Nominations are invited for California’s Second Annual Governor and First Lady’s Medals for Service Award. The Medals for Service are awarded to individual volunteers, nonprofits, and business volunteer programs whose innovations and dedication create a positive impact on their community and the state of California. The awards are part of the CaliforniaVolunteers Recognition Awards Program and are sponsored by the Shinnyo-en Foundation.

Nominations will be accepted in the following categories: California’s Volunteer of the Year, honoring an outstanding Californian whose volunteer service is exemplary and inspirational; California’s Small Business Volunteer Program of the Year, honoring an outstanding small business (fewer than 500 employees) with an innovative, high-impact employee volunteer program; California’s Business Volunteer Program of the Year, honoring an outstanding business (more than 500 employees) with an innovative, high-impact employee volunteer program; California’s Nonprofit of the Year, honoring a nonprofit that has shown an extraordinary ability to leverage volunteers in service to their organization; California’s Service Group of the Year, honoring a service group or club with a demonstrable impact and unwavering commitment to their community; and California’s AmeriCorps Member of the Year, honoring an AmeriCorps member who has demonstrated AmeriCorps values, has made a significant contribution to their community, and is committed to a lifetime of service.

The Governor and First Lady’s Medals for Service will be presented at an awards ceremony in Sacramento in early May.

For program information, visit the CaliforniaVolunteers Web site.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Submission Deadline: March 31, 2010

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

Texas electric provider First Choice Power has opened the application process for its 2010 Reduce Your Use Grants program, which encourages Texas nonprofit organizations to be more energy-efficient. Program grants provide funding for energy-efficiency products and services to reduce energy usage and costs immediately and in the future.

Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and chambers of commerce that provide direct services to the communities served by First Choice Power are invited to apply. Priority will be given to First Choice Power customers, agencies with a low-income focus, and agencies where First Choice Power employees and retirees volunteer.

Grants are made in amounts up to $2,000 each.

Visit the First Choice Power Web site for application materials.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Submission Deadline: April 15, 2010

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is accepting research proposals to explore how housing matters to children, families, and communities.

Grant proposals are invited for the second round of research awards under the foundation’s $25 million How Housing Matters to Communities and Families initiative. The initiative is based on the premise that stable, affordable housing may be an essential platform that promotes positive outcomes in education, employment, and physical health by helping to ensure a greater return from other social and public investments.

In the 2010 competition, the foundation seeks to expand further the body of empirical evidence on the difference that living in decent and affordable housing makes in the lives of children, their families, and communities, with a special emphasis on how such evidence can be put to use by decision-makers to strengthen policies and programs.

This year, in order to maximize the impact that funded research will have on policy, the foundation requires that every applicant clearly identify the specific policy audience or level of government that will be able to utilize the research to improve or enhance a specific policy intervention and improve outcomes being studied.

Applicants must be affiliated with a nonprofit entity. U.S. and non-U.S. citizens are eligible to apply, as are studies by non-U.S.-based researchers and that deal with non-U.S.-based housing-family and community linkages as long as they meet all program guidelines. Units of government are also eligible to apply for a grant as long as such entities are permitted by their applicable law to receive a grant. Previous award winners are eligible to apply.

Proposals will be assessed based on criteria including importance of the research problem, its potential to inform policy, and the quality of the research design.

Information about the 2010 competition is available at the MacArthur Foundation Web site. Initial submissions are due to the foundation by March 22, 2010.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

The got breakfast? Foundation, whose mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of background, starts the school day with a nutritious breakfast in order to learn, grow, and develop to his or her fullest potential, has announced the expansion of its Silent Hero Grant Program to participants in the federal Summer Nutrition Program.

The Silent Hero Grant Program is designed to encourage schools and nonprofit organizations to expand the reach of underutilized child nutrition programs, including the School Breakfast Program and, with this expansion, the Summer Nutrition Program.

Grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 will be awarded to public schools, nonprofit private schools, local governments, national youth sports programs, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations participating in the Summer Nutrition Program. Grant funds can be used for such needs as serving equipment, program staffing, and nutrition education materials.

To be considered for the summer grant program projects must be centered around creating, continuing, or expanding federal Summer Nutrition Programs. Priority will be given to organizations creating a summer program where one did not previously exist.

Visit the got breakfast? Foundation Web site for the Request for Applications.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Submission Deadline: April 1, 2010

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

The World of Children Awards program was created “to recognize and elevate those selfless individuals who make a difference in the lives of children here in the U.S.A. and across the globe, regardless of political, religious, or geographical boundaries.” Awards are made in three categories, and each award carries a cash grant to help continue the honoree’s work.

The 2010 Humanitarian Award, which includes a grant of up to $50,000, recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to children in the areas of social services, education, or humanitarian services. Nominees must have created, managed, or otherwise supported a sustainable program which has significantly contributed to children’s opportunities to be safe, to learn, and to grow.

The 2010 Health Award, which includes a grant of up to $50,000, recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to children in the fields of health, medicine, or the sciences. Nominees must have created, managed, or otherwise supported a sustainable program which has significantly contributed to the improved health of children. Nominees for this and the 2010 Humanitarian Award must have done this work in addition to their normal employment, for little or no pay, for a minimum of ten years.

The 2010 Founder’s Youth Award, which includes a grant of up to $25,000, recognizes youth who are making extraordinary contributions to the lives of other children. Nominees must be under the age of 21.

Nominees may be individuals or groups of individuals but not organizations. The awards are not given posthumously. Self-nominations are accepted.

