The Grants for Change (G4C) program at Maine Initiatives is a participatory grantmaking program that funds and strengthens Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community-based, nonprofit organizations in Maine, unceded land of the Wabanaki.
Donor Name: Maine Initiatives
State: Maine
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $45,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
The Program seeks to organize people and resources in support of efforts across the state that intervene on legacies of white supremacy, settler colonialism, and racialized capitalism by creating or reclaiming liberatory possibilities for today and future generations.
For a three-year period, beginning in 2022, the Grants for Change Program has committed to providing over $1.5 million in multi-year, unrestricted, general operating support to BIPOC-led and -serving organizations that:
- seek to dismantle racial injustice in its institutional, structural, and systemic forms;
- further the racial justice movement through community building, grassroots organizing & advocacy, and policy change;
- strengthen communities through traditional and/or indigenous wisdoms and liberatory cultural practices, including (but not limited to) healing, earth protection, embodied practices, and the arts; and
- are led by, serve, and/or organize in solidarity with Black and Wabanaki communities.
Principles of the 2023 Participatory Process
- Maine Initiatives is committed to participatory, community-led grantmaking. They rely on volunteer community members to engage in a collective decision-making process for selecting the grant recipients. In doing so, they invite the community to join this process to:
- Learn about racial justice issues, organizing, and activism from those leading this work in Maine;
- Engage and connect with others committed to advancing racial justice; and
- Take meaningful action to support ongoing racial justice work in the state.
Funding Information
- The organizations selected for the 2023 Grants for Change cohort will receive general operating grants of $45,000 over three years, or $15,000 per year.
- In addition, these organizations are invited to participate in a series of peer learning, training, capacity-building, and community outreach activities over the course of the grant period, from December 2023 through November 2026.
- Grants for Change Program for Black and Wabanaki Organizations in Maine
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible for the 2023 Grants for Change Program, applicant organizations must:
- Be working exclusively or primarily in Maine.
- Be a Black-, Brown-, Indigenous-, Latinx-, Asian-, or People of Color-led organization/group/coalition. All BIPOC-led and serving organizations may apply. Maine Initiatives is prioritizing Black and Wabanaki organizations for 2023.
- Be implementing programs that advance racial justice in local communities or statewide.
- Be a Maine-based organization or group or a coalition/alliance of groups (they do not fund individuals).
- Have an organizational operating budget under $1,500,000. (Not required for groups applying with sponsorship from a Wabanaki Tribal entity or for organizations with fiscal sponsors.)
- To establish BIPOC-led status, organizations need to meet at least two out of three of the following criteria for the past two years:
- BIPOC staff leaders of the organization – 50% or more in leadership roles
- BIPOC members on Board of Directors – 50% or more in governing decision-making roles
- BIPOC organizers – 50% or more of on-the-ground, community interfacing staff/volunteers.
For more information, visit Maine Initiatives.
