GrantStation International Insider - December 2023

Application deadline: None
Geographic scope: Global
Description: The White Feather Foundation, founded by Julian Lennon, seeks to address environmental and humanitarian issues for the betterment of all life. The Foundation supports projects across the globe in the areas of Indigenous cultures, environment, clean water, and education and health. Nonprofit organizations and registered charities are eligible to apply. Details on each funding area are available on the Foundation’s website, under Choose a Cause.

Application deadline: January 31, 2024, for the Film and TV Funding Award, and February 25, 2024, for the Podcast Pitch
Grant amount: 
Film and TV Funding Award: One award of £100,000 and a runner-up award of £20,000 are provided.
The Podcast Pitch: One award of £5,000 and a runner-up award of £2,000 are provided.
Description: The Whickers seeks to support emerging film and audio documentary-makers in the funding and production of director-led programs. Funding is provided through two programs: The Film and TV Funding Award is made annually to an emerging filmmaker from anywhere in the world with the most promising pitch for a director-led documentary. The documentary must be the filmmaker’s first 50+ minute documentary film where they own the director or co-director credit. Projects must be at the late development to early production stage at the time of applying. The Podcast Pitch award is made to independent podcast makers, and prioritizes engagement, inquisitiveness, demonstrably strong interviewing skills, and original use of technology. 

Application deadline: February 1, 2024
Grant amount: Grants range up to $10,000 over a two-year period.
Description: The Mind & Life Institute seeks to bridge science and contemplative wisdom to foster insight and inspire action toward flourishing. The Institute’s Contemplative Changemaking Grants fund projects that use contemplative wisdom to help alleviate the suffering of others and promote healing and positively transform the lives of multiple others. Proposals are encouraged across broad domains, including civic engagement, climate action, economic empowerment, education, physical and mental health, and social inclusion. Projects must be anchored in one or more contemplative wisdom practices, be activity based and impact oriented, and reach beyond the individual well-being of grantees to serve a larger community. Individuals, community-based nonprofit organizations, universities, and social enterprises are eligible to apply. 

Application deadline: December 22, 2023
Geographic scope: Global, with a focus on low-income settings
Grant amount: $2 to $4 million will be allocated, with grants ranging from $200,000 to $400,000.
Description: The Agency Fund invests in ideas and organizations that expand human agency. Through the AI For Human Agency call for concepts, the Fund seeks to support six twelve-month projects in low-income settings that leverage AI to help people navigate their lives, ultimately enabling them to improve their economic, health, or educational outcomes. Priority is given to projects that collect performance data and generate evidence, enhance agency, are safe and responsible, and are scalable. The most competitive projects will be contextually adapted and tailored to specific populations and decision challenges. This could involve the use of dedicated training data, tailored user experiences, or other adaptations. The Fund expects that most supported projects will be pilot projects.

Application deadline: January 31, 2024, for projects from June 2024, and August 15, 2024, for projects from January 2025
Geographic scope: Germany and transforming or developing countries
Description: ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (Institute for Foreign Relations), based in Germany, promotes a peaceful and enriching coexistence between people and cultures worldwide. The Artists’ Contacts program supports the international cooperation of cultural actors from Germany and transformation or developing countries. Funding is provided to artists and cultural practitioners from Germany and from transformation or developing countries for projects in contemporary visual arts, architecture, photography, media art, and design. Eligible applicants include: 1) artists, curators, art educators, art theorists, architects, and designers (as well as institutions) from developing and transition countries who want to carry out a project in Germany; 2) artists, curators, art educators, art theorists, architects, and designers (as well as institutions) who want to carry out a project in a developing or transition country; and 3) non-German artists, curators, art educators, art theorists, architects, and designers (as well as institutions) who have been living in Germany for at least five years who want to carry out a project in a developing or transition country (proof of residency required).

Application deadline: None for partnership inquiries
Geographic scope: The U.S., Africa, Mexico, Haiti, and Honduras
Description: The mission of Women's Empowerment International (WE) is to empower women with tools to work their way out of poverty, care for their families, and strengthen their communities. WE provides funding to partners in the U.S., Africa, Mexico, Haiti, and Honduras for poverty alleviation programs that benefit women experiencing poverty or extreme poverty, living in under-resourced, often rural, communities. Funded poverty alleviation strategies include microloans and stipends, entrepreneurship training, financial literacy education, and workforce readiness training. U.S. nonprofit organizations as well as organizations outside the U.S. with equivalent status are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: Applications are reviewed four times per year. The next application deadline is January 26, 2024. 
Geographic scope: United Kingdom
Grant amount: Grants usually range from £10,000 to £30,000 per year over one to three years.
Description: The A B Charitable Trust promotes human dignity and defends human rights for marginalized and excluded people in the U.K. Grants are provided through the Open Programme, which aims to support and strengthen small to medium-sized charities and the wider ecosystem. Priority areas consist of migrants and refugees, the justice system and penal reform, and human rights and access to justice. Grants are provided to organizations which do any or all of the following: deliver services directly targeting migrant communities and people who are refugees or seeking asylum; influence law and policy, public opinion, and narratives; and strengthen the voluntary sector and support organizations delivering work in this area. Project funding and core funding is provided.

