellness, Environmental Sustainability, andHunger Relief. Through the LCC program, the Walmart Foundation requires thatall funds are directed to programs that fall within our above focus areas.

Education:Examples include programs that re-engage students who have dropped out of highschool, improve retention rates of first-generation college students, supportteachers and promote childhood literacy.

WorkforceDevelopment / Economic Opportunity: Examples include job placement efforts,adult education, occupational training, training for English language learners,career counseling, increasing access to earned income tax credit benefits andother state/federal benefits.

Health andWellness: Examples include cooking and meal planning classes for Women,Infants, and Children (WIC) recipients, healthy snacks for kids in summerprograms, and support for doctors planning community health programs forunderserved children.

EnvironmentalSustainability: Examples include waste reduction programs, and sustainableagriculture initiatives.

Hunger Relief:Examples include soup kitchens, food pantries, backpack programs, and schoolbreakfast programs.

Jobs

Aramark Building Community

The ARAMARKBuilding Community Innovation Awards recognize excellence in innovationand programming by local community centers. These awards celebrate andaccelerate program models that are improving lives, supporting families, andstrengthening communities.

Launched in2011, the Awards are hosted in partnership with United Neighborhood Centers ofAmerica (UNCA) and the Alliance for Children and Families (Alliance) and are open to affiliated members ofeither of these organizations.

The2012 ARAMARK Building Community Innovation Awards include aleadership award and three Workforce Readiness-related programmatic awards. Atotal of $100,000 will be granted by ARAMARK through the program.

The PeterB. Goldberg ARAMARK Building Community Executive Leadership Award honorsone outstanding community center executive director/CEO for active voice andleadership on behalf of community centers. Peter Goldberg served as Presidentand CEO of Families International (FI) from 1994 through August 2011. He waspassionate about nonprofit leadership and those who inspired others in thismovement. For the 2012 award, leaders will be nominated by their peers, and thewinner will be selected by an independent panel of judges. This award will bepresented with a $40,000 grant to the executive director’s community center.

In 2012 thethree competitive awards focus on Workforce Readiness, preparing people for,and connecting them to jobs. Workforce readiness is a core strength ofcommunity centers nationwide and is a primary building block for creatingopportunity and revitalizing neighborhoods. One winner will be selected in eachprogrammatic category to receive a $20,000 grant to accelerate the innovativeprogram recognized through the award.

Sports

US Soccer Foundation – SIF Sub-Grants

Deadline: December 22, 2011

Grant awards will range from $100,000 to $300,000 based onthe number of children served and the applicant’s ability to provide matching funds.Provided applicants make satisfactory progress toward program implementation,applicants may receive an equivalent grant for a second year.

The U.S. Soccer Foundation will fund program expenses thatmay include: staff/coach stipends, administrative/overhead costs, equipment,training, assessment and measurement tools, community events and meetings,transportation for participants, and background checks.

Grants will be funded for two (2) years, provided applicantsmake satisfactory progress toward program implementation, meet deadlines,submit required reports, and obtain required information to allow forassessment of the program. As a grantee of the Soccer for SuccessSIF award, programs are expected to run for 3-5 years, provided that funding isavailable and program requirements are met.

Applicants must be nonprofit organizations that aretax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or publicentities (schools, municipalities, parks and recreation departments, etc.).

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunity Listing - November 1, 2011

2011-11-01T08:39:00.002-04:00

* Before you read about current RFPs below, I wanted toshare information about an upcoming webinar that I’m presenting on November 15,2011 on behalf of the Grant Professionals Association, a national associationfor grant writers which I’m a member of. The webinar which is open to the public for participation is 10 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with GrantFunders. You can find out moreinformation and register by going to the GPA website: http://grantprofessionals.org/professional-development/webinars/upcoming-webinars

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I havelearned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wantedto share.

Arts/Museums

The National Endowment for the Arts – Big Read

Deadline: February 1, 2012

The Big Read supports organizations across the country in developingcommunity-wide reading programs that include innovative, diverse activitiessuch as author readings, book discussions, art exhibits, lectures, film series,music or dance events, theatrical performances, panel discussions, and otherevents and activities related to their chosen book or poet which encouragereading and participation by diverse audiences and lapsed or reluctant readers.

Organizations selected to participate receive a grant, access to onlinetraining resources and opportunities, and educational and promotional materialsdesigned to support widespread community involvement.

Organizations may apply for grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000.Organizations should consider the following when determining their grant request:

Community population— the suggested grant range for applicants from a small community with fewer than 50,000 residents is $2,500–$7,500; the suggested grant range for applicants from larger cities and towns is $7,500–$20,000.
Number of activities planned—applicants demonstrating innovative and detailed plans to host more than the minimum required activities (see Event plans) should consider requesting grants at the upper end of the grant range.

Grants must be matched at least 1 to 1 with nonfederal funds. Grantfunds may be used for such expenses as book purchases, speaker fees and travel,salaries, advertising, and venue rental.

Kresge – Facility Investments & Building Reserves forArts Organizations

Deadline: March 1, 2012

Although this grant opportunity places an emphasis on facilityinvestments and building reserves, its primary purpose is to foster theexamination and understanding of comprehensive organizational capitalization.

Organizations may apply for the following:

Both facility investments and building reserves, or
Building reserves only.

Facility investment grants will prioritize renovation and repairprojects. (On occasion, this grant may be awarded for new construction thatincludes exemplary environmental sustainability practices.)

A building reserve grant seeds or enhances an organization’s buildingreserve fund for the ongoing maintenance and replacement of an organization’sfacilities. We do not fund reserves solely for equipment.

The National Endowment for the Humanities – American Historical andCultural Organizations – Planning/Implementation Grants

Deadline: January 11, 2012

In the America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations grantprogram, eligible project formats include but are not limited to museum andlibrary exhibitions, interpretive websites and other digital projects,interpretations of historic places, reading and discussion groups, and relatedprograms. Applicants are encouraged to consider more than one format forpresenting humanities ideas to the public. Projects should encourage dialogue,discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among peopleof all ages. Humanities projects tailored to particular groups, such asfamilies, youth, seniors, at-risk communities, and veterans are welcomed.

NEH offers two categories of grants for America’sHistorical and Cultural Organizations: planning and implementation grants.

Planning grants are available for projects that mayneed further development before applying for implementation. This planning caninclude the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanitiesideas and questions, consultation with scholars, preliminary audienceevaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, betatesting of digital formats, development of complementary programming, research,or the drafting of interpretive materials. Sample narratives from successfulplanning grant applications are available under the Program Resources sectionof the sidebar on the first page of the guidelines.

Implementation grants support the final preparationof a project for presentation to the public. See application guidelines for Implementation Grants. Applicants must submit a full walkthrough for an exhibition, or aprototype or storyboard for a digital project, that demonstrates a solidcommand of the humanities ideas and scholarship that relate to the subject.Applicants for implementation grants should have already finished most of theplanning for their projects, including the identification of the key humanitiesthemes, relevant scholarship, and program formats. For exhibitions,implementation grants can support the final stages of design development, butthese grants are primarily intended for installation.

Environment

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act Grant Program

Deadline: December 12, 2011

The Service requests interested entities to submitrestoration, research and Regional Project proposals for the restoration of Great Lakes fish and wildlife resources. The purpose of the Act isto provide assistance to States, Indian Tribes, and other interested entitiesto encourage cooperative conservation, restoration and management of the fishand wildlife resources and their habitats in the Great Lakes Basin. Supported in part by President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, atotal of approximately $2.0 million is projected to be available to supportprojects this fiscal year.

Health

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Community Health Leaders

Deadline: November 28, 2011

Robert Wood Johnson FoundationCommunity Health Leaders (CHL) each year honors up to 10 outstanding andotherwise unrecognized individuals who overcome daunting odds to improve healthand health care, especially to underserved populations in communities acrossthe United States. Theprogram aims to elevate the work of these unsung leaders through heightenedrecognition, technical assistance and new leadership opportunities.

To be consideredfor a CHL award, a nominee must:

- have contributed significantly to improvingthe health of underserved communities by increasing access to health servicesor quality;

- have positively affected a significant numberof people in the targeted community;

- have been involved with the initiative forwhich he/she is nominated for no less than three years and no more than 10years;

- have a record of accomplishment associatedwith the community health issue for which he/she is nominated;

- be a relatively unsung leader, having notreceived significant national recognition or awards for his/her work;

- be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or its territories; and

- be affiliated with a public or nonprofitorganization that is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal RevenueCode.

Youth

Ronald McDonald House Charities

Deadline: November 13, 2011

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) recently revised the grantstrategy to focus on sustainable, replicable projects that include atrain-the-trainer component in their pursuit of addressing the most pressingissues relating to children’s health and well being.

RMHC takes a holistic, family-centered approach to helping bridge accessto care and is interested in funding and partnering with organizations thathave a similar philosophy.

RMHC Grants will be awarded to stable, efficient U.S based organizationsoperating internationally or domestically with proven outcomes and strong partnershipswith key stakeholders.

RMHC primarily allocates funding to costs associated with the directimplementation of the project. RMHC will evaluate organizations based on theirexecution of past or current projects by the following outcomes:

Program Performance
Community Outreach
Financial Sustainability
Management Effectiveness

Additionally, RMHC will consider pilot projects provided that theorganization operating them has demonstrated success in these outcome areas.

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – October 25, 2011

2011-10-25T14:59:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Arts

New YorkFoundation for the Arts – Artists’ Fellowships

Deadline: December 15, 2011

Artists' Fellowships are $7,000 cash awards made to individual originating artists living and working in the state of New York for unrestricted use. Grants are awarded in 15 artistic disciplines, with applications accepted in five categories each year. Since the fellowship program's inception in 1984, NYFA has awarded over $24 million to over 3,800 artists.

