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PLEASE NOTE: Applications are no longer being accepted for 2022-2023 Community-Led Grantmaking disbursements.
Please join the Tzedek Community Grantmaking Fellows in the process of investing $250,000 into the Asheville area community—moving this money into the hands of people and organizations on the ground, positively influencing the lives of youth.
We know that our community is filled with people supporting, uplifting, and celebrating youth in all kinds of different ways. Our goal is to move this money towards as much good as possible.
Tzedek Community-Led Grantmaking: Supporting Youth Programming
This is the second year of the Tzedek Social Justice Fund’s Community-Led Grantmaking program. We know that grantmaking processes can create distrust among people requesting funding and distrust of the team making decisions. We carry dreams of this process being as fully guided by as many people in the community who are impacted as possible and for it not to replicate harms of other grantmaking processes. We offer this process in hopes that it will create space for feedback, collaboration, and accountability and that all involved may see each other with humanity throughout the process. We will learn from the process this year and work to improve it based on what we learn for next year.
This year, Tzedek seeks to support organizations and initiatives that provide positive, healthy, and uplifting youth spaces and opportunities that center joy. The 2022-2023 Community-Led Grantmaking Youth Fund is available to grassroots projects and organizations supporting the health and well-being of young people ages 0 to 21. For the sake of this grantmaking program, we define youth programming as projects offering hands-on time for youth by providing services directly touching the lives of youth served in real-time rather than think tanks or programs using funds to develop future initiatives that may affect youth in the long run.
Eligibility Requirements
- Potential grantees must be either a 501(c)3 organization or fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3 organization
- Organization and or project must be within Tzedek’s service area
- The project serves youth ages 0 – 21 during the summer 2022 – summer 2023 timeframe
Our Grantmaking Process
- Grant applicants will respond to questions in one of the following ways:
- Written (no limit)
- Video (10 minutes)
- Application advocate conversation/s (up to three hours)
- Questions to Respond to:
- Please describe (a) the idea or program, (b) how you may adapt or expand an existing program, and/or (c) the services or opportunities you would be offering for youth beginning or during the summer 2022 – summer 2023 timeframe. Also, share how the applicant and/or staff will engage with youth, including highlighting any shared lived experiences or demographics between staff and youth.
- Please describe the population of youth served (age range; geographic area served; racial/ethnic demographics; other relevant demographics to Tzedek’s focal areas of racial justice, LGBTQ justice, and anti-Semitism; and their proximity to violence).
- Please describe the anticipated timeline for getting your idea or program, program expansion, or services in place if awarded the requested funding (our intention is to support efforts or programs that actively engage local youth during the summer 2022 – summer 2023 timeframe).
- Please include a line budget to describe your intended use of the funds and your funding level request. You may choose to add a descriptive explanation; however, this is not a requirement.
- Please provide your organization’s 501(c)3 determination letter OR provide proof of fiscal sponsorship by submitting a partnership.
- Review Process – Fellows will review the responses from submissions using a scoring rubric to determine funding. Fellows will follow up with grant recipients in order to spend time with, collect stories about, and/or engage directly to experience the power of the initiative, so we can all learn together from this work and then better develop programs and support relationships that promote youth engagement, growth, resilience, and joy.
Once your application is submitted, we may reach out for further information. Applications will be reviewed and approved on a rolling basis. We aim to be rapid in our response. If you apply by the end of the week (Friday), you should receive a response by Friday of the following week.
- If you have any questions and/or would like to set up a time to participate in an application advocate conversation, please email brilliance@tzedeksocialjusticefund.org with your availability.
Important Dates
Grant proposals will be accepted August 3rd – summer 2023, as funding availability allows.
Expectation of Grantees
Tzedek’s Community Grantmaking Fellows review requests and determine that organizations’ work is aligned with Tzedek’s mission, strategic plan, and grantmaking checklist. Grantees are expected to meet with Tzedek staff within a year of their grant for a check-in. Based on what is best for grantees, meetings happen via phone, video call, or over a meal. The goal is to see how the work is going, how plans have changed, share challenges, and celebrate successes. Tzedek staff documents these meetings, and these notes function as our grantee reports, which are required for private foundations to assure legal compliance.
As with the application, there is an option of collaborating with Tzedek staff, including Fellows, to produce a collaborative report. Generally, the meeting and co-creating the proposal takes about 2 hours of grantees’ time.
Tzedek is required by the IRS to do due diligence, oversight, and monitoring for grants to 501(c)3 organizations. Such responsibility includes:
- Documenting a pre-grant inquiry (and receiving or collaborating on a proposal) to confirm capacity and alignment
- Collecting a written grant agreement
- Annual record keeping regarding grantee’s work
- Establishing that the grantee tracks grant funds and a budget