GrantStation Insider: January 4, 2024

Application deadline: February 1, 2024
Grant amount: 20 one-year grants of $15,000 and 20 two-year grants of either $25,000 or $50,000 per year will be provided.
Description: The Aim High grant program, funded by the New York Life Foundation and administered by the Afterschool Alliance, provides support nationwide for out-of-school time programs serving middle school youth. The aim is to support local community-based after-school and summer learning programs in providing the foundational skills and guidance that middle school students need to be prepared for the transition into high school. For 2024, twenty one-year grants of $15,000 each will be awarded: ten for programs’ efforts around racial equity and social justice and ten for programs’ efforts around youth entrepreneurship. Twenty two-year grants of either $25,000 per year or $50,000 per year will support programs in enhancing direct service activities, technical assistance, capacity building, and their efforts in continuing to serve youth while facing the challenges of the pandemic and beyond. Funded programs must serve a high percentage—at least 75 percent—of low-income youth.

Application deadline: February 1, 2024
Grant amount: $50,000 to $150,000
Description: The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund advances place-based cultural heritage preservation projects for historic places representing African American cultural heritage. The Fund’s National Grant Program supports ongoing preservation activities for historic places such as sites, museums, and landscapes that represent African American cultural heritage. Funding is provided in four primary areas: capital projects, organizational capacity building, project planning, and programming and interpretation. Public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including state and local preservation organizations, churches, private colleges and universities, historic sites, museums, historical societies, and genealogical associations, are eligible to apply. (The Fund’s Conserving Black Modernism grant program, supporting the preservation of modern architectural sites designed by Black architects, is also open for application.)

Application deadline: January 29, 2024, for letters of intent
Geographic scope: United States and Canada
Grant amount: Grants range from $25,000 to $200,000 for up to two years; the budget for any one year cannot exceed $125,000.
Description: The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation is dedicated to supporting programs and scientific research to improve the quality of life for those affected by and living with spinal cord injury. Through Community Support Grants, the Foundation's Creating Opportunity & Independence portfolio supports nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada providing programs and services that are community-driven, empowering, and inclusive of all ages and backgrounds to improve quality of life for individuals living with spinal cord injury. Areas of interest include arts, sports and recreation, assistive technology, education, employment, independent living, and rehabilitation. Support is provided for projects, programs, and capacity building.

Application deadline: February 11, 2024
Geographic scope: United States, including U.S. territories
Grant amount: Typically $2,500 to $10,000
Description: The Snapdragon Book Foundation provides funds to improve school libraries for disadvantaged children in the United States. Grants are awarded to public, private, and experimental schools that serve disadvantaged children in pre-K through grade 12. The Foundation believes that access to high-quality reading material is essential in helping to right inequities created by structural racism and is committed to awarding grants to libraries whose proposals pursue the opening of minds, hearts, and imagination for all readers. Grants may be used to purchase books that will be used repeatedly by school-aged children through classroom or central libraries, processing or cataloging fees from book vendors for the books ordered in conjunction with a Snapdragon project, reference materials for use by students, and magazine or newspaper subscriptions.

Application deadlines: Applications are reviewed quarterly. Visit the Foundation’s website for the upcoming application deadlines.
Geographic scope: Communities within the Peoples Bank footprint in OH, WV, KY, VA, DC, and MD, as well as Burlington, VT; Excelsior, MN; and Lee’s Summit, MO
Description: The Peoples Bank Foundation provides support to nonprofit organizations working to improve the quality of life for individuals and families within the Peoples Bank footprint of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland, as well as Burlington, VT; Lee’s Summit, MO; and Excelsior, MN. Support is provided for local programs that help low- to moderate-income individuals and families. Areas of interest include community investment and economic development, youth and education, health and human services, arts and culture, and the environment.

Application deadline: The quarterly application deadlines are the first business day of March, June, September, and December, annually.
Geographic scope: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas
Grant amount: Up to $2,000,000
Description: The Mabee Foundation provides support to nonprofit organizations in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas for construction projects, building renovation projects, and the purchase of major medical equipment. Generally, the Foundation supports educational, social and humanitarian, medical and health, and cultural and religious organizations or projects. The Foundation provides up to 20% of the total costs of a project, up to a maximum of $2,000,000. Forty percent of the total project cost must be raised from other public donors at the time an application is submitted, and the remaining funds required to finish a project must be raised within one year of the awarding of the grant.

Application deadline: February 15, 2024
Geographic scope: Maine
Grant amount: Up to $10,000
Description: The Maine Community Foundation’s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Fund supports organizations that serve people of Native American, Latino, African, Arab, and Asian descent. The goal of the grant program is to help Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Maine achieve greater equity by investing in existing, new, and emerging leadership and nonprofit organizations; changing policies and practices that negatively impact Black, Indigenous, and people of color because of their race; and supporting efforts to alleviate the impact of race-based discrimination and disparities. Areas of interest include racial equity, health, leadership development, and economic opportunity. Eligible applicant organizations must have offered programming in the last year focused on serving mostly Black, Indigenous, and people of color; include BIPOC individuals in leadership positions; and involve BIPOC individuals in the design, delivery, and evaluation of the programs and services. Flexible funding is available and may be used for programmatic and operating needs.

