GrantStation Insider: July 27, 2023

Application deadline: September 30, 2023, for letters of inquiry
Description: The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is an incubator of promising research and development projects that appear likely to improve the welfare of young children, from infancy through seven years, in the United States. The Foundation’s goal is to provide seed money to implement imaginative proposals that exhibit the greatest chance of improving the lives of young children, on a national scale. Funding is provided in the following areas: 1) early childhood welfare, including projects that seek to perfect child rearing practices and to identify models that can provide creative, caring environments in which all young children thrive; 2) early childhood education and play, including efforts to improve the quality of both early childhood teaching and learning through the development of innovative curricula and research based pedagogical standards, as well as the design of imaginative play materials and learning environments; and 3) parenting education, including programs that teach parents about developmental psychology, cultural child rearing differences, pedagogy, issues of health, and prenatal care and diet, as well as programs which provide both cognitive and emotional support to parents.

Application deadlines: The remaining 2023 deadlines are September 1 and December 1. (There is no deadline for rapid response grants.)
Grant amount: General support grants and accessibility grants range up to $4,000. Rapid response grants of $1,000 are also provided.
Description: Resist supports people’s movements for justice and liberation in the United States. Funding is provided for groups that resist, by organizing, base building, and engaging in direct action and cultural organizing for structural social and economic change; re-imagine, by creating community-based alternatives to dehumanizing or inaccessible institutions and systems; and build resilience, including through arts and cultural work. General support grants of up to $4,000 are provided, as well as accessibility grants for costs of making projects or events more accessible to community members, and small rapid response grants. U.S.-based organizations that have budgets under $150,000, are led by those most impacted by intersecting systems of oppression, and have 501(c)(3) status or fiscal sponsorship are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: September 13, 2023
Grant amount: $250 to $1,000
Description: The National Youth Leadership Council’s Youth as Solutions program aims to create a generation of citizens in the United States who are passionate about making a positive impact in their schools and communities. The program supports leadership teams of young people in grades six to 12, along with an adult mentor, to participate in a self-paced, active learning experience where they identify and take action on an issue in their community. Applicants can apply to participate through the following cohorts: Education in Action, with a focus on engaging K-12 youth and educators to increase educational equity in their school or community; Project Ignition, with a focus on teen-driver safety; and Poder en Salud (Power in Health), with a focus on the challenges and impacts of COVID-19 on Latino communities across the nation. Projects in other areas may also be considered. Teams participate in a virtual training, complete an investigation of needs in their community, prepare and plan a service project or campaign that meets those needs, and implement their project or campaign. Teams should be sponsored by a U.S. public K-12 school, school district, or nonprofit organization. Selected teams receive a $250 to $1,000 grant for project expenses and team celebration.

Application deadline: February 15 and September 30, annually
Grant amount: $15,000 over two years
Description: The We Raise Foundation provides support to Christian nonprofit organizations predominantly serving communities of color in the United States that work at the intersection of poverty, violence, and inequality. The Foundation’s Emerging Leader Grants invest in the development of leaders, between the ages of 20-35, at Christian organizations throughout the U.S. who are leading new programs at the intersection of poverty, violence, and inequality. Recipients receive $15,000 over two years, with $10,000 supporting the new program and $5,000 supporting leadership development, which includes conference attendance and individualized leadership coaching. (A separate program, GrantsPlus, supports Christian organizations in Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Oakland/San Francisco.)

Application deadlines: For the upcoming cycle, applications will be accepted from August 14 to September 17, 2023.
Geographic scope: Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio
Grant amount: Up to $5,000
Description: The Delta Dental Foundation’s (DDF) Community Mini-Grants program provides grants of up to $5,000 to nonprofit organizations in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio that promote or provide oral healthcare. The DDF is especially interested in programs designed to increase dental access to systemically disadvantaged communities, provide educational programming on oral health, and identify and reduce oral health disparities. For more information and to apply, visit https://www.deltadental.foundation/community-mini-grants. The next cycle of Community Mini-Grants will open on August 14, 2023.