Environment

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act

Deadline: December 2, 2011

The purpose of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (GLFWRA) is to provide assistance to States, Indian Tribes, and other interested entities to encourage cooperative conservation, restoration and management of the fish and wildlife resources and their habitats in the Great Lakes Basin. Regional Projects are authorized activities of the Service related to fish and wildlife resource protection, restoration, maintenance, and enhancement impacting the resources of multiple States or Indian Tribes with fish and wildlife management authority in the Great Lakes Basin. The Service will be responsible for accomplishing Regional Projects on behalf of the State and/or Tribal agencies submitting the Regional Project proposal. Supported in part by President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a total of $2 million will be available to support projects this fiscal year. Available funding and project awards are subject to final Congressional appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012. Up to 33% of the total Congressional appropriation to the GLFWRA is eligible to fund Regional Projects. Restoration and research projects require a 25% non-federal match. Regional projects selected shall be exempt from cost sharing if the Service Director determines that the authorization for the project does not require a non-Federal cost-share.

Health

Aetna Foundation

Deadline: November 15, 2011

Grant-making in this area focuses on initiatives that create a better understanding of the root causes of the obesity epidemic.

Examples of grants supported include projects and/or studies that identify causes of obesity and potential best practices for addressing obesity, such as:

Domestic food policies and their impact on individual food choices
The impact of our neighborhoods and the “built environment” on promoting population health and weight loss
Assessments of why communities with high rates of food insecurity also are more likely to experience high rates of obesity
How children use recreation time
How school lunch and food policies impact our children

The Foundation generally does not fund:

Endowment or capital costs, including construction, renovation, or equipment
Direct delivery of reimbursable health care services
Basic biomedical research
Grants or scholarships to individuals
Work for which results and impact cannot be measured
Advertising
Golf tournaments
Advocacy, political causes or events
Sacramental or theological functions of religious organizations
Operational expenses/existing deficits

Women

J. Jill – Compassion Fund

Deadline: December 21, 2011

The J. Jill Compassion Fund supports the following:

Job training, education and transitional and/or affordable housing for women in need;
Programs that break down barriers for women in need to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency; and
General operating expenses for organizations that fall within J. Jill’s guidelines.

Grant funding priority will be given to programs and organization in 2012 that:

Empower women and help them become self-sufficient;
Have established a relation with or connection to, one or more of the J. Jill store(s); and/or
Are located near one or more J. Jill store(s).

Eligible organization are:

Community-based organizations or national organizations with local affiliates serving women in need; and
Federal tax-exempt organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Great Article on Grant Implementation

2011-10-20T10:26:00.000-04:00

I've shared articles from Blue Avocado in the past, and this week their newsletter had another fantastic article that I wanted to share. The article is called "Contract Wizardry: Conjuring Impact from Government Contracts" and talks about how to deal with overlapping grants/government grant contracts that fund different aspects of a program, or similar aspects of a program but on different fiscal years. It certainly can be a juggling act and this article does a great job discussing the issue.

http://blueavocado.org/node/705

Happy Reading!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – October 18, 2011

2011-10-18T08:29:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Boating

Non-Profit Boating Safety Grants

Deadline: January 27, 2012

The majority of funds are allocated to the States and U.S. territories via a formula fixed in the law. However, up to 5% of the total grant funds available each year are set aside for awards to national non-profit public service organizations to support national boating safety activities.

The primary goal of the National Recreational Boating Safety Program is to reduce casualties to specified levels for each upcoming year. Any initiative that can help to reduce recreational boating deaths, injuries or property damage is welcomed. Potential applicants should focus on partnership, i.e., exploring other sources, linkages, in-kind contributions, cost sharing, and partnering with other organizations or corporations.

Film

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Deadline: December 2, 2011

The Media, Culture, and Special Initiatives program is accepting proposals for documentary film projects between November 1, 2011 to December 2, 2011.
The program seeks to fund documentary projects that address the significant social challenges of our time or explore important but under-reported topics. Domestic and international topics are welcome, and preference will be given to projects that align with one of MacArthur's grantmaking areas. Support will be provided primarily for production and post-production activities, and to experienced filmmakers based in the U.S. with a track record of completing feature-length films that have been broadcast nationally and internationally.

In selecting documentary films for support, the Foundation looks for the following:
• Projects that address important, contemporary social topics – international or domestic
• Projects that align with MacArthur's programmatic interests in the U.S. and International Grantmaking areas
• Projects that follow an issue over time, providing in-depth reporting that goes beyond conventional news coverage
• Projects that utilize compelling personal stories to engage viewers and create empathy
• Projects that appeal to a broad audience because they are accessible, interesting, and balanced (treats different points of view respectfully)
• Projects that have a strong likelihood of broadcast in the U.S. and elsewhere, and thoughtful plans for broad dissemination in educational, community, or policy settings

Health

Cardinal Health Foundation

Deadline: December 2, 2011

Cardinal Health develops and supports programs that help healthcare providers implement best practices that can truly transform patient care. Between 2008 and 2011, the Cardinal Health Foundation invested more than $10 million, in a wide variety of programs, to improve healthcare efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality.

Again this year, the Cardinal Health Foundation will award $1 million in grants to healthcare institutions to impact the efficiency and quality of care. Grants between $15,000 and $35,000 will be awarded to approximately 40 organizations in 2012.

Focus areas include:
1. Medication safety across transitions of care
2. Implementation of WHO checklists in the operating room

Parks

Parks & Trails – NY Capacity Building

Deadline: November 16, 2011

Parks & Trails New York’s Capacity Building Grants program for park and trail groups provides grants of up to $3,000 to strengthen not-for-profit organizations that are working to build and protect parks and trails in communities across the state.

The program is unique in that supports activities not normally covered by existing grants. While a number of grants are available to not-for-profits, they usually only fund capital projects and specific programs; they don’t help organizations develop and strengthen the skills, processes, and resources that they need to survive and thrive.

*All potential applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in a pre-application conference call to be held Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. This call will be designed to review the application form and answer questions from potential applicants. The call in number is (712) 432-0180. Participant Access Code: 786019#

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – October 11, 2011

2011-10-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Domestic Violence

Mary Byron Project

November 18, 2011

The Mary Byron Project created the Celebrating Solutions Awards to showcase and applaud local innovations that demonstrate promise in breaking the cycle of violence. We select programs that can serve as models for the nation and offer $10,000 cash awards in recognition of their pioneering efforts. Nominations are judged by a panel of experts in criminal justice, health care, and public policy, and other disciplines that address domestic violence.

Eligibility Criteria for Celebrating Solutions Awards:

- Both the nominated program and the institution must have been operating for a minimum of three years.
- The program must address the issue of domestic violence.
- The program must be part of a non-profit 501(c)(3) or government agency.
- The program should be replicable, or if it is national in scope, the program should have applications for individual communities, regardless of their size or ethnic population.

Education

CVS

Deadline: October 31, 2011

The CVS Caremark Community Grants have three areas of focus:
1 – Children with Disabilities
2 – Health Care for the Uninsured and Underinsured
3 – Public Schools

Key Application/Eligibility information:
• Qualifying organizations are eligible for grants up to $5,000.
• All nonprofit organizations applying for a Community Grant for this type of program ARE REQUIRED to provide their EIN number before they can begin the eligibility quiz.
• A CVS/pharmacy store must be located within the state where your community organization resides.
• All CVS Caremark Community Grant Applications must be submitted online.

Health

New York Health Foundation

Deadline: Letter of Inquiry: October 28, 2011
Full Application: December 9, 2011

Projects are coordinated interventions over a specified period of time to achieve measurable results. While projects that have impact within one organization or community are eligible, this RFP places emphasis on initiatives that have a large-scale statewide or region-wide impact on New York State’s health care system.

Although many projects will be eligible, competitive applications will also:
• Be immediate or time-sensitive opportunities for Foundation funds to make a difference\Demonstrate that the project will be sustainable after the one-time grant support from NYSHealth (this is particularly relevant for projects that start new services). It is important to explain the business plan for sustaining the project.
• Include clearly stated evidence of need or opportunity, goals, timelines, objectives and measurable • outcomes.
• Have an effective plan for evaluating the measurable impact of the project and the funding received.
• Have strong potential for replication elsewhere in New York State.

Music

Chamber Music America

Deadline: November 18, 2011

Residency Partnership Program – The Residency Partnership Program supports ensembles and presenters in building audiences for classical/contemporary, jazz, and world chamber music through residency projects. Funding is specifically aimed at activities that take place in community settings and that are not part of a regular concert series. Activities may include, but are not limited to, clinics, interactive classroom programs, and lecture/demonstrations in libraries, hospitals, senior centers, or similar venues. Projects must take place in the U.S. or its territories.

Volunteerism

MLK Day Lead Organizer Grants

Deadline: November 18, 2011

YSA (Youth Service America) and CNCS (the Corporation for National and Community Service) plans to support up to 16 MLK Day Lead Organizers to coordinate Martin Luther King Day of Service (January 16, 2012) activities.

The goal of the MLK Day Lead Organizers program is to engage youth and adult volunteers on Martin Luther King Day of Service by encouraging families to serve together. Together, youth ages 5-25 and their families will focus on some of the nation's most pressing issues, such as education, health, environment, economic opportunity, and disaster relief. MLK Day may also provide a starting point for a Semester of Service and/or involvement in national days of service and other volunteer activities throughout 2012.

Requirements for all grantees include:
• Engage at least 3,000 volunteers, including at least 1,000 youth volunteers, age 5-25, and 2,000 family members (youth or adult) in community service or service-learning projects on MLK Day
• Build or strengthen partnerships with at least 5 partner organizations to achieve scale and impact. Partners need to include at least one school, one youth development organization, one local business or corporation, one parent group/association, and one organization that serves and/or engages military families.
• With your partners, organize high-visibility service projects or demonstration/celebration events on MLK Day and engage the media and public officials in those projects
• Address one or more of the following strategic issue areas: economic opportunity, health, environment, education and literacy, disaster preparedness and response, and veterans and military families.

Youth

Cox Charities

Deadline: November 11, 2011

Grants are intended for youth education programs involving science and technology, mentoring, literacy, and other areas promoting the education of youth.

Submission Guidelines:
• One proposal per agency or consortium will be accepted.
• Proposals should be based on a one-year fiscal funding request.
• Requests for second year funding must include outcome measures from the previous year.
• Proposals that do not include the previous year’s outcome measures will not be accepted for review.
• Funding requests should be in amounts of $5,000 and $10,000.

