January 2006

In This Issue

• Fiscal Year 2006 Federal Budget
• Federal Funding Opportunities
• Private Foundation Funding
• Funding Tip

Fiscal Year 2006 Federal Budget

At the end of December, after much disagreement and debate, Congress approved the conference report on the FY 2006 Defense appropriations bill (HR 2863). The bill became the vehicle for numerous unrelated, last minute additions. It included a 1 percent across-the-board cut to all FY 2006 discretionary spending except the Veterans Administration and a $32 billion relief package for the Gulf Coast. Therefore, the amounts reported in the December 2005 Advocacy Funding Fact$ for programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice will all be reduced by 1 percent for FY 2006.

• Department of Health and Human Services

  In the appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services finalized on December 30, funding for many of the programs of interest to civil legal services providers will remain at FY 2005 levels, less the 1 percent across-the-board cut. These programs include the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Administration on Aging Support Services and Protection and Advocacy.

  Ryan White CARE Act Comprehensive Care funding was increased by $10 million to $1,131,800,000; however, this increase is negated by the 1 percent cut.

Federal Funding Opportunities

• Department of Housing and Urban Development
  Deadline: Early registration at Grants.gov recommended by January 31, 2006
  

  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is continuing with its transition to a total electronic grant application system. This system requires applicants to submit applications for federal grants electronically through Grants.gov.

  To facilitate the FY 2006 grant application process, HUD encourages prospective applicants for HUD funding to register early for the FY 2006 funding cycle, if they have not already done so. Registering now, in advance of HUD posting its FY 2006 grant opportunities, may eliminate many of the registration issues HUD applicants faced in FY 2005 of not meeting registration requirements in time to meet grant application deadlines.

  HUD anticipates that it will post its funding opportunities in March 2006. Prospective applicants for FY 2006 HUD grants are encouraged to register at http://www.grants.gov by January 31. Although applicants can register at any time before an application is submitted to HUD, the registration process can take approximately 10 days or more.

• FY 2006 Training Grants to Stop Abuse and Sexual Assault Against Older Individuals or Individuals with Disabilities Program
  http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/DOJ/HQ/OJP/OVW-2006-1200/Grant.html
  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/docs/ovwfy06tgsasa.pdf
  Deadline: January 26, 2006 for online registration at Grants.gov; February 16, 2006 application deadline
  

  In FY 2006, the Department of Justice's Office on Violence against Women (OVW) will fund eight to ten projects to pilot curricula focusing on elder abuse. Projects funded through the Training Grants Program will provide training to law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary to create a multidisciplinary approach to addressing elder abuse within the criminal justice system in their communities. OVW will provide intensive and comprehensive technical assistance to successful applicants as part of this initiative. This technical assistance will include a train-the-trainer component to provide multi-disciplinary training teams with the skills necessary to provide training to law enforcement on the local level, workshops for prosecutors and a judicial institute focusing on elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

  Elder abuse victims face unique obstacles in seeking assistance because they often are dependent on the abuser and may not have the option to move or otherwise end the abusive relationship. It is critical for those in the criminal and civil justice system to recognize indicators that an older individual is being abused. These indicators may include unexplained physical injuries or contradictory explanation of injuries; unusual behavior such as withdrawal, increased agitation or depression; malnutrition, substandard care or poor physical hygiene in spite of seemingly adequate financial resources; or sudden transfers of assets to family members, caregivers, or other persons.

  Eligible applicants include:

  • states;
  • tribes;
  • units of local government;
  • nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations, including faith-based and community based organizations;
  • state or local government agencies (e.g., prosecutors’ offices, sheriffs’ offices, courts);
  • private, nonprofit victim advocacy organizations; and
  • public or private nonprofit service organizations for older individuals.

Private Foundation Funding

• ABA Announces its Intensive Private Bar, Capital or Endowment Campaign Training
  Deadline: February 10, 2006
  

  The American Bar Association’s Legal Services Project of the Section of Litigation has announced its two-day private bar, capital or endowment campaign training for 2006. This year it will be held in Los Angeles on April 20 - 21. The Section of Litigation will again be offering this training for free and will provide a travel stipend of about $700, plus meals, to participating programs.

  Submission of an application by Friday, February 10 is required and attendees will be selected by the Legal Services Project of the Section of Litigation. For more information about this training and the application form, visit the event listing in NLADA’s National Training Calendar.

• New Voices Fellowship Program
  http://newvoices.aed.org/home.html
  Deadline: February 13, 2006
  

  The Academy for Educational Development has announced the competition for 12 new grant awards through its New Voices Fellowship Program, to support nonprofits and promising new leaders committed to social justice and peace. New Voices is a national leadership development program that helps nonprofit organizations recruit innovative, new talent. It awards salary-support grants to small nonprofits demonstrating a commitment to cultivating and strengthening the leadership potential of creative and diverse "new voices" in the field.

  The two-year grants, worth about $100,000, offer support for salary, fringe benefits, financial assistance, leadership training, mentoring and a professional development account for a promising new leader. The applying nonprofit and its prospective Fellow prepare an application together as a team.

  Eligible organizations are US-based and address key issues in fields related to justice and peace. Organizations that conduct policy research/analysis, litigation, advocacy, or community organizing are eligible. This year, they are particularly interested in applications from nonprofit organizations in cities impacted by Hurricane Katrina (e.g., New Orleans, Mobile, Biloxi, Gulfport, etc). New Voices also hopes to receive applications from organizations working on social justice issues in the city of Detroit. This list is not exclusive or exhaustive. Preference will be given to organizations with annual budgets around $2 million or less.

