GrantStation Insider - March 30, 2017

National | Regional | Federal | Partner Depot | Online Education | Announcements

National Funding
Opportunities Throughout the U.S.

Support for STEM Education Initiatives
General Motors: STEM Education RFP
General Motors is committed to fostering smart, safe, and sustainable communities around the world. GM has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) that will address STEM education challenges facing students (third-12th grade and college), with a special emphasis on women and minorities. Funded projects should help to achieve the following social outcomes: increase the number of students who earn a degree in STEM that matches market needs; increase the presence, achievement, and persistence levels for underrepresented minorities in the STEM field; and increase the supply of qualified teachers for teacher training in STEM-related subjects. Grants of $25,000 and above will be provided. Nonprofit organizations and educational institutions nationwide are eligible to apply. The deadline for letters of inquiry is May 12, 2017. Visit the GM website to download the RFP and submit an online letter of inquiry.

Mental Health Programs Initiated by Medical Students Funded
American Psychiatric Association Foundation: Helping Hands Grant Program
The American Psychiatric Association Foundation is dedicated to advancing public understanding of mental illnesses. The Foundation’s Helping Hands Grant Program was established to encourage medical students to participate in community service activities, to raise awareness of mental illness and the importance of early recognition of illness, and to build medical students’ interest in psychiatry and working in underserved communities. The program provides grants of up to $5,000 to medical schools for mental health and substance use disorder projects that are created and managed by medical students, particularly in underserved minority communities. Funded projects can be conducted in partnership with community agencies or in conjunction with ongoing medical school outreach activities. The application deadline is May 31, 2017. Application guidelines and forms are available on the Foundation’s website.

Grants Promote Grassroots Wilderness Protection Efforts
Fund for Wild Nature
The Fund for Wild Nature provides grants to grassroots nonprofit organizations in the United States and Canada for campaigns to save native species and wild ecosystems, with particular emphasis on actions to defend threatened wilderness and biological diversity. Priority is given to ecological issues that are not receiving sufficient public attention or funding. Grants, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000, are provided for advocacy, litigation, public policy work, development of citizen science, and similar endeavors. The Fund does not support proposals from organizations with budgets of over $250,000 annually. The application deadlines are May 1 and October 1 of each year. Application guidelines and forms are available on the Fund’s website.

Innovative K-12 Projects Supported in Every State
Voya Unsung Heroes Awards Program
The Voya Unsung Heroes Awards Program provides educators nationwide with grants to help fund their innovative class projects. Full-time educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, and classified staff with effective projects that improve student learning are eligible to apply. Applicants must work at an accredited K-12 public or private school located in the United States. The 100 finalists each receive an award of $2,000. At least one award will be granted in each of the 50 United States, provided one or more qualified applications are received from each state. Of the 100 finalists, three will be selected for additional financial awards of $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000. All awards must be used to further the projects within the school or school system. Applications must be submitted online by April 30, 2017. Visit the Unsung Heroes Awards Program website to access the application and learn more about the program.

Regional Funding
Opportunities for Specific Areas

Funds for Programs to Enhance the Health of Idaho Residents
Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health
The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health is dedicated to positively impacting the health of all Idahoans through wellness and prevention programs. The Foundation provides Community Grants to nonprofit organizations that address one of the following initiative areas: The Childhood Obesity Prevention category supports innovative programs that promote healthy eating and physical activity among Idaho children. The Access to Care category supports organizations that work to improve access to medical care throughout Idaho. Grant requests should not exceed $10,000. The application deadlines for 2017 are May 3 and August 4. Visit the Foundation’s website to review the application guidelines.

Grants Restore Native Bird and Fish Habitat in New England
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: New England Forests and Rivers Fund
The New England Forests and Rivers Fund, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), is dedicated to restoring and sustaining healthy forests and rivers that provide habitat for diverse native bird populations, as well as freshwater and diadromous fish populations, throughout the New England states. The Fund will award approximately $1.5 million in grants, ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 each, during the current cycle. Organizations in the six New England states may apply for support; there is a particular focus on projects that address on-the-ground restoration in New Hampshire.  Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Indian tribes, and educational institutions. The proposal deadline is May 11, 2017. Visit the NFWF website to download the 2017 RFP.