Grants are issued annually. The Cox Charities Advisory Committee selects the final grant recipients. Funding will not be awarded for capital expenditures or general operations; the provision of home or healthcare services; and entertainment or recreation services. Funding will also not be awarded to pass-through organizations raising funds on behalf of other agencies.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Additional Grantseeking Tools/Resources

2011-10-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share two different tools that I think could be of value to many of you as colleagues in your grant seeking efforts.

The first is a great monthly publication that you can subscribe to for free that lists numerous funding opportunities - The Fund Book. Perhaps you already subscribe, but if you don't, I'd recommend you do so right way. It's a great publication and is one that I read without fail every month!

The second is a new report from IdealWare that came out evaluating the different grant management software packages/systems that are currently for sale on the market. You can download the report, A Consumers Guide to Grant Management Software from IdealWare's site. Perhaps you stay firmly on the grantwriting side of your organization, but more likely than not, you also have your hand on the grant management side if nothing else to assist in keeping grant reporting/implementation on track so that you can apply to a Foundation/government agency again in the future and have a good track record. I found their analysis to be unbiased and provide some good pros and cons for the different systems available. If you have a system that you use for grant management that isn't part of those that were analyzed in this report, I'd love to hear what you use and why it works well for you/your organization.

Do you have another go to resource, website or report that you find to be critical in your grant seeking/grant writing efforts? Drop me a comment to let me know so I can share it with the rest of our colleagues!

As always, best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!
Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – October 4, 2011

2011-10-04T08:55:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Arts

Yellow House Fund Arts Education Initiative

Deadline: October 15, 2011

The Yellow House Fund Arts Education Initiative offers grants to eligible local, state, and/or national organizations in the United States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands) that provide distinctive arts and cultural programming directly to the underserved.

The fund will award grants of $10,000 per year for up to three years to eligible applicants working on new or existing projects in visual arts, music, and literary arts. Funds may be used for capacity building, education, youth development, and artist support.

For complete program information and application requirements, contact the fund's offices.

Contact information:
Yellow House Fund
Email: yhfgrants2011@gmail.com
Fax: (415) 820-1491

Environment

Budweiser Conservationist of the Year

Deadline: October 19, 2011

The Budweiser Conservationist of the Year selects a conservation organization to receive a $50,000 grant from Budweiser and the Foundation. The three runners up each direct a $5,000 grant to a conservation organization of their choice. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant volunteer contributions to the outdoors and conservation.

EPA – P3

Deadline: December 22, 2011

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of the P3-People, Prosperity and the Planet Award Program, is seeking applications proposing to research, develop, and design solutions to real world challenges involving the overall sustainability of human society. The P3 competition highlights the use of scientific principles in creating innovative projects focused on sustainability. The P3 Awards program was developed to foster progress toward sustainability by achieving the mutual goals of economic prosperity, protection of the planet, and improved quality of life for its people-- people, prosperity, and the planet ï¿½ the three pillars of sustainability. The EPA offers the P3 competition in order to respond to the technical needs of the world while moving towards the goal of sustainability.

Potential Funding per Award: Up to $15,000 per Phase I grant including direct and indirect costs. Proposals for Phase I grants must be for only one year. Proposals for Phase I grants requesting an award of more than $15,000 will not be considered.

Upon the successful completion of Phase I, grant recipients will have the opportunity to apply for a P3 Phase II grant of up to $90,000 total for two years including direct and indirect costs.

Health

Community Health Foundation of Western & Central New York

Deadline: November 10, 2011

This funding opportunity is designed to increase the number of low-income women being served by midwives in the Community Health Foundation of Western and Central New York’s (CHFWCNY) central New York region.

Eligibility to apply is limited to:

• Organizations serving a substantial number of low-income women in CHFWCNY’s central New York region (see “Eligibility” on page 5 for a list of these counties).
• Private practices, Article 28 clinics and hospitals.
• Midwives considering development of a new practice in CHFWCNY’s central New York region.

Applicants must serve or intend to serve Medicaid, Family Health Plus, Child Health Plus and/or uninsured and self-pay patients, and must demonstrate how adding or expanding midwifery services to these patients fits within their mission and business plans.

This Program Announcement is designed to provide resources and expert technical assistance to applicants committed to and capable of developing or expanding midwifery services in order to improve maternal and child health outcomes in communities of poverty.

CHFWCNY’s overall goal for this program is for existing private practices, Article 28 clinics and hospitals to complete and/or implement viable business plans for developing or expanding midwifery services for low-income women. Applications to explore the possibility of opening a new midwifery practice will also be considered.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – September 27, 2011

2011-09-27T09:39:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Health

HRSA – Health Policy Outreach Program

Deadline: November 22, 2011

The Office of Rural Health Policy's Outreach Program supports projects that demonstrate effective models of outreach and service delivery through collaboration, adoption of an evidence-based or promising practice model, demonstration of health outcomes, replicability and sustainability. Proposed projects will have an outcomes-oriented approach that will enhance and sustain the delivery of effective health care in rural communities by tracking specific health indicators that will demonstrate the impact of their project at the end of their grant period. They will be based on evidence-based or promising practice models in order to avoid "reinventing the wheel" and demonstrate health status improvement in rural communities. Proposed Outreach projects can take the framework of an evidence-based or promising proactive model and tailor it to their community's need and organization.

Robert Wood Johnson – Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education

Deadline: November 16, 2011

Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education (EIN) is inviting applications for research projects studying nursing faculty issues that are critical to achieving the recommendations outlined in the 2010 Institute of Medicine report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Consistent with EIN’s mission, projects will typically address teaching productivity and faculty preparation in nursing education for meeting the demands of a reformed health care and public health system. Findings should inform strategies for addressing the nurse faculty shortage while expanding the nurse workforce and maintaining or improving student outcomes.

Library

Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program

Deadline: December 12, 2011

In 2012, the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program will support projects to develop faculty and library leaders, to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians and archivists, to conduct research, to build institutional capacity in graduate schools of library and information science, and to assist in the professional development of librarians and archivists. This grant program is especially interested in developing information professionals who can help manage the burgeoning data generated by the nation’s researchers, serve as stewards of the nation’s cultural legacy, and meet the information needs of the underserved. The program also seeks to help librarians develop the information and digital literacy of their communities, as well as other critical skills their users will need to be successful in the 21st century.

Grantees are responsible for providing a cost share equal to at least the amount of funds awarded (at least a 1:1 match of all non–student support funds).

Youth

Office Depot

Deadline: Open

The Foundation’s funding focus includes:
• Making a Difference in Children’s Lives
• Building Communities
• Disaster Relief

Grant amounts will be a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $3,000 (very limited). The majority of grants issued are in the vicinity of $1,000 and are supported by in-kind donations when inventory allows. The Office Depot Foundation will consider proposals from organizations related to disaster relief and recovery throughout the year.

Grant applications are retrieved on a monthly basis and are reviewed by the Office Depot Foundation Contributions Committee and final decisions on proposals are made by the Foundation's Board of Directors.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – September 20, 2011

2011-09-20T09:31:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Arts

NEH – Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections

Deadline: December 1, 2011

Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting preventive conservation measures that mitigate deterioration and prolong the useful life of collections.

This program helps cultural repositories plan and implement preservation strategies that balance effectiveness, cost, and environmental impact. Projects should be designed to be as cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally sensitive as possible, and they should aim to mitigate the greatest risks to collections rather than to meet prescriptive targets.

To help institutions develop sound preventive conservation projects, NEH encourages collaborative and interdisciplinary planning, which is important for identifying sustainable strategies. Such planning should include consideration of the following factors: the nature of the materials in a collection; the performance of the building, its envelope, and its systems in moderating internal environmental conditions; the capabilities of the institution; the nature of the local climate and the effects of climate change; the cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency of various approaches to preventive conservation; and the project’s impact on the environment.

Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections offers two kinds of awards: grants for planning and for implementation.

Education

HSBC

Deadline: November 1, 2011

Focusing on youth education and the environment, HSBC builds strong, enduring relationships with a wide range of organizations, providing resources and tools to sustain long-term results. Support is only provided in communities where HSBC has branches/offices.

Education supported by HSBC shall be aimed at children and young people aged 3-25, with the following being core focus areas:
• Programs for disadvantaged children or for schools in economically deprived areas
• Education aimed at raising levels of financial and business literacy in the community, especially among young people
• Environmental education

National Center for Safe Routes to School

Deadline: October 19, 2011

The National Center for Safe Routes to School funds a local $1,000 mini-grant program that supports the goal of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs, which is to enable and encourage children to safely walk and bicycle to school. SRTS programs are implemented nationwide by parents, schools, community leaders, and local, state, and tribal governments.

Mini-grants may fund activities ranging from the nuts and bolts that help start or sustain a program to new ideas that explore the range of benefits of safe walking and bicycling. The National Center invites student and adult leaders to consider their school's needs and interests and to propose solutions that are also part of a broader safe walking/bicycling to school effort.

Environment

HSBC

Deadline: November 1, 2011

Focusing on youth education and the environment, HSBC builds strong, enduring relationships with a wide range of organizations, providing resources and tools to sustain long-term results. Support is only provided in communities where HSBC has branches/offices.

Environmental programs supported may include environmental policy development, public awareness-building, education of teachers or other adults (i.e. over 25), scientific research and projects to improve the sustainability or resilience of eco-systems.

Where possible, HSBC concentrates environmental support on projects with the following themes:
• Climate change
• Freshwater (e.g. rivers)
• Terrestrial biodiversity (plants and animals

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – September 13, 2011

2011-09-13T09:13:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Aging

Mind Alert Award

Deadline: October 15, 2011

The ASA-MetLife Foundation MindAlert Award program recognizes innovative mental fitness programs for older adults developed by nonprofit organizations. Based on the program focus and the population it serves, MindAlert Awards are available in the following three categories:
1. Lifelong Learning/Third Age educational programs
2. Mental Fitness Programs for the general population of older adults
3. Mental Fitness Programs for early stage cognitively-impaired older adults

Each Awardee will receive:
• A cash awards of $1,500
• One complimentary Aging in America conference registration
• A one-year complimentary membership in ASA
• An opportunity to present their program at the National Forum on Brain Fitness, held in in conjunction with the 2012 AiA Conference

Domestic Violence

Mary Byron Project - Celebrating Solutions Award

Deadline: November 18, 2011

Eligibility Criteria for Celebrating Solutions Awards:
• Both the nominated program and the institution must have been operating for a minimum of three years.
• The program must address the issue of domestic violence.
• The program must be part of a non-profit 501(c)(3) or government agency.
• The program should be replicable, or if it is national in scope, the program should have applications for individual communities, regardless of their size or ethnic population.

