The Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC) is a federal-state partnership authorized by Congress in the 2008 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (“the Farm Bill”) to promote and encourage economic development in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and all of Florida*. SCRC invests in projects that support basic infrastructure, business development, natural resource preservation and workforce development. SCRC is committed to supporting job creation, building communities and improving the lives of those who reside in the 428 counties of the seven-state region. SCRC will make $20 million[1] in grant funds available for awards through the competitive State Economic and Infrastructure Development (SEID) Grant Program.

The SEID Grant program includes funding from SCRC’s annual appropriations and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). SCRC’s authorizing statute, 40 U.S.C., Subtitle V, §15501 (b)(c)(d), indicates how much and where grant funds must be spent. At least 50% of grant funds must be allocated to distressed counties and isolated areas of distress. At least 40% of grant funds must be allocated to infrastructure projects tackling basic public infrastructure, telecommunications and transportation. Infrastructure projects and goals are outlined in the BIL. Click here to access BIL information. The SEID program is SCRC’s flagship grant program designed to encourage and support economic and infrastructure development activities across the Southeast Crescent region. In FY 2023, the inaugural grant program will invest $20 million in projects that align with the priorities identified in the authorizing statute, Five-Year Strategic Plan and State Economic Development Plans. 

* Florida has opted out of the 2023 funding cycle.

NOTE: Capital Campaign grants will be considered in the first and third quarters of each year (deadline February 1 and August 1). Grant applications pertaining to the Black Belt Region will be considered twice a year, on January 16 and June 16.

Since 2009, the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation has been providing grants to nonprofit organizations in our community, the Black Belt, and the state as a whole to support a variety of programs. From education to the environment, from the cultural arts to neighborhood revitalization, the Foundation has distributed over $26,000,000 in grants to 221 organizations whose work we are proud to support.

The Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation seeks to strengthen communities and improve the quality of life primarily in the Birmingham metropolitan area and the State of Alabama.

Our Service Area

The Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation focuses its grantmaking in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Special consideration is given to support programs that serve the Woodlawn community in Birmingham.

The Foundation will also support efforts that build opportunities in the Black Belt of Alabama, particularly Hale and Greene Counties. Grants that impact the State of Alabama as a whole or that impact policy issues affecting all Alabamians will also be considered.

Grants from the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation are made to support programs that impact:

• The Birmingham metro area;
• The Woodlawn area of Birmingham;
• The Black Belt area in Alabama;
• The State of Alabama as a whole, through influencing policy change at the state level.

Our Program Areas

The Foundation is interested in developing partnerships with nonprofit organizations to achieve measurable results in the following areas:

• Education
• We believe that every child should have the educational resources to become a successful adult. Based on our belief that education is still the best road out of poverty, the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation supports a strong education pipeline. Grants are made to support efforts in early childhood to help children be ready to learn when they enter the school system. Other grants support teachers, students and families to help more children achieve and succeed. These include grants to improve academic outcomes through teacher and principal coaching as well as support for meeting non-academic needs, like physical and mental health needs.
• Neighborhood Revitalization
• We believe in the Purpose Built Communities’ holistic model for rebuilding strong neighborhoods. A strong cradle – to – adult educational pipeline, affordable mixed-income housing, wrap-around social services and local economic revitalization are necessary components for creating livable communities and helping to break the cycle of poverty.
• The Environment
• We believe that the protection of our natural resources and green spaces are vital to the environment and to the health of our communities.
• The Arts and Culture
• We believe that the cultural arts enrich lives and are an integral part of a dynamic and vibrant community.
• Positioning Strategic Community Assets
• We believe that the success of our community depends on the strength of its intrinsic partners – those institutions that represent the best of Birmingham. We are committed to their success.

Grant applications must be geared toward achieving specific results in these focus areas.

Program, Operating and Capital Campaign Grants

We fund capital campaigns and provide grants for operating and programmatic support to organizations engaged in activities that align with the Foundation’s funding interests listed above.

