GrantStation Insider: August 17, 2023

Application deadlines: October 18, 2023, for Dance, Arts Related, and Shubert Scholars applications, and December 5, 2023, for Theatre applications
Grant amount: The minimum grant amount is $15,000.
Description: The Shubert Foundation is dedicated to sustaining and advancing the live performing arts in the United States. Support is primarily provided for nonprofit, professional theatres, with a secondary focus on nonprofit, professional dance companies. The Foundation is especially interested in theatre and dance companies that develop and produce new American work. A limited number of grants are also made in the program areas of Arts Related Organizations and Shubert Scholars. The Foundation exclusively provides general operating support. U.S. nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, a record of artistic activity, a record of developing and producing new work, and a demonstrated commitment to underserved audiences or underrepresented voices are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: None
Grant amount: Generally $200 to $10,000
Description: The Wish You Well Foundation supports adult and family literacy in the United States by fostering the development and expansion of new and existing adult literacy and educational programs. Support is provided to nonprofit organizations that teach adults the literacy skills they need to communicate, grow, and thrive within their communities. (Funding is not provided for programs targeting youth.)

Application deadline: May 1 and October 1, annually
Geographic scope: U.S. and Canada
Description: The Fund for Wild Nature’s mission is to support grassroots organizations and innovative conservation efforts that meet emerging needs for protecting biodiversity and wilderness in North America. The Fund provides small grants for North American campaigns to save native species and wild ecosystems, with particular emphasis on actions designed to defend threatened wilderness and biological diversity. Examples of funded activities include advocacy, litigation, public policy work, and similar endeavors. Special attention is given to ecological issues not currently receiving sufficient public attention and funding. 

Application deadline: November 1, 2023
Geographic scope: United States, Canada, and U.S. and Canadian territories
Grant amount: $50,000 to $300,000
Description: The Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives program, administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources, provides support to digitize rare and unique content stewarded by collecting organizations in the U.S. and Canada. The focus of the 2023-24 call for proposals, Amplifying Unheard Voices, is to support efforts to digitize rare and unique historical and cultural materials in a variety of formats that deepen public understanding of the histories of people of color and other communities and populations whose work, experiences, and perspectives have been insufficiently recognized or unattended. Nonprofit, academic, independent, and community-based organizations, as well as government entities, in the U.S. and Canada that collect, preserve, and share rare and unique materials with the general public are eligible to apply.

Application deadlines: Applications will be accepted from September 1 to October 2, 2023, for the Rural Initiative, and from September 15 to October 16, 2023, for the Intercultural Harmony Initiative.
Geographic scope: Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Wyoming and specific counties in New York and Texas
Grant amount: Project planning grants range up to $5,000 and project implementation grants range up to $25,000.
Description: The Laura Jane Musser Fund will begin accepting applications through the Rural Initiative and the Intercultural Harmony Initiative in September of 2023. Both initiatives support programs in Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Wyoming, as well as Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster counties in New York and the Rio Grande River Valley, Deep East Texas, and the Brazos Valley regions of Texas. Through the Rural Initiative, the Fund encourages collaborative and participatory efforts among residents in rural communities that will help to strengthen their towns and regions. The applicant community must have a population of 10,000 or less. Through the Intercultural Harmony Initiative, the Fund supports projects that promote mutual understanding and cooperation between groups of community members of different cultural backgrounds.

Application deadline: September 30, 2023
Geographic scope: Communities served by Dominion Energy companies, including areas of CT, GA, ID, MD, NC, OH, RI, SC, UT, VA, WV, WI, and WY
Grant amount: Up to $50,000
Description: The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation’s Environmental Education and Stewardship Grants program provides support to nonprofit organizations in the communities served by Dominion Energy companies for projects to improve the environment. Communities served include areas in Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Supported projects should focus on one or more of the following priorities: educating K-12 students and the public about environmental science; protecting and preserving natural habitats; and improving open spaces and making nature accessible. Public and private K-12 schools in eligible regions can also apply for classroom grants up to $5,000 for environmental education programs. 

Application deadline: None
Geographic scope: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont
Grant amount: $1,000 to $5,000
Description: The Agnes M. Lindsay Trust provides support to nonprofit organizations in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Priorities include health and welfare, including services for those with special needs, youth and family service organizations specializing in mental health services, employment training programs, and domestic violence shelters; dental health, including free dental clinics and dental care to low income populations; and homeless shelters, food banks, and food pantries. Capital and operating grants are provided. (Camperships are also supported; campership applications have a deadline in the spring, annually.)