Not Eligible for Celebrating Solutions Awards are:
• Past Celebrating Solutions Award winners.
• Organizations other than non-profit or governmental.
• Organizations operating outside the United States or a U.S. territory.
• Individuals
• Basic Research

Awards Process
The awards process includes submission of a nomination form, a program outline detailing innovative aspects of the program, and a release. Institutions advancing to the next round will be asked to answer additional questions, submit letters of support, and provide a program budget.

Education

American Honda Foundation

Deadline: November 1, 2011

The American Honda Foundation engages in grant making that reflects the basic tenets, beliefs and philosophies of Honda companies, which are characterized by the following qualities: imaginative, creative, youthful, forward-thinking, scientific, humanistic and innovative. We support youth education with a specific focus on the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects in addition to the environment.

Eligible Organizations:
Nonprofit charitable organizations classified as a 501(c) (3) public charity by the Internal Revenue Service, or a public school district, private/public elementary and secondary schools as listed by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

To be considered for funding organizations MUST have two years of audited financial statements examined by an independent CPA for the purpose of expressing an opinion if gross revenue is $500,000 or more. If gross revenue is less than $500,000, and the organization does not have audits, it may submit two years of financial statements accompanied by an independent CPA’s review report instead.

Funding Priority:
Youth education, specifically in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, the environment, job training and literacy

Other Important Information:
• Organizations may only submit one request in a 12-month period. This includes colleges and universities with several departments/outreach programs
• The grant range is from $20,000 to $60,000 over a one-year period
• Proposals should be submitted online.

Environment

EPA – Environmental Education Sub-grants

Deadline: November 8, 2011

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing an estimated total of $1.5 million in funding for the Environmental Education Sub-grants Program for 2011. This is a new announcement that has not previously been distributed.
The purpose of this competitive grant program is to increase public awareness and knowledge about environmental issues and provide participants in EE grant-funded projects the skills necessary to make informed environmental decisions and to take responsible actions toward the environment. EPA expects to award one (1) grant for approximately $150,000 in each of EPA’s ten (10) Regions and will accept applications until November 8, 2011.

EPA will be hosting three conference calls for potential applicants interested in additional information about the application process. Information is available on the funding announcement website.

Kresge Foundation – Healthy Environments

Deadline: Open

Low-income communities often are located in areas with higher exposure to environmental hazards due to the condition and proximity of their homes, schools and workplaces to polluting industries and aging urban centers. These multiple exposures range from air pollution and chemical contaminants to the toxins associated with substandard housing and unhealthy foods.

Kresge is accepting proposals for two strategic initiative:

• Cleaner freight transport addresses the health effects of diesel exhaust particulate matter on low-income communities and workers employed at truck, rail, air and shipping facilities. These toxic emissions have been scientifically linked to asthma, coronary disease and cancer. We aim to reduce the incidence and severity of childhood asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

• Environmental health and justice funds both community engagement efforts and effective partnerships among scientific, legal and government organizations to address imminent environmental health hazards affecting vulnerable populations and communities.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – September 6, 2011

2011-09-06T10:44:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

Arts

The Dedalus Foundation

Deadline: October 17, 2011

The Dedalus Foundation supports educational programs, exhibitions, and publications by museums, universities, art schools, and other educational institutions. Some of these have been directly related to the work of Robert Motherwell but most have not. In addition to providing funds for short term projects, the Foundation provides seed money to facilitate long term projects that are in their initial or planning stage. Generally, the Foundation limits such grants to approximately $25,000.

Education

E2: Energy to Educate – Constellation Energy

Deadline: October 1, 2011

E2: Energy to Educate projects should be team oriented, learning focused, hands-on demonstration projects with specific results that reach a minimum of 100 students. Projects must align with at least one of the three energy knowledge and innovation focus areas below.

Energy Science: Building Blocks
The Science Required to Create New Energy Solutions
• Focus on advancements in basic science needed to address energy issues
• Further student understanding of how various scientific and engineering disciplines are part of the energy puzzle
o Topics include: Nuclear Technology, Fossil Fuel Combustion Efficiency, Alternatives to Steam Generation

Energy Technology: Intelligent Applications
How Energy Technology is Making it to Market
• Focus on new technologies now emerging into the marketplace.
• Advance student and public understanding of what makes some technologies succeed and others fail.
o Topics include: Solar Technology, Distributed Generation, Electrical Vehicles, Energy Storage

Energy Education: The Conscious Consumer
The Interface of IT (Information Technology) and ET (Energy Technology)
• What the “Smart” in “Smart-Grid” really means
• How information technology is changing the way the electric power industry manages itself and the way people think about their energy use
o Topics include: Home Energy Management, Smart Buildings, Energy Efficiency Verification

Eligibility Criteria
External criteria posted to constellation.com for prospective grantees to review.
1. Organization must be a 501(c)3 nonprofit, with a Board of Directors
2. Grant range:
- Education Grants (6th – 12th Grade) : up to $25,000 each;
Min of 3 partners, including one non-profit partner; no individual schools
- Higher Education (2 & 4 Year Colleges) : up to $50,000
Note: Partnerships involving secondary and higher education partners are eligible for a maximum combined grant of $50,000.

GLBT

Arcus Foundation

Deadline: Letter of Inquiry - Open

Working in the Arcus Foundation's home state of Michigan, this program's goal is to ensure that LGBT people in diverse communities across the state enjoy greater equality, and that a robust, inclusive and self-sustaining movement is positioned to defend and continue advancing LGBT equality throughout Michigan.

These grants support:
• General operating support
• Project support for specific programs
• Public policy advocacy/organizing campaigns
• Public policy research/dissemination
• Capital projects
• Capacity building
• Multi-year support

Youth

Let’s Play Playground Construction Grant

Deadline: September 30, 2011

Dr Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM! are excited to offer $15,000 Let's Play Playground Construction Grants to qualifying organizations using the KaBOOM! community-build model. Grantees will plan their project, and share best practices and challenges through the KaBOOM! website.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – August 30, 2011

2011-08-30T13:53:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share.

**First though, an important deadline extension that was just announced this morning by FEMA for the Assistance for Firefighters Grant:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announces that the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) application period will be extended for one week due to Hurricane Irene response and recovery. The NEW deadline for AFG applications is September 16, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. EST. This extension of time will allow our partners to address the immediate needs of their communities while providing adequate opportunity for them to apply for grant assistance under the AFG program.

Arts

Shubert Foundation

Deadline: October 17th

The principal goal of The Shubert Foundation is to support not-for-profit, professional resident theatre and dance companies in the United States. The Foundation provides grants only to organizations that have established artistic and administrative track records, as well as a pattern of fiscal responsibility. The Foundation does not provide funds for project support, audience development, direct subsidies of reduced-price admissions, renovation projects, capital or endowment campaigns. No grants are made to conduit organizations (agencies that disburse funds to individuals or other organizations).

Organizations that have annual budgets under $150,000, as well as fully audited financial statements, should contact The Shubert Foundation office before making formal application.

Education

Target – Field Trip Grants

Deadline: October 3, 2011

Field Trip Grants help give children these unique, firsthand learning experiences.
As part of the program, each Target store will award three Target Field Trip Grants to K—12 schools nationwide—enabling one in 25 schools throughout the U.S. to send a classroom on a field trip. Each grant is valued up to $700.

The funded Field Trip must be taken between January 1, 2012 and the end of the 2011-2012 academic year (May/June 2012)

Environment

Georgia-Pacific Foundation

Deadline: Open

Georgia-Pacific Focus Areas:
• Education
o Job Training
o Literacy
o Scholarships
• Environment
o Clean air, Clean water, recycling
o Environmental Education
o Land Conservation
o Resource Conservation
• Enrichment
o Affordable Housing
o Arts and Culture
o Community Safety
o Employee Volunteerism
o Youth Enrichment Programs
• Entrepreneurship
o Youth Entrepreneurs of Atlanta
o Market Based Management Courses - Colleges, Universities, Non-Profits
o Women and Minority Entrepreneur Programs

Museums

Museums for America

Deadline: November 1, 2011

Fiscal year (FY) 2012 MFA funding will support projects and activities that strengthen museums as active resources for lifelong learning and as important institutions in the establishment of livable communities. MFA grants can fund either new or ongoing museum activities and programs, such as improvement of institutional infrastructure; planning; management of collections; public access; professional development; purchase of equipment or services; research and scholarship; school and public programming; exhibitions; training; or efforts of museums to upgrade and integrate new technologies into their overall institutional effectiveness.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – August 23, 2011

2011-08-23T09:42:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Hunger/Nutrition

AARP – Hunger Grants Program

Deadline: LOI: September 15, 2011, Proposals: October 15, 2011

AARP Foundation will award hunger grants to eligible local, state and/or national organizations in the United States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands), in amounts ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 (depending on the scope and scale of the project) through a competitive RFP process.

The purpose of this grant program is to develop and scale innovative and sustainable solutions to senior hunger at the local, state, regional and national level. There are two models of grants: scaling grants and innovation grants. Scaling grants will fund existing projects/programs that have demonstrated success and require additional funds to bring the project/program to scale. Innovation grants will be made to fund innovative projects/programs that have been conceptualized or designed, but not yet implemented, and that have a high potential for success and replication.

Whole Kids Foundation – School Garden Grants

Deadline: December 31, 2011

School gardens are a vital educational tool. Every seed planted sprouts a new opportunity for kids to cultivate healthy eating habits. Teaching kids to garden helps them learn about complex topics like sustainability and conservation, food systems and community awareness. Not to mention an appreciation for food from seed to plate.