• Program grants are grants of up to $30,000 to support a specific program.
• Operating grants of any amount may be applied for in up to three year increments with an annual review.
• Our goal is to help our grantees focus more on their missions and less on application cycles.
• Capital Campaign grants of any amount will be considered in the first and third quarters of each year (deadline February 1 and August 1).

The Community Foundation has two grantmaking cycles. During each cycle we accept applications in all five of our Priority Areas: 

Fostering Equity and Inclusion

The people in our community represent a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, reflecting the richness of our region. We know that equity and inclusion of all individuals is critical to our shared future. Our Community Foundation will work together with community partners to include and value diverse voices, acknowledge the past and work towards healing, building trust and common ground, and create more equitable systems.

Creating Economic Opportunity for All

This means the student who is preparing for the next level of learning, the worker who wants to advance her career, the entrepreneur who has ambitions to grow a business, and especially those who have been left out or left behind – all have a strong chance at economic success.

Overcoming Persistent Poverty

Persistent poverty is not just a problem for some people or families—it affects everyone and is within our power to change. As we identify the enduring barriers that stand between people and economic well-being, we are able to work together to break them down. By building systems that are more equitable and that honor human dignity and potential, we can move toward a world where everyone can realize economic security, mobility and well-being—a truly Greater Birmingham.

Driving Regional Cooperation

We recognize that as a region, our individual communities are interconnected and that we all share a common fate. As economies have become regional in nature, the old ways of fragmentation work against future growth and opportunity. We look to build bridges between communities to form lasting connections that can lead to change. Whether we are bringing communities together to advance regional plans, promote equitable policies or improve inefficient systems – our community as a whole benefits when we work side by side.

Nurturing Thriving Communities

We constantly see communities accomplish incredible things. When they partner to build on and strengthen community assets, even greater things can happen. Together, we can create communities that are even more vibrant, connected, healthy, beautiful, safe and engaged.

Innovation Fund

Our purpose at The Workers Lab is to give new ideas for and with workers a chance to succeed. Our Innovation Fund is one of the ways we achieve this purpose. It’s how we invest in innovators and entrepreneurs who are serving workers and addressing the challenges faced by workers.

Since 2014, the Innovation Fund has invested $5.7 million in 77 innovators.

We understand that bringing transformative ideas for and with workers to fruition requires investment. Far too many worker-led ideas, especially those by entrepreneurs of color and women, never see the light of day since they historically receive only a tiny fraction of the early investment enjoyed by others. The Workers Lab is changing that. The ideas we invest in are collectively making the ways our country serves workers more modern and inclusive to ensure that every worker is safe, healthy, secure, and has power. 

Selection Considerations

The following are considered as applications are evaluated:

• Innovators who are from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented among those who receive venture capital and startup funding, especially entrepreneurs who identify as women of color.
• Innovators with early-stage ideas (idea, solution, pre-pilot) centered around making the ways our country serves workers more modern and inclusive in the United States.
  • Idea - You’ve identified a critical problem facing workers and now you’re researching whether solutions exist.
  • Solution - You’ve begun honing in on the potential solution you want to develop (product, program, service, tool, strategy, etc.) and are scoping a prototype.
  • Pre-Pilot - You have a solution that you’ve conceptualized/designed a prototype for. Now, you’re seeking partners and seed funding for a future pilot.
• Innovators with plans for diversified future revenue streams that support long-term sustainability.
• Innovators who need startup capital and technical support, and have ambition for their ideas to be brought to scale.

Additionally, we’ve identified the following areas of interest and encourage applicants who are serving workers in:

• Key states where startup funding for worker-innovators is lacking including but not limited to, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Texas, Florida, and the broader South.
• Key industries and subsets of the economy where there are fewer supports for workers, including but not limited to gig work, care (homecare, healthcare, childcare), as well as climate (energy and the environment).

NOTE: Micro Accessibility Grants will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning July 2022 through May 15, 2023. 

MICRO ACCESSIBILITY GRANTS

Micro Accessibility Grants provide up to $2,500 for organizations to make arts programs accessible to persons with disabilities.

