Alabama Power Foundation’s Power to Play Grants Program

• The grant application is for middle schools and high schools only.
• The applicant can demonstrate a reasonable expectation to increase the number of students participating in middle or high school athletics or arts programs.
• Power to Play grants is limited to schools determined to have an overall financial need.
• For purposes of this program, a school is determined to have a financial need if 50 percent or more of its full-time students receive free or reduced-price lunches.
• Schools submitting an application must indicate the specific intended use of the grant money and an estimate of how many students will be affected.
• To apply for the athletic grant, a participating school must be a member in good standing of AHSAA.
• The school must identify one of three goals for the athletic grant money:
  • offering a new sport at the high school,
  • offering a new team (freshman team, JV team) in an existing sport
  • increasing the number of students carried on the roster of an existing team
  • support of athletic program due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
• The grants also can be used to significantly reduce the participation fees for existing teams as a way of increasing participation. For purposes of this grant program, a significant reduction means either (A) a decrease of 75 percent or more from the annual per-player participation fees, or (B) a reduction of participation fees to $25 or less per player. Schools basing grant applications on this approach must provide the needed detail to support this use of the grant funds.
• The schools must identify one of the following three goals for the arts grant money:
  • increasing participation for existing art, fine arts, or performing arts program, including but not limited to: band, visual arts, creative writing, theater, choir, and dance,
  • offering a new arts program at the high school,
  • enhancing or upgrading supplies or equipment
  • support of arts program due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
• All applications will be reviewed by Alabama Power Foundation for adherence to the Power to Play guidelines.

How they’d like to see Power to Play Grants used

Examples of permitted uses for Power to Play athletic grants include:

• The purchase of sport-specific equipment and/or uniforms for the new teams/new players,
• The payment of a coaching supplement for the new team,
• Payment of expenses for the new item, such as referees, umpires, and tournament entry fees,
• Improvement to a sports venue that increases its capacity for handling new teams (for instance, adding lights to an outdoor field that did not have lights would be an acceptable use; whereas a new scoreboard would not be an acceptable use).

Examples of permitted uses for the Power to Play artistic grants include:

• The purchase of new uniforms for dance teams or choir.
• Purchase of equipment, such as new instruments for new band members or production equipment not previously available at the school.
• Significant reduction of annual fees as a way to increase enrollment in art programs. For purposes of this grant, a significant reduction means a 50 percent decrease in annual fees from the previous school year.

Examples of COVID-19 support include:

• Support of band because of reduced concession sales, support of athletic teams due to loss of funds from car parking, etc.
• Support of live stream of athletic events, plays, or performances
• Support of theatre and/or art departments from loss of revenue from ticket sales.