Adult Literacy Services

New York State Library

The New York State Library announces a 2003-2004 Adult Literacy Services grant program to help public libraries and public library systems develop or expand adult literacy services in collaboration with a local literacy provider. The program is a state aid, competitive grant program.
ELIGIBILITY: Public libraries and public library systems. Applicants must show that the project includes at least one partner from the community’s literacy providers, such as a public school, college, volunteer group or other not-for-profit organization.
FUNDING: Grants will be funded between $5,000 and $20,000 with total funding of up to $200,000. Exact funding will be determined in the state budget.
DEADLINE: May 3, 2004.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Anne Simon at (518) 486-2194 or Cassie B. Artale at (518) 474-1479; New York State Library, Albany, New York 12230; fax (518) 486-5254. Information may also be found at www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/literacy/.

Documentary Heritage Program

New York State Archives

The Documentary Heritage Program is designed to encourage more inclusive documentation of New York history and culture by supporting projects that identify, survey, collect, and make available important records relating to traditionally under-represented groups and topics.
ELIGIBILITY:  The program provides financial and technical support to nonprofit organizations, including, but not limited to, archives, libraries, historical societies and museums and other organizations that hold, collect and make available historical records.
FUNDING: Total funding will be $250,000 with grants ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.
DEADLINE:  December 1, 2003.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the Documentary Heritage Program central office at (518) 474-6926.

Conservation/Preservation Program

New York State Library

The Conservation/Preservation Program provides State funding to promote efforts to preserve deteriorating library research materials. The purposes of the program are to encourage the proper care and accessibility of research materials, to promote the use of development of guidelines and technical standards for conservation/preservation work, and to support the growth of local and cooperative activities within the context of emerging national preservation programs.
ELIGIBILITY:  Libraries and other organizations engaged in efforts to preserve deteriorating library research materials.
FUNDING: Details not available.
DEADLINE:  December 5, 2003.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/lsta/guide04.htm for information on specific contact persons depending on the question.

...Foundations and Organizations

Special Opportunity Grants Program

Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund (GLAHNF)

The mission of the GLAHNF is to empower citizens to take action at the community level to protect and restore wetlands, shorelines, rivers, lakes, and other aquatic habitats throughout the Great Lakes Basin. The Special Opportunity Grants Program is one of the GLAHNF’s funding programs.
ELIGIBILITY: Any grassroots initiative working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin is eligible to apply for funding. The applicant must be a grassroots group with limited funds that relies on volunteers for the majority of its work and demonstrates the capacity to accomplish the project.
FUNDING: Grants are for up to $500.
DEADLINE:  Open.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the Great Lakes Habitat Web site.

Grants to Stimulate Public Consideration of the Humanities

New York Council for the Humanities

The New York Council for the Humanities funds projects that stimulate public consideration of the humanities, through several different kinds of grants. These matching grants are for projects that must be rooted in one or more of the humanities disciplines, integrally feature humanities scholars, be intended for the general public, and comply with federal nondiscrimination statutes, federal debt status, debarment and suspension requirements, and drug-free workplace requirements. Recent examples of grant recipients can be found on the New York Council for the Humanities’ Web site.
ELIGIBILITY: Any not-for-profit organization or institution with IRS tax exempt status in New York State is eligible to apply for a grant.
FUNDING:  Mini grants are for project requests between $250 and $2500 and are usually for single events, for projects that are modest in scope and have a short time frame, or for exhibition planning. Major Grants are for project requests of $2500 or more. While there is no upper limit on the amount that can be requested, grants awarded rarely exceed $10,000.
DEADLINE: Major Grant applications are accepted twice a year, with postmark deadlines of November 1 and March 1. November applicants are notified in late March, and March applicants are notified in late June. Mini Grant applications may be submitted at any time and a decision is made within four weeks.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:  Further information can be found on the Council’s Web site and by calling the Council’s Grants Officer at (212) 233-1131, ext. 30 or by e-mail through the Web site.

