GrantStation Insider: April 13, 2023

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.

Funds Benefit Oppressed Groups Nationwide
Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People
Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) seeks to empower economically poor, oppressed, and disadvantaged people who are working to change the structures that perpetuate poverty, oppression, and injustice. Support is provided to groups in the United States who are oppressed by poverty and social systems, want to take charge of their own lives, are organizing to do something about their conditions, and have decided that what they are going to do will produce long-term changes for their lives or communities. Supported efforts should utilize some combination of the SDOP core strategies to promote justice, build solidarity, advance human dignity, and advocate for economic equity. In addition, funded projects must be presented, owned, and controlled by the group of economically poor people who will benefit directly from it. Applications are accepted throughout the year. Visit the SDOP website to review the funding criteria.

Matching Grants Enhance Community Engagement With National Forests
National Forest Foundation: Matching Awards Program
Through the Matching Awards Program, the National Forest Foundation (NFF) provides funds for projects that directly benefit U.S. National Forests and Grasslands. Reflecting recent program changes, the focus is now on projects that inspire participants to get personally involved in caring for their public lands. Program goals are to create lasting change that will allow all communities, especially underserved communities, opportunities to benefit from activities on National Forest System lands or adjacent public lands. While community engagement, defined as in-person involvement of the public, must be the primary focus of every project, some stewardship activities are also required. Projects must take place on U.S. National Forests or Grasslands or adjacent public lands, and demonstrate benefit to National Forest System lands. Nonprofit organizations, tribal governments and organizations, and universities are eligible to apply, and a 1:1 cash match of non-federal funds is required. The application deadline is June 7, 2023. Visit the NFF website to review the request for proposals.

Awards Advance Youth Music Programs
The Lewis Prize for Music: Accelerator Awards
The mission of The Lewis Prize for Music is to partner with leaders who create positive change by investing in young people through music. The Lewis Prize's Accelerator Awards are open to creative youth development music organizations seeking to influence youth-serving systems so all young people have access to learning, creating, and performing experiences that reflect their culture and identity. Creative youth development nonprofit organizations working toward systemic change that are based in and serving youth in the U.S. or U.S. territories are eligible to apply. The youth in the organization must primarily be in the age range of six to 21 years old, and must learn, create, or perform music for at least 50% of their overall program participation time. Programs must operate independently of schools or school music programs and take place outside of school hours. Three multi-year awards of up to $500,000 each will be awarded. Applicants are also eligible for funding ranging from $15,000 to $75,000. The application deadline is June 2, 2023. Visit the Lewis Prize website to review the eligibility and criteria.

Nonprofit Cloud Technology Projects Supported
AWS IMAGINE Grant
The AWS (Amazon Web Services) IMAGINE Grant supports nonprofit organizations in the U.S. who are using cloud technology to accelerate their missions. The goal is to empower nonprofit organizations to prioritize technology as a mission-critical component of their projects by providing support for organizations pursuing technology-driven goals. U.S. nonprofit organizations can apply in two categories: The Go Further, Faster award provides up to $150,000 in financial support and up to $100,000 in AWS Promotional Credit for innovative projects that leverage the cloud and have the potential to produce scaled, repeatable solutions that may impact an entire industry or field. The Momentum to Modernize award provides up to $50,000 in financial support and up to $20,000 in AWS Promotional Credit to nonprofit organizations seeking to transform and enhance their core mission operations with technology through foundational technology projects. Grant packages also include in-kind support. Organizations with annual budgets of any size and focused on any cause or mission area may apply. Round one applications will be accepted from May 1 to June 1, 2023. Visit the AWS website to review program information and read the FAQs.

Regional Funding
Opportunities for specific geographic areas

Major Support Available for an Effort to Aid Georgia's Women and Children
Ribbons of Hope—Invest in Women
Ribbons of Hope—Invest in Women is dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of women and children. Each year Ribbons of Hope awards one $100,000 grant to a nonprofit organization in Georgia that promotes education, health, economic independence, social well-being, or human rights for women or their children. The grant may be used for special projects or capital improvements that can be sustained by the organization after the grant allocation. Applying organizations must have been in operation for at least three years with a consistent operating budget of $500,000 or more annually. Visit the Ribbons of Hope website at www.ribbonsofhope.net to download the 2023 application guidelines and form. Applications are due by May 26, 2023.

Grants Seek to Transform Emergency and Prehospital Care in California
CARESTAR Foundation: Transformations & Innovations Grants Program
CARESTAR Foundation seeks to improve health outcomes for all Californians using a racial equity lens to fund and advocate for improvements in emergency and prehospital care. The Foundation's Transformations & Innovations Grants Program invests in multi-sector collaboratives, reimagining and transforming local emergency and prehospital care throughout California. Grants, ranging in size from $100,000 to $150,000 for one year and $300,000 to $1 million for multiple years, support collaboratives representing different perspectives on what is needed for emergency and prehospital care. The Foundation specifically seeks collaboratives that prioritize the experiences, needs, and ideas of Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, or other racialized groups, as well as communities that have historically been under-resourced; include diverse community representatives and agencies; include one or more agencies responsible for local emergency response; and have support from, or the potential involvement of, a Local Emergency Medical Services Agency. Letters of interest are accepted on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Visit the Foundation's website to download complete details on the program.

