Learning by Giving
Learning by Giving Grant Program at UM
The University of Montana School of Business Administration class, Leadership and Motivation, is partnering with the Sunshine Lady Foundation to offer a new grant opportunity for nonprofit organizations serving Missoula County residents. The Learning By Giving grant program at UM will award $10,000 in funds and distribute grants in sizes ranging from $500 to $2,500 this spring.
To access the proposal click here.
Program Background
The mission of the Sunshine Lady Foundation is to invest in organizations and programs dedicated to providing opportunities for the advancement of education, well being and new life choices for disadvantaged people with special empathy for the working poor and families in crisis. In 2003, the foundation began a collaboration with Dr. Ken Menkhaus and his class “Philanthropy and the Non-Profit Sector”, at Davidson College. The class researched various local nonprofit organizations, solicited proposals, developed a system for studying the requests and debated the merits for receiving the grant money. At the end of the semester, the students distributed $10,000 of Sunshine Lady Foundation funds to the philanthropies they chose. The foundation now collaborates with seven colleges and universities in the US and Canada to support philanthropy education. The University of Montana became a partner in 2008.
The Leadership and Motivation class at The University of Montana teaches students about leadership and management skills as well as giving them hands-on experience through service learning. A new element of the class this semester focuses on teaching students about philanthropy. Through the generous grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation, students in the class will become philanthropists and disburse grants to Missoula-area nonprofit organizations serving needs related to youth, education, or health.
Grant Criteria
Qualifications
Organizations submitting proposals must be a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt and provide services to Missoula County residents in the areas of youth, education, and/or health. Please see RFP for specific guidelines.
- Eligible projects will possess one or all of the following characteristics:
- Provide a direct benefit to Missoula County residents
- Show a long-term orientation towards improving the Missoula area community
- Show a potential for satisfying unmet needs in Missoula County
- Support the overall well-being of the Missoula community
- Originate from a previously established organization
The request for proposals can be found here.
Due Date: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2009, 5:00PM.
Proposals will be reviewed and considered by students in the Leadership and Motivation class, and grants will be handed out during the acknowledgment ceremony in May 2009.
Mail or drop off TWO copies of the package to:
Learning by Giving ProgramThe University of Montana
Office for Civic Engagement, DHC 015
Missoula, MT 59812
For any questions contact Andrea Vernon, Director, UM Office of Civic Engagement, 243-5159.
Grants Awarded-May 2009
- $821 awarded to the RiteCare Language and Hearing Clinic to establish a parent lending library filled with books, toys, educational software and other speech and language therapy materials to help families carry over the skills children learn in therapy to the home.
- $821 awarded to the Missoula Family YMCA to help the Community Music Department create a musical instrument lending library that will provide instruments such as guitars, drums, and fiddles for youth participants to use in classes, workshops, and summer camps.
- $1000 awarded to the Missoula Food Bank to expand the Kid’s Table summer nutrition program. This program complements the federal summer lunch program and provides children with healthy, nutritious food during the summer months when they are out of school.
- $1062 awarded to Partnership for Children to increase the number of trained foster and adoptive families available to children in Missoula County.
- $1320 awarded to the Missoula Community Food and Agriculture Coalition to offer the Food FUNdamentals Farm to School education program for middle school students to teach them about our food system and how to eat in a way that is healthy for their bodies, their community and the environment.
- $2,476 awarded to the Flagship Program to implement the Young Entrepreneurs afterschool program at Missoula’s three middle schools to teach youth business skills by starting their own businesses under the mentorship of community business volunteers.
- $2500 awarded to 1st Way Pregnancy Support Center to implement the Earn While You Learn program providing a way to educate, counsel, mentor and help young women to have healthy pregnancies, be successful parents, become financially responsible and have healthy relationships.