• Public Welfare Foundation
  http://www.publicwelfare.org
  Deadline: Requests for new funding may be submitted at any time during the year
  

  The Public Welfare Foundation has issued its grant priorities for 2006. Funding areas of include:

  1. Community Development, $2.8 million, about $300,000 more than last year. Priorities include helping low-wage workers, technical assistance and supporting grassroots organizations.
  2. Criminal Justice: $1.5 million, the same as in 2005. Priorities again include alternatives to incarceration, legal services for the poor and violence prevention.
  3. Health: $3 million, the same as 2005. Priorities include health advocacy, access and reform, hunger and nutrition, and mental health advocacy.
  4. Human Rights and Global Security: $2.5 million, the same as 2005. Priorities include support for community based programs that provide services to and advocacy for immigrants and refugees in the United States.
  5. Youth: $1.5 million, with grants focusing on employment, early intervention, leadership, violence prevention and advocacy.

  Other domestic areas include the environment ($2.5 million, the same as last year) and reproductive and sexual health ($2.5 million, the same as last year), but welfare reform is no longer a funding priority.

  
  

  Regional Grants

  
  
• Foundation for the Mid South Offers Bridge Grants for Hurricane Recovery Efforts http://www.fndmidsouth.org/Katrina_Recovery_Fund.htm
  Deadline: January 31, 2006

  The purpose of the Foundation for the Mid South's Hurricane Bridge Grants is to provide $1 million in critical temporary support to the nonprofit organizations of the Mid South region who are working to build just and equitable communities in the aftermath of the recent hurricanes that devastated the region.

  The current Request for Proposal is designed to provide grants of up to $50,000 to support the efforts of non-profit organizations in addressing an equitable recovery and restoration process.

  All applicants must meet the following requirements: have 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or have a formal agreement with an eligible tax-exempt fiscal agent or public entity and serve individuals and communities within the geographic region of the Mid South (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and the affected areas of Alabama).

  Grants awarded through the program can fund costs of business interruptions from the disaster such as temporary shelter, relocation costs, rent, technology set-up costs, personnel costs, financial management for set up and recovery, contractual short-term assistance for assessment of impact of the hurricanes and/or development of a plan to address the nonprofit's needs, organizational restructuring, reestablishing a communication network with constituencies, reprinting needs and other costs due to hurricane-related disruptions.

• Kellogg Foundation Accepting Applications for Rural People, Rural Policy Initiative
  http://www.wkkf.org/rprp/
  Deadline: February 20, 2006

  The W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Rural People, Rural Policy (RPRP) is a new multi-year national initiative designed to energize and equip rural organizations and networks to shape policy that will improve the lives of rural people and the vitality of rural communities. One of the primary components of the initiative is Regional Rural Policy Networks.

  Regional Rural Policy Networks are a set of selected organizations from four specific geographic regions and one "at-large" region in the United States. Network organizations will engage in a multi-year process designed to help develop their individual and collective strategies, skills and efforts to improve the impact of public and private policy on rural people and rural places. Starting in 2006, RPRP will recruit a cohort of five organizations from each region to take part in the initiative.

  Any nonprofit organization seeking to improve policy that affects rural people and rural places may apply to participate in a Regional Rural Policy Network. This includes organizations working in economic development, education, community philanthropy, health or other issues critical to the vitality and sustainability of rural life. Organizations that seek to participate may be anywhere on a spectrum from small to large, focused on one community or across state lines, targeted on a single issue or a range of issues, or young and learning to highly experienced.

  Four Regional Rural Policy Networks will be based in specific regions where the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has invested considerable resources in recent years. These four regions are:

  1. Central Appalachia (i.e., West Virginia and the Appalachian counties of Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia);
  2. the Mid South (Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi;
  3. the Midwest/Great Plains (Nebraska, Montana, and North and South Dakota; and
  4. the Southwest (New Mexico and Arizona).

  Organizations that are not based in these eligible regions but that consider themselves to be very connected to one of these regions may make a case to be included in that network. In addition, the foundation is considering organizing one At-Large Network to include up to five organizations that meet all the criteria for participation but are from outside the four specified geographic regions.

  Organizations selected in the first year of the program will each receive a grant commitment from the foundation totaling $100,000 over a period of five years. Funds may be used for salary, travel and other costs associated with strengthening the organization's capacity to engage in rural policy decisions. In the first year of participation, organizations will engage in three peer-learning sessions that include all participating organizations nationwide.

  Complete program information, an FAQ and application instructions are available from the Rural People, Rural Policy website.

• AIDS Foundation of Chicago
  http://www.aidschicago.org/grantmaking/news.php
  Deadline: March 3, 2006

  The AIDS Foundation of Chicago has issued a request for proposals for HIV-related programs and services in the Chicago area. HIV/AIDS education/prevention/risk-reduction programs, direct services for people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS-related advocacy projects are all eligible for funding for the 2006-07 cycle.

Funding Tip

Study Addresses Federal Budget Consequences for Nonprofits

New five-year budget plans developed by President Bush and the Congress for FY 2006 and beyond suggest tough times may be ahead for many, although not all, of the nation's private, nonprofit organizations. This report by Alan Abramson, Director of the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund, and Lester Salamon, Director, Center for Civil Society Studies of the Institute for Policy Studies of Johns Hopkins University, examines the most recent presidential and congressional budget proposals and their potential impact on our country's nonprofit organizations. Visit the website listed above to read the full report.