Learning about the process of growing food helps children develop a deep understanding of the connection between healthy eating and a healthy body. School gardens offer an opportunity to integrate math, science and health curriculum into a dynamic, interactive setting. They also provide a base of knowledge that allows children to take an active role in healthy food choices.

To be eligible for a garden grant, applicants must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or nonprofit K-12 school that is developing or currently maintaining a school garden project that will help children engage with fresh fruits and vegetables. Garden projects may be at any stage of development; planning, construction or operation. For cases in which an applicant facilitates garden projects in more than one school, multiple garden grants may be requested under a single application. In occasional cases, additional funds may be awarded for special projects. In selecting grant recipients, priority will be given to both limited-resource communities and to projects that demonstrate strong buy-in from stakeholders. There is a limit of one garden grant per school.

Mentoring/Youth

First Niagara Financial Group – Mentoring Matters

Deadline: September 2, 2011

Celebrating its fifth year, Mentoring Matters℠ will donate $500,000 to eligible non-profit organizations in Upstate New York. Funding will be given to high-performing mentoring programs and organizations that exemplify measurable results. The maximum grant funding will be $25,000 and the minimum grant funding will be $5,000.

501(C)(3) Organization must be registered with the IRS and located in First Niagara’s Upstate New York footprint, which includes the following counties:
• Western New York: Erie, Niagara, Orleans, and Genesee Counties
• Rochester: Monroe, Ontario, and Seneca Counties
• Central New York: Cayuga, Cortland, Oneida, Onondaga, and Yates Counties
• Eastern New York: Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Warren Counties

Grant funding must be used for a specific mentoring program, either existing or new, with direct and immediate impact. Funding cannot be used for travel, administrative expenses (i.e., salaries, rent, utilities, etc.), and miscellaneous expenses. All funding must be appropriated towards mentoring programs and the participants in such programs. Your organization must have a proven history of success in the community.

Safety

Project Ignition Grants – National Youth Leadership Council & State Farm

Deadline: November 15, 2011

The National Youth Leadership Council® and State Farm® are pleased to announce the availability of $2,000 Project Ignition grants for public high school students and teachers to address teen driver safety through service-learning.

Students use their own creativity to create impactful awareness and engagement campaigns. Strategies used in the past have included: hosting events and demonstrations; forming community-wide partnerships; working on local and state policy; producing public service announcements; and more.

Twenty-five schools will be chosen to receive $2,000 grants to support the implementation of their campaigns between January and April, 2012. Ten of these 25 schools will be granted an additional $5,000 to support their participation in a significant national conference or event. They will also be given the opportunity to be named "National Leader Schools" and receive an additional $2,500 to go deeper with their campaigns during the 2012-2013 school year.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – August 16, 2011

2011-08-16T10:13:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Arts

Conservation Project Support

Deadline: October 3, 2011

The purpose of the Conservation Project Support (CPS) grants program is to help safeguard the collections housed in the nation’s museums so that current and future generations can gain access to and learn from the rich artistic, cultural, and scientific heritage they represent. To achieve this purpose, we award grants to help you identify your conservation needs and priorities and ensure the safekeeping of your collections by implementing sound conservation practices.

CPS projects fall into one of four general categories:
• Surveys (including General Conservation Surveys, Detailed Conservation Surveys, and Environmental Surveys)
• Environmental improvements for collections
• Treatment of collections
• Training of staff, volunteers, and students in conservation

Economic

Calvin K. Kazanjian Economic Foundation

Deadline: September 15, 2011

The Calvin K. Kazanjian Economic Foundation is a small, non-profit organization with limited resources. The Foundation will look most favorably at programs that match grants of support with funds from other organizations, learned institutions, universities, colleges, and government sources.

Projects supported by the Foundation should:
• Disseminate economic thinking and knowledge by all available means, to the end that greater happiness and prosperity may come to all through better economic understanding.
• Produce materials, conduct seminars and workshops that promote discussions and assist in the development of greater economic literacy.
• Promote the interchange of ideas and experiences among students of economic theory, those teaching it, and those engaged in solving practical economic problems in business and government.
• Further these purposes through cooperation with schools, colleges and universities, foundations or other organizations by financial support or other means.

The Foundation will not support overhead or indirect costs.

Health

*REMINDER*

Avon Breast Cancer Health Outreach Program

Deadline: August 26, 2011

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program (BHOP) provides grants to non-profit organizations to conduct outreach, provide education on breast health and breast cancer screening, link medically underserved women to health care providers and clinical screening services, and work to ensure that they obtain any necessary follow-up care. Small community-based organizations are encouraged to apply.

Sports

USGA Alliance Grants

Deadline: Open

Through a grant from the United States Golf Association (USGA), the National Alliance for Accessible Golf (Alliance) is expanding its efforts to provide financial assistance and resources to help make the game of golf more accessible to people with disabilities. With this funding from the USGA, the Alliance will, for the second year, administer the grant-application process for organizations providing golf programs for individuals with disabilities.

The Alliance is particularly interested in applications that demonstrate focus on inclusion of people with disabilities in programs that involve those without disabilities with the ultimate goal of enhancing their inclusion into the fabric of their community.

The Alliance will consider requests for funds to assist with costs for the following core golf program costs:
- Golf Course Access
- Driving Range Access
- Golf Instruction
- Standard and Adaptive Golf Clubs and Bags
- Adaptive Teaching Equipment
- Transportation of participants to and from programming
- Inclusion Activities

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – August 9, 2011

2011-08-09T16:26:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Arts

Digital Humanities Implementation

Deadline: January 24, 2012

This program is designed to fund the implementation of innovative digital-humanities projects that have successfully completed a start-up phase and demonstrated their value to the field. Such projects might enhance our understanding of central problems in the humanities, raise new questions in the humanities, or develop new digital applications and approaches for use in the humanities. The program can support innovative digital-humanities projects that address multiple audiences, including scholars, teachers, librarians, and the public. Applications from recipients of NEH’s Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants are welcome.

Environment

SeaWorld & Busch Gardens

The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund works with hundreds of organizations, both big and small, around the world. All of these groups share a common goal – protecting animals, people and places. Aiming to achieve long-term conservation success, the Fund supports projects that are:
• Science-based
• Solution-driven
• Community-oriented

The Fund supports projects in 4 key categories:
• Species Research
• Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation
• Habitat Protection
• Conservation Education

The Fund accepts applications from non-profits in and outside the U.S., governmental entities, accredited universities and research centers and AZA- or AMMPA-accredited institutions as well as Special Grants & Awards:
• Animal Crisis Grants
• National Geographic Society Co-Grants
• Environmental Excellence Awards

The Living Shore Initiative

Deadline: August 26, 2011

The Chesapeake Bay Trust, in conjunction with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Restoration Center and the Maryland Department of the Environment, is soliciting proposals to create and promote living shorelines in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C portions of the Chesapeake Bay. "Living shorelines" are defined as shoreline stabilization techniques that use natural habitat elements to protect shorelines from erosion while also providing critical habitat for Bay wildlife. The funding partners invite non-profit organizations, community associations, academic institutions, and state and local governments to submit applications for the Living Shoreline Initiative grant program.
This grant initiative is designed to reverse the trend of shoreline hardening by encouraging the creation of living shoreline restoration projects and by enhancing public awareness about the benefits of living shorelines

Fire/Safety

FEMA – Assistance to Firefighters Grants

Deadline: September 9, 2011

The open application period will run from August 15 – September 9, 2011. FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) provides funding for the essentials that firefighters and first responders need to be safe and effective on the job. If your department or agency has critical needs, AFG can help.

WHO'S ELIGIBLE FOR AFG?

Paid, volunteer and combination fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations from urban, suburban, and rural communities in the U.S. and its territories.

WHAT DOES AFG SUPPORT?

• Firefighting and EMS equipment
• Personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Fire and EMS vehicles
• Training programs
• Wellness and fitness programs
• Modifications to facilities

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – August 2, 2011

2011-08-02T11:25:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Agriculture

People’s Garden Grant Program

Deadline: August 26, 2011

NIFA announces the availability of grant funds and requests applications for the People's Garden Grant Program (PGGP) for fiscal year (FY) 2011 to facilitate the creation of produce, recreation, and/or wildlife gardens in urban and rural areas, which will provide opportunities for science-based informal education. This program is a joint initiative supported by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Food and Nutritional Service, Forest Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service, in addition to NIFA. Successful applicants will provide micro-subgrant support to smaller local projects. This notice identifies the objectives for PGGP projects, the eligibility criteria for projects and applicants, and the application forms and associated instructions needed to apply for a PGGP grant. NIFA additionally requests stakeholder input from any interested party for use in the development of the next RFA for this program. In addition, in order to answer questions that you may have concerning this RFA and the pending project, NIFA will host a teleconference on Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

Community Planning/Development

Community Challenge Planning Grant Program

Deadline: September 9, 2011

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Challenge Planning Grant Program fosters reform and reduces barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities. Such efforts may include amending or replacing local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes, either on a jurisdiction-wide basis or in a specific neighborhood, district, corridor, or sector to promote mixed-use development, affordable housing, the reuse of older buildings and structures for new purposes, and similar activities with the goal of promoting sustainability at the local or neighborhood level. This Program also supports the development of affordable housing through the development and adoption of inclusionary zoning ordinances and other activities to support planning implementation.

Environment

Heineman Foundation

Deadline: September 1, 2011

The purpose of the Heineman Foundation is to provide seed money to start-up projects and new projects within existing organizations for a maximum of three to five years. Preference will be given to organizations that have not been previously funded. The average range of the grants is $20,000.00 to $50,000.00, per annum.

The Foundation's general areas of interest are the following:
• Programs that enable economically challenged women to enter and remain in the workplace
• Environmental research that will help prevent, reduce and/or eliminate water degradation.
• Live music performance for education and outreach.
• Research into prevention and treatment of childhood illnesses.
• Programs that enable youth to think, create, and communicate effectively.
• Programs that support and promote high achievement in music, science, and literature.

