Southern Partners Fund Justice Grants in Tennessee

Southern Partners Fund Justice Grants in Tennessee is sponsored by Southern Partners Fund. Southern Partners Fund provides Tennessee nonprofits with support for grassroots community organizing focused on social, economic, and environmental justice. Organizations working on education reform, immigrant rights, and voter engagement in rural communities may be eligible.

Application Process - Southern Partners Fund Grantee Partner Spotlights General Eligibility Criteria for Organizations Seeking a Grant (applies to all grantmaking funds): Must be a rural community organization, coalition, or network in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia.

Must be governed (in majority) by leaders of the same race(s) and class as the organization’s target population(s) Must use grassroots organizing strategies that strive to build leadership from within the communities served in their fight for justice. Hubert E. Sapp Regular Grant Cycle Justice Fund for Disaster Relief and Renewal Hubert E.

Sapp Regular Grant Cycle Hubert Ellis Sapp, a transformative visionary and grassroots organizer, was instrumental in turning the concept of SPF into a reality. In the wake of Hubert’s 2021 passing, SPF added his name to the Regular Grant Cycle (RGC) to honor his enduring legacy, one that now serves over 150 rural community groups in 12 southeastern states. Eligibility criteria to be considered for a Hubert E.

Sapp Regular Grant Cycle award, the following criteria must be met: Applicants may request general support or project support. Applicants must have operating budgets of $500k or less to receive general support. Organizations with operating budgets between $500k and $1.

2m can still apply, but for project support only. Organizations with budgets above $1. 2m are not eligible for funding from SPF.

A site visit is required for all applicants. A phone or virtual interview may suffice for previously funded organizations. Members from SPF’s grants committee will contact organizations being considered to schedule an interview.

SPF’s grants committee, made up of SPF members, makes grants decisions, which are then ratified by the Board. Grantees that have already received funding must have all outstanding final reports on the use of their grant, as described in their application, submitted for new requests to be considered. First-time RGC grant recipients are limited to $5,000.

SPF highly encourages all grantees to use the Grantee Portal in order to apply and track all grant applications. In order to access the Grantee Portal, applicants must first create an account on Fluxx, SPF’s grantmaking management software, by following the instructions linked here .

SPF’s Grants Department reviews all applications and is available to answer any questions regarding the Grantee portal, application process or required supporting documents. If you would like to receive an application in Spanish, please contact Fernando Cuevas, Jr. at 407- 557-5531. SPF acepta solicitudes en español.

También tenemos copias de nuestra solicitud en español.

Si necesita una copia, por favor contacte a Fernando Cuevas, Jr. Regular Grant Cycle Calendar RFP Release Date Proposal Deadline SPF Grants Panel Review Announcement of Grants Decisions April 6th May 6th May – September Early October Early April Early May May – September Early October Justice Fund for Disaster Relief and Renewal Climate change and the increasing frequency and severity of environmental disasters poses an alarming threat to human life, dignity, and economic development in the rural South.

When Katrina and Rita devastated rural communities from Florida to Louisiana 20+ years ago, SPF brought funders together to create a funding collaborative focused on aid and equitable redevelopment. SPF pointed out that the hardest-hit and slowest-to-recover communities, due to lesser-developed infrastructure, are always communities with the lowest income, often of color. New Orleans’ 9 th Ward was a glaring example.

SPF argued that the goal of disaster relief must be to help these communities attain new standards of political and economic health and wholeness, rather than restoring their previous underserved and impoverished norms. Like Katrina, COVID-19 laid bare all of the preexisting inequities in this country through a different lens.

Inequities that together, resulted in a disproportionately devastating impact on lower-income communities, predominately of color, both in the healthcare-desert-laden rural South, and in the U.S. at-large. Today, SPF’s Justice Fund for Disaster Relief and Renewal helps rural communities use redevelopment as an opportunity to convert a disaster into a launchpad for racial and economic equity.

COVID-19 and all of the recent natural disasters that have plagued the rural South have presented continued opportunities for this type of renewal, and SPF urges organizations in need of disaster relief that meet the foundation’s general eligibility criteria to apply for a JFDRR grant. SPF highly encourages all grantees to use the Grantee Portal in order to apply and track all grant applications.

In order to access the Grantee Portal, applicants must first create an account on Fluxx, SPF’s grantmaking management software, by following the instructions linked here . SPF’s Grants Department reviews all applications and is available to answer any questions regarding the Grantee portal, application process or required supporting documents.

Applicants must meet SPF’s guidelines and focus on grassroots community organizing in the rural South in one or more of SPF’s primary or other focus areas. Existing grantee partners and organizations that have not received prior SPF funding are welcome to apply. However, discretionary fund resources are limited.

As such, organizations may submit a maximum of two requests per year, not exceeding a total annual reward of $3,500. Discretionary Funding Areas General Discretionary: community organizing activities or small projects that aim to create change in SPF’s 12-state region. Travel Assistance: conference travel and participation or civic engagement activities.

Requests can be made through SPF’s Grantee Portal and will ask for the legal organization name, address, phone number, and e-mail, along with the name of the organization’s executive director or board chair. 1. Which of the three discretionary funding areas (listed above) is the group applying for?

2. Include the requested grant amount and the number of communities or people the grant would impact. 3.

Please also attach a short narrative that includes: Outline of purpose and timeline; How it relates to grassroots organizing; Benefit to organization and community, and 4. Expected outcomes and achievements; 5. Most recent board-approved operating budget; 6.

Current list of board members with demographics and email addresses; 7. A copy of the applying organization’s IRS 501c3 letter or a letter from a fiscal sponsor on the sponsor’s letterhead indicating that the sponsor agrees to take fiscal responsibility for the applicant; a. If using a fiscal sponsor, the fiscal sponsor must also submit a financial accounting of the award detailing all expenses following the grant term’s completion.

SPF highly encourages all grantees to use the Grantee Portal in order to apply and track all grant applications. In order to access the Grantee Portal, applicants must first create an account on Fluxx, SPF’s grantmaking management software, by following the instructions linked here .

SPF’s Grants Department reviews all applications and is available to answer any questions regarding the Grantee portal, application process or required supporting documents. Donation Amount (Required) Do you want to make this a monthly donation? (Required) Select Payment Method (Required) Credit Card Info (Required) In order to make an offline donation we ask that you please follow these instructions: 1.

Make a check payable to "Southern Partners Fund" 2. On the memo line of the check, please indicate that the donation is for "Southern Partners Fund Donations" 3. Please mail your check to: All contributions will be gratefully acknowledged and are tax deductible.