GrantStation Insider - March 29, 2018

National | Regional | Federal | PathFinder | Announcements | Online Education

National Funding
Opportunities Throughout the U.S.

Support for Citizen Education Initiatives
The Herb Block Foundation: Encouraging Citizen Involvement
The Herb Block Foundation is committed to defending the basic freedoms guaranteed all Americans, combating all forms of discrimination and prejudice, and improving the conditions of the poor and underprivileged. Through the Encouraging Citizen Involvement grant program, the Foundation seeks to ensure a responsible, responsive democratic government. The focus is on projects that promote citizen education and greater voter participation in the electoral process. All projects must be nonpartisan and may not involve lobbying for specific legislation or candidates. Nonprofit organizations throughout the United States are eligible to apply. The deadline for letters of inquiry is June 5, 2018; invited proposals must be submitted by August 8, 2018. Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about the application procedure.

Medical Student Programs to Address Mental Illness Funded
American Psychiatric Association Foundation: Helping Hands Grant Program
The American Psychiatric Association Foundation is dedicated to advancing public understanding of mental illnesses. The Foundation’s Helping Hands Grant Program was established to encourage medical students to participate in community service activities, to raise awareness of mental illness and the importance of early recognition of illness, and to build medical students’ interest in psychiatry and working in underserved communities. The program provides grants of up to $5,000 to medical schools for mental health and substance use disorder projects that are created and managed by medical students, particularly in underserved minority communities. Funded projects can be conducted in partnership with community agencies or in conjunction with ongoing medical school outreach activities. Applications must be postmarked by May 31, 2018. Application guidelines and forms are available on the Foundation’s website.

Grants Enhance Services for Surrogate Parents
Brookdale Foundation Group: Relatives as Parents Program
The Brookdale Foundation Group works to advance the fields of geriatrics and gerontology and to improve the lives of senior citizens. The Foundation’s Relatives as Parents Program provides support for the creation or expansion of services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting when the biological parents are unable to do so. Funded programs must include supportive services to relative caregivers and the children they are raising, with emphasis on families that are not in the formal foster care system. Programs must also include regular ongoing support, and educational or social groups for relative caregivers and the children in their care. Up to 15 programs will receive a seed grant of $15,000 ($10,000 and $5,000 respectively), contingent on progress made during year one and potential for continuity in the future. Nonprofit organizations from throughout the country are eligible to apply. (State agencies in selected states may also apply.) The application deadline is June 13, 2018. Visit the Brookdale Foundation Group’s website to download the guidelines and application forms.

Wilderness Preservation Efforts in the U.S. and Canada Supported
Fund for Wild Nature
The Fund for Wild Nature provides grants to grassroots nonprofit organizations in the United States and Canada for campaigns to save native species and wild ecosystems, with particular emphasis on actions to defend threatened wilderness and biological diversity. Priority is given to ecological issues that are not receiving sufficient public attention or funding. Grants, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000, are provided for advocacy, litigation, public policy work, development of citizen science, and similar endeavors. The Fund does not support proposals from organizations with budgets of over $250,000 annually. The application deadlines are May 1 and October 1 of each year. Application guidelines and forms are available on the Fund’s website.

Regional Funding
Opportunities for Specific Areas

Funds for Cultural Arts Education Programs in Louisiana
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation: Community Partnership Grant Program
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is dedicated to promoting the music, arts, culture, and heritage of communities in Louisiana. The Foundation's Community Partnership Grant Program supports nonprofit organizations and educational institutions throughout the state in the following categories: Jazz & Heritage After-School and Summer Education Programs in Music, Arts, and Cultural Traditions; Jazz & Heritage In-School Education Programs in Music, Arts, and Cultural Traditions; Jazz & Heritage Presenting: Festivals and Concerts in Music and Performing Arts; and Jazz & Heritage Archive: Documentation and Preservation. Grants of up to $5,000 are provided; a one-to-one match is required of all grant recipients. The application deadline is May 14, 2018. Visit www.communitypartnershipgrants.org to learn more.

Grants Address End-of-Life Issues in New York State
New York State Tribute Foundation
The New York State Tribute Foundation is dedicated to supporting education, outreach, and research programs that advance the public's understanding of end-of-life issues. The Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in New York State that focus on three core principles: The Knowledge category provides consumer education and research grants to raise public awareness and advance understanding of death, dying, and bereavement. The Charity category supports organizations that enhance the understanding of death, dying, and bereavement. The Education category offers scholarships aimed at increasing the number of new funeral service professionals and to encourage previously licensed funeral directors to return to the profession. Letters of inquiry may be submitted at any time. Invited applications are due May 15 and November 15, annually. Visit the Foundation’s website to download the funding guidelines.