The Southeast is home to some of the world’s more diverse and vibrant artistic communities. At South Arts, we believe that the arts are for everyone. The arts enrich the lives of people of all abilities and backgrounds. In our commitment to amplifying the success of the Southeast’s arts ecology, South Arts offers micro-funding to supplement the efforts of arts organizations throughout our service area. 

Art making is for everyone too! South Arts encourages arts organizations to hire artistic personnel of all abilities at all levels; for these grants in particular, we encourage arts organizations to work directly with artists who identify as disabled. 

Through our partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, South Arts offers small grants that compliment existing efforts by arts organizations to include audiences and artists with disabilities. Accessibility micro-grants are available to support Nonprofit, 501c3, arts organizations located within the South Arts Service region states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This funding program is open to a wide variety of organizations, including community cultural organizations, museums, performing arts presenters, theatre companies, visual arts and music organizations. 

South Arts has prioritized the following:

• South Arts prioritizes applications from BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ identifying organizations.
• South Arts prioritizes applications from organizations led by persons with disabilities or organizations that provide significant programming to artists or audiences with disabilities. 
• South Arts is committed to funding artists organizations in rural communities (with populations under 50,000).

Grant Requests

Applicants may request funding of $500-$2,500 for eligible projects. Organizations must provide a 1:1 funding match; note that 50% of the recipient's match must come from a cash match.

Southern SARE is requesting pre-proposals for either Systems Research Projects or for Education Projects and Activities that address issues of sustainable agriculture of current and potential importance to the region and the nation.

Maximum funding amount for Systems Research Projects is $400,000, and maximum funding amount for Education Projects and Activities is $50,000. Pre-proposals with smaller funding requests are welcomed and encouraged.

Southern SARE accepts proposals from applicants in the Southern region: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Proposed projects must focus on Southern SARE’s program objectives in developing sustainable agriculture systems or moving existing farming systems toward sustainability, as defined by the Congress in the 1990 Farm Bill. Under that law, “the term sustainable agriculture means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:

• Satisfy human food and fiber needs;
• Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends;
• Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls;
• Sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and
• Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.”

What We Fund

The Community Foundation makes grants that present an opportunity for strategic investment – building organizational capacity, replicating successful programs, establishing a new program, launching a policy or systems change project and/or capital projects that support the following domains:

• Thriving Communities: Recognize, create, connect and strengthen assets of communities and neighborhoods in our region to support and enhance the quality for life for all.
• Equity and Inclusion: Include and value diverse voices, acknowledge the past and work towards healing, build trust and common ground, and work together to create fair, equitable systems.
• Regional Cooperation: Support cooperation among communities and municipalities to build, sustain and promote assets and resources.
• Economic Opportunity for All: Develop multiple, accessible pathways for people to achieve economic opportunity. Focus on those facing the greatest systemic barriers.
• Overcoming Persistent Poverty: Identify and work to break through enduring barriers that keep people from realizing economic security and well-being.

Grant Cycle 2

The Community Foundation has two grantmaking cycles that focus on the following results from our Results Framework

Cycle 2: Communities are sustainable, livable and vibrant
Individuals and families are economically secure

Grant Terms

Grant Terms: Funds may be requested over a one, two, or three year period based on the scale and schedule of the proposal.

Grant Amounts

There is no maximum request amount, but in recent years awarded grants have ranged from $5,000 to $125,000 with an average amount of $35,000.

CFGB prefers requests that do not exceed 25% of the budget for the proposed project. Potential or secured support for the remaining 75% of the budget should be identified. That total cost and scale of the project should be reasonable, feasible, and sustainable in relation to the applicant’s overall budget and activities.

Organizations with documented revenue under $25,000 may only request a Seed Grant of $8,000 or less.

Organizations requesting a grant of $75,000 or greater MUST have an annual or semi-annual independent audit.

Ms. Foundation for Women

The mission of the Ms. Foundation for Women is to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all. We achieve our mission by investing in, and strengthening, the capacity of women-led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural and economic change in the lives of women. Ms. has six grantmaking initiatives, one of which is the Birth Justice Initiative.

