September 2023 Resources
Each month LOR sends a curated list of funding opportunities and other resources relevant for small rural communities in the Mountain West. To receive a link to our monthly resources guide, drop us a line to connect@lorfoundation.org.
Funding Opportunities
SEPTEMBER DEADLINES
HydroFlask’s Parks for All Program offers grants between $10,000 and $50,000 to nonprofit organizations focused on building, maintaining, restoring, and providing more equitable access to parks. Areas of interest include the creation of new parks or trails, from planning to construction, education, and access as well as reductions in singe-use plastics.
Deadline: Sept. 8
The National Youth Leadership Council’s Youth as Solutions program helps leadership teams of sixth through 12th graders, along with an adult mentor, participate in a leadership and action planning process with funding up to $1,000. Projects range from addressing education, driver safety, the impacts of COVID-19, or other youth-identified initiatives. Teams participate in training, and then prepare a service project or campaign. Nonprofits, school districts, and public K-12 schools can sponsor teams.
Deadline: Sept. 13
The Les Paul Foundation provides grants for up to $2,000 to 501(c)(3) nonprofits supporting music education and other efforts to expand access to music, including for innovative Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) programs for students.
Deadline: Sept. 15 (and Jan. 15)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs support entrepreneurs and agricultural producers who are working to transform their discoveries and innovations into products and services with commercial potential and societal benefit. Individuals or small businesses working in agriculture, alternative and renewable energy technologies, and other areas of innovation can receive $125,000 to $175,000 to further develop their project.
Deadline: Sept. 19
The Catalyze Challenge grant aims to reimagine the connections between K-12 education, higher education, and careers for young people. Grants to nonprofit or for-profit organizations between $100,000 and $250,000 will be awarded to up to 25 novel approaches and exploratory work aligned with one of two themes to advance career-connected learning: career exploration for young adolescents and activating employer partnerships.
Deadline: Sept. 22
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program will provide grants between $10,000 and $360,000 to local, state, and tribal governments to support transportation project feasibility assessment and development in rural and tribal communities. Funding may be used to hire or contract with advisors to assist with pre-development activities, including legal, technical, and financial planning to help advance infrastructure projects.
Deadline: Sept. 27
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Future Grant will provide up to $500,000 in grants to support local, state, and tribal government-led partnerships to increase access to affordable clean energy. The EFG program will fund multi-jurisdictional teams of at least three partners joining together with community organizations to engage in planning efforts in the power, transportation, or building sectors to reduce barriers to clean energy deployment.
Deadline: Sept. 30
T-Mobile’s Hometown Grants Program funds 25 projects up to $50,000 each quarter in small towns throughout the country. Shovel-ready projects that build, rebuild, or refresh community spaces that foster local connections in small towns are eligible for funding. Applications are accepted from elected officials, town managers or employees, tribal leaders, or nonprofit community leaders.
Deadline: Sept. 30
OCTOBER DEADLINES
The Karma for Cara Foundation’s Microgrant Program provides support for young people in their volunteerism and community service efforts. Youth (age 18 and under) are eligible for grants between $250 and $1,000 to complete service projects in communities such as developing a community garden, rebuilding a school playground, or helping community elders with needs.
Deadline: Oct. 1
The Reeve Foundation is providing grants to organizations that improve the lives of people with paralysis and their caregivers through projects and initiatives that foster inclusion, community engagement, and health and wellness. Direct Effect Grants (Tier 1, $25,000 for 12 months) support a wide range of projects and activities that will clearly and directly affect individuals living with paralysis and their families. Priority Impact Grants ($25,000 to $30,000 for one to two years) support the foundation’s high priority issues for individuals living with paralysis. Those priority areas include the following: assistive technology, respite and caregiving, and addressing social isolation, nursing home transition, racial equity, rural and underserved populations, and employment. Eligible entities include nonprofit organizations, municipal and state governments, school districts, recognized tribal entities, and other institutions such as community or veterans’ hospitals.
Deadline: Oct. 11
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement is accepting applications for a new program, the Support for Trauma-Affected Refugees (STAR) program, which helps with efforts to improve the wellbeing of refugees and newcomers to communities. Nonprofits, school districts, and state, tribal, and local governments are eligible for up to $600,000 in funding and can provide newcomers with holistic and integrated case management services, including health, psychological, and social adjustment services.
Deadline: Oct. 2
The D’Addario Foundation awards grants for up to $2,500 to nonprofits providing music education. Funding is open to nonprofit organizations that offer free or affordable instrument instruction, address a need in the community served, and provide frequent instruction where students are participating multiple times per week throughout the year, and for as many years as possible throughout their primary and secondary education.
Deadline: Letters of inquiry are accepted on a rolling basis. The next deadline for invited applications is Oct. 15.
