What happened in Greater Philly funding this July

Last month saw a lot of funding passing through key programs in the city. Here’s our roundup of what went down.

Microgrants for the community

The Fund for Germantown put out a call for community beautification projects, for which they would fund $100-$1000. We’re waiting to hear on those decisions, which were slated to be decided July 31.

LISC is offering Promise Zone grants for community and capacity building– up to $3,000 per organization on a rolling basis.

Community development in West Philadelphia

On the larger side, the Philadelphia Department of Commerce and the North Central Empowerment Zone also have a rolling application process for its North Central Empowerment Zone Neighborhood Economic Development Impact Grant (NEDIG), which provides up to $335,000 to developers.

The Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation (TEC-CDC) is looking for creators to spruce up the parking meters on the 52nd Street commercial corridor. The 52nd Street Parking Meter Art Project will pay up to $4800 total for up to 10 selected artists. Those applications is due August 10, so hurry up, artists!

Arts and Culture

Speaking of the arts, Leeway Foundation’s $2500 Art and Change grant applications closed on August 1, and decisions will be made in the next few weeks.

The Bartol Foundation also awarded 28 grants totaling $160,000 to Philly arts and culture organizations on July 9.

The Forman Family Fund, which is a designated fund within The Philadelphia Foundation, has applications open to in and out of school arts programs serving young people aged 11 to 18. The 10 grants of up to $40,000 are up for application until September 4.

Innovation and social entrepreneurship

The Knight Prototype Fund application, which is doling out grants of $35,000 to innovators for six months of research, is due August 17.

Forbes Under 30 $1 Million Change the World Competition is the largest-ever competition for young social entrepreneurs running for-profit and nonprofit enterprises that address global challenges.

For the children

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia received a $20,000 grant for youth education from Lincoln Financial Foundation.

In Bucks County, the Foundations Community Partnership awarded $160,000 in grant funding to nonprofits supporting the behavioral health and human service needs of children and young adults in Bucks County.

The Lenfest Foundation  committed $4.5 million and the William Penn Foundation  committed $6 million to improve literacy education and outcomes for 48,000 children in kindergarten through third grade. Points for collaboration among the foundations!

Steppingstone Scholars, a nonprofit that serves minority and low-income students with educational enrichment programs, also received a multi-year grant from the Lenfest Foundation, that will provide $400,000 over the next two years.

Training up youth to be philanthropists

Good thing those kids will be funded, because they could grow up to be philanthropists in the future– or this fall.

Coatesville Youth Philanthropy program, funded by the Brandywine Health Foundation, is accepting application until September 22.

Women’s Way, the local catalyst organization aimed at impacting women, girls, and families, has a new program specifically geared toward teen girls. Girls can apply to be part of the program by August 28.

Addressing women’s issues

Women’s Way announced that it would be making a $240,000 funding commitment to Women Against Abuse, Women Organized Against Rape and the Women’s Law Project to work collaboratively in the field of preventing and mitigating domestic and sexual violence.

Adult literacy

The Mayor’s Commission on Literacy, which was recently recognized by the National Coalition for Literacy, was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to support its myPLACE℠ Online program.

Local crowdfunding

Norris Square Neighborhood Project has its funds to build a greenhouse that will increase fresh food access for community members and help youth learn about organic farming, seed germination and saving, and other concepts associated with urban gardening, nutrition, and sustainability. Their HIPGive campaign raised $8,252 on their $8,000 goal.

Next Stop Democracy is finishing up their campaign TODAY, to fund artists to create a better voting experience. You can check out their kickstarter here.

Need more? Here’s some bonus giving to kick off your weekend

The Community Design Collaborative announced its newest round of design grants on July 6. The Collaborative will provide pro bono preliminary design services to nonprofit organizations in Greater Philadelphia.

Rashaun Williams, founder and executive director of Watson Institute Philadelphia–which just finished up its first round of training young social entrepreneurs this July– received $25,000 of in-kind supplies from ACE Hardware, in addition to another $25,000 personally for his work in the community.

Know of something we missed? Email us at news@generocity.org so that we can better cover funding in Greater Philadelphia.

Images via Mo Manklang, New York City Department of Transportation’s Flickr, Leeway Foundation, and Norris Square Neighborhood Project