2021 Call for Proposals

Type of Award: Grant

Award Amount and Grant Period: A maximum of $400,000 over two years, with most grants in the range of $50,000 to $200,000 per year. Exceptions may occur based on case-by-case proposals.

Application Deadline: 11:59 p.m., Thursday, September 30, 2021

Award Decisions: November 2021

Funding Available: January 2022

About the Award

Meyer Memorial Trust invites proposals that seek to support organizations that actively improve the livelihood of Black Oregonians and are oriented toward long-term strategic change. While we recognize and support intersectional efforts to uplift all BIPOC people, Justice Oregon for Black Lives hopes to fund organizations with culturally specific programming for Black Oregonians. Funding priorities this round will initially focus on three strategic priority areas identified by community:

  • Investing in Education
  • Economic Justice
  • Reimagining Public Safety

If you are seeking funding for Shifting Black Narrative through the Arts and Culture and/or Addressing Healing and Trauma for Black Communities, please reach out to us directly at justice-oregon [at] mmt.org. We want to learn more about your organization as we are working on the goals and outcomes for these areas with our advisory committee over the next two months.

An application under this CFP does not preclude an organization from submitting proposals for grant opportunities through Meyer’s other funding opportunities, including the Annual Funding Opportunity.

 

Goals + Intended Outcomes

Meyer plans to achieve the following outcomes through this investment:

Economic Justice

Goal #1: Increase Black ownership (i.e. businesses, homes, investments).

Intended outcomes:

  • Support an additional 100 Black-owned businesses to achieve revenue of $1 million+ across Oregon by 2025 [Currently, there are approximately 4,000-5,000 Black-owned businesses in Oregon.]
  • Increase Black homeownership to 35% by 2025 [Currently Black homeownership stands at 32%.]

Goal #2: Increase financial literacy / opportunities in Black communities.

Intended outcomes:

  • Identify Black and community financial institution partnerships to access capital and to provide financial literacy by 2023.

Investing in Education

Goal #1: Increase representation of Black educators, administrators across Oregon.

Intended outcomes:

  • Increase recruitment and retainment of Black teachers and administrators to 400 total by 2025 across Oregon in K-12. [Currently, there are 204 Black teachers in Oregon]

Goal #2: Improve Black student academic, social and emotional outcomes throughout Oregon. 

Intended outcomes:

  • Increase Black student academic performance, namely mathematics, writing and reading skills.
  • Increase Black student access to programs that improve their social and emotional well-being.

Reimagining Public Safety

Goal #1: Create a shared vision of what public safety is within the Black community.

Intended outcomes

  • Develop a shared geographical public safety plan(s) for Black Oregonians by 2023.

Goal #2: Increase the percentage of Black policy makers and leaders across Oregon.

Intended outcomes

  • Increase Black policy makers to 2% across Oregon and to 6% for Portland metro by 2025. [To represent actual Black demographic representation in Oregon and Portland.]

 

Selection Criteria

Funding will be prioritized for strategies that demonstrate potential for sustainability beyond the grant period through the development of institutionalized partnerships, long-term funding and/or systems change.

Strong proposals will:

  • Align with initiative key priorities and goals.
  • Promote partnerships and collaboration among local stakeholder organizations, including public agencies and community-based organizations (including culturally specific organizations) and justice-involved individuals.
  • Have a commitment to equity and understand how to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.
  • Have focused strategies designed to support Black communities, liberation and resilience.

 

Use of Funds

Justice Oregon for Black Lives is offering general operating support for individual, non-fiscally sponsored organizations, meaning organizations can use funds however they see fit (except for non-501(c)(3) organizations).

For organizations that are working in collaboratives or have fiscal sponsorships, the following examples illustrate how Justice Oregon project support may be used:

  • Project management or consulting services dedicated to strengthening educational, economic and public safety outcomes for Black Oregonians.
  • Hiring staff to support the project.
  • Evaluation and assessment.
  • Development of educational material, toolkits, manual of project.
  • Other uses as approved by Meyer.

Although Meyer may fund projects that include lobbying and general advocacy activities (community organizing, issue education, etc.), no Meyer funds can be earmarked for purposes of influencing specific legislation or the outcome of any specific public election, or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive. If you have questions about restrictions on the use of Meyer funds, contact the Justice Oregon team at justice-oregon [at] mmt.org (justice-oregon[at]mmt[dot]org).

 

Eligibility

  • Eligible applicants must fall into one of these categories: a nonprofit agency recognized as tax-exempt by the Internal Revenue Service, a public educational institution, a government or recognized tribal agency, or an organization that is requesting funding for a project that has a charitable, tax-exempt purpose;
  • Seek funding for work that takes place within the state of Oregon;
  • Provide equal opportunity in leadership, staffing and service regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, political affiliation or religious belief;
  • Not require attendance at or participation in religious/faith activities as a condition of service delivery nor require adherence to religious/faith beliefs as a condition of service or employment.

For additional information about what Meyer funds, please see Who We Do + Don’t Fund … and Why

 

Equity

Equity is a central tenet in all Meyer’s grantmaking.

All applicants — regardless of where in their equity journey they may be today — must demonstrate a commitment to ongoing growth through the integration of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles into both their external programming or services and internal structures and operations.

Learn more about how Meyer thinks about equity at mmt.org/applicant-resources/diversity.

