GrantStation Insider: October 7, 2021

COVID-19 | National | Regional | Federal | Partner Depot | PathFinder | Online Education | Announcements | Subscribe

COVID-19 Related Funding
Opportunities related to the COVID-19 pandemic

Current COVID-19 funding opportunities are available on our website.

National Funding
Opportunities throughout the U.S.

Rapid Response Support for Criminal Justice Reform
Circle for Justice Innovations: Strategic Opportunities Support Fund
The mission of Circle for Justice Innovations (CJI) is to end mass criminalization and incarceration by building and strengthening the infrastructure of the grassroots criminal justice movement to fundamentally transform the U.S. criminal legal system. CJI's Strategic Opportunities Support Fund (SOS Fund) is a rapid response funding mechanism that issues micro-grants of up to $5,000 to organizations addressing crises with strategic organizing and advocacy to meet emergency needs in their communities. The CJI SOS Fund also enables organizations to take advantage of unanticipated opportunities for organizing and advocacy that may be otherwise prohibitive due to a small funding gap. Qualifying organizations must have organizational budgets under $750,000 and be led by and serve formerly incarcerated people and the families of those directly impacted by excessive policing, the criminal legal system, and/or the immigration system. Online applications will be accepted through December 17, 2021. Visit the CJI website for more information about the SOS Fund.

Advertising Underwriting for Environmental Organizations
Temper of the Times Foundation
Temper of the Times Foundation promotes the use of standard marketing concepts to increase awareness about wildland ecosystem conservation and restoration initiatives. Recognizing that organizations working to protect the environment often have limited access to paid media, the Foundation provides funds to underwrite advertising designed to promote the conservation and restoration of native wildlife, plants, and ecosystems in the United States. Grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 may be used to fund the production of print, radio, or television ads; to pay for advertising space or airtime; or to produce or distribute pamphlets, books, videos, or press packets. The application deadline is December 15, 2021. Visit the Foundation's website to learn more about the application process.

Grants Enhance Healthy Food Retail Efforts
America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative: Targeted Small Grants Program
America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), a public-private partnership administered by Reinvestment Fund on behalf of USDA Rural Development, seeks to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas. HFFI's Targeted Small Grants Program is currently offering grants ranging from $20,000 to $200,000, as well as technical assistance, to eligible healthy food retail projects across the country that seek to improve access to healthy food in underserved areas. Funded projects must 1) plan to expand or preserve the availability of staple and perishable foods in underserved areas with low- and moderate-income populations, and 2) if the project involves retail sales, accept or plan to accept benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP). Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, for-profit business enterprises, cooperatively-owned businesses, institutions of higher education, state and local governmental agencies, and tribal governmental agencies. The deadline for letters of interest is December 7, 2021. Visit the HFFI website to download the 2021 Targeted Small Grants Program request for applications.

Funds for U.S. Artists' Participation in International Festivals
USArtists International
USArtists International, administered by the Mid Atlantic Arts, is committed to ensuring that the impressive range of the performing arts in the United States is represented abroad, and that American artists can enhance their creative and professional development through participation at international festivals. USArtists International supports performances by U.S. artists at impactful international festivals and performing arts marketplaces outside the United States and its territories. (Artists and ensembles whose otherwise-eligible international festival engagements have determined that an in-person festival is impossible and have decided to offer the festival virtually are also eligible to apply.) Exemplary solo artists and ensembles across all performing arts disciplines, including dance, music, theater, multidisciplinary work, and folk/traditional arts, may apply for grants ranging up to $18,000. The upcoming application deadlines are December 1, 2021, and March 30, 2022. Application guidelines are available on the Mid Atlantic Arts website.

Regional Funding
Opportunities for specific geographic areas

Legal Assistance Initiatives in Montana Supported
Montana Justice Foundation: Community Opportunity Grants
The Montana Justice Foundation is dedicated to achieving equal access to justice for all Montanans. The Foundation's Community Opportunity Grants support legal aid organizations that provide foreclosure prevention legal assistance and/or community redevelopment legal assistance. Foreclosure Prevention Legal Assistance strategies include a broad range of options such as advice and counsel, representation, mediation programs, and policy and impact work. Community Development Legal Assistance efforts provide legal representation and technical expertise to assist residents with neighborhood revitalization programs that stimulate local economic and commercial development, housing development, the delivery of social services, and other activities that improve the quality of life for people living in low-income communities. Nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions are eligible to apply. The application deadline is November 30, 2021. Visit the Foundation's website to learn more about this program and to submit an online application.

