Alabama State Council on the Arts 

The mission of the Alabama State Council on the Arts is: To enhance the quality of life and economic vitality for all Alabamians by providing support for the state’s diverse and rich artistic resources.

Blueprint for Supporting the Arts

To accomplish the Council’s mission, proposals that meet the following goals as described in A State Blueprint for Supporting the Arts are prioritized for funding:

• Support excellence and professionalism in the arts.
• Provide opportunities for high-quality arts education for every Alabama student and lifelong learner.
• Provide opportunities for all Alabamians to experience the arts.
• Identify, preserve, and present folk art traditions.
• Promote diverse cultural artistic expressions.
• Recognize and support the arts as a driver of economic vitality.
• Increase public recognition and appreciation for the arts, arts organizations, and individual artists.

Live Arts Learning Grants

The Live Arts Learning program provides smaller grants ($500 to $5,000) for Artist Residencies, in-school performances, field trips to artistic experiences, guest presenters and speakers, and similar programming for PreK-12 students that have shorter timelines than Curriculum-based Projects.

NOTE: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all funding has been committed.

On the Southern Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, a landscape of unrivaled ecological richness, we are helping to save forest strongholds for plant and animal species. 

Guided by our research on how the Southern Appalachians will respond to climate change, OSI launched the Fund in 2012 to accelerate the protection of forests on the plateau most likely to support species diversity as the climate shifts.

Why Southern Cumberland Land Protection Fund

A tenth of the world’s biodiversity can be found in the astonishingly varied landscapes and habitats of the Southeast. One of the most ecologically rich parts of the region is the remote and still largely wild Southern Cumberland Plateau. 

With its vast hardwood forests, rocky ridges, lush ravines, underground caves, and limestone soils, the plateau supports a great diversity of aquatic and terrestrial life – including species found nowhere else on Earth. These same features make the plateau a refuge for wildlife diversity as the climate charges.

State parks and wildlife management areas have set aside some important forestlands on the plateau, but large tracts remain unprotected from development, unsustainable timber harvesting, mining, and invasive species. In a series of grant and loan funds begun in 2004, OSI has attracted attention and resources to the conservation of the best wildlife habitat in the Southern Appalachians. 

The Southern Cumberland Land Protection Fund focuses on the plateau’s high-priority lands for species diversity and climate change adaptation, as identified by OSI’s Protecting Southern Appalachian Wildlife in an Era of Climate Change, State Wildlife Action Plans, and other landscape conservation plans.

Impact of the Fund

Capitalized with grants from the Lyndhurst and Benwood Foundations and Merck Family Fund, OSI’s Southern Cumberland Land Protection Fund protects wildlife habitat and biodiversity in landscapes that are critical to facilitating adaptation to climate change.

As of 2018, fourteen capital grants protected more than 30,000 acres of forestland on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.

Connecting and expanding blocks of protected habitat, these projects conserved globally significant terrestrial and aquatic species and facilitated species adaptation to climate change. 

Many of the projects enlarged state parks and wildlife management areas, increasing access for hiking, hunting, and other outdoor recreation. 

Grant opportunities

Capitalized with grants from the Lyndhurst and Benwood Foundations and Merck Family Fund, the Fund awards grants for permanent conservation easements or fee purchases of large forest blocks in the portion of the Southern Cumberland Plateau shown on this map (see PDF of map).

Capital grants are available to qualified nonprofit organizations to acquire permanent conservation easements and/or fee interests in land. Under exceptional circumstances, OSI will also provide funds directly to state or local government agencies. Grants may also be used to defray transaction and other associated costs. Limited stewardship funding will be granted only when a convincing case is made that it is necessary to enable the transaction. Short-term low-interest loans, to bridge gaps of up to two years in permanent public or private funding, are also available.

The Educational Foundation of America (EFA) is a family foundation. It was established in 1959 to preserve the lifelong altruistic commitment of its founders, Richard Prentice Ettinger and his wife, Elsie P. Ettinger.

Today, decedents of the founder in generations three and four lead the Foundation. Together, they direct efforts to fund nonprofits working on efforts related to Creative Placemaking, Climate, Democracy, and Reproductive Health and Justice. Much of our work is focused in the Appalachian region of the United States, as well as the South and the Pacific Northwest. 

Our grants are typically for general operating support and for more than one year. EFA believes in building the capacity of our partners and will support efforts to do so. As active impact investors, EFA is also committed to activating our endowment to align with our grantmaking goals. 

