funding sources and possibilities

web sites with comprehensive grant information

The Foundation Center
http://fdncenter.org
A gateway to philanthropy on the World Wide Web. Click on “Finding Funders” to locate information about funding organizations, including those listed below. Provides address, telephone, contact name, fax, e-mail, web address (if available), assets, amount of grants funded. The Foundation Center also publishes The Foundation Directory annually and The National Directory of Corporate Giving biennially (1-800-424-9836).

The Internet Prospector
http://www.internet-prospector.org
Links to web sites of corporations and foundations that offer grants.

SchoolGrants! http://www.schoolgrants.org
One-stop sites for K-12 grant opportunities.



national funding organizations

Barbara Bush Foundation Grants www.barbarabushfoundation.com/
The goal of the program is to develop and expand family literacy efforts nationwide and to support the development of literacy programs that build families of readers.

David and Lucille Packard Foundation
http://www.packard.org
Provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the following program areas: Conservation; Population; Science; Children, Families, and Communities; Arts; and Organizational Effectiveness and Philanthropy. The Foundation has a “center for the future of children” with a priority on reading programs.

Dollar General
www.dollargeneral.com/DG_Community_Initiatives/dg_community_grants.htm
Provides financial support to organizations and initiatives that support literacy and literacy-related causes for individuals of all ages. Dollar General's Community Grants Program accepts applications on a quarterly basis from non-profit organizations operating in and providing services within their 27-state market area, including grants for family literacy initiatives, youth reading initiatives, GED preparation, adult basic education programs, English as a second language instruction, and intergenerational literacy initiatives.

First Book
http://www.firstbook.org
First Book is a national nonprofit organization with a mission of giving children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. The primary goal of First Book is to work with existing literacy programs to distribute new books to children who, for economic reasons, have little or no access to books. The Department of Education is a government partner.

First Books for Kids
www.booksforkidsfoundation.org
The Books for Kids Foundation promotes literacy among all children with special emphasis on disadvantaged children and youth. Books for Kids donates books, creates libraries, participates in reading initiatives within community-based organizations, service agencies, schools and under-served institutions.
In addition to assisting recognized learning programs, such as Head Start, the Books for Kids Foundation seeks to create opportunities for children and parents in under-served or over-looked locations.

National Book Scholarship Fund (an Outreach Program of Laubauch Literacy)
www.nbsf.org/Application.html
Provides local literacy programs throughout the United States with New Readers Press books and other educational materials essential to begin a new literacy outreach program or to significantly expand an existing effort. Priority will be given to family literacy programs. English-as-a-Second Language projects followed by adult basic educational programs are also considered for support.

National Education Association (NEA) and Youth Serve America: Youth Leaders for Literacy Grants
http://www.nea.org/readacross/volunteer/index.html

RGK Foundation
http://www.rgkfoundation.org/grants.php
Supports a broad range of human services, youth development, community improvement, and cultural arts programs. Human service programs of particular interest to the Foundation include early childhood development, parenting education, and domestic violence and child abuse prevention.

Reading is Fundamental (RIF)
http://www.rif.org
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, RIF is the nation's largest children's and family literacy organization. They provide organizations with federal money for books. RIF develops and delivers children's and family literacy programs that help prepare young children for reading and motivate school-age children to read regularly. RIF serves children and families in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories in programs that operate in schools, libraries, community centers, child-care centers, Head Start and Even Start centers, hospitals, migrant worker camps, homeless shelters, and detention centers.

Starbucks Foundation
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/foundation.asp
The Starbucks Foundation supports community organizations across North America dedicated to youth and literacy.

Viburnum Family Literacy Projects
http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/viburnum.html
The Viburnum Family Literacy Project promotes the planning, training, and promotion of family literacy projects among rural libraries and their community partners. Funded by the Viburnum Foundation with $3,000 grants to small public libraries in rural communities, the project is administered by the Center for the Book, which also organizes and conducts two regional training workshops each year for new library grantees.