The NEA Big Read is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest which supports community shared reading programs. Their goals are to build connections through meaningful conversations and a celebration of local creativty in the United States and its territories.
Awards of $5,000 – $20,000 are available with a required 1:1 match. Intent to Apply forms are due by January 23, 2025 and full applications are due by January 30, 2025.
Eligibility
This grant is open to:
501(c)3 nonprofit organizations
Divisions of U.S. state, local, and tribal government
Tax exempt public libraries
School districts
Arts and culture organizations
Museums
Institutions of higher education
Allowable Expenses
Grant funds may be used for:
Project staff salaries
Purchasing books
Supplies
Promotions
Speaker and artist fees
Venue rentals
Theme
The theme for the 2025-26 Big Read is OUR NATURE: How Our Physical Environment Can Lead Us to Seek Hope, Courage, and Connection. Applicants will choose one of the 22 books in the NEA Big Read Library and facilitate discussions, writing workshops, and creative activies that explore the theme and celebrate how it relates to their community.
Applications for up to $2,000 are reviewed on a quarterly basis. Submissions are viable for a year; if an applicant is not initially selected, they may still receive funding if additional money is available.
Eligibility
Applicant
This grant is open to handmade, craft supply, and vintage Etsy sellers in the United States and its territories who:
Have experienced hardship due to a natural disaster as declared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Applications are accepted on a continual basis for Country-Specific Activities, Global or Regional Development Initiatives, and Emergency Aid. As a general rule, requests should not exceed 50% of a project’s budget.
The USDA Food & Nutrition Service expects to award 60 grants of $5,000 – $50,000 each for 24 months. There is a 25% matching requirement and applicants must commit to operating one or more federal Child Nutrition Programs. Applications are due by January 10, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET.
Grantees in the Action Planning Track are required to:
Form and regularly convene a diverse farm to school planning team that represents the community served
Conduct an inclusive and comprehensive action planning process
Draft a plan that identifies at least one community need that the project will address and gather input/feedback from the community
Compile and share a final action plan
Submit a Farm to School Action Plan by the end of the 24 month grant period
Agricultural Education
Grantees in the Agricultural Education Track are required to:
Establish a vision, goals, and objectives for the curriculum, including if and how local foods will be incorporated
Establish the desired outcomes and competencies to be achieved
Identify connected State Standards
Identify the student population who will participate
Develop or procure the curriculum and gather input/feedback from relevant stakeholders
Determine how the curriculum will be integrated into participating CNP sites and then carry out that plan
Develop strategies for maintaining the curriculum in the school/site beyond the grant period
Perform an evaluation of the project
Edible Gardens
USDA Farm to School Grantee: Mancos Conservation District, Mancos, Colorado
Grantees in the Edible Gardens Track are required to:
Form a diverse edible garden team that represents the community served, including school/site food service professionals
Establish a vision, goals, and objectives for the edible garden project, including how you will comply with any applicable Federal, State, and/or local regulations
Create a garden food safety plan
Determine the processing, storage, and ultimate use of school garden foods
Procure supplies, install, and execute the edible garden project
Perform an evaluation of the project
Allowable Expenses
Grant funds may be used for:
Equipment and supplies
Greenhouses
Food – up to 10% of federal share and only for educational purposes
Partnerships – subgrantees, contractors, and others providing a service to the project
Evaluation
Promotional items – individuals items up to $5 each; no advertising or public relations
The Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation was founded in 1988 to support Education and The Arts. Historically they funded projects in Indiana and Florida, but have expanded to accept applications from anywhere in the United States.
Applications are accepted April 1st – December 31st, but submissions are reviewed throughout the year.
Eligibility
This grant is open to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations.
Allowable Expenses
The Foundation prefers to fund distinct programs with measurable outcomes, rather than general operating support or fundraising.
The PEN America U.S. Writers Aid Initiative supports professional writers in the United States facing financial hardship due to a short-term emergency situation. Applicants do not need to be PEN America members and all grantees will receive a free one year membership.
Applications are accepted and reviewed on a quarterly basis. Deadlines for 2025 are currently January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st.
Eligibility
This grant is open to professional writers including:
Fiction authors
Nonfiction authors
Poets
Playwrights
Screenwriters
Translators
Journalists
Writers currently enrolled in degree-granting programs are also not eligible.
Professional Credentials
The grants committee will review applicants’ credentials to determine if they qualify as a ‘professional writer.’ Qualifying work includes:
One or more books that were not self published or published by a press that charges for publication.
Multiple essays, short stories, or poems appearing in online or print literary anthologies or literary journals in the last two years.
A full-length play, performed in a theater by a professional theater company. Academic company productions are only eligible if the author was not a student at the time of production.
Employment as a full-time professional journalist, columnist, or critic, or a record of consistent freelance publications over the last two years.
Forthcoming books, essays, short stories, poems, or articles under contract and for which the name of the publisher can be provided.
Applications for up to £2,000 are accepted on a continual basis.
Eligibility
This grant is open to all-female and mixed-gender wildlife ranger teams from anywhere in the world who are empowering women and indigenous communities to protect wildlife and their habitats.
The Alfred P Sloan Foundation Books Program supports authors as they research and write books that help the general public understand science and technology.
Letters of Inquiry must first be sent to Doron Weber at weber@sloan.org. A response should be sent within 8 weeks. Full proposals, if invited, are due annually on January 1st, May 1st, and September 1st. Awards are typically $60,000 or less. Overhead and indirect costs are not permitted for grants under $50,000.
Eligibility
Authors may apply directly or through a nonprofit organization, such as a university.
Book Categories
Funded books generally fall into one of the following categories:
Explaining confusing or controversial scientific topics
Profiling important figures in science and technology
Relating science and technology to daily life
Exploring the connections between science, technology, and art
The Rural Business Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides assistance to rural areas and small towns for economic development and job creation. Funds are available for two types of projects – Opportunity Grants and Enterprise Grants.
There is no maximum request amount, but smaller requests will receive priority consideration. Awards are typically between $10,000 and $500,000. There is no cost share requirement.
Final applications are due February 28, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. local time. Applications are submitted through state offices which may have additional requirements and an earlier deadline.
Eligibility
Applicant
This grant opportunity is open to:
Nonprofit entities
Public bodies
Government entities
Federally recognized Native American tribes
Community
Only rural areas are eligible to benefit from this grant. The USDA defines a rural area as any area other than:
A city or town that has a population of greater than 50,000 inhabitants
The urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to such a city or town, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census using the latest decennial census of the United States.
Opportunity grant applicants must also demonstrate a reasonable expectation for economic development as a result of the project.
Allowable Expenses
Enterprise Grants
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Enterprise grant funds may be used for activities such as:
Rural business incubators
Distance learning for job training
Leadership and entrepreneurship training
Long-term strategic business planning
Feasibility studies and business plans
Training and technical assistance (i.e. business counseling, market research, technical reports)
Capital improvements – land acquisition and development, construction, equipment
Revolving loan funds
Pollution control and abatement
Opportunity Grants
Opportunity grant funds may be used for:
Rural business incubators
Leadership and entrepreneurship training
Long-term strategic business planning
Feasibility studies and business plans
Evaluation
Applications will be evaluated on
Evidence of local business job creation
Economic need in the area
Applicant experience with similar projects
Consistency with local economic development priorities
Percentage of non-federal funding already committed
Application Requirements
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All applications must contain:
Evidence of Legal Authority and Good Standing (i.e. organization bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, letter from Secretary of State)
Financial statements for three most recent years
Documentation of non-federal funds committed to the project
Letters of Commitment from the business to receive assistance
