May 22, 2024

2024 Reimagine Education Grants

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The Minneapolis Foundation announces a call for proposals from nonprofits, schools, and school districts seeking grants for work that advances equity and supports youth voice in local K-12 schools. Our Reimagine Education grants prioritize efforts to:

Elevate student and community voices and power to build bridges between schools, families, and communities and improve school climates and academic outcomes.
Provide opportunities for educators to build their understanding of race and equity and implement strategies that create culturally responsive and inclusive schools.
Advocate for policies at the school, local, and state level to address systemic barriers to racial equity in Minnesota’s education system.

These grant guidelines reflect our Reimagine Education strategy, which uses a community-centered lens to ensure that the wisdom and experiences of students, parents, principals, teachers, administrators, and community members guide efforts to disrupt inequities in our schools.

APPLICATION PROCESS
All applications must be submitted online by the deadline of 1 P.M. ON JUNE 21, 2024. We do not accept late applications or applications submitted via email.

All applicants will be notified of funding decisions by August 26, 2024. The grant period is September 2, 2024, to June 13, 2025.

Grantees will be asked to submit a brief narrative report and itemized budget at the conclusion of the grant period. Please note that our grant reports emphasize learning and reflection with our grantee partners, not judgment.

We recommend downloading this document to preview the application questions and prepare for the online application.

If you are applying for a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation for the first time, you will first need to set up an account in our online portal, GranteeView. We strongly encourage each individual grant writer to have their own GranteeView account, as multiple accounts can be associated with one organization. Please do not share accounts. This helps with the notification process and ensures you will receive timely notice of your grant approval/denial.

WHAT WE WILL FUND
We plan to award between $1 million and $1.2 million to 25 to 30 organizations. Grants will range from $10,000 to $75,000, with an average award of $25,000 to $40,000.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of  the types of work we plan to support:

Student leadership and power building
Recruitment and retention of diverse educators with equity-focused mindsets
Principal and teacher leadership and collaboration
Development of equity and climate frameworks
Local or state policy advocacy
Professional development and training to support teachers and school leaders to implement evidence-based literacy instruction
Development and implementation of strategies to address student mental health challenges and improve school climate and culture
Efforts to engage students and their families in district and school-level decision-making

We are also open to other ideas that help create equitable outcomes for children and youth from local Black, Indigenous and communities of color.

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ELIGIBILITY
Funding will be awarded to public schools or school districts and 501(c)(3) nonprofits that organize students, parents, and community members; engage in education policy advocacy to advance equity and eliminate disparities; and help educators collaborate to build their understanding of race, equity, and culture, and to create positive school climates.

We will prioritize proposals that impact Minneapolis; however, we will consider organizations in inner-ring suburbs (Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Robbinsdale, St. Louis Park, etc.).

FURTHER ASSISTANCE
Please email Patrice Relerford at prelerford@mplsfoundation.org if you have questions about your organization’s eligibility or the content of your proposal. If you have technical questions about this process, please contact our Grants Administration team at grantsupport@mplsfoundation.org or 612-672-8665. Please allow 1-2 business days for responses from our staff. We strongly encourage applicants to submit their applications prior to the deadline.

RESOURCES