Application deadline: September 15, 2023
Geographic scope: Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
Grant amount: Five to ten grants ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 will be awarded.
Description: PFund Foundation builds community and provides resources for LGBTQ+ individuals across the upper Midwest and the First Nations therein. Support is provided in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the First Nations located in those states. The Foundation’s PRISM (Promoting Rural Interconnections for Sexual Minorities) Fund grants support rural LGBTQ+ organizations from across PFund’s five-state service area. Organizations must be based in a rural community or serve rural populations (defined as small and mid-sized towns under 50,000 people). Nonprofit organizations and informal groups with a nonprofit fiscal sponsor are eligible to apply. The Foundation is also accepting applications from queer entrepreneurs of color through the Equity Fund.

Optional draft deadline: September 18, 2023
Application deadline: November 29, 2023
Description: The Collaborative Research program aims to advance humanistic knowledge by supporting teams of scholars working on a joint endeavor. The program includes four project categories: Planning International Collaboration, Convening, Manuscript Preparation, and Scholarly Digital Projects. The National Endowment for the Humanities encourages partnerships with researchers from the natural and social sciences, but projects must focus on humanistic content and employ humanistic methods.

Application deadline: October 10, 2023
Description: The purpose of the Farm to School Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement is to support nonprofit entities and Indian tribal organizations to implement national- or regional-level farm-to-school activities. Awardees under this cooperative agreement will undertake projects supporting USDA’s priorities of food system transformation, improving child health through nutritious school meals, and Indigenous food sovereignty. There are three funding tracks available, corresponding with each USDA priority. The Supporting Community Engagement track supports projects that expand farm-to-school institutes. The Supporting Producer Engagement track funds projects that strengthen producer engagement with the child nutrition programs market. Finally, the Supporting Tribal Engagement track will fund an entity to conduct tribal dialogues with the purpose of supporting Food and Nutrition Services’ farm-to-school grantmaking and technical assistance for tribal entities.

Applications are now open for TD Bank Group's TD Ready Challenge for $10 million in grants to U.S. or Canadian nonprofit organizations focused on innovative solutions that address systemic barriers to affordable housing. TD is looking to work alongside organizations that help to increase access to permanent and stable housing throughout the transitional process. The TD Ready Challenge, now in its sixth year, is a key component of the bank’s corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment, through which it is dedicating $750 million to drive positive change, nurture progress, and help make the communities TD serves stronger and more inclusive.

The final months of 2023 are quickly approaching. Is your organization ready for the end-of-year giving season? If you are looking for some tips on how to prepare, you should read Bloomerang’s 13 Lucky Year-End Fundraising Tips. This report discusses how to rally your donors and organization for year end, follow up with lapsed donors, increase donor retention, incorporate peer-to-peer fundraising, and optimize your organization's website prior to giving.

Webinar date: August 23, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: If your organization is similar to other nonprofits, a lack of time, staff, and resources is one of the greatest challenges you face when grantseeking. Fortunately, AI tools can save you time when writing your next grant proposal. However, current AI tools cannot replace an effective proposal writer, but instead can be used as a well-trained assistant. During this webinar, Alice Ruhnke and David Gates will show you how to use AI tools effectively when writing proposals. They will be joined by Phillip Deng, the CEO of Grantable, and Mike Chamberlain, the CEO of the Grant Professionals Association, who will share their unique insights into AI best practices and considerations for nonprofits.

Webinar date: August 28, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: When writing your proposals, do you clearly demonstrate the impact of your work? Providing the number of classes held or participants served is useful information, but it isn’t enough to satisfy most funders because funders want to know… "So what?" What difference will your program make? How will it change people's lives? And how will you measure those changes? During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will show you how to use outcomes and indicators so you can answer a funder’s “So what?” question confidently.

Webinar date: August 29, 2023, 2:00 to 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Description: Finding the right team members can help your organization in numerous ways. However, recruiting employees and volunteers presents unique challenges. During this webinar, Autumn Joyce of Cultivate Advisors will show you how to brand your recruitment efforts properly. By actively considering your brand, mission, vision, and values when recruiting, you can help your organization attract top talent and increase its impact.

More funding opportunities are featured on the GrantStation homepage. Click here to see the grantmakers spotlighted this week!