GrantStation Insider: August 31, 2023

Application deadline: September 25, 2023
Geographic scope: United States, including Puerto Rico
Grant amount: $10,000
Description: The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is dedicated to the Latino arts field in the United States. The NALAC Fund for the Arts supports U.S. and Puerto Rico-based Latino artists and arts organizations in the development, creation, presentation, and sustainability of artistic excellence. $10,000 awards are available for Latino artists and organizations of all disciplines. The Organization Grants supports organizations whose primary mission is focused on Latino arts and culture in any arts discipline. Both project-based support and general operating support are provided. Artist Grants support Latinx artists, ensembles, and cultural workers whose work demonstrates excellence and the potential for impacting the Latino arts field. 

Application deadline: Applications for the upcoming cycle will be accepted from August 30 to October 11, 2023.
Geographic scope: United States and U.S. territories
Grant amount: Varies by grant category up to $50,000
Description: The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s Quality of Life Grants Program provides grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States that impact and empower people living with paralysis, their families, and caregivers. Grants are awarded to organizations that address the needs of people living with paralysis caused by spinal cord and other injuries, diseases, or birth conditions. Direct Effect grants of up to $25,000 are open-focused and support a wide range of projects and activities that will clearly impact individuals living with paralysis and their families. Priority Impact grants, offered at three levels of funding, focus on the following priority issues for people living with paralysis and their families: assistive technology, disaster preparedness, and respite/caregiving (grants up to $30,000); racial equity and rural unserved and underserved populations (grants up to $40,000); and employment and nursing home transition (grants up to $50,000). 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, municipal and state governments, school districts, recognized tribal entities, and other institutions such as community or veterans hospitals are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: October 5, 2023, for letters of inquiry
Grant amount: $5,000 to $25,000
Description: The Herb Block Foundation is committed to defending basic freedoms, combating all forms of discrimination and prejudice, and improving the conditions of the poor and underprivileged. The Foundation’s Defending Basic Freedoms program provides support to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States to safeguard the basic freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, to help eliminate all forms of prejudice and discrimination, and to assist government agencies to be more accountable to the public. The Foundation will also consider contemporary societal issues that may arise.

Application deadlines: March 1, August 1, and December 1, annually for concept papers
Grant amount: $10,000 to $25,000 for planning grants and $100,000 to $300,000 for implementation grants
Description: The Teagle Foundation works to support and strengthen liberal arts education in the United States. The Foundation’s Knowledge for Freedom initiative supports programs at colleges or universities that invite underserved high school students to college to study humanity’s deepest questions about leading lives of purpose and civic responsibility. Funded programs bring low-income high school students onto a college campus for an intensive summer seminar in the humanities taught by college professors, with a focus on transformative texts in philosophy and literature connected by ideas or questions about the nature of government, freedom, and democracy. Programs then offer formalized assistance with college applications and direct students in a civic engagement or public service project, as well as further engage students by sponsoring events, facilitating mentorships, or by connecting them with opportunities to continue their civic engagement. Both planning and implementation grants are available.

Application deadline: October 1, 2023
Geographic scope: Selected states
Description: The School-Based Healthcare Solutions Network (SBHSN) is currently accepting applications to implement and expand mental health program services on local school campuses in eligible states. Funding will support the following activities: 1) recruiting, employing, and placing qualified mental health professionals on school campuses; 2) expanding access to school-based social and emotional learning; 3) coordinating mental healthcare services with school administration and staff; and 4) delivering mental healthcare services and coordinating academic-support activities to students with a history of attendance, behavior, and poor academic performance. Grantees will use SBHSN’s Coaching Model to match behavioral health professionals with children meeting early warning indicators. Local education agencies, public and private universities, state and local colleges, charter school management companies, public schools, charter schools, and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: The upcoming application deadline is November 1, 2023. (The application portal opens October 1.)
Geographic scope: Washington, DC, metro area
Description: The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation works to improve the lives of residents of the Washington, DC, metro area, with an emphasis on creating a more equitable region. Grants are made in five program areas: arts and humanities, community services, education, environment, and health and wellness. Nonprofit organizations serving residents in the District of Columbia, Prince George’s or Montgomery counties in Maryland, and Arlington or Fairfax counties or the cities of Alexandria or Falls Church in Virginia are eligible to apply. Most of the Foundation’s grants are for general operating support, though project-specific support is also provided.

