Grant Opportunities

Teen Read Week is the time of year where librarians celebrate teens. We want to celebrate teens in a big way, but our budgets are limited. A grant can make your seemingly unreachable idea become a reality. Many grants do not require much paperwork, and the corporate world is always willing to help their community if you sell your project well. Have fun this autumn, and do not let the leaves fall without getting your ideas off the ground.

Grant Writing Guidelines:

Grant Writing Tools for Non Profit Organizations

Library Spot: Getting Grants

Grants

Baker and Taylor/YALSA Conference Grants. This grant is funded by the Baker and Taylor Company. The two grants of $1,000 each are awarded to librarians who work directly with young adults in a public or school library to enable them to attend the Annual Conference for the first time. Applications must be received in the YALSA office by December 1.

Book Wholesalers Inc./YALSA Collection Development Grant:  Two $1,000 annual collection development grants are available to YALSA members who work in a public library with young adults 12 to 18 years old.

Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Research Grant. This grant of $500 is to provide seed money for small scale projects which will encourage research that responds to the YALSA Research Agenda. Applications must be received in the YALSA office by December 1.

Great Book Giveaway Competition: Libraries that serve young adults and would benefit from an addition of 1,200 books may apply for this giveaway.

The Sagebrush Award for a Young Adult Reading or Literature Program. (File in .pdf.) The Sagebrush Award is designed to honor a member(s) of the Young Adult Library Services Association who has developed an outstanding reading or literature program for young adults. The award provides a grant of $1,000 to support the winning member's attendance at the ALA Annual Conference. The award is made possible through an annual grant from the Sagebrush Book Company, a division of The American Companies. Applications must be received in the YALSA office by December 1.

Find information about ALA grants

Bank of America Foundation
The Foundation has a focus on child development, economic and financial education, and teacher development. Each region that the Bank serves determines its own areas of need, and these can be found on the website. Your organization must be located in a service area of the Bank. For more information on how to apply for a grant, contact Julie Chavez, Bank of America Foundation, 213 S. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60604; 888-488-9802

Barnes and Noble Donations
Barnes and Noble support local organizations that promote literacy and education. Find out the name of the Community Relations Manager at your local store and send him/her a letter describing your program and how it will help the teens in your community. Be specific on what you hope to received from them, such as gift certificates, books, CDs, etc. This letter will then be forwarded to the district manager. They are more likely to give a donation to first time applicants. If you receive the grant make sure to include Barnes and Noble in your promotional materials and send them a copy. For more information, contact your local store or Mary Ellen Keating, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Barnes & Noble, 122 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011

Citigroup Foundation from CitiBank
Citigroup Foundation offers grants to organizations in Citigroup areas throughout the world. Librarians should investigate the grant Educating the Next Generation. As stated in the web site,"An example of one of our highly successful, award-winning programs that knows no borders is the Citigroup Success Fund. This program provides grants to educators to develop innovative, easily replicable grassroots programs aimed at improving student achievement". For more information contact Charles V. Raymond, President, Citigroup Foundation, 850 Third Ave., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10043; 212-559-9163;

Office Depot Grants
To request a monetary donation from Office Depot, provide a brief description of your organization, your Federal Tax ID number, an explanation of what is being requested and the rationale based on Office Depot’s charitable giving guidelines. The request should be on your organization's letterhead. You must also provide a copy of your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter. Send your request to:

Office Depot
2200 Old Germantown Road
Delray Beach, FL 33445
Attn: Donations

Please allow four weeks for Office Depot to review and respond to your request. If you have any questions regarding a request for a monetary donation, please contact our Donations Hotline at 1-800-937-3600, ext. 80309.

Target Grants

Wal-Mart Community Grants
Organizations that may qualify to receive funding through the Matching Grant Program are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations or organizations that are exempt from needing 501(c)(3) status, such as public schools, faith-based institutions such as churches (must be conducting a project that benefits the community at large), and government agencies. Click on the community icon on top of the Web site.

To learn more about receiving a grant from your local Wal-Mart or SAM'S CLUB, please see the Community Involvement Coordinator at the location closest to you.

Staples Grants

Best Buy Store Donation
You have to visit your local Best Buy store and fill out the application to receive grant money. They usually award gift certificates. Make sure to bring a description of the program and how it will affect teens in the community.

"Best Buy also supports our local communities through charitable donations made by stores. Each Best Buy store has an annual donation budget to contribute to youth-oriented, nonprofit organizations. If your organization fits within our focus area, please visit the store nearest you to pick up a Store Donation Application. Store personnel will review all applications and make funding decisions. Store based funding is limited. All decisions are made at the discretion of the store and all decisions are final. The store donation request process generally takes six to eight weeks for a decision". Best Buy Web site.

Circuit City Foundation
Circuit City offers donations to non-profit organizations. Please mail your proposal to: Circuit City Foundation, Sandy Stoddart, Executive Director, 9950 Mayland Drive, Richmond, VA 23233-1464.

Star Tribune Foundation (information from Annual Register of Grant Support Reference Book, R.R. Rowler: Chicago, 2006)
The purpose of this foundation is to provide funding to programs that help meet the needs of the community. Grants are made to nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501.

Application Information: Applications for funding can be made through a letter or letter-proposal, which includes information about the purpose of the funds, the total project budget which funds are being requested; a description of the organization and its objectives and how the program will be administrated. Information should be included about the organization’s officers and directors, current finances and current contributors together with a copy of the organization’s current tax-exempt ruling from the IRS.

For further information contact Sandra K. Fleitman, Foundation Coordinator at sfleitman@startribute.com or (612) 673-7051 Fax: (612) 673-7307 Send letter to: Star Tribute Foundation, 425 Portland Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55488.

FREE BOOKS

Library of Congress Surplus Books Program
The Library of Congress has surplus books available to non-profit organizations. The books are a mixture of topics with only a small percentage of publications at the primary and secondary school levels. Your library either needs to send or designate someone to choose books from the collection. Shipping the material to your library is your only expense

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Joseph Mahar
Anglo-American Acquisitions Division (LS/ACQ/ANAD)
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20540-4170
Phone: 202+707-9524 Fax: 202+707-0380
E mail: jmah@loc.gov

To Receive Books for Teens in Need
The First Book program is a national organization focusing on getting books into the hands of children and teens from low-income families. To receive books for your program please register online with the organization. For further information contact: First Book, 1319 F St., NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20004; 202-393-1222