The Lilly Endowment is excited to announce the Marion County K-12 Private Schools Initiative.
Donor Name: Lilly Endowment
State: Indiana
County: Marion County (IN)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/13/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The Foundation aim of this initiative is to help private schools initiate, enhance or expand compelling programs and projects that show promise to improve their students’ academic achievement and the prospects for post-secondary success.
Initiative Priorities
- Academic achievement and post-secondary success are influenced by the presence or absence of many factors, both in and outside of the classroom and school. Accordingly, eligible applicants interested in pursuing funding through this initiative may propose programs or projects that address the aim of the initiative through one or more of the following three priorities:
- Improving academic achievement: Applicants may seek funding to implement programs or projects that aim to directly increase K-12 academic achievement of students attending their schools. Academic achievement may be measured in broad and varied ways, including through performance (proficiency or growth) on various assessments, grade-level promotion rates, graduation rates, course-completion and on-track rates, among others. Programs or projects may be designed to improve upon classroom learning experiences or supplement learning that takes place in the classroom.
- Improving post-secondary success: Applicants may seek to implement programs or projects that show promise to equip graduates for future success in post-secondary education or careers. Such programs or projects may, among other things, help students develop the knowledge, skills and mindsets important for post-secondary success, including among other strategies, by providing experiences that enable students to examine how their interests and strengths align with various post-secondary endeavors they may choose to pursue.
- Addressing challenges and opportunities that can affect academic achievement or postsecondary success: Applicants may seek to implement programs or projects to help students overcome non-academic challenges or provide students with opportunities that can, based upon convincing research and other evidence, improve students’ academic achievement or prospects for post-secondary success. Challenges may be defined broadly and include factors such as food insecurity, unstable family housing, physical or mental health challenges or chronic absenteeism, among others. Challenges may also include school-based factors such as an inadequate supply of teachers in a school or limited access to new technology. Opportunities that can affect academic achievement or post-secondary success may include, among others, various co-curricular or extracurricular activities such as student councils and clubs, performing arts, work-based learning experiences, and community service. At their discretion, applicants may seek to collaborate with other organizations to address challenges and opportunities that can affect academic achievement or the prospects for postsecondary success.
Types of Grants
The Endowment has allocated up to $150 million for this multi-year initiative. Eligible private schools may request funding through a three-phase process.
- Phase 1 Planning Grants: Eligible applicants are each invited to request a planning grant of up to $50,000 to be used for a one-year period. These grants may be used to prepare proposals for grants under Phases 2 and 3 of the initiative through planning efforts including, among other activities, research regarding promising practices, visits to other schools, consultation with experts, and/or facilitated meetings or focus groups to help address the aim of the initiative.
- Phase 2 Implementation Grants: Eligible applicants are invited to submit a proposal requesting a grant to initiate, enhance or expand compelling programs or projects designed to help improve the academic achievement or the prospects for post-secondary success of their students. Implementation grant amounts will be calculated based upon an amount of $500 per student, using the applicant’s K-12 student enrollment during the 2023-24 school year.
- Phase 3 Competitive Grants: The Endowment has allocated up to $130 million for Phase 3, which comprises a two-stage competitive process. In the first stage, applicants may submit a concept paper requesting competitive grants based upon K-12 student enrollment during the 2023-24 school year for programs or projects that are likely to have significant impact on students’ academic achievement or their prospects for post-secondary success.
Uses of Fund
- Given the intentionally broad aim of this initiative, the many and varying needs of students in Marion County, and the diverse and distinctive missions of eligible schools, the Endowment expects applicants
- will present a wide array of programs and projects in their proposals and concept papers. If awarded, grant funds from this initiative may be used for a variety of expenses required to conduct the proposed programs or projects, including but not limited to salary and benefits for key personnel, consultants, technology software or equipment, curriculum or supplies, furniture, professional development, travel, facility construction or renovation, events and meetings, and program evaluation.
- Grants awarded through this initiative may not be used for student tuition scholarships of any kind or to provide, for student recruitment purposes, any incentives to prospective students or their families. Additionally, grant funds may not be used to fund endowments or rainy-day funds.
- To illustrate the breadth of possible approaches applicants may propose, the Endowment has prepared the Programs and Projects Examples document, which accompanies the RFP, that provides examples of programs and projects that could be viewed as effectively addressing the aim of the initiative and one or more of its priorities, if well developed and supported by convincing research or other evidence.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants for the Endowment’s Marion County K-12 Private Schools initiative include accredited, exempt, nonprofit private schools physically located in Marion County. Eligible private schools must be accredited by the Indiana State Board of Education or by a third-party entity recognized by the Indiana State Board of Education.
- Eligible schools must also be public charities described in Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 501(c) (3) and Code section 509(a)(1) (which incorporates Code sections 170(b)(1)(A)(i) – (vi)), 509(a)(2), or 509(a)(3) (Type I or Type II). Schools that are affiliated together for governance and operating purposes, such as school networks, will be viewed as single applicants and should provide a single submission for each phase of the initiative.
For more information, visit Lilly Endowment.