Outdoors

Bikes Belong

Deadline: August 26, 2011

The Bikes Belong Grant Program is aimed at providing funding to those who strive to improve bicycling in America through things such as the building of trails and paths, or through promoting general bicycling advocacy and awareness.
For this grant cycle, Bikes Belong introduces Community Partnership Grants. These grants will fund collaborations between non-profit organizations, businesses, and government entities on bicycle infrastructure or advocacy projects. Bikes Belong will only consider Community Partnership Grants for this round.

Youth

Green Works!

Deadline: September 30, 2011

PLT, an award-winning national environmental education program for preK-12 educators and their students, is providing up to $1,000 for schools and youth organizations that propose environmental service-learning projects. GreenWorks! encourages students to “learn by doing” through community action projects that improve an aspect of their school or their neighborhood’s environment. Some examples of past grant projects include energy conservation, habitat restoration, and watershed improvement.

Play Day Grant

Deadline: August 31, 2011

KaBOOM!, Mott’s, and NFL PLAY 60 are offering grants for future play space enhancements. The grants will be broken down into one $10,000 Grand Prize, one prize of $7,500, and three $2,500 runners-up grants.

A Play Day is a chance to gather at a community’s favorite park or playground for fun games and projects that celebrate and improve a play space. Grants are available to communities that incorporate an improvement project (plant flowers, paint a mural, build park benches, or other play space enhancement) in their Play Day, during the week of September 18–26, 2011.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – July 26, 2011

2011-07-26T09:35:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Education

Lowe’s Toolbox for Education

Deadline: October 14, 2011. However, if 1,500 applications are received before the application deadline, then the application process will close.

The Toolbox for Education Grant Program, offered by Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, provides grants of $2,000 to $5,000 to public K-12 schools and school parent-teacher groups associated with public schools throughout the U.S. that develop projects that encourage parent involvement and build stronger community spirit. Preference is given to funding requests that have a permanent impact such as facility enhancement (both indoor and outdoor) and landscaping/clean up projects.

Lowe’s looks for ways to provide the tools that help educators and parent groups through these challenging times efficiently and with the greatest impact. In 2011-2012, basic needs will take priority.

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineers Mentoring Program

Deadline: October 5, 2011

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) Program seeks to identify outstanding mentoring efforts that enhance the participation and retention of individuals (including persons with disabilities, women and minorities) who might not otherwise have considered or had access to opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The awardees serve as leaders in the national effort to develop fully the nation's human resources in STEM.IMPORTANT INFORMATION The PAESMEM program has changed from awarding grants for future efforts to awards bestowed for past work. Former recipients of the Individual PAESMEM award are not eligible. Former recipients of the Organizational PAESMEM award may apply for the Individual award 10 years or more after receiving the award.

Literacy

National Center for Family Literacy

Deadline: August 22, 2011

The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) is pleased to announce this request for applications for 10 grants of up to $25,000. Made possible with funding from MetLife Foundation, the grants will expand the reach of the Family Literacy – Community College Partnership Initiative to communities and programs across the country. These grants will broaden the availability and targeted use of a recently developed comprehensive set of tools by community programs, schools and community colleges (available at www.famlit.org/myfamilygoestocollege). The financial support is intended to heighten awareness and address the challenges facing nontraditional Latino college students and their families who are working to attain the dream of a college education.

Music

GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program

Deadline: LOI: October 3, 2011

The GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program funds the following areas:

1. Scientific Research Projects: $20,000 Maximum Award

The GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program awards grants to organizations and individuals to support research on the impact of music on the human condition. Examples might include the study of the effects of music on mood, cognition and healing, as well as the medical and occupational well-being of music professionals and the creative process underlying music. Priority is given to projects with strong methodological design as well those addressing an important research question.

2. Archiving And Preservation Projects

The GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program awards grants to organizations and individuals to support efforts that advance the archiving and preservation of the music and recorded sound heritage of the Americas. The Archiving and Preservation area has two funding categories.
A. Preservation Implementation: $20,000 Maximum Award
B. Planning, Assessment And/Or Consultation: $5,000 Maximum Award

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – July 19, 2011

2011-07-19T12:09:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Animals

Oxbow Animal Health – Oxbow Cares

Deadline: August 31, 2011

Oxbow Animal Health works to recognize the hard work and dedication it takes to find homes for neglected, homeless and abandoned small pets. Funds are awarded to organizations seeking medical support, feeding needs, educational programs, and building renovations. In addition to the programs available to rescue organizations, Oxbow supplies them with product support, literature, community outreach, and professional advice on nutrition.

Environment

TKF Foundation – Open Spaces Sacred Places

Deadline: September 1, 2011

In 2012, the TKF Foundation will begin the Open Spaces Sacred Places National Awards Initiative. This new award program will fund the creation of significant Open Spaces Sacred Places that are designed specifically with the intent to study and communicate the impact of a specific type of urban public greenspace on users. Grants will be awarded from a total funding pool of $5 million. Funding will be provided to cross-disciplinary teams that conceptualize, plan, design and implement a physical space, conduct associated research study(s) and disseminate findings. This Request for Proposal (RFP) launches the first phase of the national awards program and will provide funding for planning grants.

The funding will be enacted in two sequential phases. As an optional first step in the Open Spaces Sacred Places Awards process, applicants may apply for a planning grant; deadline for application is September 1, 2011. Following the planning phase, applicants may apply for Open Spaces Sacred Places Awards beginning February, 2012.

Literacy

Andrew Family Foundation – Opportunity Knocks

Deadline: Letter of Inquiry – July 28, 2011

The Andrew Family Foundation seeks to provide expansion capital to an established organization(s) to build a new program or to enhance an existing program that addresses the issue of literacy and focuses on teaching young children in grades K-3 how to read. The program must positively affect and enhance the lives of disadvantaged youth ("program participants") and enable them to read at grade level by the end of 3rd Grade.

In addition to financial support, the board members of the Andrew Family Foundation may desire to provide expertise and resources necessary to ensure the success of the program, including the pursuit of collaborative efforts to replicate ideas and to implement proven solutions to expand the program to other geographical locations. Accordingly, providing opportunities for involvement may be a plus.

The program's objectives should include a plan:
• To develop early childhood literacy among the program participants by properly teaching them to read and develop reading skills for the future.
• To maximize the impact on the greatest number of program participants.
• To become self-sustaining in three to five years.

Preference will be given to organizations that focus on collaborating with other organizations to replicate proven solutions. The Foundation will award grant(s) of up to $250,000 over a three-year period. The financial support will be restricted to a specific purpose or project and can include operational support.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – July 12, 2011

2011-07-12T10:26:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Health

Avon Breast Health Outreach Program

Deadline: August 26, 2011

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program (BHOP) provides grants to non-profit organizations to conduct outreach, provide education on breast health and breast cancer screening, link medically underserved women to health care providers and clinical screening services, and work to ensure that they obtain any necessary follow-up care. Small community-based organizations are encouraged to apply.

Housing

HUD - Limited English Proficiency Individuals

Deadline: August 15, 2011

The purpose of the LEPI NOFA is to help ensure limited English proficient (LEP) communities have access to information in their native languages on HUD programs, services, and activities. In coordination with local HUD grantees, successful applicants will develop and conduct, workshops, training sessions, and/or disseminate LEP material to the targeted LEP communities. Examples of groups likely to include LEP individuals who are encountered and served by HUD grantees include, but are not limited to: (1) individuals who are seeking housing assistance from a public housing agency or assisted housing provider; (2) individuals seeking assistance for lead-based paint removal or abatement; (3) individuals seeking general fair housing information or information on how to file a housing discrimination complaint, housing-related training, social services, or any other assistance from HUD grantees.

TD Charitable – 2011 Housing for Everyone

Deadline: September 2, 2011

Applications must focus on any one of three areas and should highlight the ways in which funding will provide the opportunity in the future to expand the availability of and/or access to safe affordable housing. The areas of focus are:
• Energy Efficiency; which may include weatherization initiatives, HVAC improvements, or implementation of alternative or renewable energy sources;
• Capacity Building; which may include the expansion of programmatic efforts or staff development for the organization that provides affordable housing services for low- to moderate- income individuals or in low- to moderate- income communities; additionally, infrastructure investment on the part of the non profit to expand and improve its service efforts will be considered;
• New Unit Creation where organizations focus their efforts on the creation of new affordable housing units that benefit low- to moderate- income individuals or communities. To be eligible for a grant in this year's competition, the applicant must be primarily engaged in the development and or management of affordable housing.

A total of 25 grants representing $2.5 million will be awarded to applications that meet the eligibility criteria. Twenty-five grants of $100,000 will be awarded to the best applications received companywide. Funds will be allocated by TD Bank, N.A. metro market area.

Nonprofit Capacity

Corporation for National and Community Service - Nonprofit Capacity Building

Deadline: August 9, 2011

The Nonprofit Capacity Building Program (NCBP) was authorized by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009. The NCBP is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation), whose mission is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering.

By creating the NCBP, Congress has recognized that many small- and medium-sized nonprofit organizations are significantly challenged in their ability to sustain and expand services and that organizational development assistance may be necessary to ensure the continuation of much-needed services in local communities.
Through grants awarded in this competition the aim is to build the capacity of small and midsize nonprofits to develop and implement performance management systems. Research suggests that an established framework of performance management is the pre-requisite and predictor of success on other aspects of nonprofit health such as financial planning and sustainability.

Grantees will provide recipients with organizational development assistance to establish procedures for measuring progress and improving performance towards intended outcomes leading to community impact.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – July 5, 2011

2011-07-05T21:41:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Art

Andy Warhol Foundation

Deadline: September 1, 2011

Grants are made on a project basis to curatorial programs at museums, artists' organizations, and other cultural institutions to originate innovative and scholarly presentations of contemporary visual arts. Projects may include exhibitions, catalogues, and other organizational activities directly related to these areas. The program also supports the creation of new work through regranting initiatives and artist-in-residence programs. The work of choreographers and performing artists occasionally is funded when the visual arts are an inherent element of a production.

Children

Ronald McDonald House Charities

Deadline: August 5, 2011

RMHC Grants will be awarded to stable, efficient U.S based organizations operating internationally or domestically with proven outcomes and strong partnerships with key stakeholders.

