GrantStation Insider: March 23, 2023

Volume XXII | Issue 12

Special Opportunities | National | Regional | Federal | PathFinder | Online Education | Announcements | Subscribe

 

Special Funding Opportunities
Opportunities related to specific current issues

Current funding opportunities for COVID-19 and Ukraine are available to the public on our website.

 

National Funding
Opportunities throughout the U.S.

$250 Million Available to Advance Opportunities for the Vulnerable 
Lever for Change: Yield Giving Open Call

The Yield Giving Open Call, managed by Lever for Change, will award unrestricted gifts of $1 million to 250 community-led, community-focused organizations that explicitly advance the voices and opportunities of the most vulnerable in the United States, including individuals and families of meager or modest means and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles. The goal is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources, including access to healthcare, stable and affordable housing, education and job training, support for sustained employment, asset ownership, civic engagement, and other pathways. Nonprofit organizations from across the United States and U.S. territories with annual operating budgets of no less than $1 million and no greater than $5 million for at least two of the last four fiscal years are eligible to apply. Interested organizations must register by May 5, 2023. Complete applications are due June 12, 2023. Visit the Lever for Change website to learn more and register online.

Funding Promotes Services for Relatives Acting as Parents
Brookdale Foundation Group: Relatives As Parents Program

The Brookdale Foundation Group works to improve the lives of senior citizens in the United States. Brookdale Foundation Group's Relatives As Parents Program promotes services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting when the biological parents are unable to do so. Through the 2023 request for proposals, nonprofit organizations throughout the United States are eligible to apply for support to start new or expand current supportive services to relative caregivers and the children they are raising, with emphasis on relative caregiving families that are not in the formal foster care system. Selected programs will receive grants of $20,000 in year one with an opportunity for a second-tier grant of $10,000, contingent upon progress made during year one and potential for continuity in the future, as well as training and technical assistance. Public state agencies are also eligible to apply for support to generate new relative caregiver activities, locally and statewide. The application deadline is June 22, 2023. Visit the Brookdale Foundation Group website to download the application guidelines and forms.

Innovative K-12 Classroom Projects Supported
Voya Unsung Heroes

The Voya Unsung Heroes program seeks to reward excellence in U.S. schools by funding innovative K-12 classroom projects. Each year, 50 educators are selected to receive $2,000 to help fund their innovative class projects that improve student learning. Three of those are chosen to receive the top awards of an additional $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000. Applicants must be full-time educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, or classified staff that are employed by an accredited K-12 public or private school located in the United States. The application deadline is April 28, 2023. Visit the Voya website to apply online.

Grants Enable Experimental Theater Productions
Venturous Theater Fund: Venturous Capital Grants

Venturous Theater Fund's Venturous Capital Grants support the production of venturous new plays at small and medium-sized theaters in the United States. Grants support text-based, author-driven new plays that are challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, ambitious in scale or scope, unabashedly theatrical, or experimental in concept. Funding is provided for extraordinary costs that are integral to the plays' production, and which might otherwise make them difficult or impossible to produce. Funded productions must be produced in the United States by a small or medium-sized nonprofit (or fiscally sponsored) theater, offer reasonable compensation to the author, be produced under an AEA collective bargaining agreement with a minimum of two performers employed on an AEA contract, and be full productions open to the general public for a run of at least 13 performances. Grants range from $5,000 to $30,000, with grants above $25,000 awarded only in extraordinary circumstances. Letters of inquiry are reviewed twice a year; the 2023 deadlines are June 1 and December 1. Visit the Fund's website to review the requirements for the Venturous Capital Grants.

 

Regional Funding
Opportunities for specific geographic areas

Media Initiatives Strengthening Democracy Funded in Key States
New Media Ventures: Voices for Democracy Open Call

New Media Ventures (NMV) invests in entrepreneurs and activists wrestling with the biggest challenges facing democracy. Through the new Voices for Democracy pooled fund, NMV seeks to invest in and scale an ecosystem of diverse, grassroots voices and media outlets in key states, including Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Funding will be provided to early-stage nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies in categories including emerging media properties and platforms with a culture-first approach; community-based reporting reaching underserved or overlooked audiences; innovative, idea-stage proposals and experiments leveraging media and tech; organizing and advocacy groups developing impactful narratives and communication strategies; and tech tools and platforms driving participation or measuring impact. NMV is looking for scalable solutions from diverse, mission-driven teams with a pro-democracy point of view. Selected organizations will receive $25,000 to $50,000 in funding, typically given as unrestricted grants to nonprofits and investments in for-profits (most often via convertible notes), as well as other networking and cohort support. Applications will be accepted until May 22, 2023. Visit the NMV website to submit an application online.

Support Benefits Company Communities in 35 States
Kroger Charitable Giving

Kroger's charitable giving is committed to supporting nonprofit organizations in communities where Kroger Family of Companies operates in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Support may also be provided to national initiatives. Focus areas of support include Zero Hunger | Zero Waste, the company's commitment to ending hunger in its communities and eliminating waste across the company; diversity and inclusion; health and nutrition; and stronger communities. Support is provided through The Kroger Co. Foundation, primarily focused on ending hunger, improving food security, and bringing balanced meals to families who need it most, and The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, focused on scalable and innovative solutions to help create communities free of hunger and waste. Sponsorships, gift card donations, and in-kind or product donations are also provided. Requests are accepted from 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit organizations throughout the year; grant requests from the foundations are processed quarterly. Visit the Kroger website to access the online application portal.

