Funding Opportunities & Resources

Kindergarten through eighth grade student teams with an adult mentor can compete in the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. The Challenge involves researching, planning and carrying out a course of action that will make a positive environmental change in your community. Students compete for a cash prize and an opportunity to appear on the discovery channel and present their project to the United Nations. The K – 8 Proposal deadline is March 15, 2010. For more information and to apply, click here

Non-profit organizations located in many California Communities are eligible for EcoStar Grants. Grants of 5,000 dollars will be given for environmental education, as well as action projects such as community park clean-ups, litter reduction, recycling programs, and tree plantings. The application deadline is March 16, 2010. To learn more and apply, click here.

Charitable or educational organizations that operate as a non-profit entity are eligible for Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards. Nature Hills Nursery will donate $5,000 of plant materials annually to the earth friendly award-winning projects. Awards will be presented to a Grand Prize winner in the amount of $2,500 of plant materials. First place winner will receive $1,500 in plant materials and the Second Place winner $1,000 in plant materials. The plant materials can contain trees, fruit trees, bushes and shrubs, perennials and vegetable seeds.

The ING Run For Something Better School Awards Program, in partnership with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, seeks to increase physical activity in students and help fight childhood obesity nationwide through the creation of school-based running programs. The awards program will provide at least fifty $2,000 grants to schools that want to establish a running program, or expand an existing program, that targets grades 4 through 8 in public elementary or middle schools.

The National Endowment for the Arts is offering Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth Grants. These grants are for projects that help children and youth acquire knowledge, understanding, and skills in the arts that engage youth with participatory learning, skilled artists, and excellent art. Grants are offered for school-based programs including after-school and summer enrichment programs that are formally connected to school curricula. Grants are also available for community-based projects that occur outside of the school day and the school system in a variety of settings.

Non-Profit organizations in the California Communities of Central Coast, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Northern California, Kern, San Diego, Imperial, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange are eligible to apply for JP Morgan Chase Grants. Grants support educational opportunities for underprivileged youth as well as school based and after school art programs. Organizations can submit a letter of inquiry online and will be notified if they are requested to submit a full grant application.

Non-Profit organizations with an established, ongoing, and sustainable music program providing music instruction to individuals of any age who would not normally have the opportunity to make music are eligible to apply for $500.00 - $5,000.00 in Guitar Center Music Foundation Grants. Grants are awarded three times yearly and applications are continuously accepted. To learn more and to apply, click here.

The Public Welfare Foundation accepts proposals throughout the year to provide general supports
and project specific grants for public, non-profit, and private organizations that work to ensure fundamental rights and opportunities for people in need. Focuses for funding in 2008 include criminal and juvenile justice, health reform, and workers rights. The first step in the application process is submitting a letter of inquiry. For more information, click on the link:
http://www.publicwelfare.org/

The Sony Corporation offers funding opportunities in several distinct areas: arts education, arts and culture, health and human services, civic and community outreach, education, and volunteerism. Each operating company has its own philanthropic priorities and unique resources. While positive consideration is given to efforts that promote literacy and basic educational competency, the company also seeks to apply its financial, technological, and human resources to the encouragement of the creative, artistic, technical, and scientific skills required of tomorrow's workforce.

Eligible Applicants: institutions of higher education, local educational agencies, nonprofit organizations, other organizations or agencies
Required Eligibility Criteria: Public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit agencies; agencies licensed or approved to provide non-residential day care to children or chronically impaired adults. Public or private nonprofit emergency shelters may also be eligible for subsidy.

The Allstate Foundation is offering ongoing grants to promote safer communities, community revitalization, catastrophe assistance, non-profit organizations, environmental responsibility, and a more tolerant and inclusive society. To learn more, click the link:
http://www.allstate.com/citizenship/allstate-communities.aspx

The Southern Poverty Law Center is sponsoring the Mix It Up Grants program, which provides $500 for youth-directed activist projects that identify, cross and challenge social boundaries in schools and communities. There is no application deadline. For more information, visit www.tolerance.org/teens/grants.jsp.

Eligible Applicants: local educational agencies Required Eligibility Criteria: Public and private nonprofit schools (including public charter schools) are eligible to participate. Also eligible are public and private nonprofit licensed residential child care institutions (e.g., group homes, juvenile halls, orphanages). Funding Description: Funding supports five school meal and milk programs to assist schools, districts, and other non-profit agencies in providing nutritious meals and milk to children at reasonable prices or free to qualified applicants.