Application deadline: Last Mile Film Fund: none; Kekere Storytellers Fund: December 31, 2023, or until 20 storytellers have been selected
Geographic scope: Africa and the diaspora
Grant amount: Last Mile Film Fund: up to $5,000 for short films and up to $10,000 for feature-length films; Kekere Storytellers Fund: $500 to $2,000
Description: Africa No Filter aims to shift outdated perceptions of Africa by supporting the development of stories that represent Africa beyond stereotypes. Funding is currently available through two opportunities: The Last Mile Film Fund supports films about African exceptionalism that inspire, motivate, and show the progress Africa has made as a continent. Grants are provided to African filmmakers based in Africa and the diaspora who are working on short and feature-length fiction, documentary, or animation films at the final stages of production. The Kekere Storytellers Fund awards micro-grants to emerging storytellers who are already creating and publishing unique and compelling content that offers fresh and alternative perspectives of Africa. Eligible applicants consist of Africans under the age of 35 based in Africa or the diaspora who are able to express themselves in English or French, and have at least 5,000 social media followers, two years of work experience, and a track record of producing ground-breaking work. 

Application deadline: Applications will be accepted from December 12, 2023, to April 24, 2024.
Geographic scope: EU Member States as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine
Grant amount: Grants range from 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 euros for the first priority and from 100,000 to 1,000,000 for the second, third, and fourth priority. 
Description: The European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values Programme has issued a call for proposals to prevent and combat gender-based violence and violence against children. Financing will be provided to projects that 1) support the development of large-scale, integrated actions to combat gender-based violence and achieve long-term and structural changes with a wide geographical coverage; 2) protect and support victims and survivors of gender-based violence, including children; 3) prevent gender-based violence in the domestic sphere, in intimate relationships, and online, including through targeted actions with perpetrators; and 4) make integrated child protection systems work in practice.

Application deadline: January 11, 2024
Geographic scope: Global
Grant amount: $500,000 to $1,000,000
Description: The Supporting Critical Open-Source Technologies That Enable a Free and Open Internet program aims to strengthen the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms online through an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure global internet, with a focus on technology development. Competitive proposals will develop and implement programs to develop, improve, implement, and sustain open-source technologies which serve as critical foundations for a free and open internet. Applications are accepted from U.S.-based and foreign-based nonprofit organizations/non-governmental organizations and public international organizations; private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses.

As the new year approaches, you may be wondering what challenges lie ahead for your organization. To get a better handle on the upcoming year, you may want to read “What Nonprofits Can Expect in 2024 and How to Be Better Prepared.” Published by CharityVillage, this article looks at the impacts of inflation, high interest rates, declining donations, and talent shortages on nonprofit organizations, and what can be done in response to these trends.

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.

Webinar date: December 5, 2023, 2:00 to 3:00 PM Eastern Time
Description: Diversity and equity in hiring allows your nonprofit to better represent your community and openly demonstrates your values. Unfortunately, many organizations struggle to attract and hire candidates from underrepresented backgrounds. It can be challenging to determine what diversity means within your organization and to eliminate implicit bias throughout the interview process. During this webinar, Sneha Shah will provide you with practical strategies you can use to implement a diverse hiring process. You’ll hear practical, step-by-step tips that you can implement right away to hire more diverse team members.

How to Use QuickBooks for Donor Thank-You Letters (DESKTOP and ONLINE)

Webinar date QuickBooks DESKTOP: December 6, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Webinar date QuickBooks ONLINE: December 7, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: Do you struggle to send IRS-required thank-you letters out to your donors? Did you know that you can actually send IRS-compliant donor thank-you letters directly from QuickBooks? In this must-see session, presented by Gregg Bossen, a CPA specializing in auditing nonprofits and President of QuickBooks Made Easy for Nonprofits, you’ll learn what is legally required to be on a donor thank-you letter, how to set up letter templates in QuickBooks that are IRS-compliant, how to email or print these letters directly out of QuickBooks, how to generate year-end reports for donors that list their donations, and how to deal with special event tickets when only a part of the payment is a donation.

Kevin Peters

Like many of GrantStation's staff members, particularly the long-timers, I have a story about my arrival here involving our founder, Cynthia Adams. Back when GrantStation still had a physical office in the heart of Alaska, I had just graduated from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I was not quite ready to leave the state, and was looking for work in a town of just 30,000 people, a bit of a daunting task. Fortunately, a close friend from the English department told me her employer was hiring.

I met Cindy at the local coffeehouse and told her why I'd be a good fit. She offered me the position on the spot. When I asked if she needed a copy of my resume, which I had dutifully printed out before the interview, she thought about it a moment and said, "Sure, I guess that would be a good idea." She then informed me that she had forgotten her wallet and asked if I could pay for her beverage. I joined the team shortly thereafter.

The ensuing years would solidify how well the company and I were suited to each other. If there has been a mission to my life, it has been words, and helping people to understand them.

In my younger days, I used to teach night classes in technical writing at the university after the GrantStation day was done. At one point, I took a two-year hiatus from the company to go teach English overseas. After I returned to GrantStation, I had the privilege of teaching some of our new team members about the GrantStation ways. And I've had the joy of interacting with our Members, answering their questions about how to use GrantStation most effectively. Words and explanations: they follow me, and are a part of who I am.

As the Vice President of Research, I have the honor of overseeing a wonderful team of researchers, each with their own unique experiences with words. Our work in the research department is all about scouring the wealth of funder information out there—all those words floating around somewhere in cyberspace—and trying to provide it to our members in a user-friendly package. It's that human touch that distinguishes us from our competitors. We don't just hand over a pile of information and say, "Here you go; try to make some sense of it." We have read it ourselves and work to make sure it will make sense to you.

I've learned so much in my time at GrantStation, particularly from my predecessor, Julie Kaufman, and I want to share that information with our Members. I'm here to try to help you with your research needs, as is the rest of our intrepid research crew. Please consider joining us for one of our monthly webinars giving a tour of the GrantStation website, where you can see how we work and get some insights straight from some of our researchers, including myself. Grantseeking can be complicated and daunting, but we're here to help.