Support for Environmental Programs Protecting the Rocky Mountain Area
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 $10,000 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 May 1, 2018. (Organizations that have not previously received Foundation support should contact the Foundation by phone or email prior to applying.) Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about the Foundation’s priorities.

Organizations Promoting the Health of Maine’s Children Funded
Sadie and Harry Davis Foundation: Small Grants Program
The Sadie and Harry Davis Foundation is dedicated to the advancement of Maine children's health. The Foundation’s Small Grants Program supports nonprofit organizations that promote the health of children in Maine, with general priority given to programs that address the state’s poorest and most underserved populations, e.g., low-income, rural, etc. (The Foundation is not accepting oral health proposals in this grant cycle.) Grants generally range from $3,000 to $15,000. Letters of interest must be submitted by May 4, 2018; invited applications are due June 20, 2018. Visit the Foundation’s website to submit a letter of interest and to learn more about the 2018 Small Grants Program.

Federal Funding
Opportunities from the U.S. Government

Program Offers Second Chance for Former Prisoners
Department of Justice
The Second Chance Act Comprehensive Community-Based Adult Reentry Program supports efforts to help people who are reentering communities from incarceration. The application deadline is May 1, 2018. 

Sports Programs for Vets with Disabilities Supported
Department of Veterans Affairs
The Grants for Adaptive Sports Programs for Veterans With Disabilities and Members of the Armed Forces Program supports adaptive sports activities for veterans within their home communities, as well as more advanced Paralympic and adaptive sports programs at the regional and national levels. The application deadline is May 2, 2018.

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

The Ethical Argument for General Operating Funds
It is widely known that funders tend to limit the amount of general operating support they provide, or not offer this type of support at all. This, of course, is a hotly debated issue between nonprofits and foundations. Speaking from a nonprofit executive director’s view, Vu Le at Nonprofit AF offers his insights into the matter in “The Ethical Argument for General Operating Funds,” which examines some moral arguments in favor of the provision of general operating support.

GrantStation Announcements
 

Please Contribute Your Experience to the
Spring 2018 State of Grantseeking™ Survey
The resulting – free – State of Grantseeking Reports can tell you a reasonable level of funding to expect for an organization based on median awards by organizational budget, location, and mission (benchmarks you can really use). And, it can give you a leg up on the competition through awareness of trends, months or even years before other reports reflect the data. Please join thousands of others who find value in the reports by completing this survey and offering your insights for the upcoming report. The survey ends this Saturday, March 31, 2018 – act now!

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.

Now Is the Time - Mobilize Your Board to Raise Funds
In today's highly competitive grantseeking economy, nonprofit organizations that fail to attract outside funding most often are those with boards who are unable or unwilling to engage in efforts aimed at contributing to their agency's financial security. Stated quite simply, nonprofit board members no longer have the option of saying "I don't raise funds." In this webinar, Judith Margolin addresses the change in perspective necessary to turn weak boards into powerful fundraising entities, beginning with a new and much broader definition of "fundraising". Topics covered include: who should and should not be on your board, how to address your board member's reluctance to raise funds, and what specific roles board members can and should play vis a vis your prospects and funders. The webinar concludes with advice on developing an action plan to more fully engage your board in fundraising. This presentation will be held on Thursday, April 12, 2018.

Re-Imagine Your Proposals
For beginners and those with a fair bit of experience, this webinar provides a fresh new approach to grantwriting. The rule for grantwriting is simple: 80% of your time on preparation work and 20% of your time on writing. Does your grantwriting process follow this rule? What does that 80% include? How do you build organizational credibility into your request?  What should you be doing to strengthen everything from your statement of need to your explanation of the impact the grant award will engender? Learn to re-imagine how you present basic documents such as your budget, organizational description, and board and staff bios so they add significant credibility to your request. These are the topics that GrantStation's CEO, Cynthia Adams, will discuss in this fast-paced, content rich session. This presentation will be held on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

Building a Stellar Grantseeking Team
One of the most time consuming tasks for an Executive Director of a nonprofit organization is the research, writing, and submission of grant requests. And, unfortunately, it is often a task that is both daunting and isolating. This webinar taught by GrantStation's CEO, Cynthia Adams, takes you through a step-by-step process to develop a grantseeking team, all working toward a common vision: to strengthen and build your grants program. This online training focuses on a step-by-step process to craft the perfect committee, develop a process to energize your team, and discover ways to create a sustainable program. Ms. Adams's unique approach will help you develop a team that will generate stellar results. This presentation will be held on Wednesday, April 25, 2018.

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