non-profit grants

GRANT WEB LINKS Introduction A “grant” is money some individual(s) or organization has publicly declared it wants to give to a generally or specifically identified type of non-profit organization or community need. “Non-profit organization” includes state agencies and educational institutions, public and private. “Community” includes locations (such as cities and states), peoples (such as Native Americans), and collections of organizations serving identifiable groups of people (such as Historically Black Colleges). “Grant Seeking and Writing” (“grant writing,” for short) is one of five fund-raising vehicles available to non-profit organizations, including private and public colleges and universities and their libraries … and usually the only fund-raising vehicle colleges and universities, through the “office of advancement,” allow their libraries to use regularly. “Grant Seeking and Writing” is a process: (1) from identifying (i) a community need to serve, with adequate funding, (ii) partners in the community to help serve that need, and (iii) possible sources for the funding required to serve that need; (2) through effectively applying for the grant possibility identified; (3) to properly administering the grant received. Most colleges and universities have an “Office of Research” (or “Research and Programs”) to assist faculty and staff in seeking, applying for, and administering grants. Since that office is usually required to review and approve all grant requests before any grant-seeker may forward any grant application to the grant-provider, seek the guidance of the “Office of Research” early and often. (Do not confuse the “Office of Research and Programs” with the “Office of Institutional Assessment, Planning, and Research.”) “Partnering” is very important to many grant-providers and often follows from “identifying a need to be served.” For example, a university’s “college of education” and the local public library might be good partners for a grant that provides funds for purchasing books for the university library’s children and young adults collection supporting the training of future teachers … books that are loaned to and read by public library staff, and/or the university’s education students, during that library’s children’s story hours. Successful grant-seeking requires persistence. That “Grants are like pine needles in the Southern forests … readily available in boundless amounts to any and everyone who just looks for them” is a myth. By their nature, grants are intended for certain groups or needs, in limited amount and for limited time … if your institution is not in a targeted group or serving a targeted need, you don’t qualify. * * * * * The following are suggested web-sites: 1) For the identification of possible sources for the funding required to serve an identified institutional need … of your academic library and its college/university; and, 2) For guidance in the preparation of any grant application … from the “research office” at your college/university and/or the research offices of other colleges/universities, especially, if your college/university has no such office. Louisiana’s public and special libraries are invited to use this site … because “partnering” is very important to many grant-providers. This compilation of possible funding sources is not exhaustive … especially, as concerns possible local foundations and other local funding sources. If you know of other possible sources (federal, state, or local) with web-sites, or if you find one of the following links is broken, please share such information with the current Chair of the LALINC Grants Committee … by e-mail message to jconover@lumcon.edu. Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services: http://www.imls.gov/applicants/applicants.shtm Currently available grants are subdivided into the following categories: Collections Management, Community Engagement, Conservation, Demonstration, Digital Collections/Tools, Formal Education, Informal Learning, Partnerships, Professional Development/Continuing Education, Public Programs and Research. This site also includes sample grant applications from previous years. National Endowment for the Humanities – Preservation and Creation: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pcahc.html Projects eligible for this grant include: arranging and describing archival and manuscript collections; cataloging humanities collections (print, photographs, recorded sound, moving image); documentation of material culture and art collections; preservation reformatting (brittle books, serials microfilm); deacidification and other methods of conserving collections; digitization of collections; and development of oral histories. Annual guidelines are posted in the spring, with application deadlines by early summer. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: http://12.46.245.173/cfda/cfda.html The online Catalog is an exhaustive listing of all funding opportunities available from the federal government for state government agencies, local governments, organizations and institutions. LALINC libraries, as well as k-12, public, and special libraries, can use this site to find funding opportunities from a number of specific federal agencies. The User’s Guide provides a link to searching the database by keyword, and the Home Page provides links on how to apply for assistance and offers tips on writing grant proposals. Grants.Gov: http://www.grants.gov/ There are over 1,000 grant programs offered by all Federal grant making agencies. Grants.Gov is a unified source for finding and applying for those Federal government grants, including those available to “Public and State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education.” State State Grants Management Section – Louisiana Office of Community Development: http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/cdbg/SGMShome.htm SGMS performs several services for Louisiana’s state agencies, local governments, and non-profit organizations, including public and private colleges and universities. It searches for funding opportunities available to state agencies, local governments, and non-profit organizations, provides technical assistance in prospect research and grant writing, and maintains the Louisiana Assistance Resource Center (LARC), a