Grants Bolster Health Programs in Pennsylvania and West Virginia
Highmark Foundation

The Highmark Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations for programs aimed at improving community health in Pennsylvania (with the exception of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties) and West Virginia. Grantmaking is focused on programs addressing chronic disease, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, kidney disease, stroke, and diabetes; family health, including bullying prevention, maternal health, obesity prevention, senior health, and nutrition; and service delivery systems, including primary health and dental care, coordination of services, access to care, and capacity building. Programs eligible for Foundation support include evidence-based demonstrations, pilot projects, model programs, expansion plans, and well-established initiatives. Ideally, the Foundation seeks to support programs that impact multiple counties and attract collaborative funding from community partners. Applications may be submitted at any time and are reviewed three times annually. Visit the Foundation's website to access the online application portal.

Idaho Nonprofit Organizations Supported
Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation

The Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation is dedicated to advancing the state of Idaho. The Foundation provides support to nonprofit organizations serving Idaho communities in a variety of areas. Particular grantmaking priorities include rural healthcare, educational programs for children, and programs in underserved communities and for underserved populations. The Foundation does not limit giving to a certain type of program or need, e.g. programs, equipment, bricks and mortar, and salaries and benefits; however, administrative costs are not preferred. The application deadline is May 1, 2023. Application guidelines and the online application are available on the Foundation's website.

 

Federal Funding
Opportunities from the U.S. government

Funds Available for Adaptive Housing for Veterans
Department of Veterans Affairs

The Specially Adapted Housing Assistive Technology Grant Program encourages the development of new assistive technologies for specially adapted housing. Examples of emerging technologies that could improve home adaptions or enhance the ability to live independently include modifying existing software applications for use with smart home devices, upgrading existing shower pan designs to support wheelchairs, using existing modular construction methods to improve bathroom accessibility, or using existing proximity technology to develop an advanced application tailored to blind users. The application deadline is April 13, 2023.

Program Helps At-Risk Foster Youth
Department of Justice

The Supporting Vulnerable and At-Risk Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care initiative supports the establishment of pilot demonstration programs to develop, implement, and build replicable treatment models for residential-based innovative care, treatment, and services. The primary population served by such pilot programs includes adolescents and youth transitioning out of foster care who have experienced a history of foster care involvement, child poverty, child abuse or neglect, human trafficking, juvenile justice involvement, substance use or misuse, or gang involvement. The initiative supports services to youth and young adults up to and including age 25. Applications are due to grants.gov by April 19, 2023. The JustGrants deadline is May 3, 2023.

 

PathFinder: Featured Resource
A library of quality resources designed to help you develop your career path as a grants professional

Renewed Push for Universal Charitable Deduction
Are you interested in how tax laws might be affecting individual donations to your organization? Are you looking to keep up on the latest developments in this area? If so, you might want to read the article titled "Renewed Push for Universal Charitable Deduction." Published on the For Purpose Law Group website, this article discusses recent efforts to expand and extend the expired non-itemized deduction for charitable giving in the United States.

 

Upcoming Online Education Trainings
Live Webinars

Unless otherwise noted, all Online Education Trainings are webinars,
are 90 minutes in duration, and are scheduled to begin
at 2 PM Eastern Time.

Your Money Story: How to Talk About and Ask for Money
The most important fundraising question isn't how much money you need. A better question is what more money makes possible. During this session, master storyteller and fundraising culture change expert Lori L. Jacobwith will show you how to talk about money as a fundraising strategy. You'll discover how to share "mission moment" stories that include your money story. Plan to move past fear or hesitancy to talk about money by learning the best way to engage people's heads and hearts. You'll walk away ready to powerfully include your money story in any and all fundraising communication. The webinar will be held on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

Proposal Writing 101
From start to finish, your proposals must tell a strong, consistent story. However, accomplishing this across the unique sections of an application is not always straightforward. Grantmakers make it even more challenging by using different terms that often mean the same thing. When you're new to proposal writing, it can feel like an overwhelming task, but it's important to remember that you don’t have to be perfect to begin your proposal writing journey! It is a skill that you will develop and refine over time. During this webinar, Alice Ruhnke will walk you through a systematic process to apply to all your grantseeking efforts in order to reduce the stress related to proposal writing. She'll introduce a planning tool that can be used again and again by your organization, saving you time and energy in your grantseeking efforts. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

2023 Funding Trends: How to Maximize Your Efforts
Integrating current philanthropic trends into your proposals can make them more competitive. But in order to take advantage of the current interests of grantmakers, you must keep up with what is happening in the world of philanthropy, which unfortunately can be very time consuming. During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will highlight important trends which are relevant to your grantseeking in 2023. She'll explore the larger trends in grantmaking which can make your proposals more successful. These trends center around building movements, developing leaders, shifting cultures, creating an inclusive economy, and defending democracy. The webinar will be held on Monday, April 3, 2023.

 

GrantStation Announcements
The latest updates from GrantStation

Looking for Help Searching for Funding?
Learn more about funding searches with GrantStation. Watch any of these short mission-based videos for tips and techniques. This video for music missions features a search for a symphony orchestra that also offers youth education programs.


Funding Alerts
Have you visited our homepage this week? Additional local, national, Canadian, and international funding opportunities are featured there weekly!

 


Information contained in the GrantStation Insider may not be
posted, reprinted, redistributed, or sold without permission.

Editor: Ashlyn Simmons
Copy Editor: Diana Holder
Contributing Writer: Kevin Peters

National Funding Opportunities
$250 Million Available to Advance Opportunities for the Vulnerable
Funding Promotes Services for Relatives Acting as Parents
Innovative K-12 Classroom Projects Supported
Grants Enable Experimental Theater Productions

Regional Funding Opportunities
Media Initiatives Strengthening Democracy Funded in Key States
Support Benefits Company Communities in 35 States
Grants Bolster Health Programs in Pennsylvania and West Virginia
Idaho Nonprofit Organizations Supported

Federal Funding Opportunities
Funds Available for Adaptive Housing for Veterans
Program Helps At-Risk Foster Youth