RMHC evaluates organizations based on their execution of past or current projects by the following outcomes:
• Program Performance
• Community Outreach
• Financial Sustainability
• Management Effectiveness

Additionally, RMHC will consider pilot projects provided that the organization operating them has demonstrated success in these outcome areas.

Health

Healthy People 2020 Community Innovations Project

Deadline: August 5, 2011

The Healthy People 2020 Community Innovations Project, funded through the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), will fund non-profit, community-based organizations with budgets less than $750,000 to implement projects that address Healthy People 2020 overarching goals, topic areas and objectives and integrate at least one of the following Healthy People 2020 Community Innovation Project priorities: environmental justice, health equity, and healthy behaviors across all life stages. As many as 170 projects will be given between $5,000 to $10,000 to conduct projects between December 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012.

Women/Girls

Open Meadows Foundation

Deadline: August 15, 2011

Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization for projects that are led by and benefit women and girls, particularly those from vulnerable communities. Open Meadows Foundation funds projects that do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender identity and expression, sexual identity and expression, age or ability. It offers grants up to $2000 to projects that:

* Are designed and implemented by women and girls;
* Reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization;
* Promote building community power;
* Promote gender, racial, social, economic and/or environmental justice; and
* Have limited financial access or have encountered obstacles in their search for funding.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – June 28, 2011

2011-06-28T13:13:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Environment

Fund for Wild Nature

Deadline: September 1, 2011

The Fund for Wild Nature (Fund) provides small grants for North American campaigns to save native species and wild ecosystems, with particular emphasis on actions designed to defend threatened wilderness and biological diversity. If your project is not clearly and directly connected to these priorities, please explain the link. They do not fund projects outside Canada or the U.S.A.

They fund advocacy, litigation, public policy work, development of citizen science, and similar endeavors. They do not fund basic scientific research, private land acquisition, individual action or study, conferences, or organizations which receive government funding.

Patagonia Foundation

Deadline: August 31, 2011

Patagonia supports small, grassroots activist organizations with provocative direct-action agendas, working on multi-pronged campaigns to preserve and protect the environment.

Patagonia funds work that is:
• is action-oriented
• builds public involvement and support
• is strategic
• focuses on root causes
• accomplishes specific goals and objectives

Maximum grant is $8,000

Nonprofit Innovation

Druker Award for Nonprofit Innovation

Deadline: July 1, 2011

The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University is accepting applications for the 2011 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation.
The first-place prize is $100,000, thanks to a generous grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation. The second-place award is $7,500, and the third-place prize is $5,000.

The submission deadline is July 1, 2011.

Administered annually since 1991, the Drucker Award is granted to a social-sector organization that demonstrates Drucker’s definition of innovation—change that creates a new dimension of performance. In addition, the judges look for programs that are highly effective and that have made a difference in the lives of the people they serve.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – June 21, 2011

2011-06-21T09:40:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Education

Toshiba Foundation

Deadline: August 1, 2011

Toshiba America Foundation is currently accepting applications from teachers for grades 6-12 who are passionate about making science and mathematics more engaging for their students.

Grade 6-12 applications for $5,000 or less are accepted on a rolling basis, throughout the calendar year. Grants requests of more than $5,000 are reviewed twice a year. Applications for grants of more than $5,000 are due August 1st and February 1st each year.

Environment

Water Sustainability & Climate – National Science Foundation

Deadline: October 19, 2011

The goal of the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) solicitation is to understand and predict the interactions between the water system and climate change, land use (including agriculture, managed forest and rangeland systems), the built environment, and ecosystem function and services through place-based research and integrative models. Studies of the water system using models and/or observations at specific sites singly or in combination that allow for spatial and temporal extrapolation to other regions, as well as integration across the different processes in that system are encouraged, especially to the extent that they advance the development of theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding.

Specific topics of interest include:
• Developing theoretical frameworks and models that incorporate the linkages and feedbacks among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, oceanic, and social processes that can be used to predict the potential impact of (1) climate variability and change, (2) land use and (3) human activity on water systems on decadal to centennial scales in order to provide a basis for adaptive management of water resources.
• Determining the inputs, outputs, and potential changes in water budgets and water quality in response to (1) climate variability and change, (2) land use and (3) human activity, and the effect of these changes on Biogeochemical cycles, water quality, long-term chemical transport and transformation, terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems, landscape evolution and human settlements and behavior.
• Determining how our built water systems and our governance systems can be made more reliable, resilient and sustainable to meet diverse and often conflicting needs, such as minimizing consumption of water for energy generation, industrial and agricultural/forest rangeland production and built environment requirements, reuse for both potable and non-potable needs, ecosystem protection, and flood control and storm water management.

Successful proposals are expected to study water systems in their entirety and to enable a new interdisciplinary paradigm in water research. Proposals that do not broadly integrate across the biological sciences, geosciences, engineering, and social sciences may be returned without review.

Health

Healthy Smiles Healthy Children – American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Foundation

Deadline: August 15, 2011

Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children: the Foundation of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry seeks to support and promote services, education, and research with potential to improve the oral health of infants and children through adolescence, including those with special health care needs.

HSHC Access to Care Grants are matching/challenge grants of up to $20,000 per year to support local service initiatives that provide dental care to underserved children. Special consideration will be given to programs that have demonstrated success and/or have potential for replication in other communities. Initiatives demonstrating collaboration with other institutions and organizations will be given priority consideration.

Libraries/Museums

Learning Labs in Libraries/Museums

Deadline: August 15, 2011

These grants will support the planning and designing of up to 30 Learning Labs in libraries and museums throughout the country. The Labs are intended to engage middle- and high-school youth in mentor-led, interest-based, youth-centered, collaborative learning using digital and traditional media. Grantees will be required to participate, in-person and online, in a community of practice that will provide technical assistance, networking, and cross-project learning. Projects are expected to provide prototypes for the field and be based on current research about digital media and youth learning.

Technology

Motorola Mobility

Deadline: July 15, 2011

The Empowerment Grants support programs that leverage technology to build stronger communities and will provide non-profit organizations with funding to close the digital divide. Successful programs may include providing technology, and the skills needed to use it, for teachers, mentors and community leaders.

Successful applications must demonstrate the ways that digital technology can be used to further a non-profit organization’s mission. Examples include:
• Education - Building the classroom of the 21st century through incorporating technology
• Health and Wellness - Driving solutions around the issues of healthy behavior through the use of technology
• Community - Fostering innovation and creative solutions to community-based issues, including environmental issues, with technology tools

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – June 14, 2011

2011-06-14T12:19:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Arts

Arts in Media

Deadline: September 1, 2011

Grants are available to support the development, production, and national distribution of innovative media projects about the arts (e.g., visual arts, music, dance, literature, design, theater, musical theater, opera, folk & traditional arts, and media arts including film, audio, animation, and digital art) and media projects that can be considered works of art.

Projects may include high profile multi-part or single television and radio programs (documentaries and dramatic narratives); media created for theatrical release; performance programs; artistic segments for use within an existing series; multi-part webisodes; installations; and interactive games. Short films, five minutes and under, will be considered in packages of three or more.

Grants generally will range from $10,000 to $200,000, based on the platform and the complexity and scope of the project.

Community Development

Farmers Market Promotion Program

Deadline: July 1, 2011

The Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) was created through an amendment of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976. The grants, administered by the FMPP, are targeted to help improve and expand domestic farmers’ markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agri-tourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Approximately $5 million is allocated for FMPP for Fiscal Year 2010 and $10 million for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012. The maximum amount awarded for any one proposal cannot exceed $100,000. Entities eligible to apply include agricultural cooperatives, producer networks, producer associations, local governments, nonprofit corporations, public benefit corporations, economic development corporations, regional farmers’ market authorities and Tribal governments.

Fire Safety

Assistance to Firefighter Grants

Deadline: Application not yet released

Prepare now to apply for FY 2011 AFG funding! Important changes have been made to the AFG Program, and AFG staff have put together a presentation schedule for organizations to attend to learn about the changes before starting an application. The presentation power point is available online for those not able to attend one of the live presentations.

Seniors

Alzheimer’s Disease Demonstration Grants to States

Deadline: July 27, 2011

*Only State Units on Aging are eligible to apply, but nonprofit organizations and community health providers are necessary partners.

There are two parts to this funding opportunity:
1 - “Accelerating Integrated, Evidence-Based, and Sustainable Service Systems for Older Adults, Individuals with Disabilities and Family Caregivers”
2 - “Creating Dementia Capable, Sustainable Service Systems For Persons With Dementia And Their Family Caregivers”

The goal of this Program Announcement is to ensure that older adults, individuals with disabilities and family caregivers have clear and ready access to a sustainable, integrated system that offers a comprehensive set of high quality, evidence-based services that can help them remain independent and healthy in the community.

To achieve its goal, AoA will award fully funded 3-year cooperative agreements to successful applicants that agree to implement, and sustain a statewide, integrated service system on two levels:
1 - Between the state and local communities to implement, and sustain a statewide system.
2 - Across health and human service systems to streamline and facilitate enrollment in a comprehensive array of high quality services and supports. Page 4 of 89

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – June 7, 2011

2011-06-07T09:58:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Education

Investing in Innovation (I3)

Deadline: Optional Letter of Intent to Apply – June 23, 2011

Full Application – August 2, 2011

Key changes outlined by Dept. of Education for 2011 versus 2010:
• Funding Levels. The maximum awards for each i3 grant type for the 2011 i3 competition are:
o Scale-up: Up to $25 million
o Validation: Up to $15 million
o Development: Up to $3 million
• Absolute Priorities (APs). The 2011 competition now includes a total of five APs as noted below:
o Retaining: Teachers and Principals; Standards and Assessments; Low-Performing Schools
o Adding: Promoting STEM Education; Improving Rural Achievement

• Competitive Preference Priorities (CPPs). Applicants may identify no more than two CPPs for the purpose of earning competitive preference points. Applicants may address as many of the competitive preference priorities as needed for the purpose of providing a comprehensive description of their proposed projects. However, the Department will only review and award points for the maximum of two CPPs the applicant identifies. The 2011 competition now includes five CPPs as noted below:
o Retaining: Early Learning; College Access and Success; Students with Disabilities and Limited English Proficiency
o Adding: Productivity; Technology

Health

School-Based Comprehensive Oral Health Services Grant Program

Deadline: July 1, 2011

The purpose of the MCHB School-Based Comprehensive Oral Health Services (SBCOHS) grant program is to demonstrate the successful integration of comprehensive oral health care into an existing School Based Health Clinic, focused primarily on early childhood and elementary/middle-school aged children of greatest need to assure the delivery of quality oral health education and preventive and restorative services. By augmenting an existing school-based health care delivery system with culturally competent, comprehensive, quality oral health care and education, the funded MCHB SBCOHS projects will demonstrate effective ways to strengthen existing school-based health center capacity to respond to the oral health needs of young people and increase access to dental health education and services for underserved, high-risk populations, including children and youth enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Home Ownership

Wells Fargo - Homeownership Grant Program

Deadline: August 1, 2011 for October 2011 notification

The purpose of the homeownership grant program is to provide financial resources to local nonprofit housing organizations to create sustainable homeownership opportunities for low-to moderate-income people.