Application deadline: None for grant interest forms
Geographic scope: Nebraska
Description: The Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation provides grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and government entities that operate in Nebraska or benefit Nebraskans. The Foundation strives to make a difference in people's lives. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, education, the arts, the environment, support for the disadvantaged, and human services.

Application deadline: February 5, 2024
Description: The Reducing Indoor Air Risks program is soliciting applications from eligible entities to conduct demonstration, technical assistance, training, education, or outreach projects that seek to reduce exposure to indoor air contaminants by advancing national policy and systems-level initiatives. Programs should address one or more of the EPA Indoor Air Program priority areas of radon, indoor environmental asthma triggers, or comprehensive indoor air risk reduction.

Grants.gov deadline: February 15, 2024
Applicant portal deadline: February 28, 2024
Description: The Grants for Arts Projects program supports opportunities for public engagement with the arts and arts education, for the integration of the arts with strategies promoting the health and well-being of people and communities, and for the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector. The program funds arts projects in the following disciplines: artist communities, arts education, dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literary arts, local arts agencies, media arts, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting and multidisciplinary arts, theater, and visual arts.

Are you looking to establish a nonprofit or church but aren’t sure where to start? If so, you may want to read The Abundant Nonprofit 501(c)(3): A Beginner's Guide to Successfully Starting a Charity or Church. Written by Aretha Janine Simons, this book is a "how to" guide for starting, growing, and maintaining a nonprofit or church 501(c)(3) organization. It provides step-by-step guidelines for starting a nonprofit, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of starting a nonprofit, outlines record keeping and annual requirements, and provides tips for grantwriting, fundraising, and strategic planning. It also includes a special section for church or religious organizations. In addition, Aretha is hosting a free webinar on January 11, 2024, titled Establishing a 501(c)(3) for Your Church or Ministry, which you can sign up for here.

Webinar date: January 8, 2024, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: AI can help your organization increase its productivity. As a writing assistant, it can help streamline your work so you can complete grant proposals in less time. But in order to harness the power of AI, you need to understand its strengths and weaknesses. During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will provide you with a broad overview of the AI landscape so you’re more familiar with this emerging technology. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of AI so you can properly consider whether to use these tools within your organization. (This session is part of a full TargetED series: AI for Nonprofits.)

Webinar date: January 11, 2024, 2:00 to 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Description: Is your church or faith-based group struggling to secure funding for crucial community programs, such as hunger relief or community and economic development? Without 501(c)(3) status, grant funding often remains out of reach. It might be time to consider a game-changing approach: creating a separate nonprofit 501(c)(3) that can help your ministry access new funding streams and make an even bigger impact beyond your congregation. In this practical, interactive webinar led by Aretha Simons, a renowned national speaker and former grantwriter, you’ll discover the benefits of creating a separate 501(c)(3) entity versus relying solely on your church budget, steps to formally establish a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and more.

Webinar date: January 16, 2024, 2:00 to 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Description: Philanthropy is always evolving, and being up to date on current trends can provide numerous benefits. During this webinar with Alice Ruhnke, President of GrantStation, you’ll learn about current giving trends and how you can maximize your grant strategies. The webinar will delve into three crucial areas and equip you with immediate action steps you can take to enhance your grantseeking and proposal development for 2024.

I began working for GrantStation in 2003, my first job after graduating from college, when GrantStation was still based in an office in my hometown of Fairbanks, AK. I settled into the research department, primarily helping to keep the information in the U.S. database up to date. After leaving for a couple of years to pursue other activities, I rejoined the GrantStation team in 2009, and have been on board part time since then, through the completion of my master’s degree, an international move, and the arrival of my children.

Since returning, I have been involved in building out GrantStation’s Canadian and international databases, which profile funders providing support in Canada at the local, provincial, and national level as well as funders working in all parts of the world, from individual countries, to continents, to globally. I continue to work primarily in these databases, updating the information and researching and adding new funders.

In addition, I edit the GrantStation Insider, our weekly newsletter focused on funding opportunities and other news of interest to organizations in the United States. The Insider is available to anyone, at no cost. (You do not have to be a GrantStation Member to receive it.) If you, or someone you know, is interested in signing up, you can do so here!

I am excited to be a part of providing important information to the wide range of nonprofit organizations and other institutions we serve, and look forward to continuing to do this. Please reach out to me if you have a question or comment about the international database, Canadian database, or the Insider.

Have you visited our homepage this week? Additional local, national, Canadian, and international funding opportunities are featured there weekly! Current opportunities include the Sweet Justice Foundation (U.S. national), Pacific Power: Blue Sky (U.S. local: CA, OR, and WA), the Foundation for Black Communities: Black Ideas Grant (Canada), and the Democracy at Work Fund (Asia, Africa, and Latin America).