Birth Justice Initiative

Our Birth Justice Initiative aims to:

• advance equitable birth outcomes and experiences;
• strengthen the capacity, organizational infrastructure, and financial stability of grassroots Black, Indigenous and women of color-led birth justice organizations; and
• expand the frame of birth justice to support intersectional movements and strategies that recognize the full spectrum of experiences and identities in birthing, parenting, and family building.

We believe that Black, Indigenous, and women of color (including trans women and non-binary people) are key experts and should be decision-makers in shaping policy and culture change around birth justice. By investing directly into organizations led by and for women and girls of color, we are ensuring that the movement to address racial based disparities in healthcare, including birth outcomes and experiences, is led by those who are impacted most. Strengthening the collective power of communities of color is critical to addressing the root causes of these disparities and advancing birth justice for all.

The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates of all developed nations and Black women die at three to four times the rate of white women in birth – one of the widest racial disparities in women’s health. Systemic racism, implicit bias, and anti-Blackness all contribute to the significant disparities in birth outcomes among Black, Indigenous and birthing people of color. Moreover, the spectrum of intersectional issues that comprise birth justice and the ability to have children and parent with dignity, are not only limited to the birth process.

As such, the Ms. Foundation’s Birth Justice Initiative invests in organizations who represent the full spectrum of birth experiences including–but not limited to–preconception health, mental health and wellness, infertility, abortion access and abortion care, comprehensive sex and sexuality education, non-racist culturally affirming and gender expansive healthcare, access to birth workers of color, access to lactation support and services, postpartum health and wellness, grief and loss care and support, and sexual assault prevention and survivor support services. Organizations supported collectively utilize a range of movement building strategies to advance birth justice—such as narrative change, policy and systems change, advocacy, leadership development, direct service among others. And finally, they work at the intersection of birth justice and other movements, such as disability justice, youth justice, LGBTQIA+ justice, environmental justice, economic justice, and criminal legal reform.

Funding

During this cycle, Ms. will provide one-time grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 to selected organizations not currently receiving funding from Ms.’ Birth Justice Initiative. The grant period will comprise two years.

Southern SARE recognizes the value and importance of on-farm research in developing solutions to agricultural production problems. On-Farm Research Grants provide opportunities for ag professionals working directly with farmers and ranchers to conduct on-farm research projects in sustainable agriculture. On-Farm Research Grants emphasize relationship building between the researcher and the farmer and help support farmers in their efforts to conduct new and innovative sustainable agriculture production and marketing practices.

Focus Areas

The focus areas have been chosen by the On-farm Research Grant Committee as areas needing investigation.  These focus areas elaborate topics for applicants who are in need of information on research areas of interest to the SARE On-Farm Research Grant program. 

 Beneficial Insect Habitat

• Developing cover crops or other plant mixes and locations that provide habitat (refuges) that keep populations of native beneficial insects living on the farm ready to attack crop pests as they occur.

Alternative Crops/Animals 

• Developing cover crops or other plant mixes and locations that provide habitat (refuges) that keep populations of native beneficial insects living on the farm ready to attack crop pests as they occur.

 Organic Agriculture 

• Projects that address the production, distribution, marketing and consumption of organic farm products.  This includes farmers adding value to organic products. Research into farming systems and practices that make use of on-farm biological cycles for soil, plant and pest management.

Sustainable Marketing Projects

•  Developing markets for existing or alternative crops, animals or products.

Sustainable Grazing Systems

• Use of native grass species and or plant/animal management systems to make grazing systems more sustainable.

Soil Organic Matter Building/protection/management

• Projects that increase the sustainability of farming systems by developing soil organic matter and soil biota.

Increasing Sustainability Of Existing Farming Practices 

• Any practice or system that increases the sustainability of an existing farming practice. The results should be able to be used by other farmers.

Appropriate Technology 

• Projects that develop a device or piece of machinery that promotes sustainable agriculture and can’t be purchased off the shelf.  

Agroforestry

• Studies are needed that demonstrate and quantify the feasibility of establishing agroforestry in the region.  Information on the performance of various forage combinations under shaded conditions is needed.