Application deadline: September 15, 2023
Geographic scope: Areas of Alabama, Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont
Grant amount: Typically between $50,000 and $400,000
Description: The Open Space Institute’s Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund provides capital grants to protect 50,000 acres in key focus areas along the Appalachian mountain range. The Fund is currently providing support in portions of 1) the Cradle of Southern Appalachia (Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama); 2) Western/Central Pennsylvania; and 3) the Northern Appalachians (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont). The grants must be used to acquire land or permanent conservation easements. Supported land conservation projects should have strong climate resilience attributes and be managed to enhance forest carbon. Nonprofit conservation organizations, federally and state-recognized tribes, government entities, and municipalities are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: Applications for the fall 2023 grant cycle will open later in the year.
Geographic scope: California
Grant amount: Up to $15,000
Description: The Women’s Catalytic Fund, administered by the East Bay Community Foundation, is a giving circle supporting work to end gender-based inequity and fundamentally change the systems that perpetuate it. Grants are provided to California-based nonprofit organizations with budgets under $1million for initiatives, projects, actions, or events that address gender-based inequity, gender-based violence, patriarchy, or transphobia. This includes work that responds to the unique needs, challenges, and strengths of women and girls in targeted communities; develops the talents and leadership of women and girls in targeted communities; and supports women and girls to act to improve their quality of life. Supported efforts must be catalytic; be intersectional and collaborative; prioritize low-income women, women of color, or immigrant women, inclusive of all those identifying as female; and be led by and representative of the community being served. More information is available on the East Bay Community Foundation website. (The form to subscribe to the Foundation's newsletter is located at the bottom of the webpage.)

Application deadline: October 1, 2023
Geographic scope: Maine
Grant amount: Up to $20,000
Description: The Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust aims to connect people and place through the arts, culture, and the natural environment in Maine. In the area of arts, culture, and historic preservation, priorities include access to the arts, creative expression, and community cultural programs; facility improvements for community cultural centers; celebrating the diverse cultural heritage and multiple histories of Maine; and historic preservation projects that contribute to community vitality. In the area of environmental initiatives, priorities include providing equitable access to outdoor experiences and nature-based education, advancing new approaches for land conservation, enhancing environmental stewardship, and promoting restoration and improvement of water quality in coastal and inland watersheds. Both project and operating support are provided, and supported projects may be of local or statewide benefit.

Application deadline: September 28, 2023
Description: The Continuum of Care Competition promotes a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. The program seeks to quickly re-house homeless individuals, families, persons fleeing domestic violence, and youth while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness; promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by those experiencing homelessness; and optimize self-sufficiency among those experiencing homelessness. HUD is also offering a noncompetitive program: Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP) Renewal and Replacement Grants. The goal of YHDP is to support the development and implementation of a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness and sharing that experience with and mobilizing communities around the country toward the same end. The population to be served by the demonstration program is youth ages 24 and younger experiencing homelessness, including unaccompanied and pregnant or parenting youth.

Application deadline: September 30, 2023
Description: The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program provides direct technical assistance and financial assistance in the form of cooperative and grant agreements to private landowners to restore and conserve fish and wildlife habitat for the benefit of federal trust resources. Priorities include complementing activities on National Wildlife Refuge System lands, improving habitat for species at risk and federally designated species, and supporting five-year strategic plans to identify focal species and focal areas in which to invest limited resources.

Are you looking for a valuable source of data to enhance your grant proposals? The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey helps local officials, community leaders, and businesses understand the changes taking place in their communities. It is a source for detailed population and housing information about the United States.

Webinar date: July 31, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: First impressions matter. That is why the background section of your grant proposal needs to immediately establish your organization’s credibility with a funder—but that's not always so straightforward. You shouldn’t overwhelm your background section with an extensive history. However, you want to let the reviewer know that you have a proven track record of creating positive change in your community. During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will demonstrate how you can find the perfect balance and use your background section to quickly show you’re an organization that gets things done.

Webinar date: August 1, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: Grant proposals can be time consuming and unpredictable. What can you do to build solid relations with foundation staff as you navigate the world of proposal writing? In this webinar, Mandy Pearce with Funding for Good will show you how you can communicate to foundation prospects the importance of their immediate support so you can increase your organization's long-term sustainability and success.

Webinar date: August 2 and 3, 2023, 2:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern Time
Description: Do you want to help your nonprofit use QuickBooks to its fullest potential? If so, QuickBooks Made Easy for Nonprofits and GrantStation are presenting a special event for nonprofit organizations and the accounting firms that serve them. Join Gregg Bossen, CPA PC, for this two-day workshop (120 minutes each day) as he addresses special topics, including advanced budgeting, tracking restricted grants, and reports/board reporting. (This workshop is for users of QuickBooks desktop; a separate workshop for users of QuickBooks online will be offered on August 8 and 9, 2023.)

The Social Enterprise Alliance is on a mission to catalyze social enterprises in the U.S. to grow, scale, and expand their impact. SEA offers community, support, expert advice, learning, conference events, and more. And SEA is filled with people who have demonstrated that you can be profitable while doing good. Join Us!

GrantStation shares database profiles of local, national, Canadian, and international grantmakers with upcoming deadlines each week. Check out the current Funding Spotlights for more grant opportunities!