GrantStation Insider: March 25, 2021

COVID-19 | National | Regional | Federal | PathFinder | Online Education | Announcements | Subscribe

COVID-19 Related Funding
Opportunities related to the COVID-19 pandemic

Current COVID-19 funding opportunities are available on our website.

National Funding
Opportunities throughout the U.S.

Support for Landscape Conservation Collaborations
Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund
The Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund, an initiative of the Network for Landscape Conservation, is intended to help accelerate the pace of landscape conservation across the United States. The Fund makes strategic investments in strengthening the collaborative capacity and process of place-based, community-grounded Landscape Conservation Partnerships. A portion of the Fund is reserved specifically to advance Indigenous leadership in landscape conservation. One- or two-year grants of $10,000 to $25,000 will be provided. The proposal deadline is April 23, 2021. Visit the Network for Landscape Conservation website to download the 2021 Request for Proposals.

Innovative K-12 Projects Funded
Voya Unsung Heroes
The Voya Unsung Heroes program provides grants to K-12 educators nationwide with effective and innovative projects that improve student learning. Full-time educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, and classified staff employed by accredited K-12 public or private schools in the United States are eligible to apply. Each year 50 finalists are selected to receive a $2,000 award. Of the 50 finalists, three are selected for additional awards: $25,000 for first place, $10,000 for second place, and $5,000 for third place. All awards must be used to further the projects within the school or school system. The application deadline is April 30, 2021. Visit the Voya Unsung Heroes website to learn more about the program and to submit an online application.

Grants Promote Physical Activities for Native Youth in the U.S. and Canada
Nike N7 Fund
The N7 Fund, an initiative of Nike, is committed to creating early positive experiences in sports and physical activity for Native American and Indigenous youth in Canada and the United States. The N7 Fund provides grants to nonprofit organizations, federally-recognized tribes, and registered First Nations serving the Native American or Indigenous communities in the United States and Canada that provide programs with a sports or physical activity focus for youth 18 years of age or younger. The application deadline is April 16, 2021. Visit the Nike website to learn more about the N7 Fund.

Animal Shelter Improvements Supported
American Humane: Meacham Foundation Memorial Grant
The Meacham Foundation Memorial Grant program, administered by American Humane, provides support to nonprofit organizations and public agencies throughout the U.S. for shelter expansion or improvement. Grants must be used to increase or improve the quality of care given to animals. Examples of supported projects include animal environment enrichment, equipment for veterinary care or for spay/neuter procedures, kennel or cattery renovation, capital campaigns, and equipment that positively impacts the welfare of animals in the shelter. Grants range up to $4,000. The upcoming application deadline is April 30, 2021. Visit the American Humane website after April 1, 2021, to submit an online application.

Regional Funding
Opportunities for specific geographic areas

Funds for Youth-Led Urban Greening Programs on the East Coast
Cedar Tree Foundation: Rooted in Justice
Rooted in Justice, a new initiative of the Cedar Tree Foundation, supports community-based organizations and groups in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Grants ranging from $20,000 to $25,000 will be provided specifically to manage youth-led urban greening programs in order to help amplify youth voices in the environmental, conservation, and food movements. The focus is on organizations, groups, collectives, and programs that work with young people between the ages of 12 to 20 in youth-led programming for communities that have historically and/or presently experienced the following: 1) a lack of access to land or nature; 2) agricultural oppression and/or neglect; 3) food apartheid; or 4) other forms of injustice based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, or disability. The application deadline is April 30, 2021. The request for proposals for the Rooted in Justice initiative is available on the Cedar Tree Foundation's website.

Grants Enhance Environmental Protection Efforts in the Rocky Mountain Region
Maki Foundation
The Maki Foundation provides support to nonprofit organizations that promote environmental protection in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. In particular, the Foundation is concerned with the preservation of the Rocky Mountain West's remaining wild lands, rivers, and wilderness, as well as the wildlife that depends on these lands. Grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 are generally provided to small local and regional grassroots organizations working to protect public lands and rivers from threats such as mineral development, unconstrained off-road vehicle use, and poorly planned water projects. The application deadline is April 30, 2021. (Organizations that have not previously received Foundation support should submit a one-page letter of inquiry prior to applying.) Visit the Foundation's website to learn more about the Foundation's priorities.

Support for Grassroots Social Justice Initiatives in Central Appalachia
Appalachian Community Fund: General Fund
The Appalachian Community Fund (ACF) encourages grassroots social change in Central Appalachia (eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and all of West Virginia). ACF's General Fund provides grants of up to $3,000 to grassroots groups that are working for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice in Central Appalachia. Applying organizations must be community-led, community-driven, and community-based. The focus is on organizations with budgets of less than $250,000. Awarded funds may be used for general support purposes as well as specific projects or programs. The application deadline is April 30, 2021. Visit ACF's website to review the funding guidelines and application information.

Sponsorships for Social and Environmental Work on the West Coast
Beneficial State Foundation Sponsorship Program
The Beneficial State Foundation Sponsorship Program supports nonprofit organizations in the communities the bank serves in California, Oregon, and Washington. Event sponsorships of up to $1,000 are provided to organizations that are engaged in transformative social and environmental work. Focus areas include affordable housing and multi-family housing; arts, culture, and community building; education and youth development; beneficial financial services; economic, business, and job development; making, manufacturing, and production; social justice; environmental sustainability; health and well-being; and healthy food. Sponsorship applications are reviewed throughout the year, and must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the event. Visit the Foundation's website to submit an online sponsorship request form.