The Western SARE Farmer/Rancher Research & Education Grant Program will offer $25,000 to $30,000 in grants to farmers and ranchers advancing on-farm sustainability solutions by funding innovative producer-driven research and outreach. This grant program requires engagement from agricultural producers (the primary applicants) and technical advisor(s) to support project implementation to address identified needs in sustainable agriculture. This program aims to honor producer innovation by funding on-farm research that benefits and is led by producers themselves.
Deadline: Oct. 25
Community Wildfire Defense Grants of up to $10 million can assist at-risk communities with wildfire planning and fire mitigation. The grants are available to nonprofits, local and tribal governments, and institutes of higher education, and can be used to help communities in the wildland urban interface implement landscape restoration and maintenance, establish fire-adapted communities, and improve wildfire response.
Deadline: Oct. 31
America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative Partnerships Program offers resources to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, create and preserve quality jobs, and revitalize low-income communities by providing financial and technical assistance in support of local food initiatives. The Local and Regional Healthy Food Financing Partnership Program will support local capacity to grow food financing programs. This includes grants to support partnerships between organizations in different sectors working together to improve local access to fresh, healthy, affordable food. Funding is available for both capacity building ($200,000 to $1 million) and for increasing access to financing for local food initiatives ($500,000 to $3 million). The initiative is available to public-private partnerships that must include at least one public entity (state, local, or tribal government) and at least one nonprofit, for-profit, foundation, or food access organization.
Deadline: Nov. 3
The Wish You Well Foundation is offering grants from $200 to $10,000 to develop or expand adult literacy and education programs. Nonprofit organizations with new or existing adult literacy programs can apply for funding on a rolling basis for either project-specific or general support.
Deadline: Rolling
STATE-SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITIES
Colorado The Nathan Yip Foundation’s Colorado Rural Teacher Grant Program offers grants up to $2,500 to rural educators in the state with innovative ideas to support student learning. Teachers are encouraged to use the funds to provide opportunities that students would not otherwise have access to, either in the classroom or in school-related extracurricular activities. This could include—but is not limited to—kits, equipment, materials that are beyond the scope of the district budget, traveling/conferences (for teachers and/or students), classroom supplies, and more.
Deadline: Sept. 15
Colorado The Colorado Educator Recruitment and Retention financial assistance program allows for qualified educators to apply for up to $10,000 to help finance educator preparation program expenses in return for teaching in a shortage area for at least three years. The program has several windows when applications are accepted throughout the year.
Deadline: Nov. 15 or Feb. 15
Colorado and Wyoming The Laura Jane Fuesser Fund is offering two grant programs, (1) the Rural Initiative and (2) the Intercultural Harmony Initiative, designed to support programs in communities, including Colorado and Wyoming. The Rural Initiative provides support for citizen efforts in rural communities that will help to strengthen their towns and regions in a number of civic areas including—but not limited to—economic development, business preservation, arts and humanities, public space improvements, and education. Nonprofits and local governments are eligible to apply and must represent rural communities with a population of 10,000 or less. The Intercultural Harmony Initiative supports projects that promote mutual understanding and cooperation between groups of community members of different cultural backgrounds. Planning grants ($5,000) and implementation grants ($25,000) are available.
Deadlines: Rural Initiative, Oct. 2; Intercultural Harmony, Oct. 16
New Mexico New Mexico Arts $2,500 mini grants supports arts organizations working in collaboration with veteran-focused groups to create and expand opportunities for veterans and active-duty service members to engage with the arts.. Mini Grants can also be used to build organizational capacity towards the goal of creating and expanding opportunities for veterans and active-duty service members to engage with the arts.
Deadline: Oct. 6
New Mexico The Rural Health Care Delivery Fund is a new funding source to help defray operating losses, including rural health-care provider and facility start-up costs, when a health-care provider offers a new or expanded set of health services to New Mexico residents. Eligible applicants must be Medicaid Enrolled Providers who are actively serving Medicaid recipients and propose to deliver services that are eligible for Medicaid reimbursement. Grant amounts will depend on the number of applicants, but $80 million in total funding is available to support the expansion of health care services, including behavioral health care, to rural communities.
Deadline: Oct. 6
Resources
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office has put together pocket guides to help interested governments, nonprofits, and individuals navigate potential funding available under the Inflation Reduction Act. These pocket guides highlight the many programs that rural communities may be able to take advantage of as they work toward building a stronger workforce, a more resilient economy, and making climate-smart investments.
The Child Safety Learning Collaborative brings together injury, violence prevention, maternal, and child health practitioners from across the nation to improve child safety among 0–19-year-olds. The Collaborative is accepting applications for interested groups to participate. Participants collaborate to achieve the goal of reducing fatal and serious injuries among infants, children, and adolescents. Participation offers the opportunity to:
- Join a national network of peers who will share resources and lessons learned
- Participate in ongoing trainings, personalized coaching, and receive technical assistance from nationally renowned content experts
- Build a sustainable child safety system of improvement in your state/jurisdiction.