Reproductive Health & Justice Program

EFA’s Reproductive Health & Justice Program supports state-based organizations that use civic engagement, litigation, communications, and advocacy efforts to improve access to abortion and contraception. Our current geographic focus is on Appalachia and Florida. Taking a broader view, EFA also invests in organizations that work to help ensure access to reproductive healthcare nationally.

Additionally, in partnership with our funder colleagues, EFA catalyzed the creation of the Reproductive Healthcare Investors Alliance, which utilizes shareholder engagement and other impact investing tools to help ensure access to care. This nascent effort is an exciting one and builds on the Foundation’s commitment to aligning our investments with our grantmaking goals.

ACLU

ACLU of Alabama

ACLU of Kentucky

Appalshop

Blue Ridge Abortion Fund 

Catholics for Choice

Center for Reproductive Rights

Kentucky Civic Engagement Table

Kentucky Health Justice Network

Mayday Health

New River Abortion Access Fund

Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai'i, Alask, Indiana, Kentucky

Planned Parenthood of Illinois

Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida and Progress Florida

Power to Decide

Resources for Abortion Delivery

Reprocare

RHIA Ventures

State Innovation Exchange

Women's Health Center of West Virginia

WV Free

Submit an Idea to the Reproductive Health & Justice Program

EFA's Reproductive Health and Justice program welcomes project and program ideas that will help increase access to abortion and contraception across the United States, with a particular focus in Appalachia

Mission

We are a public foundation created to serve southern communities and organizations seeking social, economic, and environmental justice by providing them with financial resources, opportunities for technical assistance and training, and access to systems of information and power. 

Purpose

Develop and nurture grassroots community-based leaders and organizers. Build the capacity of their organizations. Strengthen rural communities and people. Develop equitable peer relationships, which support real transformation toward a just society.

Our Values

Using a grassroots perspective, we believe that culture is the essence of its people and should be valued, shared and preserved in the process. 

We must build our strength and unity by incorporating standards of integrity, respect, love, diversity, quality and interconnectedness.

Please note over the next four years SPF will focus on three primary issue areas in its grantmaking: Education Reform; Immigration Rights; and Voter Engagement

The Discretionary Fund

Existing grantee partners as well as organizations new to SPF may apply for funding. All applicants should fall within the scope of the SPF mission and guidelines: grassroots community organizing for economic, social and environmental justice, in rural communities in the South.

Discretionary support includes (not limited to) grants for capacity building, community organizing events and/or activities, and voter engagement activities. There are three primary funding areas within discretionary

• General Discretionary: funds in this category will typically be used to support community organizing activities or small projects that fit within SPF guidelines and will lend its self to creating change within SPF funding region.
• Technical Assistance: The funds awarded in this category will support the capacity building needs of your organization or your constituency. These activities could include (but are not limited to) strategic planning, organizational development, trainings for your base and/or constituency and small technology upgrades.
• Travel Assistance: This category includes (but again, not limited to) travel to and participation in conferences and actions of civic engagement.

Discretionary fund resources are limited. Organizations may submit a maximum of two requests per year for a total reward of $3,500 per year.  

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: To view the other grant priority areas for the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, please follow these links:

• Health Grants
• Education & Youth Grants
• Community Needs Grants

Daniel Foundation of Alabama: Arts, Culture and Community Asset Grants

Arts, Culture and Community Assets

The Daniel Foundation recognizes that a thriving arts community contributes immeasurably to the quality of life in Birmingham and Alabama. Furthermore, the availability of arts and cultural offerings weave together our diverse population in important ways. We also believe that preservation of our unique historical, natural and cultural resources in Alabama is an important piece of this cultural backdrop.

We understand that our arts providers need both physical spaces and ongoing operational support to provide the stability and sustenance that they are uniquely positioned to provide. Regarding operating support, we specifically seek to assist arts organizations in achieving financial sustainability – preference for operating grants is therefore given to organizations that show strategies focused on this goal.

Our priorities:

• Operational support for arts organizations, particularly those with orartsganizational sustainability strategies.
• Capital needs for arts organization, with preference given to organizations that the Foundation has supported in the past
• Community heritage, culture and historic preservation
• Projects that preserve greenspace and increase access to nature

Guidelines

Grants from National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by supporting on-going preservation work and by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for preservation projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector.

A small grant at the right time can go a long way and is often the catalyst that inspires a community to take action on a preservation project. Grants generally start at $2,500 and range up to $5,000. The selection process is very competitive.