Visit the World of Children Web site for complete nomination guidelines.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Submission Deadline: May 1, 2010

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

Silicon Valley Community Foundation has released a new Request for Proposals for grants through its Community Opportunity Fund that focus on safety-net services, specifically for the critical needs of food and shelter in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Grants will be made to organizations and programs that help low-income and disadvantaged children and adults — as well as newly vulnerable individuals and families who now struggle given the economic downturn — meet basic needs for food and shelter. The foundation will award grants for continuation and expansion of direct food and shelter services and to organizations that provide people with access to food, homeless prevention services, and shelter (e.g. information and referral, rental assistance, and/or case management services). General operating support requests related to food and shelter services will be considered under this RFP. Ineligible requests include development and support for, or maintenance of, permanent affordable housing.

The foundation welcomes project proposals that include both well-tested models that can be scaled up or expanded regionally while maintaining local relevance and new pilots that, if successful, can be grown and replicated.

Applicants must be San Mateo and/or Santa Clara County-serving organizations. Organizations headquartered outside the two-county region must demonstrate significant service to the area. Applicants may be nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations (or have an eligible fiscal sponsor), public agencies, collaborations of nonprofit and public agencies, or other entities that have a designated charitable purpose.

Approximately $1 million in total funding is available under this RFP.

The community foundation will host two information sessions (March 8, 2010 in Mountain View, and March 11, 2010 in San Mateo) for organizations eligible to respond to the Safety Net RFP. Organizations are requested to register online by March 5, 2010 for either session.

For the complete RFP and information session registration, visit the community foundation Web site.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

The McKnight Foundation is accepting nominations for the 2010 Virginia McKnight Binger Awards in Human Service.

The foundation will recognize up to six Minnesotans who have demonstrated an exceptional personal commitment to helping others in their communities but who have received little or no public recognition. The foundation seeks individuals who “attend, unite, and empower” others in communities throughout Minnesota.

The awards program welcomes nominations of individuals directly involved in providing human services and those working to make their communities more responsive to the needs of poor or disadvantaged people in Minnesota. Nominees may be volunteers or service staff working directly with people in Minnesota. Senior administrators and program managers are not eligible. Nominees (and the work for which they are being nominated) do not have to be associated with any organization to be eligible.

The nomination process is confidential; individuals are not to be notified that they have been nominated. Individuals may not nominate themselves.

Each awardee will receive $10,000 and will be honored at a ceremony in late summer.

Complete program information is available at the McKnight Foundation Web site.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

VistaBright Lighting, a national supplier of energy efficient lighting products, has announced a new nationwide grant program to provide qualifying nonprofit organizations with cash allowances and services for the purpose of installing new energy efficient lighting systems. The grant program is made possible through the ongoing efforts of VistaBright in organizing the nationwide Energy ALERT (Advanced Lighting Equipment Replacement Technology) Alliance comprised of lighting industry manufacturers, distributors, and electrical contractors.

The grant program is designed to assist educational institutions (private and public), churches, charitable organizations, community groups, and all other qualifying nonprofit organizations in reducing the costs of buying and installing state-of-the-art light fixtures in their facilities. Use of this “green technology” is expected to result in a significant reduction in monthly energy costs.

Grants will be issued on a weekly basis until the March 31, 2010, program deadline.

For further information, visit the ALERT program Web site.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

The Corporation for National and Community Service has released a Notice of Federal Funds Availability for the newly created Social Innovation Fund.

The SIF is specifically designed to promote public and private investments in effective nonprofit community organizations to help them replicate and expand to serve more low-income communities, create new knowledge about how to solve critical social challenges, and develop the grantmaking infrastructure necessary to support the work of social innovation in communities across the United States.

The SIF will channel funding through a network of intermediary organizations — existing grantmaking institutions or partnerships — that will host competitions within six months of the award to identify and fund nonprofit community organizations (subgrantees) working in the priority issue areas of Economic Opportunity, Youth Development and School Support, and Healthy Futures.

In Fiscal Year 2010, the corporation will award up to a total of $50 million in federal funding to approximately seven to ten intermediary organizations. The SIF award periods are up to five years, with funding provided in annual increments. Annual awards to intermediaries will be in the range of $1 million to $10 million each.

Successful intermediary applicants will have a strong track record of using rigorous evidence to select, invest in, support, and monitor the replication and expansion of their subgrantees; the capacity to conduct a competitive process for selecting innovative nonprofit community organizations with effective and potentially transformative approaches; expertise in one or more of the priority issue areas; and deep and broad relationships with stakeholders in one or more priority issue areas and/or specific geographic regions.

Applicants must demonstrate either cash-on-hand or commitments (or a combination thereof) toward meeting 50 percent of the first year matching funds, based on the amount of grant funds requested.

Letters of Intent to Apply are requested (but not required) by March 1, 2010. The application deadline is April 8, 2010.

Potential intermediary applicants can access the full NOFA at the CNCS Web site.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!

The NYC Haitian Community Hope & Healing Fund was established by the Brooklyn Community Foundation and the United Way of New York City to address the short- and long-term needs of Haitian American New Yorkers affected by the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

The fund is designed to provide financial support and critical resources to local nonprofit organizations that are attuned to the needs of their neighborhoods. In general, the fund will focus on building strength in local nonprofit organizations so they can most effectively serve the anticipated increased number of people needing assistance with immigration, grief and trauma counseling, acculturation, English language acquisition, and educational services.

The fund will award grants of up to $50,000 for one year. The fund’s total grantmaking in Round I will not exceed $200,000. Depending on the availability of additional funds, a Round II opportunity will be announced by late spring 2010.

Applications will be accepted from nonprofit organizations and organizations with nonprofit fiscal sponsors.

Visit the Hope & Healing Fund Web site for further information.

Contact: Link to Complete RFP

Submission Deadline: March 8, 2010

Measured Outcomes can help you get the funding and support you need. Contact us at (415) 968-9121, or email Stephen Blakley at stephen@measuredoutcomes.net.

Together we can achieve great things!