The Digital Equity Fund is an initiative to support the creation of community-led digital inclusion plans and provide funding for communities to bring those plans to life.
Donor Name: Baltimore Civic Fund
State: Maryland
City: Baltimore
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/02/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $75,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
The purpose of the DEF is to support community-led digital equity outreach, digital inclusion planning and implementation. These grants are meant to set the foundation with awareness, engagement, and education for Baltimore City neighborhoods on digital equity, how the digital divide impacts communities, and develop neighborhood level digital inclusion plans. Implementation grants will support the execution of digital inclusion plans and activities.
Digital equity is a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in their society, democracy, and economy. Digital equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services.
Digital inclusion activities are those intended to ensure all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of their digital economy. If digital equity is the goal, digital inclusion is how they get there.
Target Population
Program activities must address the needs of those left behind in the digital age, including:
- People with disabilities;
- Older adults;
- Immigrants and non-English speakers;
- Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group;
- Returning citizens;
- LGBTQIA+ Youth;
- People experiencing homelessness; and
- Families with children under five (5) years of age.
Grant Types and Tiers
There will be three (3) types of grants: Outreach, Planning, and Implementation. The grant types and tiers are described below.
OUTREACH I
- Education and Outreach Tier 1 – Up to $5,000
- This tier of funding supports one-time or periodic activities to raise awareness of the digital divide and fund activities to address the digital divide. This level supports events, tabling, or other integration of digital divide related activities into existing programmatic activities of applicants.
- Education and Outreach Tier 2 – Up to $10,000
- This tier of funding supports a sustained effort over the grant period that provides ongoing outreach, education, and technical assistance related to digital education and capacity building. This level could support ongoing operations within an organization to lead or coordinate digital equity work.
- Note: Funding will be limited to fifteen (15) Outreach grants.
PLANNING I.
- Planning and Mobilization Tier 1 – Up to $20,000
- This tier of funding supports a community building effort to develop a neighborhood digital inclusion plan. Digital inclusion plans must be developed with community input; therefore, applications must contain a comprehensive community engagement plan. Digital inclusion plans must include at least three (3) of the eligible digital inclusion activities listed below, as well as up to three (3) additional digital inclusion activities proposed by the applicant (up to six (6) total activities).
- II. Planning and Mobilization Tier 2 – Up to $50,000
- This tier of funding supports a community building effort to develop a neighborhood digital inclusion plan. Digital inclusion plans must be developed with community input; therefore, applications must contain a comprehensive community engagement plan. Digital inclusion plans must include at least five (5) of the eligible digital inclusion activities listed below, as well as up to five (5) additional digital inclusion activities proposed by the applicant (up to ten (10) total activities).
- Note: Funding will be limited to ten (10) Planning grants.
IMPLEMENTATION I
- Implementation – Up to $75,000
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- This funding is to support the implementation of digital inclusion plans. These grants may be used to implement digital inclusion plans created using Digital Equity Fund Planning and Mobilization grants (described above), or other eligible digital inclusion programming. All digital inclusion plans must include at least three (3) of the below eligible digital inclusion activities and have a comprehensive community engagement plan. Note: Funding will be limited to ten (10) Implementation grant
Project Period
Awards are made for one (1) year roughly from August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024, with the exception of Tier 1 Education and Outreach grants, which will be for six (6) months from August 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024.
Eligible Digital Inclusion Activities
Planning and Mobilization and Implementation grant applicants should select 3-5 activities from this list to incorporate into their project proposal:
- Increasing community/neighborhood level connectivity;
- Increasing resident confidence level with technological devices and/or internet use;
- Providing digital education services;
- Integrating workforce development with digital education;
- School-based or recreation center-based, before-school or after-school programs for students with digital education missions (excluding digital components of a traditional after-school program);
- Senior center-based programs with digital education focus;
- Providing anchor institution-based programs for digital education for adults, older adults, and other non-traditional students;
- Visual or auditory art projects that center digital equity (social justice);
- Providing digital education programs to reduce online and telephone scams;
- Introducing new technology to target populations in low digital inclusion communities (e.g., Older adults using virtual reality technology to learn a new skill or enjoy an activity);
- Increasing digital employment access; or
- Giving quality devices to or repairing devices for target populations.
Geographic Focus
The DEF will only fund Baltimore City-based organizations.
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations (or their fiscal agents) serving Baltimore City residents that qualify as public charities under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, national origin, political persuasion, age, physical handicap, gender or sexual orientation, including:
- A community anchor institution;
- Schools and educational agencies;
- Neighborhood associations;
- An entity that carries out a workforce development program; or
- A partnership between any of the entities above.
Potential grantees should:
- Showcase a history or demonstrate an ability to reach and engage members from communities in priority zip codes; and
- Have a plan for engaging the target populations.
For more information, visit Digital Equity Fund.
