GrantStation Insider: November 16, 2023

Application deadline: January 16, 2024
Grant amount: One-year grants of $215,000 support teams’ planning year. Teams are also eligible to apply for additional funding to support the school’s first three years of operation.
Description: NewSchools Venture Fund is a venture philanthropy that seeks to build a better education system in the United States by connecting people, resources, and ideas. The Fund’s Innovative Public Schools funding opportunity is currently accepting applications from educators who are designing new, innovative public schools launching in Fall 2025. Support is provided to early-stage charter organizations launching their first or second school in a new network and to district schools developing and implementing innovative designs for new schools. Applicants must enroll students within the pre-K-12 grade span on a full-time basis and be eligible to receive public funding. While a variety of approaches are supported, all funded schools are committed to a student-centered vision and the three design principles of an expanded definition of student success, equity, and innovation. NewSchools especially seeks to invest in more Latino and Indigenous leaders who are underrepresented in education innovation and school leadership roles.

Application deadline: January 12, 2024
Grant amount: Up to a total of $750,000 will be awarded in 2024.
Description: The COPIC Medical Foundation aims to improve the quality of healthcare delivery in the United States by reducing adverse outcomes and supporting innovation. Grant funding is provided for programs and initiatives that improve patient safety and quality of care through systems changes and improvements, pilot programs that are designed to reduce medical errors, and development and implementation of checklists and other tools to improve disease management and transitions in care. For 2024, the focus is on the issue of reducing fragmentation across care settings. Nonprofit organizations with an approach or program that has demonstrated potential for uptake or replication by the healthcare community are eligible to apply.

Application deadlines: December 15, 2023, and March 22 and July 7, 2024
Geographic scope: United States, including Puerto Rico
Grant amount: Typically $100,000 to $500,000
Description: The Home Depot Foundation's Veteran Housing Grants Program provides support throughout the United States, including Puerto Rico, for the new construction or rehabilitation of multifamily, permanent supportive housing for veterans. The grants fund physical construction costs, and must comprise less than 50% of the total development cost of the project. Rural areas will be considered, but priority will be given to large cities, defined as populations over 300,000 people, with a specific focus on the following cities: Los Angeles and San Diego, CA; Denver, CO; Atlanta, GA; Tampa, FL; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; New York, NY; Houston, TX; and Seattle, WA. Nonprofit organizations with a current operating budget of at least $300,000, with previous experience developing veteran housing, and that currently manage or own veteran-specific housing are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: Intents to apply must be submitted by January 25, 2024.
Grant amount: $15,000 to $25,000
Description: Shakespeare in American Communities, a theater program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, aims to connect young people across the United States to Shakespeare’s plays. Grants are provided to nonprofit professional theater companies in the U.S. that produce Shakespeare’s works to support performances and workshops in middle and high schools and in juvenile justice facilities. The schools program is available to theater companies producing a play that is a work written or inspired by Shakespeare, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s texts, or a production that incorporates scenes, monologues, or sonnets by Shakespeare, with related educational activities in partnership with schools. The juvenile justice program is available to nonprofit organizations providing Shakespeare educational activities in partnership with the juvenile justice system.

Application deadline: Applications are accepted on a bimonthly basis; upcoming deadlines are December 22, 2023, and February 16, 2024.
Geographic scope: Communities TD Bank serves
Grant amount: The minimum amount is $5,000.
Description: The TD Charitable Foundation provides support to nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of life in the communities TD Bank serves, which include specific counties of CT, DE, DC, FL, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, SC, VT, and VA. (A list of eligible counties is available in the online application.) The Foundation primarily funds programs aligned to one or more of the following areas: better health, with a focus on research, technology, and innovative solutions that improve access to care for all; connected communities, with a focus on increasing access to the opportunities people need to participate and feel a sense of belonging in their community, including arts and culture; financial security, including early learning, income stability, financial literacy, and affordable housing; and vibrant planet, including clean economic growth that supports the transition to a low-carbon economy and activating green spaces. Special consideration will be given to organizations delivering programs that support diverse and historically underserved communities and to programs that support low- to moderate-income individuals with services that improve the quality of life.

Application deadline: None for letters of inquiry
Geographic scope: Michigan
Description: The Michigan Justice Fund is a funders’ collaborative that makes investments in Michigan to stem the flow of individuals into the criminal justice system, support the investment of public dollars to community-driven alternatives to incarceration, and ensure that those who are returning home after incarceration receive the support they need to flourish. The Fund’s letter of inquiry opportunity supports projects that align with the following goals: strengthening Michigan’s funding, policies, and practices to support the economic mobility and overall success of people with criminal records; reducing the reliance on confinement and adjudication; and building a movement for communities to shape justice policies and funding. Michigan-based nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. (Support for time-sensitive resource needs or strategic opportunities that advance the primary mission of the Fund is also available through the Rapid Response Grant Program.)

Application deadline: Letters of interest may be submitted throughout the year. (The upcoming deadline for invited applications is April 1, 2024.)
Geographic scope: Idaho, Oregon, and Washington
Description: The Lazar Foundation is dedicated to funding innovative and strategic projects that protect the environment in the Pacific Northwest, including Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The Foundation’s specific environmental interests include conservation of large, biologically significant terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; preservation of biological diversity; projects that broaden the environmental movement; and projects that strengthen or increase the capacity of the environmental movement’s ability to develop, shape, and communicate its message.

