Improving Community Education Grants - Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Grant Name: Improving Community Education Grants

Funding Organization: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Grant Cycle: September 1 – December 31 preferred, but rolling.

Phone: 810-238-5651

Address:

Office of Proposal Entry

C.S. Mott Foundation

Mott Foundation Building

503 S. Saginaw St., Suite 1200

Flint, MI 48502-1851
U.S.A.

Website: http://www.mott.org/about/programs/pathwaysoutofpoverty/improvingcommunityeducation.aspx

Email: info@mott.org

Eligibility: The Mott Foundation makes grants in the U.S. and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grants outside the U.S. are made only in the Civil Society and Environment programs. All prospective applicants should review the mission, program areas, geographic range, and available funding for the Foundation's programs before making initial contact.

How to Apply:

Proposals should be submitted to the Foundation at least four months before the start of the proposed grant period.

Program budgets are allocated on a calendar-year basis. Beginning in the fourth quarter of each year, staff will earmark funds for projects to be recommended for the next calendar year. Staff must finalize all grant recommendations for any calendar year by August 31 of that year. Applications are accepted year-round, but those received between September 1 and December 31 will be considered only for the following calendar year.

Requests are reviewed by program and compliance staff, and recommendations are forwarded to senior management. A proposal may be approved at the management level by delegated authority throughout the year or referred to our Board of Trustees, which meets quarterly, for action.

Letters of Inquiry may be submitted online or mailed in,

Application Materials:

Letters of Inquiry

As noted earlier, we strongly prefer that unsolicited requests be made through letters of inquiry. The letter should describe the purpose and objectives of the project, general methodology and total cost of the project. A letter of inquiry enables the Foundation program staff to determine the relevance of the proposed project to the Foundation's programs and to provide advice on whether to submit a full proposal.

Full, Formal Proposals

If your letter of inquiry receives a favorable response, please follow this checklist for what should be included in a solicited formal proposal:

• A cover letter, detailing the amount of money requested and the grant period, signed by the individual responsible for signing grant contracts on behalf of the grant applicant.
• A project description, including an explanation of why the project is needed, who will be served and what will be accomplished.
• A documented line-item expense budget and a revenue budget, showing all projected sources of funds for the project over the proposed grant period. (A budget template is available in our Grants Resource.)
• A plan for financial and programmatic sustainability of the project.
• A plan for evaluation and dissemination of the project's results.
• Information about the organization seeking funds, including names and titles for key staff, names and professional affiliations for members of the board of directors, legal classification, history, and recent accomplishments. For U.S. organizations, proof of tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status by the IRS is required. Other financial and organizational information is required for non-U.S. organizations.

Applicants must submit copies of their organization's published annual report and audited financial statements before a grant is made. If these are not available, a U.S. organization will be required to submit a copy of its latest IRS Form 990 return.

Videotapes should not be included with the application; they will not be returned.

Background: This Program Area Seeks To Ensure That Education Serves As A Pathway Out Of Poverty By Advancing Systemic Changes That Improve Educational Policies And Practices, Particularly For Children And Families Living In Low-income Communities.
Funding Is Made Under Three Objectives.
1. Funding Priorities For Community-Driven Reform

Grantmaking under this objective works from the premise that unequal education is both a cause and an effect of poverty. We support groups working to address the causes of inequitable education -- powerlessness, lack of opportunities, poverty and its effects, high dropout rates, achievement gaps, and inadequate schools.

This approach intentionally builds power in poor communities, enabling parents, students and community members to work as equal partners in changing the culture of individual schools and of the broader community to improve educational equity. The grantmaking seeks to strengthen the field of education organizing by identifying and expanding use of best practices, drawing attention to the educational impact, and increasing the number of participants and supporters.

We seek effective community-driven reform strategies that increase student achievement across entire school districts and at the state or regional level. We are making grants: 

• to support community organizations working for community-identified reforms at the district, state or regional levels;
• for research and technical assistance to community organizations involved in education reform; and
• to support a six-year, eight-site study of community-driven reform and student achievement, and to support the dissemination of those findings.

2. Funding Priorities For Vulnerable Youth

Grantmaking under this objective is centered on improving the reconnection points to education for dropouts and near dropouts. We are focused on strengthening and improving program models, policies and field efforts that create successful and multiple pathways for vulnerable youth who have dropped out of school and not connected to relevant systems.

We seek policies and practices that ensure that vulnerable youth are prepared for college and careers. We are making grants: 

• to organizations providing programs that ensure dropouts can connect to pathways that lead to a diploma, postsecondary options and labor- market success;
• to organizations and institutions advancing policy innovations to ensure that public systems serve dropouts and other underserved students more effectively; and
• to support efforts that bring greater attention to the needs and issues of dropouts and students at risk of dropping out of school.

3. Funding Priorities For Learning Beyond The Classroom

            Grantmaking under this objective seeks to provide optimum opportunities for academic support and enrichment for young people to learn and develop both in school, summer, and after school. Central to this effort are partnerships between school and community-based organizations and other local institutions.

Grantmaking builds on opportunities presented by our long history of support for community schools, including our private/public partnership with the U.S. Department of Education on the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative and other afterschool initiatives. Funding is directed specifically at capacity building and infrastructure development with a focus on research and evaluation, professional development, dissemination of promising practices, public awareness and communications, and policy development. (We do not fund the operation of individual afterschool programs.)

We seek sustainable, community-driven learning opportunities that support both academic achievement and positive youth development throughout the school-day, summer and afterschool hours, especially for poor and minority students. We are making grants:

• to organizations and institutions providing research, evaluation and documentation of effective practices;
• to organizations to build systems and structures to support public policy and professional development of school-day and afterschool educators and leaders; and
• to organizations to raise public awareness and develop public policies aimed at increasing funding and implementing effective school/community partnerships and programs.   

Other Important Information: Our grantmaking is carried out in three ways:
We request proposals from organizations with which we have been in contact.
We send out occasional requests for proposals (RFPs) that address a specific issue or area of interest.
We accept unsolicited requests for projects that fall within our program priorities and guidelines.
Because available funding is limited, letters of inquiry are strongly preferred for unsolicited ideas or projects. Such letters should include a brief description of the project, the funding needed and the time period.

Both general-purpose and project-specific requests are considered. In addition, both single- and multi-year proposals are acceptable.