Apply for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Fellows Program

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is currently soliciting applications for participation in a three-year fellowship program focused on community leadership. The program’s goal is “to nurture and inspire developing or established leaders, helping them to become transformative change agents in their communities, guiding vulnerable children and their families toward optimal health and well-being, access to good food, academic achievement and financial security.” 

The foundation will select 100 fellows working in priority locations in the United States: Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans. Another 20 fellows from throughout the country will be selected to serve as a national cohort, focused on racial healing and equity.

Fellows will meet quarterly for three to four days at a time each year, with a focus on strengthening their skills and competencies—both within their place-based cohorts and as a national class. Fellows will also commit to applying these skills through a community-based action project and participating in a leadership network focused on improving the lives of vulnerable children. Fellows will receive an annual stipend of $20,000.

Candidates must be 23 years of age or older. According to the foundation, “ideal candidates are developing or established leaders who grasp the importance of working with others and can:

• Engage in exploring solutions and invite others to help solve conflicts.
• Empathize and connect to others through voice, action or presence.
• Respond to new opportunities and relationships, maximizing social change.

Applications are due on Friday, Jan. 10, 2014 by 11:59 p.m. ET. For more information, including frequently asked questions and the application itself, click here.

ArtPlace America Announces Innovation Grants

ArtPlace America – a nationwide initiative that aims to infuse art in community revitalization efforts – has announced it is accepting Letters of Inquiry for the Innovation Grants program.

ArtPlace America is a collaborative of thirteen major national and regional foundations, six of the nation’s largest banks and eight federal agencies. Grounded in the belief that creative arts are an important aspect of vibrant communities, ArtPlace America works to accelerate “creative placemaking,” which they define as “investing in art and culture at the heart of a portfolio of integrated strategies that can drive vibrancy and diversity so powerful that it transforms communities." For example, in 2012, FringeArts in Philadelphia received an Innovation Grant to construct an outdoor plaza and performance space for arts and socializing on Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront – an underutilized space in the community. To learn more about how other communities have used Innovation Grants and invested in creative placemaking, click here.

ArtPlace America envisions its grants will be used to seed entrepreneurial projects that integrate a community’s economic and revitalization strategies with art and allow the community to attract additional private and public support. To date, ArtPlace America has awarded 134 grants to 124 organizations in more than 79 communities across the U.S. for a total of $42.1 million.

In 2014, ArtPlace grants will be awarded to arts organizations, artists and designers working in partnership with local and national partners on place-based strategies aimed at revitalizing communities. Grants are intended to fund a range of costs associated with implementing a creative placemaking project, including costs associated with a capital project such as pre-development, acquisition, construction, and real estate improvements. A collaborative efforts, certain ArtPlace funders have a deep commitment to their local communities and have provided funding for specific states or communities. Click here to see a list of these locations. While individual states and communities are encouraged to apply, funding is available for projects across the nation.

Award amounts are decided on a case-by-case basis. Letters of inquiry are due December 13, 2013. Selected applicants will be notified in February and will be asked to submit a full proposal.

To learn more about ArtPlace America Innovation Grants, please click here.

USDA Grant Opportunity: The Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a grant opportunity through the Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) that will award $5.6 million for organizations to help generate economic activity in rural areas as it relates to housing, community facilities, or community and economic development. The grant awards can range from $50,000 to $300,000. Applications are due November 12, 2013.

The grants will be awarded to qualified recipients, which include private non-profit, (faith-based and community organizations, and philanthropic foundations) and public (including tribal) intermediary organizations. The grants will provide the award recipients with the help to develop the capacity and ability to undertake these projects by providing financial and technical assistance to a private, nonprofit community-based housing and development organization, a low-income rural community or a federally recognized tribe.

For more information on this grant opportunity, click here.

U.S. Soccer Foundation Invites Letters of Interest for Safe Places to Play Grants

Youth living in underserved communities often have limited spaces to play in a healthy and safe environment. To remedy this, the U.S. Soccer Foundation has provided over $59 million to soccer organizations and field-building initiatives nationwide since its inception in 1994. More than six hundred organizations have received grants to date, resulting in the creation of over 1,100 safe places for children to play.

The U.S. Soccer Foundation is currently accepting Letters of Inquiry for the Safe Places to Play program, which funds improvements to a community’s field space. Up to $200,000 of Field Building grants will be awarded for the installation of field surfaces, lighting and irrigation. 

To be eligible for a Field Building grant, applicants must:

• Apply on behalf of a program or project operating in the U.S.
•  Be a non-profit organization, school, municipality, college or university, or sovereign tribal nation.
• Apply as, or on behalf of, a field-building project.
• Own or have a minimum of a ten-year land lease/land use agreement on the land where the field-building project will take place.

Letters of inquiry must be received no later than February 1, 2014. Upon review, select applicants will be invited to submit a full application. For more information on Safe Places to Play, click here. For more information on the U.S. Soccer Foundation and their initiatives, click here.

Apply for a KaBOOM! Let’s Play Community Construction Grant

KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit that works to create play spaces for children, is now accepting applications for $15,000 grants to be used to purchase playground equipment. The grants are part of the Let’s Play initiative, a community partnership supported by the Dr. Pepper Snapple group to get kids active.

Grants are open to U.S.-based municipalities, registered 501(c)3 organizations, public and charter schools and non-profit, child-serving organizations. Priority is given to applicants without a playground or with existing equipment that is unsafe.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Own land or have permission to build
• Spend $24,000 to $40,000 on playground equipment
• Work with a KaBOOM! Preferred Vendor
• Use the community-build model
• Finish project within 12 months of award
• Serve a low-income population

The community-build model engages families, including children, and other community volunteers in both designing and building their playground. In addition to working with residents in their own neighborhood, grant recipients participate in a community of practice on Our Dream Playground website, where they have access to planning tools and share best practices and challenges.

Grantees also can receive planning support from KaBOOM! Alumni. Upon completion of their project, they have access to the KaBoom! Alumni Network and opportunities for additional maintenance and expansion grants.

Applications are due on October 11, 2013. To learn more, click here.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Announces New Family Engagement Initiative

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has announced a $5 million investment aimed at identifying and cultivating innovations in the growing field of family engagement that support children’s educational success from birth to 8 years old. Through the initiative, the foundation strives to support and expand on-the-ground family engagement efforts that include program design and implementation, service delivery, and/or policy development and implementation.

Applications are currently being accepted from public entities or nonprofit organizations that have developed effective family engagement models that address obstacles faced by low-income families. The foundation is particularly interested in proposals that outline effective teaching strategies, align early childhood systems in their communities, and focus on building family economic security and strong family engagement in education. 

Applications must be received no later than September 23, 2013. If selected, applicants will be invited to provide a full proposal in October 2013. Selected grantees will be notified of their awards in December 2013. Grant awards are expected to be up to $500,000 for one to three years.

Fidelity Foundation Grants

Founded in 1965, the Fidelity Foundation awards grants to nonprofits with the aim of enhancing their organizational capacity.

Specifically, the Foundation allocates its philanthropic investments to these sectors: 

• Arts/culture
• Community development/social services
• Health
• Education

The Foundation typically awards funding to organizations with operating budgets of $500,000 or more with significant, transformative projects budgeted at $50,000 or more. The Foundation considers projects from organizations of regional or national importance throughout the country, especially those with potential to influence the nonprofit sector. Ultimately, an improvement in a nonprofit’s organizational capacity should lead to better results for the community it serves. In the past, the foundation has given grants to the Greater Boston Food Bank for a capital construction project and the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, MA, for an endowment. To apply, click here. 

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.