One of the key findings of the Rand Corporation’s 2005 research on early childhood education was that “early childhood intervention programs have been shown to yield benefits in academic achievement, behavior, educational progression and attainment, delinquency and crime, and labor market success, among other domains.” (See http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9145/index1.html). This plus many, many other early ed research projects support the need for enriching early childhood opportunities for children. The funder I am looking at today feels the same way.

This Week’s Pick: The A.L. Mailman Foundation offers the Mailman Family Foundation Grants “to promote the building of sustainable systems that provide access to high quality early learning experiences for all children.” Their funding priorities are:

• System-wide change
• Creating quality curriculum tools
• Providing families, teacher and caregivers knowledge and support to nurture and inform children

An application to the Foundation begins with a letter of inquiry - with the next deadline of December 1, 2008. Final submissions are by invitation only. Interested organizations must be 501©3 nonprofits with a national reach or a scope that entails more than one state. Typical grants amounts are in the $25,000 to $35,000 range. For more information and application guidelines, click here.