Grants for Change
Grants for Change
Grants for Change is a grantmaking and community organizing program. It funds and strengthens Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) -led and -serving nonprofit organizations advancing racial justice, and engages and connects people in Maine around shared values of racial justice and equity. The program seeks to organize people and resources in support of efforts across Wabanaki Territory (Maine), that intervene on legacies of white supremacy, settler colonialism, and racialized capitalism by creating or reclaiming liberatory possibilities for today and future generations.
Grants for Change is now accepting applications for it's 2024 Cohort! Completed applications are due by July 31st, 2024 11:59pm EST.
Grants for Change is also inviting community volunteers to become Readers, reading and evaluating three submitted applications to the 2024 Grants for Change Program. To learn more, review the Reader Opportunity Announcement and submit your application by July 26th.
Current Grantees
2022:
Bomazeen Land Trust
Community Organizing Alliance
Generational Noor
Maine Black Educators Collective
Maine Inside Out
Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition
Nibezun
Sunlight Media Collective
Purpose
Grants for Change organizes people and resources to support efforts across the state that intervene on legacies of white supremacy, settler colonialism, and racialized capitalism. The program creates and/or reclaims liberatory possibilities for today and future generations.
Central to the Grants for Change program are the BIPOC-led and serving organizations that are leading the work of racial justice organizing and activism in our state. Each year, we select and fund a new Grants for Change cohort: 12 organizations chosen through our participatory, community-led process and recognized as organizations doing critical work to advance racial justice in Maine communities. Learn more about Grants for Change grantees.
Grants for Changes is also a community organizing strategy and program. We use our participatory grantmaking to engage, connect, inform, and inspire the broader community with the BIPOC leaders, organizations, and work being done on racial justice in Maine. Learn about participatory grantmaking.
Our funding prioritizes BIPOC-led and -serving organizations that:
- seek to dismantle racial injustice in its institutional, structural, and systemic forms;
- further the racial justice movement, prioritizing Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty through community building, grassroots organizing and advocacy, and/or policy change;
- strengthen communities through traditional and/ or Indigenous wisdoms and liberatory cultural practices, including (but not limited to) healing, rematriation, earth protection, and the arts; and
- are led by, serve, and/or organize in solidarity with Black and Wabanaki communities
Grant Amount & Funding Levels
For a three-year period, beginning in 2022, the Grants for Change Program has committed to providing over $1.5 million in multi-year, unrestricted, general operating support to BIPOC-led and -serving organizations.
The organizations selected for each annual cohort will receive general operating grants of $45,000 over three years, or $15,000 per year.
Funded organizations will be invited to participate in a series of peer learning, training, capacity-building, and community outreach activities over the course of the grant period.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Grants for Change Program, applicant organizations must:
- Working exclusively or primarily in Maine
- Programming primarily serves and supports BIPOC communities
- A Black-, Brown-, Indigenous-, Latinx-, Asian-, or People of Color-led (BIPOC) organization, group, or coalition. *The Grants for Change program prioritizes Black and Wabanaki-led and-serving organizations and BIPOC-led groups working in solidarity with Black and Wabanaki communities, however, all BIPOC-led and serving organizations working to advance racial justice in Maine are encouraged to apply and will be considered for grant awards.
- Implementing programs that advance racial justice in local communities or statewide.
- Have an organizational operating budget, including administrative and programming budget, of under $2,500,000. (Not required for groups applying with sponsorship from a Wabanaki Tribal Government or other Tribal entity.)
To establish BIPOC-led status, organizations need to meet at least two out of three of the following criteria for the past two years:
- BIPOC staff leaders of the organization - 50% or more in leadership roles
- BIPOC members on Board of Directors - 50% or more in governing decision-making roles
- BIPOC organizers - 50% or more of on-the-ground, community interfacing staff/volunteers
How to Apply
Interested organizational applicants are encouraged to download and review the application and the Funding Opportunity Announcement with full details on eligibility criteria, funding priorities, and application instructions.
Completed applications are due by July 31st, 2024 11:59pm EST.
See all of our G4C grantees