Support for Quality of Life Programs in Company Communities
Chesapeake Energy Corporate Giving Program
The Chesapeake Energy Corporate Giving Program supports nonprofit organizations that improve the quality of life in the company's operating areas in Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming. Donations are provided in the following four primary focus areas: community development, STEM education, environment, and emergency and disaster response. Requests are reviewed three times per year; the remaining 2017 application deadlines for donation requests are May 1 and August 1. Visit the company’s website to submit an online application.

Animal Welfare Initiatives in Iowa Funded
The Miccio Foundation
The Miccio Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that address the well-being of animals in the state of Iowa, with primary focus on companion animals. Grants are provided for projects such as humane education, facility renovation, medical care, spay/neuter programs, and adoption support. Types of grants include Standard Grants averaging $3,500 for licensed pounds and shelters, Mini-Grants of up to $1,500 for organizations with or without a pound or shelter license, and Jean M. Walker Grants of up to $2,500 for individuals and organizations that raise public awareness to improve the humane treatment of animals. The upcoming application deadline is May 1, 2017. Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about the application criteria.

Federal Funding
Opportunities from the U.S. Government

Humanities Programs Supported
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Humanities Access Grants program supports capacity building for humanities programs that benefit children, families, and young adults. Support is provided for programs at public libraries, museums, historical societies, colleges and universities, archival repositories, and other cultural organizations. The application deadline is May 3, 2017.

Program Funds Refugee Businesses
Administration for Children and Families
The Refugee Microenterprise Development Program assists refugees in becoming economically self-sufficient by helping them establish microenterprise businesses through the provision of loans, training, and technical assistance, and by helping them build credit history or repair their credit score. The application deadline is May 5, 2017. 

Partner Depot
GrantStation Proudly Endorses These Special Offers

Reach Your Target Audience – Increase Attendance, Sales, and Membership!
Partner Depot provides the opportunity for organizations and businesses to connect with the grantseeking universe by introducing products or services, announcing events, etc. Advertising in GrantStation's weekly newsletters, sent to a list of over 100,000 subscribers, and on GrantStation's website, with over 2,100,000 page views annually, will ensure that your message reaches interested readers.

We at GrantStation know that Partner Depot advertisements and announcements carry our implied endorsement. Therefore, the Partner Depot Program is limited to current GrantStation Members, partners, and participants in other GrantStation programs to ensure the veracity of the marketing content. To learn more about how Partner Depot can work for you, please contact Jill Cochran.

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.

Writing Federal Grants
The federal government is increasingly interested in funding the important work done by community and faith-based groups throughout the country. Every year the government releases millions of dollars to help nonprofit organizations serve their communities. During this webinar, Alice Ruhnke will talk about how to identify federal grant opportunities, and she'll outline the major elements of grant applications required by most federal agencies. Resources to help your organization through the government grantseeking process will also be discussed. This presentation will be held Thursday, April 6, 2017, and is for intermediate participants. Visit the link above to register.

The Power of Three: $149 Webinar Special
Kick off your spring grantseeking with three powerful, back-to-back webinars in April presented by CEO and Founder of GrantStation, Cynthia Adams. We begin with Building a Powerful Grants Strategy for 2017 on April 12. This is followed by a step-by-step webinar on Building a Stellar Grantseeking Team on April 13. Cynthia will top it off with a webinar focusing on the importance of a strong statement of need with her popular The Golden Key to Successful Grant Requests on April 27.

Purchasing this special $149 offer grants you individual access to all three of these webinars for one low price:

• Building a Powerful Grants Strategy for 2017
• Building a Stellar Grantseeking Team
• The Golden Key to Successful Grant Requests

The last day to purchase this series of webinars is April 11th.

FREE Tour of the NEW GrantStation Website
Join Jeremy Smith, Communications and Technology Director, and Sara Kennedy, Director of Online Education, for a quick tour of the NEW GrantStation website. This tour will cover all of the features in GrantStation.com and it will also highlight the recent changes to the website, including a new look, new navigation, new search interfaces, and additional charitable database search criteria. This tour will provide tips on the most effective way to use all of the valuable resources the website offers, including the extensive funder databases that can help you identify the grantmakers most likely to fund your programs or projects. By using GrantStation's databases and resource tools, you can begin to develop a successful grantseeking strategy for the next 12 to 18 months. This webinar will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.

Announcements
What's New at GrantStation?

GrantStation's Newsletter Program
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Editor: Julie Kaufman
Contributing Writer: Kevin Peters
Contributing Writer: Ashlyn Simmons