Application deadline: January 31, 2024
Geographic scope: Specific NFL target markets
Grant amount: Up to $250,000
Description: The NFL Foundation Grassroots Program, a partnership of the National Football League (NFL) Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), provides nonprofit organizations with financial and technical assistance to improve the quality, safety, and accessibility of local football fields. Support is provided for projects sponsored by nonprofit community-based organizations or middle or high schools that are located within NFL target markets and serve low to moderate-income areas within those markets. (A list of eligible geographies is available in the request for proposals.) Strong preference will be given to proposals that seek to upgrade existing facilities that are in poor condition or otherwise underutilized, demonstrate active use of the fields, attract matching funding that exceeds the minimum required match of 1:1, involve local partnerships to promote youth sports safety and community programming, provide for continuing maintenance and field safety, and involve youth football programs that are compliant with USA Football’s Football Development Model education program. Available grants include general field support grants of up to $50,000; field surface matching grants of up to $250,000 to install new synthetic sports turf surfaces; and field surface matching grants of up to $100,000 to resurface fields utilizing natural grass or sod surfaces.

Application deadline: January 10, 2024
Description: The Advancing Informal STEM Learning Program seeks to fund research and practice, with a focus on investigating a range of informal STEM learning experiences and environments that make lifelong learning a reality. The current solicitation encourages proposals from institutions and organizations that serve public audiences and specifically focus on public engagement with and understanding of STEM, including community STEM, public participation in scientific research, science communication, intergenerational STEM engagement, and STEM media. Five types of projects will be supported: synthesis, conferences, partnership development and planning, integrating research and practice, and research in support of wide-reaching public engagement with STEM.

Application deadline: December 17, 2023
Description: The Southwest Border Resource Protection Program provides financial assistance to improve resource stewardship, achieve international cooperation, provide meaningful interpretation, and conduct scientific research, which will lead to increased appreciation and understanding of shared natural and cultural heritage along the international border with Mexico. Program funding is available for conducting scientific research and monitoring of species, as well as conservation, interpretation, and preservation projects designed to help protect and preserve natural and cultural resources located near or along the international border.

Are you a nonprofit founder 50 and older?

The AARP Purpose Prize® award celebrates people 50 and older who are using their life experience to make a difference. Through this annual award, AARP celebrates a new story of aging—one full of meaningful impact and limitless possibilities.

Winners who have founded a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization will win $50,000 for their organization. They will also have access to a number of technical supports and resources to help broaden their organizations’ impact. The call for applications ends February 29, 2024. See rules and apply.

Next Level Training for Federal Grants is a year-long training course to build your skills in winning government grants. Monthly live online sessions with the instructors will walk you through key proposal sections, giving you strategies, examples from real life, and models you can follow.

Logic models can be a useful tool when developing a grant proposal. Are you familiar with what exactly a logic model is, or is the concept still a bit nebulous? If you are looking for a straightforward explanation, you might want to read “Logic Models, in Plain English.” This article, published on The Grantsmanship Center’s blog, gives a brief explanation of what a logic model is, the questions it should answer, and one common speed bump people encounter when creating a logic model. 

Webinar date: November 29, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: Many talented consultants know how to effectively provide niche services such as grantwriting, strategic planning, or marketing but struggle when it comes to running their actual consulting business. A business plan provides a blueprint for successfully running your consulting business. It is a safeguard against burnout that can help you serve the nonprofit sector, stay solvent, and meet your individual financial goals. During this interactive webinar, Stephanie Sample will demystify the process of business planning. You’ll see how setting goals can help you achieve them.

Webinar date: November 30, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: An A+ proposal budget provides an honest, complete, and clear picture of the total value of everything it takes to do your work successfully. It also stands as an invaluable management and evaluation tool when it comes to running your grant-funded program. So how can you craft this type of budget? That’s the question you’ll explore with Maryn Boess in this down-to-earth, myth-busting session.

Webinar date: December 4, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: According to the results of GrantStation’s 2023 State of Grantseeking Report, the lack of time continues to be one of the greatest challenges to grantseeking. This session will cover the steps you can take today to create more time in the future. By embracing practical, time-saving techniques, you can reduce redundant activities and maximize the number of proposals you are able to submit.

I’ve been with GrantStation for over a decade and continue to appreciate a company where my head and my heart can coexist. My past work has included high-end retail, predictive consumer purchase software, and CRM for nonprofit organizations. At GS I can be proud of the company and its mission: We are dedicated to creating a civil society by assisting the nonprofit sector in its quest to build healthy and effective communities.

I’m also part of a team of people who are devoted to providing—and continually improving—the benefits of GS Membership, while keeping Membership affordable, on purpose. We want all nonprofits to have equal access to quality grant research tools, training, and opportunities. My job here ranges from marketing, visuals, and content to financials, reporting, planning, and analysis—the perfect blend of right-brain/left-brain responsibilities.

I’m a board member emeritus of a nonprofit focused on building community through the power of music. I’m also a fervid supporter of local organizations fighting against puppy mills. Currently we have four mill rescues, all darling companion animals, and all with trauma, physical illnesses, and ongoing requirements as they adjust to comfort and safety. You meet a mill survivor on their level of interaction, not yours.

GrantStation, the staff here, and the people and organizations we serve really do make the world a better place.

Interested in GrantStation's funder profiles? View the weekly Funding Spotlights to see profiles of grantmakers currently accepting applications. Current opportunities include Ocean Grants (U.S. and international), Horizon Cares Community Grant Programs (U.S. local: IN and MI), Indigenous Youth Roots: Creation Community Grants Program (Canada), and Fit for Life Foundation: Fit for Life Awards (international).