Eligible Activities

National Trust Preservation Fund grants are awarded for planning activities and education efforts focused on preservation. Grant funds can be used to launch new initiatives or to provide additional support to on-going efforts.

Planning: Supporting existing staff (nonprofit applicants only) or obtaining professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archaeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, and law. Eligible planning activities include, but are not limited to:

• Hiring a preservation architect or landscape architect, or funding existing staff with expertise in these areas, to produce a historic structure report or historic landscape master plan.
• Hiring a preservation planner, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce design guidelines for a historic district.
• Hiring a real estate development consultant, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce an economic feasibility study for the reuse of a threatened structure.
• Sponsoring a community forum to develop a shared vision for the future of a historic neighborhood.
• Organizational capacity building activities such as hiring fundraising consultants, conducting board training, etc.

Education and Outreach: Support for preservation education activities aimed at the public. The National Trust is particularly interested in programs aimed at reaching new audiences. Funding will be provided to projects that employ innovative techniques and formats aimed at introducing new audiences to the preservation movement, whether that be through education programming or conference sessions.

Alabama State Council on the Arts

The mission of the Alabama State Council on the Arts is: To enhance the quality of life and economic vitality for all Alabamians by providing support for the state’s diverse and rich artistic resources.

Blueprint for Supporting the Arts

To accomplish the Council’s mission, proposals that meet the following goals as described in A State Blueprint for Supporting the Arts are prioritized for funding:

• Support excellence and professionalism in the arts.
• Provide opportunities for high-quality arts education for every Alabama student and lifelong learner.
• Provide opportunities for all Alabamians to experience the arts.
• Identify, preserve, and present folk art traditions.
• Promote diverse cultural artistic expressions.
• Recognize and support the arts as a driver of economic vitality.
• Increase public recognition and appreciation for the arts, arts organizations, and individual artists.

Projects

Project Grants are the most frequently applied for grant type, allowing a wide range of activities and events that result in positive arts experiences for the public. Project Grant proposals have included:

• Festivals.
• Performances.
• Research and field surveys.
• Exhibitions.
• Author readings.
• Juried competitions.
• Theatrical productions.
• Classes and workshops.
• The creation or commissioning of works of art.
• Symposia, conferences, and convenings.

Our Mission: Why we exist

We enable and promote philanthropy that inspires, facilitates and fosters a vibrant and engaged Chattahoochee Valley.

Vision: How we accomplish our mission

We are the premier center for thoughtful philanthropy for people who want to make their Chattahoochee Valley communities better, both during and after their lifetimes.

We:

• Help a multitude of donors easily and effectively achieve their charitable interests with a wide range of financial assets.
• Invest assets responsibly to preserve and increase grantmaking capital.
• Know the needs of our communities and share that knowledge to empower engagement, leadership and improvement.
• Lead conversations and collaborate to shape effective responses to community needs and opportunities.

Community Impact Grant

The Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley, Inc. was formed in 1998 as a philanthropic resource for the people and charitable organizations of our area and currently holds assets of more than $280 million in more than 330 different Funds. Our mission is to enable and promote philanthropy that fosters, facilitates and inspires a vibrant and engaged Chattahoochee Valley.

Funds may be contributed to the Community Foundation from individuals and organizations for unrestricted use or for designated charitable purposes. The Community Foundation’s ability to respond to community needs is directly tied to the growth of the charitable assets under its control.

During this year, the Community Foundation will make awards from the Funds listed below. 

• The Community Endowment Fund and its named sub-funds:
  • The Fred and Catalina Aranas Family Fund
  • The Susan and Butch Cochran Family Fund
  • The Moselle W. and H. Quigg Fletcher, Jr., Endowment Fund
• The Chattahoochee Valley Fair Fund

CFCV acknowledges and supports Columbus 2025, the Greater Columbus Region’s framework for reducing poverty, increasing prosperity, and enhancing quality of life. Though CFCV’s geographic focus is larger than that addressed by Columbus 2025, these funding guidelines align with 2025’s plans and priorities for improving communities.

Funding

The Community Foundation has committed up to $100,000 in unrestricted grant funds and grants awarded will range in size from $10,000-$25,000. In addition, 50% of all funds awarded by the Community Foundation must be matched with cash or in-kind donations. (For example, a $10,000 grant must be matched with at least $5,000 from an additional source or sources.) Although in-kind contributions may be counted as part of a match, volunteer hours may not be included in the project budget or counted as part of a match.