GrantStation Insider: September 21, 2023

Application deadline: November 2, 2023, for letters of intent
Grant amount: $1,000 to $20,000, with most grants ranging from $10,000 to $15,000
Description: The Sparkplug Foundation provides grants to start-up nonprofit organizations and new projects of established nonprofits in the areas of education, community organizing, and music. In the music category, the Foundation supports emerging professional musicians in developing new work, sharing existing work with a wider community, bringing together musicians to collaborate on creating or performing pieces, or facilitating new workshops that bring music to oppressed communities. In the area of education, the Foundation funds projects that engage excluded students in new ways, that restore knowledge that has been marginalized through racism or colonialism, and that rebuild community and collective problem-solving. In the area of community organizing, the Foundation funds work by members of a community for their community—work that aims to create justice by making systemic change and shifting power. The Foundation also provides limited support for projects in Palestine and in Israel that involve Palestinian communities and work for justice. Prospective applicants should read the entire website carefully for the Foundation's mission, guidelines, FAQs, and previous grantees, and then may begin the application process online. Visit the Foundation's website at www.sparkplugfoundation.org to review the information for grantseekers, as well as the online application instructions.

Application deadline: October 20, 2023, for letters of interest
Grant amount: $5,000 to $10,000
Description: PeopleForBikes’ Industry Community Grant Program provides funding for projects that make bicycling better in communities across the U.S. Support is provided for bicycle infrastructure projects and targeted initiatives that make it easier and safer for people of all ages and abilities to bike. The focus is on funding infrastructure projects that improve a community’s City Ratings score by building connections in a low-stress bikeway network or improving access to recreational amenities. Priority is given to projects in which funding closes a financial gap or leverages additional funds, projects that address historical inequities in low-income communities and communities of color, and projects that are part of a larger strategy to build a network of bikeways and bike facilities that enable people of all ages and abilities to access bicycling as transportation or recreation. 

Application deadlines: November 9, 2023, and May 16, 2024, for letters of inquiry
Geographic scope: United States and internationally
Grant amount: $25,000 – $100,000
Description: Emphasizing direct engagement with contemporary visual art, VIA Art Fund supports projects that exemplify the core values of artistic production, thought leadership, and public engagement. The Fund’s Artistic Production Grants are awarded twice annually to artists, nonprofit organizations, cultural institutions, art production platforms, and biennials or festivals working in the field of contemporary art in the United States and internationally. Support is provided for new artistic commissions that take place outside museum or gallery walls, within the public realm or in non-traditional exhibition environments.

Application deadline: October 20, 2023
Geographic scope: United States (including the U.S. territories) and the Philippines
Description: The SunPower Foundation aims to increase environmental and economic equity for all, regardless of socioeconomic status. Support is provided to U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations working in the United States (including the U.S. territories) and the Philippines for projects improving access to affordable solar energy and participation in solar economic opportunities. Funding focuses on 1) solar accessibility, affordability, and resiliency, including projects that support the deployment of affordable or free-of-cost solar solutions to communities that have been historically underserved or impacted by climate disasters; 2) workforce development, including projects increasing access to all solar careers; and 3) solar economic opportunities, including support for nonprofits delivering technical assistance, coaching, or business accelerator services to minority and women-owned business enterprises in the solar industry.

Application deadline: November 1, 2023
Geographic scope: United States port communities, with priority on the U.S. west coast
Grant amount: $15,000 to $150,000
Description: Through this grant opportunity, Pacific Environment (PE), a nonprofit organization, aims to harness people power to regenerate ports and end ship pollution once and for all. Support focuses on frontline organizations, community-based groups, and environmental justice organizations that are serving and working within communities in the U.S. directly impacted by ship and port pollution. PE will prioritize projects in port communities on the U.S. west coast but will consider funding projects and organizations that are taking on acute port crises in other regions throughout the United States. Funding will be provided for projects that align with the following objectives: 1) helping pass policies that put ships on mandatory zero emission pathways and helping create zero emission trade routes; 2) helping stop ports' fossil fuel build-out and supporting just, thriving, and healthy port communities; and 3) securing zero emission commitments from major players and stakeholders including ports, policy makers, cargo owners, and others that bring pollution into ports.

Application deadline: October 27, 2023
Geographic scope: North Carolina
Grant amount: Up to $100,000 per year for three years
Description: Through the Strengthening Community Capacity to Advocate for Healthy Food funding opportunity, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation seeks to support community-based organizations in North Carolina in expanding their ability to advocate for policy and systems change aimed at increasing access to healthy food for those most impacted by food insecurity. In total, $4.2 million will be allocated to support up to 14 organizations over three years to enhance their ability to affect the policy and systemic changes needed to address root causes of food insecurity for those most impacted in their communities. Eligible organizations must serve communities and populations impacted by high rates of food insecurity and lack of access to healthy food, have specific policy or systems change priorities to address food insecurity and break down barriers to healthy food, and be deeply connected to the community they serve.

