Not long ago the Improve Group had the pleasure of working with the Minnesota State Arts Board on their statewide needs assessment. In the process we have learned a lot about this great resource for keeping the arts relevant and thriving in Minnesota. The opportunity I am highlighting today is one that allows artists to learn more about the grants they can apply for and the process involved in doing so.

This week’s pick: The Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) has a grant information session presented in partnership with the individual Regional Arts Councils to learn about grant opportunities for artists, the grant review process, and help artists prepare their application with one-on-one support.

The grants that will be discussed:
Artist Initiative - for grant information visit http://www.arts.state.mn.us/grants/artist_initiative.htm

Cultural Community Partnerships - for grant information http://www.arts.state.mn.us/grants/cultural_community_partnership.htm

Information Session Locations [subject to change, check their Web site for times and locations] Bemidji - June 17 Cloquet - June 23 Detroit Lakes - June 18 Duluth - June 24 Greenbush - June 15 Little Falls - June 3 Mankato - June 9 Marshall - June 11 Minneapolis - June 29 Moorhead - June 19 Mora - June 25 Red Lake - June 16 Rochester - June 8 Saint Paul - June 22 Saint Cloud - June 2 Willmar - June 1 Worthington - June 10.

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Mentoring is an amazing resource for our youth. I see this with my own boys and the children of my friends. The Improve Group has been educated on mentoring through our client work with the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota and in site visits for our evaluation work with the MN Department of Corrections. The need for mentors is great and today’s highlighted program is addressing that need.

This week’s pick: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has grants for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) program. “Nearly two million children in the United States experience the detrimental economic, social, and emotional effects of having an incarcerated parent.” The idea is to bring quality, one-on-one relationships to these children and give them a trusted role model.

Applications are accepted by the Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families', Family and Youth Services Bureau. Average grant amounts are around $200,000.

There is an extensive list of those who can apply, including independent school districts, nonprofits and tribal organizations. For full details on this opportunity, click here. Applications must be submitted by June 19th.

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If you are getting out and about on the nice Spring days you may have found yourself among the beauty of our rural areas. Our DHS team spends a good deal of their time in rural places in Minnesota and enjoys the change of atmosphere from the Twin Cities. However, just because a place is not a big city doesn’t mean the people who live there aren’t dealing with the same issues as the city folks. Having resources available to make progress or change is important to our smaller communities and today’s pick wants to provide some help to our rural neighbors.

This week’s pick: The financial services provider for agriculture and rural America, AgStar, has grants for rural feasibility studies. The AgStar Fund for Rural America grants range between $1,000 and $5,000.
Eligible projects will entail:

• Economic assessment - suitable infrastructure, facilities, labor or raw material sources
• Business and market analysis
• Cost analysis
• Financial projections

Projects must be located in rural areas of AgStar’s territory. Implemented projects will create new permanent jobs that result in the economic development of a rural area.

You can direct questions about this opportunity to Jody Bloemke via email at jody.bloemke@agstar.com or you can look at details of the grant by clicking here.

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This week my co-worker Samantha Hagel and I set out to our perspective schools as 5-year veteran volunteers for Art Adventures, a program of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA). The goal of this great program is to spread art education, observation and appreciation across the state through in-classroom, hands-on experiences.

Pictured above is Ms. Dorothy Blackmon’s 3rd grade class at Expo Elementary in Saint Paul. The kids were excellent at exploring the art pieces from the set I presented called Family, Friends and Foes. You can see by the looks on their faces that it was a fun and productive morning. This week the class will take a field trip to MIA to see the original pieces.

My son, Nick, and I are in the photo on the bottom left sitting next to a painting by Francisco de Goya. You can probably tell by my face that I love it as much as the students do.

Look for Samantha’s Art Adventure’s experience in an upcoming blog.

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We always said Leah does more than enough work for two people, however I don't think Leah #2 is going to be of much help. For Leah's birthday the staff decided to have a replica of Leah made in bobblehead form. "Little Leah" is only desktop size but she represents a larger than life, very special woman. Happy birthday Leah!

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I think it is apparent that our world is in a period where it is imperative to get involved and be the change. At the same time that we are asked to help out, our resources have shrunk so some noble plans are not as viable as they once may have been. My funder today has thought of a solution for barriers like this, and the grant money offered will bring a few more people a chance to do their best for others.

This week’s pick: Through Travelocity and the Sabre Foundation there is a unique funding opportunity for those who wish to Travel For Good. This program “offers the Change Ambassadors Grant to help support Americans who wish to travel to participate in volunteer opportunities (volunteer vacations).” To be a candidate for these grants you must have a demonstrated history of long-term volunteering. You also need to select a trip destination as part of the application process. Two grants of $5,000 are given out quarterly. The current application round is April to June with notification in August and trips occurring September 5th through February 28th. For more details click here.

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The Chronicle of Philanthropy posted a transcript of their live discussion on “How Grant Seekers Can Write Sharp Proposals in Bad Economic Times”. This pertinent topic provided some very relevant take-away points:

• The proposal is not your only point of contact; grant seekers should cultivate relationships both before and after submitting a proposal
• The proposal itself should be concise and clear, with a focus on your impact as an organization and what impact the support will help you make/maintain
• Think outside your sector for funding – there are many who might be interested in funding an aspect of your work (for example, if you develop curriculum, but distribute it electronically, think of IT companies as potential funders rather than just education funders)

For the full discussion go to: http://philanthropy.com/live/2009/04/grant_writing/

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