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Published on Connect for Kids / Child Advocacy 360 / Youth Policy Action Center (http://www.connectforkids.org)

A Toolkit for Funding

The library at your daughter's elementary school has about as many reading materials as a doctor's office waiting room. Can you arrange for more books?

Your neighbors work until 6:30 but school lets out at 3:00, leaving the kids with nowhere to go, can you help an effective local after-school program expand to reach more kids?

You're active in a statewide organization that needs more money to do the job right or tackle a new problem, where can you turn for help?

Whether you're an individual with an idea to help your community, or already at work on behalf of kids and families, you can make a difference—and you'll probably need funding to do so. Connect for kids has compiled some resources to help you.

If you have other resources or experiences to share, let us know. Send an e-mail to weekly@connectforkids.org [1].

In This Toolkit:
1.
For Funders: Supporting Advocacy Work (and Other Tools) [2]
2.
Getting Funded: Advice from the Field [3]
3.
Apply Now - Grants with Upcoming Deadlines [4]
4.
Grants by Topic [5]

 

FOR FUNDERS: SUPPORTING ADVOCACY WORK

Grantmakers tend to be cautious about funding advocacy, yet advocacy can play a crucial role in advancing a foundation’s mission and most nonprofits can do more advoacy than they realize. Here are two guides that are useful for foundations and those applying for grants:

Other Tools for Grantmakers

GETTING FUNDED: ADVICE FROM THE FIELD

APPLY NOW - Grants with Upcoming Deadlines

 
The US Department of Labor is accepting applications through Sept. 29 for Recovery Act Pathways Out of Poverty grants [35] to prepare individuals, including high school dropouts, for careers in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

The Open Society Institute is accepting applications until October 14 for
Soros Justice Fellowships [36], stipends to support projects that advance the Open Society Institute's (OSI) cause to reduce incarceration and improve justice, especially for people of color and the poor. 

The Robert Bowne Foundation will award four $10,000
National Afterschool Matters Edmund A. Stanley Jr. Research Grants [37] to nonprofits for research or policy analyses of community-based out-of-school-time youth programs. Deadline is Sept. 28. 

Do Something [38] will award ten grants of $500 each and five grand-prize grants of $1,000 each to young people who have started after-school activities in their communities. Young people must apply by September 15. 

The US Department of Commerce will be awarding three grants to institutions of higher education to provide summer enrichment programs for minority and economically disadvantaged middle school students in mathematics, science, engineering and technology. Contact
Steve Drescher [39] and apply by October 19.

Applications are due Sept. 30 for Share Our Strength's $1000 to $10,000
Great American Bake Sale grants [40], to increase participation in after-school and summer nutrition programs.

The Association of Performing Arts Presenters and MetLife will award two $10,000
Arts access awards [41]for exemplary and innovative ways of engaging underserved individuals and communities in the arts. Deadline is Sept. 15.

The National Endowment for the Humanities'
Picturing America School Collaboration [42]will award 30 grants of up to $75,000 for local and regional projects that foster collaboration between K-12 educators and humanities scholars to "tell America's story." Deadline is October 7.

Target will award 5000 grants of up to $800 each for
educational school field trips [43]. Apply by November 3.

The National Science Foundation is accepting preliminary proposals through October 5 for its
Discovery Research K-12 grants [44]to support science and technology education programs, including, potentially, the mentoring components of such programs. 

September 14 is the deadline to apply for
Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy awards [45] - a total of $650,000 for developing or expanding projects that develop literacy among adult primary caregivers and their children.

GRANTS BY TOPIC

If you work on a certain issue or area, you can target the donors who focus on that field. Here's a list of resources to get you started. We're updating this regularly, so please bookmark it and check back soon. Got a resource to share? Send it to info@connectforkids.org [46].

Stimulus and Recovery Funds

 

General Funding Opportunities


Child Care and Out-of-School Time Programs

 

Children's Health and Social Services

 

Education

 

Financial Aid for College

Science, Mathematics and Technology

Strengthening Communities

 

Juvenile Justice and Youth in Transition

 

Job Training for Youth

E-Newsletters with Grant Information



Source URL:
http://www.connectforkids.org/node/245