NEA Grants for Affiliates
Safe and Just Schools Partnership Funding
The Safe and Just Schools Partnership Funding to Affiliates and Chapters who demonstrate commitment and capacity to implement and explore initiatives and partnerships to dismantle systemic inequities and unjust education practices that hinder healthy, safe, and just learning and working environments for each and every student, educator, or public employee in their worksites and communities.
Click here to submit your Safe and Just Schools Partnership Funding application. For questions, please email [email protected].
NEA’s Read Across America 2021 State Affiliate Event Grant
NEA State Affiliates may apply for a "Read Across America Event Grant" to enhance state affiliate-coordinated Read Across America events and/or activities based on the theme of “Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers.” Emphasis should be placed on diverse books from diverse authors that will appeal to an increasingly diverse student population. Affiliates may apply for any amount up to a maximum of $15,000. A total of $100,000 will be awarded. Ideally, event(s) or activities should occur on or about "NEA's Read Across America Day," which is Monday, March 2, 2021.
Click here to submit your Read Across America Event Grant application, for questions, please email Joyce René Carter, [email protected], or Heather Griffin, [email protected].
Legislative Crisis
The Campaigns and Elections Department has resources available to assist state affiliates facing legislation that will create a significant crisis for the state affiliate and our members.
Check back for deadlines to apply for a Legislative Crisis Grant. For questions, please email [email protected].
Ballot Measure
The Campaigns and Elections Department has resources available to assist state affiliates facing ballot measures that will impact our members.
Check back for deadlines to apply for Ballot Measure Grant. For questions, please email [email protected].
Organizing
The Center for Organizing has resources available in support of strategic organizing projects that are developed collaboratively between state affiliate leadership, affected locals and NEA. The resources include training, coaching, convening or workshop costs, and direct resources. These resources are designed for projects that promote or advance the NEA Strategic Goals while building capacity to engage and recruit members to lead on issues affecting their professional practice and equity of resources and opportunities for all students.
Center for Great Public Schools State & Local Project Grants
The National Education Association’s (NEA) Center for Great Public Schools announces the availability of State & Local Project Grants for Affiliates to develop and support practices and resources that promote a quality education profession; that incubate sound practices and gather key learnings that aid student success; and that promote a system that establishes the value of a quality, professionalized educator workforce and the role of the Association in creating and sustaining a system of professional supports.
Grant topics focus on the following two key education profession levers:
- Family/Community Partnerships: These grants are designed to develop, implement, or support programs that engage communities in improving the educational attainment and success of all children, particularly children of color or underserved youth in economically deprived communities.
- Supporting Educators Across the Career Continuum: The focus of these grants is to assist Affiliate engagement in programs and activities designed to support all educators across their career continuum to ensure student success. Within this focus, a priority is given to supporting the retention and professional success of educators of color..
Typically, funded grant requests range from $3,000 to $25,000 over a 1-year period.
To review the grant guidelines or begin your application, please click here.
Rolling deadline throughout the year, contingent upon available funding.
For questions, please email [email protected]
Great Public Schools Fund (GPS Fund)
The NEA’s Great Public Schools Fund Grants (GPS Fund Grants) advance the goal of great public schools for every student. GPS Fund Grants are intended to help NEA State and Local Affiliates enhance the quality of public education by developing, implementing and leading an agenda that engages members with an emphasis on student-centered success and well-being through union-led efforts.
Learn more about the GPS Fund, including the annual September 15th deadline for a Planning Grant.
Local President Release Time Program (LPRTP)
The NEA established the Local President Release Time Program to encourage the growth and development of NEA’s local associations. The program’s objective has been to provide financial assistance towards the full-time or part-time release of local presidents to encourage growth and strength in our local associations. The presence of a full-time or part-time release local president will add to the effectiveness in which the locals can contribute to NEA’s Strategic Priorities.
Learn more about the Local President Release Time Grant.
Organizing in Urban Locals
NEA's C40 Urban Grant funding can be used to support your local's efforts to increase membership and build its power by identifying issues, strengthening worksite leader systems and structures, and implementing organizing campaigns.
Find our online application/template, evaluation, and guidelines forms here, or email [email protected] with questions.
Retired Organizing
Each year the NEA Center for Organizing, in collaboration with NEA-Retired, awards State Organizing Grants to State Retired entities.
Grants must be used for Membership Recruitment ,Organizing New Retired Locals, Retired Organizing Projects, Creating Retired Activists, Developing Retired Leaders , Developing and Strengthening Community Partnerships.
The application deadline is August 15. Find our online application/template, evaluation, and guidelines forms here. For questions, please email [email protected]
Student-Centered Bargaining and Advocacy
NEA’s Collective Bargaining and Member Advocacy Department (CBMA) will be awarding grants to affiliates to design and implement student-centered initiatives through collective bargaining or other forms of advocacy. Affiliates have used these grants to:
- Unite educators with parents, communities, and students to advocate and bargain for the schools that students deserve.
