Funding is available to support planning, research, and general operations that address priority needs of LGBTQ Mississippians as they strive to live safely, openly and without alienation, isolation, prejudice and/or discrimination.
Donor Name: LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi
State: Mississippi
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/01/2023
Size of the Grant: $15,000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
Special attention will be paid to the following:
- proposals that demonstrate a commitment to addressing the needs of LGBTQ communities that have been most demonstrably underserved, including but not limited to, communities of color, youth, seniors, and persons in rural communities;
- intersectional programs addressing faith and acceptance; and
- efforts serving transgender and gender non-conforming persons.
Types of Grants
- Planning Grant
- Purpose: Develop a sound, strategic approach to an opportunity/challenge.
- Examples: Needs assessments, vision/mission/values development, community conversations to inform mission/strategies/programs, strategic planning efforts, fund-raising plan development, organizational development assessments.
- General Operations Grant
- Purpose: Support the creation of an organization, general operations, and/or capacity building.
- Examples: Creation of a new 501c3 organization; attorney and/or accounting fees related to organizational start-up; leadership, staff, and volunteer recruitment, training, and/or retention efforts; organizational development assessment and technical assistance; communications, branding, and/or public relations assessment and plan development; evaluation; technology needs/support; collaboration leadership/participation; general program operating expenses.
- Research Grant
- Purpose: Support research project(s) that address a priority identified in the statewide needs assessment.
- Examples: Research to enhance understanding, knowledge, and priorities that contribute to the well-being of Mississippi’s LGBTQ citizen.
Funding Information
- Planning Grant: An organization can apply for more than one planning grant in a 12-month period by requesting an amendment to the original planning grant, but the total amount received cannot exceed $5,000.
- General Operating Funds: An organization may submit one or more proposals for general operating funds, but the total amount requested cannot exceed $15,000 in a 12-month period.
- Research Grant: An organization may submit one or more proposals for research, but the total amount requested cannot exceed $10,000 in a 12-month period.
Geographic Area
Applicants must be in Mississippi or provide services that have a positive direct impact on Mississippi’s LGBTQ population.
Eligible Activities
- It is the intent of the LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi to provide grants that are most helpful and least restrictive for grantees. Therefore, for grants other than planning and research grants the funds will be for general operations, thereby allowing the grantee to determine the best use of the grant funding. Given these broad, inclusive parameters, funding priorities are guided by information from multiple sources, most significantly from the comprehensive statewide needs-assessment completed under the auspices of Mississippi State University’s Institutional Review Board.
- Utilizing the information noted above, priority issues for funding have been identified and Requests for Proposals will be issued focused on those priorities; however, should there be a compelling reason and/or emergency outside the identified priority issues, the Grants Review Committee has the authority to consider proposals that do not address an identified priority issue. (The Grants Review Committee also has the authority to recommend grant amounts that exceed the stated funding limits IF there is a compelling need to do so and the need is well-documented. These cases are the exception rather than the rule.)
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants for grants from the LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi include the following:
- nonprofit organizations with current tax-exempt status under Section 501c3 of the IRS code that are in compliance with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s charity registration, fee payment, audit (if required), and reporting requirements;
- units of local government (including schools school districts, public-private partnerships, and quasi-governmental entities);
- research centers (independent and those associated with universities);
- public and private institutions of higher learning; and
- federally recognized Indian tribes.
(Note: In special situations small grant funds to non-501c3 organizations may be considered, but in order to do this there are special expenditure responsibility requirements that must be met. Therefore, small grant requests from non-501c3 entities will be considered on a case-by-case basis.)
For more information, visit LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi.
