EQUITABLE EDUCATION

Annual Funding Opportunity

Meyer's 2019 Annual Funding Opportunity is open! Applications are due on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 5 p.m.

Meyer invites proposals that further our vision of eliminating the predictable gaps in public education and ensuring increased opportunity for priority students.

>> See a resource packet for Equitable Education's 2019 Annual Funding Opportunity

About Equitable Education

The Equitable Education portfolio prioritizes funding to organizations, institutions and networks that improve outcomes for student populations experiencing disparities in education opportunity and achievement.

Funding is specifically targeted toward priority student populations, including underserved students of color, English Language Learners (ELL), LGBTQ+ students, students living in poverty, students with disabilities, first-generation post-secondary students and students in or aging out of foster care.

Learn more about Meyer's vision for equitable education

Equity commitment

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

Funding goals

All proposals must advance one of the following funding goals:

• Advance education equity through systems- and policy-level change
• Improve priority student achievement and college and career readiness

Meyer has identified several intended outcomes under each of these goals. Applicants will be asked to indicate which goal (only one) and which of its associated outcomes (up to two) their proposed work best supports. Applications that do not make a strong and clear connection to at least one of Meyer’s intended outcomes will not be successful.

Read the full details on our Equitable Education core funding goals, intended outcomes and examples of what we may fund in this round.

Available funding

Meyer anticipates awarding approximately $3.5 million for this funding opportunity in 2019 for capacity-building efforts, projects, programs and operating support that will advance our Equitable Education funding goals and outcomes.

Investments in the Equitable Education portfolio will reflect a mix of rural and urban grantees that offer, through an equity lens, a vision and approach to analyzing current disparities and directly addressing how to eliminate those disparities so that all students in Oregon have the opportunity to obtain a meaningful public education.

English Language Learners (ELL)
First-generation college students
Indigenous students
Students of color
Students with disabilities
Students in or aging out of foster care
Students living on low-incomes
LGBTQ students

Our support for these populations will include investments in rural, underserved communities. See mmt.org/apply/applicant-resources/rural for more information.

What doesn't fit

The following are not strong fits for Equitable Education’s annual funding opportunity:

Education programs with universal, one-size-fits-all strategies not specifically designed for priority students, regardless of school, district or regional demographics.

Direct early education services; we will, however, support students during the transition between early education programs and kindergarten as well as preparing public schools to offer a smooth transition from home to school.

Strategies to address college retention and completion; however, we are interested in supporting efforts that smooth the transition between high school, or equivalent, and college and/or career.

K-12 private schools.

New or expanded programming developed without meaningful engagement with the priority population it i's intended to impact.

Environmental education programming not specifically designed to meet the academic, social or cultural needs of priority students.

Grant Types + Amounts

Capacity Building Support — primarily supports internal organizational and collaborative needs

• Capacity building grants will be $10,000 to $185,000 total over one to three years. Generally, larger awards support multiple years

Project — primarily supports programmatic work

• Project grants will be $10,000 to $185,000 total over one to three years. Generally, smaller awards support grassroots organizations and larger awards support multiple years

• For collaboratives, we will consider up to $250,000 total over two to three years (Learn how Meyer defines a collaborative for this purpose)

Operating Support — unrestricted support

• Awards will be up to $75,000 per year for two or three years and are sized in relation to the organization’s annual operating budget such that Meyer’s operating grant does not constitute more than approximately 20 percent of the organization’s total annual budget

• General operating support will be awarded only to organizations, collaboratives and key intermediaries that address priorities of this portfolio’s priority populations and demonstrate an internal DEI commitment and stability and success in their core work

Technical Assistance — short-term interventions by a consultant to assist an organization with specific projects

• Grants (including collaborative planning efforts) will be up to $35,000

Learn more about these types of grants at mmt.org/apply/grant-types.

Who we fund

We seek to partner with organizations that:

• Share our goals and vision for change

• Are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in their organizations and partnerships

• Have a track record of effective work directly related to our funding priorities or have identified such work as a strategic and mission-aligned priority over the grant period

• Collaborate with other organizations in their community, within the same sector and/ or across sectors

• Recognize and can articulate the intersection between their organization’s work and broader policies and systems

• Have effective leadership that engages a base of community support

• Demonstrate the administrative capacity, financial planning and organizational commitment to implement their proposed project

• Are committed to understanding and evaluating the impact and effectiveness of their work

Note: Organizations that have an active multi-year grant through a previous Meyer Annual Funding Opportunity are not eligible to apply for a 2019 Annual Funding Opportunity grant except in specific cases. For more information, please see the Eligibility and Alignment section at mmt.org/resources or contact your assigned Meyer program staff.

Eligibility

To determine if your project is a good fit, please review the following information:

• Our Approach

• Who We Fund

• Applicant Resources

• Equitable Education Goals + Outcomes

Application process

Meyer uses a one-step application process for our annual funding opportunity. Applications are welcome from any eligible organization seeking to advance one of the portfolio’s goals. After reviewing applications, we will invite the most promising applicants to submit a full proposal.

Applicants should:

Create or update their profile in GrantIS, Meyer’s online application portal. The activation process can take several days, so please be sure to set up your account well in advance of the application deadline.

New GrantIS users, please visit: https://grantis.mmt.org/questionnaire to create an account.

Applicants with existing GrantIS accounts, please visit https://grantis.mmt.org/ and check that your organization’s information (e.g., mailing address, Board members, etc.) is up to date.

Submit their grant application no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15.
Preview the application and questions.