Projects Addressing Systemic Racism in Ohio Funded
Ohio State Bar Foundation: Racial Justice Initiative
The Ohio State Bar Foundation (OSBF) works to educate the public about the rule of law and improve the justice system for all Ohioans. OSBF's Racial Justice Initiative supports projects that identify, address, and challenge systemic racism which hinders the pursuit of justice and public understanding of the rule of law for historically marginalized communities of color in Ohio. Proposals are encouraged for efforts to identify and address systemic biases; provide a reliable framework to eliminate systemic racism; educate the public or other stakeholders; collaborate with legal systems, such as courts, law enforcement, and corrections; and eliminate legal barriers for BIPOC collectively. The application deadline is July 15, 2023. Visit the OSBF website to apply online.

Support Promotes Services for Vermont Youth
George W. Mergens Foundation
The George W. Mergens Foundation seeks to support a variety of nonprofit organizations that serve youth in Vermont with the goal of fostering a sense of well-being, curiosity, and empowerment in the lives of youth so that they are best equipped to meet the challenges of the future. Support is provided to organizations that offer a wide variety of services and opportunities to children and adolescents, including improved health and welfare, education, job and skills training, creative instruction and experiences, leadership roles, exposure to the natural world, and unique experiences that broaden perspectives. General areas of interest include education and training, enrichment activities, recreation, and health and wellness. Grants are provided for general operating expenses, project expenses, and capital projects. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis. Visit the Foundation's website to review the eligibility quiz and application instructions.

Federal Funding
Opportunities from the U.S. government

Funds Available to Address School Violence
Department of Justice
The STOP School Violence Program seeks to improve school security by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help prevent acts of violence. The program's objective is to increase school safety by implementing training, school threat assessments, or intervention teams to identify school violence risks among students; technological solutions such as anonymous reporting technology that can be implemented as a mobile phone-based app, a hotline, or a website in the applicant's geographic area to enable students, teachers, faculty, and community members to anonymously identify threats of school violence; or other school safety strategies that assist in preventing violence. Applications are due to grants.gov by May 8, 2023. The JustGrants deadline is May 15, 2023.

Program Helps Migratory Birds
Department of the Interior
The Migratory Bird Conservation in the Midwest program provides grants for the conservation of birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act but not Federally listed as Endangered or Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Proposals should address projects in the geographic area that includes USFWS Region 3 (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin); non-breeding season areas important for birds breeding in Region 3 states; or broad-scale actions that will have tangible benefits that include birds in these states. The application deadline is May 19, 2023.

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

What Americans Think About Philanthropy and Nonprofits
In recent years, debates centered on the realm of philanthropy have taken center stage. But what is the average American's attitude towards the philanthropic sector? A new report by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy titled What Americans Think About Philanthropy and Nonprofits examines public awareness, attitudes, and perceptions of philanthropy, philanthropic sector institutions, and policies that govern and affect charitable giving in the United States. It is based on a national survey of 1,334 adults conducted in the summer of 2022.

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.

Funding for Faith-Based Organizations
As a faith-based organization, don't assume your organization isn't eligible for funds from government sources or private funders. Secular activities of faith-based organizations are frequently eligible for funding from the United States government as well as private and corporate grantmakers. If you provide community-based services which grow out of a faith teaching but are secular in nature (e.g. feeding the hungry or housing the homeless), then you may be eligible for funding from nonreligious grantmakers. However, it can be challenging to understand how to align your activities with the diverse requirements of different funders. During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will help you understand the types of funding your organization may be eligible for and how you can align with funders. The webinar will be held on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Master Your Messaging: Harness Community Passion to Cause Action
What if there were simple tasks you could do every day to inspire your community to give more—without having to beg for money? This session is not about spreadsheets, moves management, or a new-fangled technique to get people to give. Instead, master storyteller and fundraising culture change expert Lori L. Jacobwith will show you the power of authentic, clear word choices. It MAY forever change the way you communicate the needs of your organization. Taking an insider's look at examples from other nonprofit organizations, you'll see how using clear, bold communication increased community involvement while raising substantially more money. You'll leave ready to do exactly what you want to do: harness passion from your community to cause them to take more action. The webinar will be held on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

(FREE) Marketing Steps for Mission and Money
Many nonprofit organizations assume marketing is expensive or that it is counter to nonprofit values. Worse yet, some assume their programs market themselves. But the reality is different: Every day, you're marketing. You just might not be in control of your marketing, which will cost you in mission support and client engagement. Fortunately, most marketing is either no cost or low cost, and the best marketing starts with attitude and interactions, and moves from there. During this webinar, Matt Hugg, founder of Nonprofit.Courses, will show you how to spot opportunities to enhance internal and external visibility and satisfaction with how you carry out your mission. The webinar will be held on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

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