GrantStation Insider: July 13, 2023

Application deadline: August 22, 2023
Grant amount: $20,000 to $40,000
Description: The National Council on Problem Gambling’s Agility Grants provide funding to nonprofit organizations across the country for problem gambling prevention programs designed to minimize harm among those who have not yet gambled or among those who have limited gambling experience. The goal is to fill in gaps for areas that currently have no such services, as well as bolster promising efforts in existing programs. Grants are awarded in two pillars: prevention innovation, with a focus on launching innovative new prevention programs or supporting the expansion of promising programs, and prevention amplification, with the aim of amplifying or promoting new leaders and perspectives around prevention initiatives. Priority is given to projects reaching high school and college athletes, marginalized communities (especially communities of color), and middle school students.

Application deadline: Initial inquiry forms must be submitted by September 13, 2023; invited full applications will be due December 5, 2023.
Geographic scope: United States and internationally, including East Africa, Central America, North America, Israel, and impoverished Jewish communities worldwide
Grant amount: Up to $10,000
Description: Jewish Helping Hands’ Tikkun Olam Grant Program seeks to inspire and support tzedakah, justice, and righteousness throughout the world. The goal is to help vulnerable populations in the United States and abroad by supporting programs focused on economic development and social empowerment. Grants are provided to individuals or organizations that show clear promise to respond to unmet needs of those who are poor or marginalized, or promote self-help and empowerment within communities. For the 2023/2024 grant cycle, the focus is on projects that provide the basic necessities for a decent life, including women’s empowerment, education, food, shelter, clothing, water, health, internet connectivity, and gender equity. Projects in East Africa, Central America, North America, Israel, and impoverished Jewish communities worldwide are supported. Projects that aim to bring about positive change for groups of all backgrounds and religious affiliations are encouraged.

Application deadlines: March 10 and September 10, annually, for letters of interest
Grant amount: Grants average $10,000 to $25,000.
Description: The Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation is dedicated to economic education for all in the United States. The Foundation’s current funding interests include, but are not limited to, efficient and innovative solutions to reach and serve more of the population, behavioral economics with a focus on environmental issues, economic education initiatives to underserved communities, online competitions, entrepreneurship education, marketing capabilities to serve more of the population in economic education, programs to generate more excitement for economic and financial education, economic education programs in a recently mandated state, and offering future college scholarships to high school students demonstrating financial, economic, and entrepreneurship achievements. The Foundation expects to be one of several funders of a project and looks most favorably at programs that match grants with funds from other organizations. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with at least five years of history may apply.

Application deadline: August 15, 2023
Grant amount: $50,000 to $100,000
Description: The WITH Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are currently accepting applications through a request for proposals (RFP) focused on projects that foster health and healthcare systems transformation for older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in communities of color within the United States. Proposals should prioritize one of the following approaches: implementation of models, educational resources, regional or national advocacy, or research to identify and fill gaps in knowledge and inform efforts to improve health related to the care that older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in communities of color receive. The RFP also seeks to foster the development of new partnerships between community, healthcare, and disability organizations. Proposals should specifically support primary care providers (including dentists) and healthcare systems in providing culturally competent care to older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in communities of color.

Pre-Application Deadline: August 4, 2023
Invited full application deadline: September 8, 2023
Geographic scope: AL, AZ, AR, CA, DC, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MI, MS, NM, NY, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, WV, and Puerto Rico
Description: AARP Foundation works to end senior poverty by helping older adults build economic opportunity. Through its current requests for applications, the Foundation seeks projects that advance economic opportunity among older adults with low income in 22 U.S. states and territories with high rates of senior poverty. The focus is on achieving equitable outcomes for older adults with low income by increasing income and decreasing expenditures, accessing benefits, and securing refunds and credits. Priority is given to equitable strategies and services that address systemic barriers, racial and ethnic disparities, and other biases that perpetuate economic instability. Support is provided for direct service projects developing and testing new approaches and solutions to help older adults with low income secure the essentials and field building projects advancing economic opportunity and financial stability for older adults on a systemic level.

Application deadline: Letters of interest are accepted throughout the year.
Geographic scope: California
Description: The California Wellness Foundation seeks to protect and improve the health and wellness of the people of California by increasing access to healthcare, quality education, good jobs, healthy environments, and safe neighborhoods. The Foundation’s Advancing Wellness Grants provide support to nonprofit organizations in California in the following areas: 1) community well-being, with a focus on the health, safety, and resilience of communities of color, especially those that have been disproportionately affected by unhealthy environments and community violence; 2) equity in access, including healthcare coverage and access for all and defending the rights of immigrants to enjoy access to health services and other benefits; 3) economic security and dignity, with a focus on advancing the economic well-being of Californians, especially those from low-income communities and communities of color; and 4) leading for power and change, with a focus on amplifying the voices, leadership, and power of people of color and others who have historically been excluded from full participation in civic society.