National Book Scholarship Fund

ProLiteracy Worldwide

Grant applications are now being accepted for the National Book Scholarship Fund (NBSF), sponsored by ProLiteracy Worldwide. NBSF grants distribute New Readers Press books and educational materials to qualified adult literacy providers in the United States.
ELIGIBILITY: NBSF gives special emphasis to grant applications from family literacy programs, English as a Second Language projects, adult basic educational programs, and projects that involve women-focused basic literacy or ESL programming.
DEADLINE:  December 4, 2003.
FUNDING: More than $1.6 million in books and materials has been distributed nationally since 1995.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the NBSF web site.

Animal Welfare Programs

PETsMART Charities

PETsMART funds programs to further individual animal welfare organizations’ missions. Grants are awarded for activities that reduce the homeless population of animals through methods other than euthanasia, including adoption programs, post-adoption follow-up programs, spay/neuter programs, training or behavior modification programs, identification programs such as microchipping or tagging or proactive lost-and-found programs, and pet-parent education programs.
ELIGIBILITY: Non-profit animal welfare organizations, municipal animal control facilities and educational establishments.
FUNDING: Since its founding in 1994, PETsMART Charities has donated more than $24 million to humane and rescue groups across North America.
DEADLINE: Open.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the PETsMART Web site.

Start Something Scholarship Program

Target Stores and the Tiger Woods Foundation

Target Stores and the Tiger Woods Foundation have restructured Start Something, a program that helps young people pursue their dreams and goals and encourages youth leadership and community stewardship. The program is designed to help students identify their goals and choose and prepare for an Action Project based on one of those goals.
ELIGIBILITY: Young people between the ages of 8 and 17.
FUNDING: Scholarships range from $100 to $5,000 and can be used to help the winners continue to pursue their goals, including music lessons, sports camps, special educational programs, and travel.
DEADLINE: Scholarships are awarded three times a year, with the next application deadline being January 1, 2004.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the Target Web site.

...Grant Writing

Grantsmanship Training Program

The Grantsmanship Training Program is coming to New York: Binghamton, November 3-7, hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension; and Buffalo, November 10-14, hosted by Junior League of Buffalo and EPIC.

The classes will be conducted by The Grantsmanship Center (TGCI) and are kept at a maximum of 30 participants. The cost is $775, which includes one-year enrollment in the TGCI Membership Program. A limited number of half-tuition scholarships are available to agencies with annual budgets of less than $300,000.

To register, or to apply for a scholarship, contact TGCI at 800-421-9512 or visit the TGCI Web site. For local information and arrangements: Binghamton, call Jinny Tauss (607) 772-8955, ext. 113; Buffalo, call Alex Montante at (716) 741-6973.

Syracuse University

Syracuse University’s Continuing Education/University College Humanistic Studies Center is holding three all day grant writing workshops: Introduction to Grant Writing, October 3; Preparing Successful Grant Proposals, October 24; and Advanced Grant Writing Workshop, November 14. Each session costs $159 per person.

For more information or to register, call Pat at (315) 443-3271.

Council of Community Services of NYS (CCSNYS)

CCSNYS is offering these workshops: Connecting to the Power of Grantsmanship will cover how to conduct grants research, initiate and nurture funder relations, engage the team in the process, produce proposals, create budgets and manage the grant. Workshops will be held November 5 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Newburgh Free Library, Newburgh; November 20 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Everett Hodge Community Center, Kingston; and December 4 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Catskill Community Center, Catskill.

Grant Writing will provide a step-by-step walk through of the grant development process with a focus on the essential elements of proposal writing, and will be held December 9 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Holiday Inn, Oneonta.

Cost is $30-$40 per workshop with discounts for CCSNYS members. For more information and to register, visit the CCSNYS Web site or call (845) 454-5062, ext. 100 for Newburgh, Kingston and Catskill workshops, and (518) 515-5010, ext. 106 for the Oneonta workshop.

Council on Opportunities for Professional Excellence (COPE)

COPE will be holding a Grant Writing Seminar, Guerilla Grantsmanship©, on October 30, 2003 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kingston Ramada Inn. Attendees will learn the latest in how to construct outcome-based grant proposals, as well as the latest in trend tracking, proposal software, grants management tools, and much more. To register for one of three registration packages, please call (914) 466-0797 for registration fees; e-mail COPE at their Web site; or you can leave your name, phone number and fax number at (845) 756-COPE. You may also visit their Web site for more information on the Guerilla Grantsmanship© curriculum.