FW: funding opportunity: please distribute

Wanted to be sure you all got this!

Emily

Dear all,

I’ll be glad to answer any questions,

Sylvia

INTERMEDIARY SUPPORT FOR

ORGANIZING COMMUNITIES PROGRAM

2012- 2013

Application Instructions and Application Form

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING / TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS

Contact: Sylvia Saavedra-Keber

E-mail: smallgrants@ctacusa.com

Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) is now accepting applications for our small grants program for established, small and mid-size grassroots social justice organizations doing community organizing to effect social change. These grants are coupled with technical assistance from CTAC based on the organizations’ needs to support and strengthen your organization and your community organizing work.

CTAC anticipates awarding a total of six to seven grants, maximum $20,000 each, in conjunction with training and technical assistance, to build the capacity of community organizing groups and help them connect or play a more influential role in networks and coalitions. The primary purpose of this program is to strengthen low-income communities and neighborhoods by investing in the development of local leaders through the community organizing process.

The deadline for submissions for the 2012-2013 cycle is

Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 5:00pm

Eligibility

CTAC provides small grants and technical assistance to build organizational capacity of established neighborhood or community groups that have been engaged in community organizing in low-income, highly disenfranchised communities for a number of years. Selected groups will be, to the extent possible, constituent-led and multi-issue in orientation, rather than single-issue groups. CTAC is seeking organized groups that can demonstrate a track record of success in their community organizing efforts, and which have already secured the basic systems and capacities to play a more influential role in local, regional or national networks. In addition, CTAC will be selecting organizations that demonstrate a readiness to receive technical assistance and have identified areas of need through a thoughtful, inclusive process. CTAC will award the majority of these grants to organizations located Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Statewide organizations and service provider organizations will not be considered. Please visit our website for more information about the small grants technical assistance program and participating organizations.

If your organization is located outside this geographic area, please contact CTAC for possible referral to another small grants program. CTAC staff is available to answer any questions regarding eligibility. Please contact us at smallgrants@ctacusa.com.

Program Definitions

·         Community organizing:  For the purpose of this program, community organizing is understood as the process of building a powerful, diverse, community-controlled, democratically run, inclusive, grassroots organization capable of developing leaders and effecting social change for its constituent members. In general, the process of community organizing involves community outreach, membership recruitment, leadership development, issue identification and analysis, and the development and execution of campaign strategies or actions with members, who are the decision-makers for the organization.  Please note that direct social service projects are not eligible for funding.

·         Small grant:  An amount up to $20,000 a year (average grant is $15,000 a year) that can be used effectively to meet the community organizing goals and objectives of the recipient organization.

·         Technical assistance:  The provision of training, coaching, information sharing, and/or consultation by CTAC to funded groups to promote organizational success, maturation and growth. Some examples of technical assistance  are:    

Ø  organizational development: goal and outcome setting, board and staff training, internal policy development and implementation

Ø  community organizing: campaign planning, leadership development, membership participation and retention

Ø  power analysis: frameworks to create collective analysis of structural inequalities

For more information, please go to: Frequently Asked Questions (www.ctacusa.com/PDFs/rfpfaqs.pdf)

New and renewal applications must be received by CTAC by

Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 5:00pm

          No electronic submissions accepted.

Sylvia Saavedra-Keber

Senior Associate, Community Capacity Building

Community Training and Assistance Center, Inc.

30 Winter Street, 7th floor

Boston, MA 02108

617.423.1444

617.423.4748 Fax

ssaavedra-keber@ctacusa.com