How your Club creates safe places and empowering programs to ensure all children have the opportunity for a great future varies, but securing the funding to accomplish your mission is critical. With a significant portion of grant funding, how you handle the grant lifecycle is crucial for mission success.
From identifying grants to apply for, to standing out on grant proposals, and properly managing them after receiving them, join us as we explore how your Club can thrive during all stages of the grant lifecycle.
Finding New Grant Opportunities
While some nationwide grants are available, many new grant opportunities depend on your Club’s location. Charitable foundations across the country support Boys & Girls Clubs and the work you do.
The following organizations are among the top Boys & Girls Clubs grantors nationwide, according to recent Form 990 filings:
Bank of America Foundation
The charitable giving arm of Bank of America supports the Boys & Girls Clubs’ Workforce Readiness Program. The program provides internship opportunities to low-income high school seniors and first-year college students.
The Bank of America Foundation provides grants for workforce and community development, education, and basic needs. In 2022, the Bank of America Foundation awarded 538 grants totaling $2.1M. Learn more about this grant.
The Gap Foundation
The charitable arm of Gap supports Boys & Girls Clubs through its This Way Onward paid internship program. Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Gap partner with local clubs to provide in-store paid career experience.
In addition to its internship program, The Gap Foundation supports women worldwide through its P.A.C.E. program and supports nonprofit organizations through volunteer hour-driven grants. In 2022, the Gap Foundation awarded 163 grants totaling $121,000.
American Express Foundation
The charitable arm of American Express supports Boys & Girls Clubs in the Coachella Valley of California through donations associated with its sponsorship of the PGA Tour.
The foundation provides grants for education advancement in the green economy, digital futures, and STEAM. In 2022, the American Express Foundation awarded 130 grants totaling $39,000. Learn more about this grant.
Lilly Endowment
A private philanthropic foundation supported by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. Its funding focuses on promoting and supporting, amongst other things, community development, education, and youth in Indianapolis and Indiana. The foundation notably supports Boys & Girls Clubs in Indiana. Learn more about this grant.
In 2022, Lilly Endowment awarded $13.3M to Boys & Girls Clubs through nine grants.
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that supports organizations in California, focusing on San Matero and Santa Clara counties and the rest of California. Its funding focuses on early childhood development, amongst other things. The foundation notably supported the Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside in San Mateo County, Calif. Learn more about this grant.
In 2022, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation awarded $11M to Boys & Girls Clubs through 36 grants.
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust
A foundation honoring the life and legacy of Virginia G. Piper, the trust supports organizations in Maricopa County, Arizona, that focus on arts and culture, children, education, and more. The Trust recently awarded a $3M grant to support pediatric mental health services at Boys & Girls Clubs. Learn more about its grant process.
In 2022, the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust awarded $5.6M to Boys & Girls Clubs through 13 grants.
Consider exploring grantor options local to your Club and those with a larger geographic footprint of support. Some others that have shown strong support to the Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the country include:
Charles Schwab Foundation
The Charles Schwab Foundation and Boys & Girls Club developed Money Matters: Make It Count, a financial literacy program, to expand knowledge of money management. The foundation awards grants to nonprofits supporting financial literacy and responding to local cultural and social needs. Learn more about this grant.
The UPS Foundation
The UPS Foundation and the Boys & Girls Club partnered to develop UPS Road Code, an interactive, educational experience on motor vehicle safety and sponsors several Boys & Girls Clubs’ signature events. The foundation awards grants to nonprofits supporting health & humanitarian relief, equity and economic empowerment, local engagement, and planet protection. Learn more about this grant.
Panda Cares Foundation
The Panda Cares Foundation supports fostering academic success. The foundation has committed more than $42M since 2020 to enhance academic opportunities, support Project Learn, and establish Panda Cares Centers of Hope in Clubs nationwide. The foundation supports nonprofits supporting children’s health and educational needs across the country. Learn more about this grant.
What to Know About Donor-Advised Funds
Donor-advised funds (DAFs) and foundations that administer them make up some of the largest donors to Boys & Girls Clubs across the U.S through grants. For example, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund awarded 436 grants through DAF funds, totaling $102.5M in 2022.
Donors contribute to the fund, those contributions are invested, the assets grow tax-free, and the DAF manager grants funds to chosen nonprofit organizations. While the investor donates funds to support specific causes, organizations should solicit grants from DAFs and inquire with donors who use DAFs as an avenue for giving. Learn more about donor-advised funds and how your organization can benefit.
Standing Out on Grant Proposals
After identifying a new grant opportunity, it’s time to begin the grant application. Investing your time, effort, and resources into writing a grant proposal can be frustrating if it doesn’t pay off. For this reason, it’s critical to make your grant proposal impactful and notable to a selection committee. Help your Boys & Girls Club stand out with its top tips for applying for grants.
How to Account for Grants
After a foundation awards a grant, ensure your organization is in compliance with grant requirements and has full visibility of its financials with proper accounting. The MIP Fund Accounting Grant Administration module streamlines the grant reporting process. The module tracks details like grantor name, grant official, contact information, grant period, reporting periods, indirect cost rate, and more, all from within the system. You can customize the tracked details by adding user-defined fields for grant records.
Check out these free Grant Resources for Boys & Girls Clubs
Though the grant process can be complex, there are many resources available that provide tips and tricks to help your Club save time and increase efficiency:
- Streamlining grant administration and reporting is crucial to improve finance operations and save time. Your current processes should allow you to simplify reporting and easily access essential grant data. Learn from the experts on How to Simplify Grant Reporting.
- When it comes to gaining and maintaining funding in the pre-award, post-award, and audit stages of grants, this checklist ensures your Club is checking all the necessary boxes for grant funding.
- How well you understand the grant process and what’s involved is the difference between whether your Club receives the necessary funds or not. This webinar features grant management experts from Thompson Grants breaking down Everything You Need to Know About Grants.
- If you’re using workarounds or multiple spreadsheets to manage multiple funding sources, you could be working inefficiently and limiting opportunities to optimize your fiscal sustainability. This blog explores five ways to account for diverse funding sources.
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