Application deadline: October 13, 2023
Geographic scope: Alaska
Grant amount: $10,000 to $50,000
Description: The Alaska Community Foundation’s Vocational Fund for Alaska’s Future supports projects in Alaska that focus on building a highly qualified and highly skilled workforce in Alaska’s natural resource development industries. Programs of interest are those that help build skills for Alaskans of all ages and in areas such as electrical work, plumbing, carpentry, welding, mining, engineering, geology, and other related disciplines. Preference is given to projects focused on skills relevant to the oil, gas, and mining industries, and projects that benefit rural Alaska or reach rural communities in Alaska. Projects that build career awareness, employability skills, and promote cross-sector skill acquisition will be especially competitive. 501(c)(3) nonprofit or equivalent organizations, including tribes, schools, churches, and local government agencies, are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: None
Geographic scope: Ohio
Grant amount: Up to $1,000
Description: The Buckeye Book Fair Literacy Awards aim to promote Ohio’s writers and illustrators and to encourage reading. The Awards are open to Ohio nonprofit organizations, Ohio public and community libraries, and Ohio public and private schools that have a special project using the Buckeye Book Fair’s books and authors. Book Awards provide free books to libraries, while Author and Illustrator Awards provide support to have a Buckeye Book Fair author or illustrator visit schools, libraries, or reading groups. Proposals should show new and creative ways to encourage reading and to promote Ohio topics.

Optional draft deadline: November 29, 2023
Application deadline: January 10, 2024
Description: The Media Projects program supports the development, production, and distribution of radio programs, podcasts, documentary films, and documentary film series that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Projects must be grounded in humanities scholarship and demonstrate an approach that is thoughtful, balanced, and analytical. The program offers two levels of funding: development and production.

Application deadline: October 23, 2023
Description: The Tenant Education and Outreach (TEO) program supports tenant capacity building at eligible existing Project Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) properties, with the goal of preserving decent, safe, and sanitary housing within the PBRA program. The intermediary organization selected will provide and oversee administration of sub-awards to local tenant organizations and support them in their property-specific tenant capacity-building work. The TEO program builds on the successes of previous program models to empower tenants to advocate for their concerns and engage collaboratively with assisted housing providers and will assist tenants in their efforts to work productively with property management, hold management accountable for property conditions, improve management and oversight of these multifamily properties, and advocate for the preservation of affordability.

Are you a social sector leader interested in getting the most from data and technology? If so, you might want to attend Good Tech Fest’s upcoming virtual event, Building Digital Resilience in the Social Sector. Taking place on October 4, 2023, this free conference is for social impact organizations, education institutions, or philanthropic institutions that are interested in how to best leverage data and technology to further their mission. It features a dozen workshops across three main tracks (cybersecurity, data science, and building data capacity) as well as a plenary session.

Webinar date: September 25, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: The budget section of your grant proposals can present some unique challenges. During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will show you how you can develop a project budget that makes sense: one that justifies all of your proposed costs and demonstrates you’ll be an effective steward of the grantmaker’s funds. You’ll walk away ready to present a clear and persuasive budget that aligns with the rest of your proposal.

Webinar date: October 2, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: The most successful proposal writers are talented researchers AND writers. In order to succeed in the competitive grants environment, you must fill your toolkit with a wide range of knowledge, skills, and resources that will allow you to work at your highest level and help your nonprofit organization grow and thrive. During this TargetED event, Alice Ruhnke will provide an overview of the free tools GrantStation has available to help you write stellar grant proposals and enhance your skills. 

Webinar date: October 3, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: Managing your grants effectively is vital if you want to keep receiving them. Does your nonprofit receive grants from foundations, corporations, or the government? Do you get confused about whether a grant is restricted or not? Do you struggle with completing grant reports? Are you looking for guidance on managing your grants effectively so that you remain in compliance with your funders? GrantStation is partnering with Gregg Bossen, a CPA specializing in nonprofits and President of QuickBooks Made Easy for Nonprofits, to deliver this fun, fast-paced webinar focused on the five top tips for effectively managing your grants.

Brought to you by GrantStation and The Grant Professionals Association
We received over 180 excellent entries that had already won a grant award. They reflected grant proposals with compelling narratives, succinct and engaging executive summaries, strong and workable plans, and well-defined budgets. We are appreciative of the work and efforts of each entrant. A complete list of winners and many of the prize-winning grant proposals are available on the GrantStation website.

Join us for the FREE webinar, What Makes a Proposal a Winner, Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 2 PM EDT, for a lively discussion about why this particular proposal was selected as the winner. Featuring Alice Ruhnke, President of GrantStation, WGPC winner Mary Connor, and esteemed judges Gayle Carpentier of TechSoup, Deirdre Chadwick of the BMI Foundation, and Mike Chamberlain of the Grant Professionals Association, the webinar will include specifics about the proposal, as well as the time and effort that WGPC winner Mary Connor put into it.

I started working with GrantStation as a contractor many moons ago. A (then) colleague of mine was hired to migrate the website from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. After the migration, the list of ideas for new features and improvements was enormous, and I pitched in. When the tech director position became open in 2021, I came onboard, and it has been a match made in heaven: There is always something new to work on, and I work with great people. Also, so important to me as a mother, the work is fully remote. 

I work behind the scenes with the tech team to maintain and improve the website. In a typical week, I might add a new feature to improve our Members’ experience on the GrantStation website and in the searchable funder databases, upgrade a piece of the technical scaffolding of the site to ensure that we are always on the most secure versions, and track down a weird bug. (This is part of any developer’s life, but one that I happen to enjoy—so long as it isn’t time sensitive.) I look forward to continuing this behind-the-scenes work to improve the GrantStation website and the features available to our Members!

Have you visited our homepage this week? Additional local, national, Canadian, and international funding opportunities are featured there weekly!