Grant deadline: November 1, 2012
Online application will be available September 2012
The Seattle Foundation is committed to providing every child with a high-quality education. Because educational attainment is among the most powerful factors in determining whether children will reach their potential as healthy, productive adults, it is critical that we provide our region's most vulnerable youth with a robust continuum of support at all stages of their education, from cradle to career. To realize this vision, our grantmaking supports strong public schools at the systems level and student success at the individual level. Within the Education element, the Foundation’s goals are to: prepare young people for college and career success; promote parent and community involvement in helping students succeed in school; and advocate for high-quality public schools through authentic community engagement and effective professional development for teachers and school leaders.
Guiding Principles
All of The Seattle Foundation's education grantmaking will be guided by the following broad criteria:
- Support the intentional, systemic integration of school and community-based resources
- Prioritize organizations (school-districts, nonprofits, etc.) that serve communities with significant education/economic disparities, particularly those located in Southeast/Southwest Seattle and South King County
- Prioritize organizations or initiatives that consistently demonstrate impact (or have a plan to do so) on one or more Roadmap for Education Results indicators
What We Fund: 2012 Priority Strategies
In addition to supporting work that meets the criteria listed above, the Foundation will prioritize organizations or initiatives that are making significant progress toward one or more of TSF’s three priority strategies:
- Foster College/Career Readiness & Success
- Provide students with social-emotional supports that improve school attachment, self-efficacy, and academic motivation
- Reduce the need for remediation through early identification and intervention for students who are not achieving at grade-level
- Support first-generation, low-income students in planning for and transitioning to college
- Connect high-school dropouts and other “off-track” youth to post-secondary education and employment pathways
- Engage Families and Communities in Ensuring Student Success
- Support immigrant and low-income parents and communities in navigating the school system and building the knowledge—including leadership skills—to help English-Language Learners (ELL) and other low-income students succeed
- Support early learning programs aligned with state and local kindergarten-readiness and P-3 work
- Support greater collaboration between schools and informal STEM education providers in order to boost student interest and achievement in STEM fields
- Build Public Will for High-Quality Schools for All Children
- Support community engagement, advocacy, and parent-leadership focused on school improvement, particularly in low-income communities
- Support innovative teacher training programs that effectively address the needs of struggling students and low-performing schools
- Support research that drives the adoption of best practices in teaching and school leadership
Eligibility
To qualify for a grant from The Seattle Foundation’s Grantmaking Program, an organization must:
- be a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization or public agency (including educational institutions);
- serve residents of King County; and
- provide programming that aligns with one of our three Education strategies.
Please note that we have eliminated our two-year eligibility period. However, due primarily to limited resources, relatively few organizations will receive annual grants from The Seattle Foundation.
We therefore strongly encourage you to contact us before submitting an application to confirm that your organization is a strong fit for our 2012 funding strategies. Please contact grantmaking@seattlefoundation.org or call (206) 515-2109.
Other Things to Consider
- Operating expenses for public or private elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities are not considered.
- Capital campaign funding requests are typically considered a low priority.
- Organizations that have less than a three-year operating history after receiving their 501(c)(3) classification are considered a low priority.
- Organizations that have an annual operating budget less than $100,000 as reflected in the most recently filed IRS Form 990 are considered a low priority.
- Youth-serving organizations that don't target and track outcomes related to education success are considered a low priority.
- Please follow this link for a comprehensive list of what we don't fund.
Grant Types
The Foundation awards grants to provide general operating or project support to organizations working to address one or more of The Seattle Foundation's priority strategies in Education.
Deadline
The next deadline for Education is November 2012. Grants will be awarded in June 2013.
Application Instructions
The following steps outline the application process and information we are requesting.
Step One
The first step of the process is to contact the Foundation’s grantmaking staff to ensure that you are currently a strong fit for our refined funding strategies. Please contact grantmaking@seattlefoundation.org or call (206) 515-2109.
Step Two
The second step is to create an account login on our website. If you don't have one yet, we encourage you to create an account as soon as possible, as it can take up to two business days to validate your login.
Step Three
The third step is to edit or create a profile for your organization on our website. You will need to submit our Profile Request Form, available by going to www.seattlefoundation.org/nonprofits and clicking on the “Profile Access Request Form” link in the right-hand column. (If you are new to our website, you will be taken to a login/registration page first, where you will need to create an account -- see Step Two above.)
The information required to establish your nonprofit organizational profile includes: mission statement, organizational and program description, and recent successes and challenges.
Step Three
The third step is to complete an online application (available in 2012). The components of the online application include: responding to narrative questions, providing a three-year financial snapshot, and submitting attachments.
Please refer to the Application Components for a complete list of narrative questions and required attachments.
Step Four
The fourth step is to complete an online application. The components of the online application include: responding to narrative questions, providing a three-year financial snapshot, and submitting attachments.
Please refer to the Application Components for a complete list of narrative questions and required attachments.
Step Five (For grant recipients only)
The fifth step requires completion of a Status Report within one year from the date an organization receives a grant.
Application Submission
Please do not submit any books, DVDs or videos with your application.
If you have any questions about the application process, please contact our grantmaking team at grantmaking@seattlefoundation.org or (206) 515-2109.