2022 Grants for Change Program for Black and Wabanaki Organizations in Maine

The Maine Initiatives is now accepting proposals for the 2022 Grants for Change Program to fund and strengthen organizations led by and serving Black, Brown, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and People of Color (BIPOC) whose work advances racial justice in Maine.

Donor Name: Maine Initiatives

State: Maine

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 09/30/2022

Size of the Grant: $45,000

Grant Duration: 3 years

Details:

The Grants for Change Program (G4C) at Maine Initiatives is a participatory grantmaking program that strengthens Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community-based, nonprofit organizations in Wabanaki Territory (Maine) through funding and relationship building opportunities.

The 2022 Grants for Change program:

Provides three years of general operating support to a cohort of Black and Wabanaki-led organizations community building, community healing, and advancing racial justice.
Centers BIPOC visions, voices, and leadership through a community advisory committee.
Convenes community members within the G4C ecosystem to build relationships and encourage dialogue that will strengthen race-related issues and community building growth.
Mobilizes people and resources in support of BIPOC-led efforts that intervene on legacies of white supremacy, settler colonialism, and racialized capitalism by creating or reclaiming liberatory possibilities in Maine.

Priorities for 2022 Funding

Hub’ Organizations
- These organizations might be or have:
  - Relatively more established (compared with other BIPOC-led or -serving organizations in Maine) with higher visibility to thegeneral public
  - Developed access to resources or established funding sources and relationships
  - Sufficient capacity to provide resources or platforms for other BIPOC-led organizations
  - Working across race and class identities or across geographic communities
  - Working at the institutional or structural level to counter and dismantle expressions of racial injustice, racial inequity, and white supremacy (advocacy or policy work, for example)
  - Annual budgets over $250,000, approximately
Community Building
- These organizations might be or have:
  - Smaller organizations (with fewer staff, smaller budget) that are not as visible or well-known in the broader community or to thegeneral public, either by choice or because of structural barriers
  - Focused on direct service or community support, mutual aid efforts, or grassroots organizing (base-building, for example)
  - Offering community or individual healing work being done to respond to the trauma, harms, and legacies of slavery and colonization (harm reduction or communal healing ceremonies or sessions, for example)
  - Working at cultural or systems levels, including arts and other forms of creative activity
  - Focused on sustaining communal systems outside of dominant systems of oppression
  - Land-access, Land-back, Land-based work, food justice, community food, and medicine
  - Annual budgets under $250,000, approximately
Emergent Organizations
- These organizations might be or have:
  - Newer and/or emerging community-based organizations, typically within the first year or two of existence
  - Underfunded, under-recognized, under-supported (in terms of staffing & organizational structure), under-resourced, and perhaps less visible to traditional funders and/or the general public
  - Systematically excluded from resources or funding relationships
  - Staffed by a few people, often in volunteer capacity
  - Applying for first grant and/or seeking fiscal sponsorship
  - Annual budgets under $25,000, approximately.

Funding Information

The twelve (12) organizations selected for the 2022 Grants for Change cohort will receive unrestricted, general operating grants of $45,000 paid out over three (3) years, $15,000 per year.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the 2022 grants for change program, the applicant organization must be:
- working exclusively or primarily in Maine communities
- a Black-, Brown-, Indigenous-, Latinx-, Asian-, or People of Color-led (BIPOC) organization, group, or coalition.
They are prioritizing Black and Wabanaki-led and-serving organizations for 2022, however, all BIPOC-led and serving organizations are encouraged to apply and will be considered for grant awards
To be eligible for a 2022 Grants for Change award, applicants are required to meet at least two out of three of the following for the past two years:
- BIPOC key staff leaders of the organization – 50% or more of the total in leadership roles
- BIPOC members on Board of Directors – 50% or more in governing decision-making roles
- BIPOC activists – 50% or more of on the ground, community organizers, staff/volunteers.
Applicants are also required to meet the following:
- Implementing programs that advance racial justice in local communities or statewide.
- A Maine-based organization or group or a coalition/alliance of groups (they do not fund individuals):
  - If your group is – or is sponsored by – a Wabanaki Tribal government you may apply without additional IRS designation.
  - If your organization is a nonprofit with 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS, you may apply.
  - If your organization is fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, you may apply.
  - If you do not currently have a fiscal sponsor or nonprofit 501(c)(3) status, you are still welcome to apply but will need to obtain a fiscal sponsor before the Grantmaking Advisory Committee’s Retreat in October. Maine Initiatives cannot serve as your fiscal sponsor but they will help you identify a potential fiscal sponsor after you have submitted your application.
- Have an organizational operating budget, including administrative and programming budget, of under $1,000,000. (Not required for groups applying with sponsorship from a Wabanaki Tribal Government or other tribal entity.)