Application deadlines: Applications for Seed grants may be submitted throughout the year; applications for Grow grants are due the third Tuesday in March and September, annually.
Geographic scope: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
Grant amounts: Seed grants range from $500 to $1,000 while Grow grants range from $1,000 to $4,000.
Description: The New England Grassroots Environment Fund's grant programs aim to energize and nurture long-term civic engagement in local initiatives that create and maintain healthy, just, safe, and environmentally sustainable communities throughout the six New England states. The Grassroots Fund is currently accepting applications for Seed grants, designed to support new (often less than one year old) environmental projects, and Grow grants, for initiatives that look to deepen their work or broaden participation. Grants focus on groups doing local, grassroots work, with priority on community groups that have an approximate annual operating budget under $100,000, represent a broad range of voices in their community, and are not being reached by other funders. (Applicant groups do not need to have formal tax status or a fiscal sponsor.)

Application deadlines: Applications are accepted throughout the year and reviewed quarterly.
Geographic scope: Regional markets served by Ash Grove Cement Company
Grant amount: Capital grants and special project grants range up to $25,000; program grants range up to $10,000.
Description: The Ash Grove Charitable Foundation provides grants to support the work of 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in the regional markets that the Ash Grove Cement Company serves. Emphasis is on the following states and areas: Arkansas, north and central Florida, Idaho, Iowa (Des Moines Metro Area), Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri (Kansas City Metro Area), Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. The Foundation prefers to make monetary grants for capital and special projects rather than operational expenses. Grants for construction, renovation, repairs, and restoration of facilities are given primary consideration. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, children and youth, community development, education, health, and social services.

Application deadline: August 11, 2023
Description: The goal of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program is to advance the equitable and inclusive integration of technology in the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) from pre-kindergarten through high school. The program’s objective is to support all students’ acquisition of the foundational preparation in STEM disciplines. Proposed ITEST projects are expected to: 1) engage students in technology-rich learning to develop disciplinary or transdisciplinary STEM content knowledge, including skills in data literacy and evidence-based decision-making and reasoning; 2) prioritize the full inclusion of groups who have been underrepresented or underserved, including, but not limited to, Blacks and African Americans, Alaska Natives, Hispanics and Latinos, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Pacific Islanders, persons with disabilities, neurodiverse students, and women in the STEM and information and communication technologies workforce; 3) motivate students to pursue appropriate education pathways to technology-rich careers; and 4) leverage strategic and community partnerships to expand education pathways in communities through public and private partnerships and collaborations.

Application deadline: August 18, 2023
Description: The Community Collections Grants from the American Folklife Center fund and support contemporary cultural field research and documentation within diverse communities. Available to individuals and organizations, the grants offer up to $50,000 each to support projects within their communities to produce ethnographic cultural documentation, such as interviews with community members and audio-visual recordings of cultural activity, from the community perspective. Funding through these awards can be used to cover travel, equipment rental or purchase, and other expenses associated with cultural documentation fieldwork.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, both nonprofits and funders have had to make adjustments in order to respond to evolving needs. A new report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy called State of Nonprofits 2023: What Funders Need to Know explores the state of nonprofit relationships with both foundations and individual donors, how nonprofits are perceiving current challenges, and nonprofit organizations' recent and projected financial results.

Webinar date: July 17, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: While each funder’s application guidelines will look different from those of other funders, usually they are not that different. Most funders ask for essentially the same things in their guidelines, also commonly called a request for proposals (RFP), a funding opportunity announcement (FOA), or a request for applications (RFA). The key to success is understanding exactly what funders are looking for and knowing how to tailor information to each specific funder’s format so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for each application. During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will outline how to read an RFP and set up your responses to meet each grantmaker’s instructions.

Webinar date: July 19, 2023, 2:00 to 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Description: Finding the funds needed to fulfill your mission is a never-ending challenge for all nonprofits. Whether you’re part of an established nonprofit constantly searching for new funding to expand your programs, or you’re a one-person development office, which means you need to do it all, GrantStation can work for you because it is designed to help nonprofit organizations of all sizes get funded. During this live demo and Q&A session, Jeremy Smith, Director of Communications Technology, and Kerry Glauser, Senior Research Specialist, will show you how you can use GrantStation to complete your grant research quickly and get high-quality results.

Webinar date: July 20, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: Oftentimes the difference between a proposal getting funded and rejected is the relationships you have with your funding partners. Of course, cultivating relationships with all of your funding partners and supporters can feel daunting. It can be time-consuming, and it’s tough to know what to say, what to share, or what funders are looking for. So how can you consistently get the resources you need to fulfill your mission? By seeing philanthropic organizations as partners, not funders. During this webinar, Jaime Roscoe of Elevate will lead you through the relationship-building stage of the grant cycle, including who to cultivate at philanthropic organizations and how to do it.

Negotiate better contracts, keep pace with your peers, and get an edge when it counts. Have you ever wondered how much a grant professional gets paid and/or what benefits are offered? The Grant Professionals Association (GPA) is currently conducting its annual Compensation (Salary) and Benefits Survey and as a grant professional, we encourage you to participate. This survey tends to get 2,000 to 2,500 participants a year, making it the most reliable survey in the grants profession, featuring average salaries, wages, bonuses, and consulting earnings for a wide variety of grant positions. You may have already received an invitation from GPA, but if you have not, you can click https://app.keysurvey.com/f/41667144/135d/ to participate. Be sure to enter your name and email address at the end to ensure you can receive your free report. The deadline to complete the survey is July 21st.

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