Federal Funding
Opportunities from the U.S. government

Program Supports Service Learning in Agriculture and the Food System
Department of Agriculture
The Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program seeks to increase the knowledge of agricultural science and improve the nutritional health of children. The Program's goal is to increase the capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education within host organizations or entities, such as school cafeterias and classrooms, while fostering higher levels of community engagement between farms and school systems by bringing together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system. The Program is part of a broader effort to not only increase access to school meals for low-income children, but also to dramatically improve their quality. The application deadline is May 3, 2021.

Funds Available to Modify Homes for Low-Income Seniors
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Older Adult Home Modification Program supports comprehensive programs that make safety and functional home modifications and limited repairs to meet the needs of low-income elderly homeowners. The goal of the Program is to enable low-income elderly persons to remain in their homes through low-cost, low-barrier, high-impact home modifications to reduce older adults' risk of falling, improve general safety, increase accessibility, and to improve their functional abilities in their home. This will enable older adults to remain in their homes—that is, to "age in place"—rather than move to nursing homes or other assisted care facilities. The application deadline is May 4, 2021.

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

Women Give 2021: How Households Make Giving Decisions
Are you a fundraiser looking to understand family giving dynamics? If so, you may want to read the latest report from the Women's Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. This report, which is titled Women Give 2021: How Households Make Giving Decisions, explores charitable giving decision-making in the general population. Analyzing the first new data on this topic for 15 years, the report finds that household giving dynamics are changing, with fewer couples making decisions jointly. It provides fundraisers and advisors with actionable insights to engage donors and clients.

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.

Growing Your Grants Readiness (NEW)
What does it take to be a successful grantseeking organization? Success in grantsmanship involves much more than being able to write a good proposal. As an organization, you must also have the right culture, the right values, the right tools, and the right resources in place to support your grantseeking process and manage your grant-funded programs and services well on behalf of your funder and the community you serve. In this lively, interactive session, Maryn Boess will explain how to lay the groundwork for effective grantsmanship in both your organization's culture and its practices. You'll understand the importance of mission-driven grantsmanship—and why its opposite will undermine your organization's health and success. You'll be able to identify your organization's needs and resources to support a systematic and strategic grantseeking process. You'll gain a clear, powerful, flexible framework for developing and strengthening financial and program accountability. BONUS: You'll be introduced to GrantsMagic U's exclusive Grants Readiness Assessment Checklist—a detailed tool to help you identify what vital grants-readiness resources and practices are already working well in your organization, and where changes and improvements need to be made in order to make sure your organization is truly "grants ready"! The webinar will be held on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

Trauma-Informed Nonprofit Leadership (NEW)
While there is a thriving literature on "secondary trauma" in clinical psychology, social work, and stress management, little is still known about how secondary trauma emerges in nonprofit organizations. Also known as "vicarious trauma" or "compassion fatigue," secondary trauma refers to an emotional state in which an individual (e.g., a staff person or volunteer) experiences the pain, sadness, distress, or other negative emotion of a second individual (e.g., an organizational client). For instance, a counselor listens to the reactions of a client to traumatic situations, which indirectly produce distress and traumatization in the counselor. Think second-hand smoke: the client transmits, through emotional contagion, their trauma to the nonprofit staff member. The staff member, in turn, experiences some of the same effects of trauma as the client: stress, burnout, difficulty trusting others, and disillusionment with society. In the case of the staff person, this erosion of trust and disillusionment can extend to the organization if secondary trauma is not carefully managed. Based on Dr. Anthony Silard's research with over 150 secondary-trauma-affected nonprofit executive directors, staff, and volunteers, in this session you will learn how secondary trauma emerges in nonprofit organizations. You will then learn how you, as a nonprofit leader, can guide a high-performance organization into the future by interacting with secondary-trauma-affected team members so they can both make sense of and find meaning in their trauma and retain their productivity. Following this session, participants will be able to identify the role of secondary trauma in nonprofit organizations, understand how to manage secondary-trauma-affected staff and volunteers, distinguish the intrapersonal and organizational outcomes of secondary trauma in nonprofit organizations, develop strategies for detecting and responding to secondary trauma, and discuss the potential benefits of secondary trauma to individual and organizational development. The webinar will be held on Thursday, April 15, 2021.

Writing Capacity Building Grants
Capacity building grants are unique. While many best practices in writing operational or program grant requests apply to developing capacity building grant requests, there are some critical differences that need to be addressed to create the strongest application possible. During the 90-minute webinar, Alice Ruhnke will define and discuss the fundamentals of capacity building grant requests, highlight the key components that differ from "regular" grants, and outline ways to identify funders who provide capacity building grants. Throughout the session, common mistakes in writing capacity building grant requests will be discussed and remedied. This webinar is appropriate for individuals who have a basic understanding of grant fundamentals and would like to apply those concepts specifically to capacity building grants. The webinar will be held on Thursday, April 22, 2021.

GrantStation Announcements
The latest updates from GrantStation

How Was Your Year in Grantseeking?

The State of Grantseeking Survey spotlights recent developments in funding so that organizations can be more strategic in their grantseeking. This year we have a special section specific to the pandemic and its effect on your world.

The resulting—free—State of Grantseeking reports, published in May and June, serve as valuable analytic tools for organizations to review their grantseeking efforts, report on performance, and plan for the future. The benchmarks suggest reasonable levels of funding to expect for an organization based on median awards by organizational budget and mission. This leading-edge information is key data for all organizations.

Please join thousands of others who find value in the State of Grantseeking reports. Complete this survey by March 31, 2021, to offer your insights for the upcoming report.

Funding Alerts

Interested in GrantStation's funder profiles? View the weekly Funding Alerts to see profiles of grantmakers currently accepting applications.

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Editor: Julie Kaufman
Copy Editor: Ashlyn Simmons
Contributing Writer: Kevin Peters