searchable web-based database where resources are identified for the appropriate state and/or local government officials and non-profit agencies. See, http://www.doa.state.la.us/arc/. Louisiana Board of Regents Office of Sponsored Programs: http://laregents.org/www2/index.htm Louisiana libraries can apply for grants from the Office of Sponsored Programs to request funds to purchase technology to augment instruction, which libraries can access in the Enhancement Programs section. Libraries can also benefit by partnering with faculty researchers from their campus and request library materials to support research that is being proposed in specific grant applications. State Library of Louisiana: Libraries - Grants for Public Libraries: http://www.state.lib.la.us/la_dyn_templ.cfm?doc_id=156 The State Library of Louisiana provides some grant information to Louisiana public libraries. Because “partnering” is very important to many grant-providers, academic libraries in Louisiana may on occasion find partnering opportunities with Louisiana public Libraries through the State Library Site. Private Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: http://www.sloan.org/main.shtml Library related areas include: History of Science and Technology, Higher Education as an Industry and a main topic area of Education and Careers in Science and Technology. “The Foundation has no deadlines or standard forms. Concise, well-organized proposals are preferred.” Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a brief letter of inquiry before writing the grant proposal to determine the level of interest from the foundation. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: http://www.mellon.org/ Recently, the Mellon Foundation has funded libraries in an effort to build, reinforce or sustain larger institutional goals of education-related organizations. Among these have been projects designed to strengthen library access and services, fund digitization projects, integrate digitized projects into core curriculum, and finance library-related research to determine user needs. Clearinghouse Information/Ongoing Grants News The Foundation Center: http://www.fdncenter.org/ Over 600 private-sector philanthropic organizations are listed at the Center’s web site. Descriptive information about each organization also assists potential grant applicants when searching the comprehensive database found at this site. The Grantsmanship Center: http://www.tgci.com/ The Center conducts over 150 workshops on grant writing annually, and provides current granting opportunities through their mailing list. Additionally, Louisiana foundations can also be researched for potential sources of funding for libraries, at the following address: http://tgci.com/funding/top.asp?statename=Louisiana&statecode=LA Council on Foundations: http://www.cof.org/ The Council provides a directory of over 2,000 member organizations, which can be accessed by librarians for determining potential grant funding. ACRL-La Hurricane Relief Grants: http://library.mcneese.edu/acrl/hurricane_relief.htm Compiled by Louisiana librarians Tony Foseca and Suzanne Fletcher, this web site lists granting agencies that are focusing on post-Hurricane recovery for libraries in the Gulf region as of May 2006. Library Grants Web Log: http://www.librarygrants.blogspot.com/ This site posts the most current granting opportunities as they become available for public and academic libraries. A search tool is available for archived information. Newsgroups, Listservs and Bulletin Boards Research Administrators Discussion Group Members of this group post new granting opportunities, grant-related job openings, specific questions related to funding items allowed in grants, and current news related to funding found in the popular press. Subscription to the discussion group is obtained via the web at the following site: http://www.hrinet.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=resadm-l&A=1 GRANTS List Another listserv that serves to allow the grant-writing community to ask questions related to grant proposal writing, inform others about recent granting opportunities, and educate new grant writers to the process of grant funding from the perspective of granting institutions. To subscribe to the listserv, fill out the subscription form at the following site: http://www.charitychannel.com/collaborate/wa.exe?SUBED1=GRANTS&A=1 National Science Foundation Grants Bulletin Board NSF’s bulletin board contains informal news about activities taking pace at NSF, including grant-related information. Access to the bulletin board is gained by submitting your complete name, address and telephone number via e-mail to mailto:gants@nsf.gov. Public Programs Office Discussion List This discussion list, available from the American Library Association, was created to distribute PPO projects information immediately to the library community. It fosters discussion among the community related to PPO grants specifically, and, in general, the activities of the PPO as a whole. To subscribe, send the command subscribe pubprgms Your Name to the following: mailto:listproc@ala.org. Your College or University Centenary College – Office of Sponsored Research: http://www.centenary.edu/research. Louisiana State University – Office of Research and Economic Development: http://www.lsu.edu/researchers/. Louisiana Tech University – Office of University Research: http://research.latech.edu/about/office_of_university_research. McNeese State University – Office of Research Services and Sponsored Programs: http://www.mcneese.edu/research/. Nicholls State University – Office of Research and Sponsored Programs: http://www.nicholls.edu/orsp/. Northwestern State University – Office of Research and Sponsored Programs: http://www.nsula.edu/orsp/. Southeastern Louisiana University – Office of Sponsored Research and Programs: http://www.selu.edu/admin/osrp/. Southern University – Office of Sponsored Programs: http://www.subr.edu/research/orsi/OSPIndex.htm. Tulane University – Office of Research Administration: http://www.som.tulane.edu/researchadmin/index.html. University of Louisiana at Lafayette – Office of Research and Sponsored Programs: http://orsp.louisiana.edu/. University of Louisiana at Monroe – Office of Graduate Studies and Research: http://www.ulm.edu/gradschool/SponsoredResearch.htm.