- Open up negotiations and make collective bargaining a more transparent process.
- Advocate for students away from the bargaining table.
- Join the Red for Ed movement to improve educator pay, preserve health care and pensions, increase education funding, and achieve student-centered victories through collective bargaining and other forms of advocacy.
- Bargain for the Common Good.
Find our online application form, FAQs, and student-centered advocacy attributes document here. For questions, please email [email protected].
ESSA/Educator Voice Local Grants
As the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) continues to be implemented throughout the country, NEA’s My School My Voice (MSMV) program aims to ensure that educators are making key teaching and learning decisions affecting students.
Educators’ voices and those of families and students are critical to ensuring great public schools. NEA’s MSMV grants support local affiliates as they engage educators in advocating for equity in public schools. To that end, the MSMV grants support local affiliates in encouraging all educators to participate in the work of their association.
The MSMV grants can fund programmatic work that amplifies educator voice to achieve policy and/or practice wins, or to build and strengthen collaborative structures to support student learning. Examples of qualifying projects include:
- supporting local activities that identify access and opportunity gaps and move toward sustainable solutions;
- building coalitions and leveraging existing partnerships that support educators driving decisions in local ESSA implementation efforts;
- engaging members and non-members in working to ensure local ESSA implementation plans include educator voices, as well as those of other key stakeholders;
- moving local priorities for winning policies that incorporate educator voice to create opportunities for all students to succeed.
Find our online application/template and guidelines here.
Aspiring Educators CREATE Grants
State Aspiring Educators (AE) organizations and campus chapters are eligible to apply for CREATE grants. These grants of up to $2000 should strengthen the AE Program and build stronger partnerships. Grants should also have a primary focus in one of the areas aligned with AE Core Values:
- EDUCATOR QUALITY – Projects involving preparation for professional practice, strengthening educator preparation programs, and/or support for career preparation and advancement
- COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT – Projects involving partnerships with P-12 schools, local organizations, and other community-based involvement
- POLITICAL ACTION – Projects involving advocacy for policies, legislation, and political issues with an impact on education
- SOCIAL JUSTICE – Projects involving social justice issues activism and/or that contribute to the development of aspiring educator knowledge, skills, and dispositions as culturally responsive educators.
Submission deadlines occur twice each year - October 15 and February 1. For assistance with grant applications, contact [email protected]. Click here for the online CREATE Grant application.
State Media Assistance Program
State Association Media Grants are intended to advance the cause of public education and publicize the role of the Association and its Affiliates in improving the quality of public education. The State Media Grants proactively advance the Association’s mission through image and reputation campaigns that strengthen the Association’s image among key audiences and the public.
Upcoming submission deadlines are October 23, 2020 and April 16, 2021. Click here to access the application. For questions, please email [email protected]
Community Advocacy and Partnership Engagement Grant
The NEA Community Advocacy & Partnership Engagement (CAPE) Department provides state and local partnership funding grants that are intended to assist state/local affiliates to identify, engage, and mobilize community organizations and community leaders around increasing student achievement (specifically for students of color), engaging members who have participated in leadership trainings, and creating union roles to build capacity to engage community partners.
Grant considerations are made on the following strategic priorities:
- Initiatives to improve student achievement, particularly in communities of color;
- Engaging NEA members who have been trained in NEA’s leadership trainings or those who have a demonstrated record of activism for the purpose of furthering social justice activism and/or professional issues activism;
- Establishing or institutionalizing new union roles related to parent and/or community engagement;
- Focus on advancing NEA’s priority on racial justice in education.
The application deadline is November 16, 2020. Click here to submit your CAPE Partnership Funding Application, or for questions, please email [email protected]
Center for Social Justice - Racial Justice in Education Grant
The NEA Human and Civil Rights (HCR) Department coordinates and administers the Center for Social Justice (CSJ) funding grants to state and local affiliates to further drive the core strategies of the racial justice in education work: Awareness, Capacity-Building, and Action.
Racial Justice in Education Grant considerations are made inclusive of the following strategic outcomes:
- Explicitly addresses racial equity and justice (fairness and justice across racial groups) and the elimination of racism (racial inequities, disparities and bias) in its goals and plans.
- Deliberate strategies to develop and expand the leadership of people of color; including new teachers of color and other stakeholders of color.
- Specific activities that build connections and solidarity across different racial groups-- internally and externally--to expand multiracial unity and power.
- Organizational change, development and transformation strategies and activities.
Grant funding applications can be submitted on a rolling basis between October 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021. Click here to submit your Racial Justice in Education Grant Application. For questions, please email [email protected].