Application deadline: None
Geographic scope: Rural communities within Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington
Grant amount: Up to $5,000, and averaging $500 to $2,500
Description: AgWest Farm Credit’s Rural Community Grants provide support to nonprofit organizations for projects that improve rural communities within Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Supported projects include efforts such as building or improving facilities, purchasing necessary equipment to facilitate a local program, and funding capital improvements which enhance a community’s infrastructure or prosperity. Examples include a fire engine for a rural fire department, a multi-purpose community building, improvements to community park facilities, or computers for a community center’s educational classes. Applicants must have a letter of support written by a current AgWest employee or an active AgWest customer.

Application deadline: September 29, 2023
Geographic scope: Georgia
Grant amount: Up to $75,000
Description: The mission of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation is to inspire and promote collective action that advances health equity for all Georgians. Through the Building the Field of Health Advocacy program, the Foundation anticipates investing a total of $1.2 million to support advocacy efforts aimed at advancing health equity in Georgia. Support will be provided for projects that identify emerging opportunities to advance health equity in Georgia at the systems level, either locally or statewide; elevate community voices to educate decision-makers on health-related issues of importance to communities; bolster the capacity of nonprofit organizations to engage in effective advocacy efforts including research, policy development, coalition building and mobilization, community education, and strategic communications; and strengthen the overall field of health advocacy. Nonprofit organizations and groups with a nonprofit fiscal sponsor working in Georgia on behalf of Georgians are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: September 30, 2023
Description: The Candidate Species Conservation Fund supports conservation tasks for high-priority candidate species or other at-risk species in the United States so that identified threats to the species may be reduced or eliminated. Supported efforts include research, surveys and monitoring, and educational outreach. Priority will be given to projects that aid in improving the conservation status of a species so as to preclude the need to list. These projects could include, but are not limited to, activities that will secure scientific information about candidate or at-risk species and their habitat, implement restoration actions that will lead to removing threats to the species, or help prevent extinction of a species.

Application deadline: October 10, 2023
Description: The African American Civil Rights grant program supports projects to document, interpret, and preserve sites associated with the struggle for equality from the transatlantic slave trade forward. The grants fund a broad range of planning, preservation, and research projects for historic sites, including surveys, inventory, documentation, interpretation, education, architectural services, historic structure reports, preservation plans, and bricks and mortar repairs.

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.

Are you interested in learning more about the latest trends, opportunities, and challenges relating to the nonprofit sector? If so, you may want to download the 2023 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study by NonProfit PRO. This report highlights the struggles and successes of nonprofit organizations in the past year and what's to come for nonprofit leaders in the year ahead. It includes insights on how nonprofits are embracing technology, ways nonprofits have started taking strategic planning seriously, and how major gifts have taken the lead over direct mail as the top fundraising strategy. 

Webinar date: September 6, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: How do you keep appeals “short and sweet,” while still making sure they are complete? This micro-course focuses on the skills needed to break down a large proposal and effectively communicate key information in the form of an executive summary or letter of inquiry. Join Marie Palacios to learn what donors are looking for in these “compact proposal” narratives and what should be reserved for the full proposal or in-person dialogue.

Webinar date: September 7, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: Is branding an afterthought for your nonprofit organization? It shouldn’t be, because what people think about your nonprofit influences your ability to build capacity. Whether you’re trying to compete for funding, people, or donations, strong branding must be present. But branding is much more than logo and look. Branding is the sum total of perceptions about what a nonprofit stands for, what it does, and how much social impact it is thought to achieve. During this webinar, Mindy Muller will help you ensure your organization’s forward face matches the value you provide behind the scenes.

Webinar date: September 11, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: The approach section in your grant proposals must be clear, specific, and realistic. It should also be aligned with the needs you previously identified, your proposed outcomes, your budget, and the funder’s requirements. With so many factors to consider, it's easy to make mistakes and write an approach that has insufficient detail or is misaligned with other portions of your proposal. During the TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will show you how to build an approach that inspires confidence in your program and shows it is well-planned, feasible, and builds on community assets.

Want to stay on top of upcoming deadlines? Check out the weekly Funding Spotlights on the GrantStation homepage.