 

Due diligence

As part of the grant review process, Meyer staff may follow up with questions and/or a site visit with key members of your team to better understand your proposal.

 

Streamlined + Supported Application Process

We realize grant application processes are often burdensome and time-consuming for organizations who want to prioritize serving their communities. Because we want to be in deep conversation with you to learn and partner, we have designed a streamlined application process.

We are happy to accept applications that have been prepared for other funders or a video answering these questions. Video applications are limited to 10 minutes. Written applications have a 2,150 word limit.

Information Sessions

Meyer staff will host two information sessions to offer an overview of the CFP and answer your questions. Attendance is encouraged but not mandatory.

Pre-Application Consultation

Potential applicants are encouraged to email our team at justice-oregon [at] mmt.org (justice-oregon[at]mmt[dot]org) prior to beginning an application to determine whether your proposed project meets the intent of the CFP.

 

Ready to Apply?

Applicants must have an account to log in to our GrantIS application system. If your organization does not have an account, please register at least one week prior to the application deadline at https://grantis.mmt.org/questionnaire

Applications should be submitted online through Meyer's GrantIS system at https://grantis.mmt.org. The list of questions you’ll be asked to address is summarized below. There is a 2,150-word limit for proposals, but you are free to allocate your response between the questions as you wish.

Need help? Meyer is committed to providing assistance and clarification as needed to support applicants in responding to this CFP. For assistance with the online registration or application process, contact the Justice Oregon team at justice-oregon [at] mmt.org (justice-oregon[at]mmt[dot]org). For assistance with navigating GrantIs, contact grantops [at] mmt.org (grantops[at]mmt[dot]org).

 

Question Summary [Answers to be entered in GrantIs]

Core Information

Select the person who is to act as the primary point of contact for this application. If the appropriate person is not listed, add their name to the Organizational profile

  1. What Type of Funding are you requesting? (Unless you are a collaborative or fiscally sponsored select general operating support.)
  2. Grant purpose/title (20 word limit) (The description should clarify what the grant seeks to accomplish through this proposed request and who will benefit/who will be served.)
  3. Amount Requested : Enter the amount by year you are request from Meyer
  4. Proposed start date
  5. Proposed Length of grant (in months up to 24 months)
  6. Current annual operating budget
  7. What counties will the project serve and/or take place in? If the project will serve and/or take place in all Oregon counties, select "Statewide."
  8. If the project includes strategies designed to serve or benefit one or more Tribal reservations or communities, indicate which community from the following list. (optional)
  9. Select the specific populations that are the primary focus of your proposal. (up to 3) Black/African, First-generation postsecondary students, Immigrants and/or refugees, Lesbian, gay bisexual, transgener and/or sexual/gender identities, People living on low incomes, People with disabilities, Women or girls, youth aging out of foster care
  10. Please select the strategic priority area, goal, and outcome below that most closely aligns with your work. If your work aligns with multiple priority areas, you may discuss that in the narrative section or in your alternate application option:
    1. Economic Justice: Increase Black ownership (i.e. businesses, homes, investments)
    2. Economic Justice: Increase financial literacy / opportunities in Black communities
    3. Investing in Education: Increase representation of Black educators, administrators across Oregon
    4. Investing in Education: Improve Black student academic, social and emotional outcomes throughout Oregon
    5. Reimagining Public Safety: Create a shared vision of what public safety is within the Black community
    6. Reimagining Public Safety: Increase the percentage of Black policy makers and leaders across Oregon
  11. Is this application being submitted on behalf of a collaborative? If yes, upload a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or letters of commitment from each of the collaborative partners.
  12. We are happy to accept applications that have been prepared for other funders or a video. Please ensure that these options answer the narrative questions and limit video applications to 10 minutes. Would you like to:
    1. Submit a video application
    2. Attach an application submitted to another funder
    3. Continue to answer the application questions in this form

Narrative Questions

  1. Tell us about your organization and/or your collaboration. How does the work of your organization advance the strategic priorities of the Justice Oregon for Black Lives Initiative?
  2. Please provide a description of your organization’s staff and trustees (including):
    1. demographic information about the CEO/ED and leadership team;
    2. how many people on staff/board; and c) demographics of staff/board.
  3. Summarize your request and address all the following:
    1. describe how the organization fulfills its mission;
    2. give an overview of how your organization serves its priority population and/or works to change systems (i.e., organizations, institutions and behaviors of populations);
    3. how does the organization ensure that its work is regularly informed by and accountable to the communities it serves?

REQUIRED Supplemental Materials

  • Current board-approved annual operating budget for the organization
  • The organization’s most recent monthly financial statements (e.g. Balance Sheet/Statement of Financial Position and Income Statement/Profit & Loss/Statement of Activities) 
  • For collaboratives or organizations with fiscal sponsors ONLY — upload a project proposal budget, including both expenses and revenue by category. You may use your own format or use Meyer's template.
  • For organizations applying with a fiscal sponsor ONLY — upload a file that displays the operating surplus/deficit for the fiscal sponsor and a brief financial history for the past three years. You may use your own format or use our template.


OPTIONAL Supplemental Materials

  • Additional brief supplemental materials may be included if they are critical to assist in understanding your request such as your org DEI plan/statement, executive summary of org’s current strategic plan, or annual report. Please do not include letters of general support.