Sponsorships for Health and Youth Organizations in Tennessee
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Community Trust
The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Community Trust supports nonprofit organizations, state colleges and universities, and government agencies in the communities served by the company throughout Tennessee. The Trust is primarily focused on sponsorship support for charitable health clinics, programs that enhance youth health and development, and organizations that provide disease prevention, early detection, and treatment services. Organizations promoting diversity and inclusion are also considered. The application deadlines are May 1 and November 1, annually. Visit the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's website to learn more about the Community Trust's application process.

Grants Promote California K-12 School Gardens
California Fertilizer Foundation: School Garden Grant Program
The mission of the California Fertilizer Foundation is to enhance awareness and understanding of plant nutrients and agriculture in California. The goal of the Foundation's School Garden Grant Program is to increase the understanding and awareness of agriculture and plant nutrition in California's youth through school gardens. The Program provides 24 grants of $1,200 each year to California public and private elementary, middle, and high schools for sustaining or establishing school gardens. The upcoming application deadline is October 31, 2021. Visit the Foundation's website to download the grant application guidelines and form.

Youth Education Programs in Alabama Funded
The Malone Family Foundation
The mission of the Malone Family Foundation is to promote positive changes in the lives of people, who in turn can build and enhance the communities in which they live. The Foundation primarily supports nonprofit organizations in the state of Alabama. The focus of the Foundation's grantmaking is on programs that expand the horizons of and opportunities for children and young adults. Initiatives whose direct objectives are providing better education, promoting self-esteem, and instilling in its beneficiaries a desire to improve oneself are of special interest. Preference is given to creative programs in the area of education from pre-kindergarten through higher education. Letters of inquiry are due November 15, 2021; the deadline for invited proposals is December 15, 2021. Visit the Foundation's website to learn more about the application process.

Federal Funding
Opportunities from the U.S. government

Support for Efforts Addressing Climate Change and Social Justice
Environmental Protection Agency
The Cumulative Health Impacts at the Intersection of Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Vulnerable Populations/Lifestages: Community-Based Research for Solutions program supports transdisciplinary research with approaches that explore and analyze environmental problems. Specifically, proposed projects should address all of the following research questions: What may be the most influential community-, population- or lifestage-specific vulnerabilities caused by ongoing climate change that would elevate exposure to pollutants or contaminants and further exacerbate the health effects from exposure to pollutants or contaminants in underserved communities? What are the cumulative health impacts of climate change-related stressors on vulnerable groups or susceptible lifestages in underserved communities? And how can community-based scientific research results be translated or applied to provide effective solutions to reduce climate change impacts on human health in underserved communities? The application deadline is November 16, 2021.

Funds Available for the Preservation of Equal Rights and African American Civil Rights History
National Park Service
The Historic Preservation Fund supports a variety of historic preservation and community projects focused on heritage preservation. Several programs are currently open. The African American Civil Rights Grant Program documents, interprets, and preserves sites and stories related to the African American struggle to gain equal rights as citizens. For this program, Preservation Grants and History Grants are available. The History of Equal Rights grant program preserves sites related to the struggle of all people to achieve equal rights in America. These grants are not limited to any specific group and are intended to include the broadest possible interpretation of sites associated with efforts to achieve equal rights. The application deadline for all three programs is December 1, 2021.

Partner Depot

TD Charitable Foundation's Housing for Everyone Grant Competition
In response to an increased demand for assistance on affordable housing providers due to COVID-19, the TD Charitable Foundation pledged $5.8 million through the 16th annual Housing for Everyone grant competition to help affordable housing providers deliver critical resident services to individuals and families in need. Eligible organizations located within the TD Bank footprint are invited to apply by October 28^th.

PathFinder: Featured Resource
A library of quality resources designed to help you develop your career path as a grants professional

Women of Color in Power
Are you interested in learning about the experiences of women of color in leadership roles? If you answered yes, you may want to listen to Nonprofit Quarterly's Women of Color in Power podcast. Produced by NPQ's editor-in-chief, Cyndi Suarez, this podcast features candid, in-depth interviews with women of color to learn how they embarked on their paths to power, how their leadership styles have evolved over the years, and their visions for women of color leaders in the future.

Upcoming Online Education Trainings
Live Webinars

Unless otherwise noted, all Online Education Trainings are webinars,
are 90 minutes in duration, and are scheduled to begin at 2 PM Eastern Time.

