Apply Today! State Coalition Request For Proposals (RFP): Up to $20,000 per Grant Award

CivxNow works with and supports coalitions and entities operating within a state that are committed to including the broad diversity mirroring one’s state in the development of meaningful, bipartisan civic learning policy and practice improvements consistent with the recommendations outlined in the CivxNow Policy Menu. We believe that work at the state-level needs to be driven by state actors — such as the successes in Massachusetts and Indiana — and that a national organization’s best role is to facilitate and support their work so local advocates can drive the policy solutions that best represent their state.

To assist state-level coalitions/task forces in their coalition-building and policy work, CivxNow is opening our second Request for Proposal grantmaking process (RFP). Applicants have the opportunity to submit an application requesting up to $20,000 through CivxNow, a project of iCivics. The deadline to apply is January 28, 2022 by 4pm ET.

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State Coalition Grant Opportunity FAQ

This is the moment to rebuild the nation’s civic strength. We need to invest in civic education. CivxNow seeks proposals from state-level civic learning coalitions to help support their coalition work and accelerate their policy progress.

How can I apply?

• The application is available online here.

When can I apply?

• The RFP is now open. Application deadline is Friday, January 28, 2022 at 4pm EST.

When will grant applicants be notified of funding decisions?

• Grant applicants will be notified of funding decisions by Friday, February 25, 2022.

How much funding can our coalition request?

• Grant applicants can apply for up to $20,000 in funding. Indirect costs may not exceed 5% of total funding requested.

How can we use the funding?

• Funding provided through this program can only be used to support coalition expenses, including the following: (a) meeting and event expenses; (b) surveys, research, and reports; (c) portion of staff time for leadership of a state coalition; (d) printing and communications; (e) direct mailings; (f) website expenses directly related to the work of the state coalition; and (g) PR and/or social media expenses directly related to work of state coalition. Funds may not be used to fund or reimburse a lobbyist, any political purpose or any expenses not directly related to a state coalition working to change/improve state policies and/or practice in K-12 civic learning aligned with CivxNow State Policy Menu.

When does the grant period end?

• Grant recipients must spend the funding and meet the deliverables outlined in their proposal and the grant agreement by January 1, 2023. 

Who can apply?

• To be eligible for this grant opportunity, applying state-level coalitions/task forces must be a member in good standing of the CivxNow State Policy Task Force, be an official CivxNow state coalition affiliate, and identify a 501(c)(3) lead applicant/fiduciary entity to apply for/receive the grant. To become a CivxNow State Policy Task Force member and/or CivxNow state coalition affiliate, please contact Abbie Kaplan.

What documents do I need to apply?

• Applicants need to submit contact information for the state-level coalition and applying institution, coalition membership list including names and contact information, coalition future recruitment plan and timeline, list of policymakers with whom you work or plan to work, description of your coalition goals over the next two-three years, strategies you will employ to achieve those goals, description of the conditions in your state that will make it likely you can achieve your goals, description of the challenges you may face in achieving your goals, a project budget, and a list of potential in-state matching funds. If helpful, the application questions can be viewed here, however applications must be submitted via the RFP form.

How will funding decisions be determined?

Proposals will be evaluated on the following:

• Likelihood that funding will accelerate progress toward sustainable civic education policy results in your state.
• Level of inclusion, participation and engagement of all coalition stakeholders. 
• Coalition membership and engagement reflecting the broad diversity of your state (rural, urban, perspective, race, ethnicity, religion, age, ability, etc.) and/or an actionable plan that illustrates how your coalition or task force plans to develop an engaged coalition representing the broad diversity of your state.
• In addition to the overall quality of the proposal, priority will be given to applicants who have or will commit to raising some level of in-state matching funds. 
• Proposals will be evaluated by a review committee comprised of CivxNow policy leadership, as well as civic education and state policy experts. CivxNow will publish the list of review committee members as soon as committee membership is confirmed. 
• Members of the review committee will be required to recuse themselves from reviewing or evaluating any applications that include an organization or entity for which they are employed or have a fiduciary or managerial responsibility.
• Final grant determinations will be made by iCivics leadership based on recommendations from the review committee. 

Will I have to report to anyone on the grant progress?

• Grant recipients are required to submit a financial report describing how funds were used during the grant period, as well as a narrative report demonstrating how the grant helped advance the state-level work to iCivics by February 1, 2023.

Who is providing funding for these grants?

• Funding will be distributed by iCivics, and recipients will sign a grant agreement with iCivics (the parent organization of CivxNow). Funding for these grants was made possible through a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 

Who do I contact with questions?

• Any questions, contact Patricia Leslie-Brown.