Wells Fargo Areas of Interest
• Construction/Rehab
For the development and pre-development of construction or rehab of owner-occupied homes
• Education, counseling and prevention
For homebuyer education, pre-and post-purchase counseling and foreclosure prevention
• Subsidies
For down payment and closing cost subsidies, interest rate buy downs and other subsidies that assist homebuyers/ homeowners to purchase or retain their homes
• Home repairs
For essential home repairs, purchases and modifications (e.g. repair or replacement of a furnace or to build a ramp for handicap accessibility)

Literacy

Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

Deadline: September 9, 2011

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is pleased to announce our 2012 National Grant competition. The Foundation's grant-making program seeks to develop or expand projects designed to support the development of literacy skills for adult primary care givers and their children. A total of approximately $650,000 will be awarded; no grant request should exceed $65,000.

In order to be considered eligible for a grant, an organization must meet the following criteria:
-The organization must have current nonprofit or public status and have been in existence for two or more years as of the date of the application
-The organization must have maintained fiscal accountability
-The organization must operate an instructional literacy program that has been in existence for at least 2 years, and includes one or more of the following components: literacy for adults; parent education; pre-literacy or literacy instruction for children pre-k to grade 3; intergenerational literacy activities.

Safety

Engaging Men in Preventing Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking Program

Deadline: Letter of Intent: June 16, 2011, Application: June 30, 2011

The Engaging Men Grant Program creates a unique opportunity for OVW to support projects that create public education campaigns and community organizing to encourage men and boys to work as allies with women and girls to prevent sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. Research shows that programs that simultaneously do community outreach, mobilization and mass-media campaigns are more effectiveness in producing behavior change in men and boys.2 These efforts will be conducted by community-based, state and tribal entities across the US.

This is the first time in the history of OVW that a grant program focuses primarily on the prevention of violence against women and girls and acknowledges the critical roles men play in this prevention. The program will support multi-faceted strategies that involve men as allies, active positive bystanders and influencers of other men and boys.

Seniors

Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards

Deadline: August 15, 2011

With support from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the Family Caregiver Alliance is accepting applications for the fourth annual Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards program. The program is designed to help stimulate innovation in the field of Alzheimer's caregiving by recognizing and rewarding efforts that lead the way in addressing the needs of Alzheimer's caregivers.

Three awards of $20,000 each will be awarded to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, government agencies, or universities responding to a community need with a program or project that focuses primarily on family/informal caregivers of adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Family or informal caregivers are unpaid caregivers. Only agencies operating within the continental United States are eligible to apply.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – May 31, 2011

2011-05-31T09:53:00.000-04:00

I hope that everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day!

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Arts/Culture

National Endowments for the Arts – Art Works

Deadline: August 11, 2011

To support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. Within these areas, innovative projects are strongly encouraged. An organization may request a grant amount from $10,000 to $100,000.

Leadership

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Program: Leadership Development Center of Excellence

Deadline: July 26, 2011

The Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces that competing applications will be accepted for a new grant to support a national CSBG Leadership Development Center of Excellence (LDCE). The LDCE will serve as a central gateway to high-quality and relevant leadership development T/TA activities, information, and resources, and develop a recommended approach for talent management within Community Action Agencies (CAAs) and other CSBG-eligible entities. The T/TA is intended to help these agencies prepare for transition into the next decade with the strongest talent available. This effort will focus on helping to ensure CAAs and other CSBG-eligible entities develop leadership with the broad range of skills (e.g., public administration, strategic planning, succession planning, financial management, human resource development, community relations, performance evaluation, and cultural competence) necessary for management of complex non-profit and public entities according to the high standards necessary for oversight of public funds. The core functions of the LDCE will be training and continuing education development and coordination, information collection and resource management, and information dissemination. Other key responsibilities of the LDCE will be to develop a strategy to partner with and support leadership development programs conducted through State CAA Associations and regional consortia.

Youth

Catalog of Giving of New York City

Deadline: June 30, 2011

Every three years, the Catalog selects ten programs to become “member organizations.” Selected organizations will be funded for three years. Because the Catalog seeks support from the funding community to support these organizations, the actual amount received varies from year to year, but is generally in the vicinity of $30,000-60,000 per fiscal year. Member organizations have the opportunity to optimize their level of support by actively participating in the Catalog’s fundraising activities.

Only organizations that meet all of the following criteria are eligible. Organizations must:
• Have as their primary mission the provision of direct services to low-income children or teens;
• Have an operating budget between $150,000 and $1.5 million per fiscal year;
• Be a certified 501(c)3 non-profit organization;
• Be independent and not a subsidiary or branch of a national organization;
• Be located and operate within New York City; and
• Have been in existence for at least 2 years, but no more than 10 years.

Sun Life Rising Star Awards

Deadline: July 1, 2011

To be considered for a Sun Life Rising Star Award, your organization should:
• be designated as not-for-profit and tax-exempt as defined by the Internal Revenue Service code,
• operate within (or within 40 miles of) one of the following locations: Boston, MA; Detroit, MI; Philadelphia, PA; Los Angeles, CA; or South Florida(includes the following counties: Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, Lee, Hendry, Collier, and Monroe),
• directly benefit secondary school youth, ages 21 and younger, in the area of education engagement and matriculation rates,
• demonstrated fiscal soundness,
• have clearly stated and measurable goals and objectives,
• seek funding for specific program support, and
• have at least a 3-year track record of success.

Each organization will also be required to nominate a student for a Sun Life Rising Star Award. Students may be nominated only through their supporting nonprofit organization.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane

Weekly Funding Opportunities Listing – May 24, 2011

2011-05-24T10:50:00.000-04:00

Below are funding opportunities of interest that I have learned about/received RFP notifications about in the past week that I wanted to share:

Health

American Medical Association Foundation

Deadline: July 15, 2011

In 2011, the Healthy Living Grant program will focus on medical-related organizations*, and will encourage collaboration with nonprofits, schools or government entities. Grants of up to $5,000 will support programs addressing three healthy lifestyles areas for children and youth ages 2–21:
• Nutrition and Physical Fitness: The proposed project must include at least one nutrition objective and at least one physical activity objective.
• Violence Prevention: Anti-bullying, domestic violence, suicide prevention, internet safety
• Prescription Drug Safety, supported by an unrestricted grant from Purdue Pharma L.P.: Educational and awareness programs about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, targeted to children, parents or schools.

Religious

Pastoral Study Project Program: The Louisville Institute

Deadline: August 15, 2011

The Louisville Institute offers a study project grant opportunity for pastoral leaders. Through its “Pastoral Study Project” program (PSP), the Institute offers pastoral leaders the opportunity to engage in thoughtful study and inquiry about issues related to Christian faith and practice, religious institutions, and/or the practice of ministry. The Institute believes that pastoral leaders have a particular and significant vantage point on the challenges and promises of faith, practice, and ministry; with adequate time and support, they can engage in research and writing that can make important and unique contributions to pressing issues of our times. This program seeks to create opportunities for pastoral leaders to develop and share their wisdom on important issues for Christian life and practice today, and thus extend their leadership in ways that can benefit both church and society.

The PSP program seeks to:
• Support the intellectual work of pastoral leaders who have the capacities for research, teaching, and writing that can reach broad audiences.
• Support first-rate inquiry and dissemination about (a) Christian faith and life, (b) religious institutions, and (c) pastoral leadership, so that the faith and life of all Christians, the vitality of their institutions, and the work of pastoral leaders might be strengthened.
• Identify pastoral leaders already working on these issues.
• Generate a broader conversation in the American academic and church communities about the nature of and challenges to contemporary Christian life, its institutions, and its leaders.

Youth

Tony Hawk Foundation

Deadline: July 1, 2011

The primary mission of the Tony Hawk Foundation is to promote high quality, public skateparks in low-income areas throughout the United States. The foundation primarily considers skatepark projects that:
1. are designed and built from concrete by qualified and experienced skatepark contractors.
2. include local skaters throughout the planning, fundraising, and design process.
3. are in low-income areas and/or areas with a high population of "at-risk" youth.
4. can demonstrate a strong grassroots commitment to the project, particularly in the form of fundraising by local skateboarders and other community groups.
5. have a creative mix of street obstacles (rails, ledges, stairs, etc.) and transition/vert terrain (quarterpipes, bowls, halfpipes, etc.)
6. don’t require skaters or their parents to sign waivers.
7. encourage skaters to look after their own safety and the safety of others without restricting their access to the park or over-regulating their use of it.
8. are open during daylight hours, 365 days a year.
9. don’t charge an entrance fee.
10. are in areas that currently have no skateboarding facilities.

Please feel free to pass this listing along to your colleagues. It may also be viewed by visiting Grantwriter's Blog directly, or in your email inbox by subscribing to the email feed. If you have any funding announcements that you think would be helpful to colleagues and would like to have listed in the weekly update, please pass them along!

Best wishes for continued success in your grant seeking efforts!

Diane