FREE: Tour of the GrantStation Website
Curious to know exactly what resources are at your fingertips when you enter the GrantStation website? Join Jeremy Smith, Director of Communications Technology, and Kerry Glauser, Research Specialist, for a quick tour of the GrantStation website. Jeremy will demonstrate all of the GrantStation features including how to best use the searchable databases of private funders, how to navigate government funding sources, and how to set up and use your personal dashboard. This quick overview is a great way for current Members to ensure that they are getting the most out of their Membership, and for potential Members to see GrantStation in action! The webinar will be held on Tuesday, October 12, 2021.

Building the "Total Value" Proposal Budget
An A+ proposal budget provides an honest, complete, and clear picture of the total value of everything it takes to do our work successfully. It also stands as an invaluable management and evaluation tool when it comes to running the grant-funded program. So . . . how do we get there from here? That's the question Maryn Boess will explore in this down-to-earth, myth-busting session. What you'll take away from this session: You'll understand the importance of taking a "total value" approach to budget-building, to clearly and compellingly show the value of everything it takes to do our work successfully. You'll learn why the form the grantmaker gives you is (almost always) the wrong tool for planning your budget—and what you can use instead. You'll have the chance to whip out your calculator and try your hand at thinking through some of the "total-value" challenges in our real-life scenario—some are pretty tricky! You'll get a behind-the-scenes view of how grantmakers evaluate your proposal budget and what your budget tells them about your organization. And we'll clear away the confusion around the value of volunteer time, accounting for "match," handling administrative/indirect costs, and other perennially perplexing budget issues. BONUS: In this session, you'll be introduced to GrantsMagic U's exclusive Master Budget Planning Checklist and Worksheet, a powerful planning tool to help you craft a budget that is comprehensive, realistic, and bullet-proof—and that will work for you, your organization, and your grantmaking partners. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, October 13, 2021.

Successful Strategic Planning and Implementation
From fiscal sustainability to mission fulfillment, this webinar will equip you with best practices and empower you to achieve lasting social change. In this webinar, you will explore your ability to plan (and the discipline to stick to the plan) and the wisdom to know when to pivot. This session will delve into the importance of data-driven decision-making for long-term sustainability. In this webinar, you will learn where most strategic planning initiatives fall short, how to course-correct your implementation processes, and how to discern when a pivot is necessary. Not only will these insights promote individual professional development, leadership teams can also adopt these approaches to strategic planning to bring new energy and increased alignment to their organizations. With more than 12 years of social sector organizational development experience, Measurement Resources will speak to how this intense and sustained focus has paid off for many clients. The webinar will be held on Thursday, October 14, 2021.

GrantStation Announcements
The latest updates from GrantStation

Funders Review Award Winning Proposal Writing From the Winning Grant Proposal Competition
This summer GrantStation ran its biennial Winning Grant Proposal Competition. With over 200 fabulous submittals, the judges narrowed it down to three, and from that small pool picked our winner—the Conservation Trust for North Carolina. Who penned this award-winning proposal? The Trust's Executive Director, Chris Canfield.

Join our host, Cynthia Adams, CEO of GrantStation, and two of the judges, Fallon Peterson, Program Officer, Nord Family Fund, and Michael Renner, Strategist, Missouri Foundation for Health, in a lively discussion about why this particular proposal was selected as the winner.

Specifics about the proposal, as well as the time and effort that Chris put into it, will be discussed. Learn what made this proposal stand out from the rest of the very well-written submittals.

Register for this valuable, free webinar scheduled for October 19th at 2 PM ET!

New Decision Matrix for Choosing Leads to Pursue
Would you like an interactive tool that helps you prioritize which grant opportunities are worth pursuing and which are not? GrantStation now provides an enhanced Decision Matrix in each Member's personalized dashboard. Members can fill out the Matrix for each lead saved from their searches. It includes questions such as "How complex are their application guidelines?" and "Does the funder require a copy of our latest financial audit?" To help answer these questions, there is a detailed guide for Members with explanations and examples. There is even a template for creating a customized version of the Decision Matrix.

This is part of the revamped section for Members on building a grants program from the bottom up. If you have questions, please contact us.

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

Information contained in the GrantStation Insider may not be
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Editor: Julie Kaufman
Copy Editor: Ashlyn Simmons
Contributing Writer: Kevin Peters