BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH - 2004
Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church

The Women’s Division offers grants up to $6,000 for projects and programs, which address the needs of children and young people between the ages of 5 to 18 years of age in the areas of peacemaking, anti-child abuse and nonviolence.

Types of projects funded by the Brighter Future grant should:

1.         have significant involvement of women and youth at the grassroots level
2.        demonstrate the ability to raise additional funds from other source
3.         provide direct, comprehensive services to young people, and
4.         promote respect for and appreciation of racial/ethnic diversity and cultivate spiritual life and values.

Funding Limitations

The Women’s Division funds small-scale, community and church-based programs and projects. For this reason, groups affiliated with national organizations, hospitals, organizations with budgets totaling more than $5,000,000 are not normally within the realm of funding. Building improvements, computer hardware or one-time only events or activities are not eligible for funding. Projects should demonstrate the ability to raise additional funds from other sources.

This is a one-time grant. Either new or existing projects are eligible to apply. In 2003, the total funding pool was about $70,000. About 10 percent of the applicants each year receive funding. The average grant is about $4,000.

Submitting Grant Applications

The due date for applications is July 1, 2004. Please mail to:

Office of Mission Opportunities
Women’s Division
475 Riverside Drive, Room 1503
New York, NY 10115

Notification

We will respond in writing to all applicants. Grant requests will be voted by Women's Division directors in October 2004. Groups will be notified of acceptance or rejection in November 2004. Funds will be distributed as soon as possible.

Address questions to the Office of Mission Opportunities at the above address, or phone:
212-870-3738, fax: 212-870-3736, or e-mail: MBCoudal@gbgm-umc.org MBCoudal@gbgm-umc.org

In past years, funded projects have included one or more of the following strategies:

promote tolerance
enable youth to recognize and deal constructively with violent or abusive situations
empower youth to develop alternatives to gang violence.
teach conflict resolution and develop peaceful alternatives and resolutions to conflict
create safe zones in neighborhoods
create partnerships between schools and churches to educate young people about the dangers of drugs and guns
provide treatment and prevention measures for drug abuse
provide shelter for victims of abuse and/or violence
provide support groups and counseling for victims of abuse, violence, hate crimes
include parents or significant adults in children's development
treat youth who have been subjected to rape as a weapon of war
educate children and youth for peace
provide multicultural education and promote interfaith understanding
advocate and work for elimination of causes and conditions that victimize, including sexual exploitation,
forced prostitution and sex tourism
educate to eliminate bigotry, bias, racism

Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church

A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH - 2004
Grant Application Cover Sheet

Date of application:___________________________

Organization name:

Address:

Telephone number: _________________ Fax number: ___________

E-mail address:_______________________________________

Director: ______________________________________________ Mrs.___Mr.___Ms.___Miss___

Contact person and title (if not Director):

Project title:

Grant request: $ ___________________________ Period grant will cover:

Total project budget: $ _______________

Total organizational budget (current year): $ ___________________________

Starting date of fiscal year:

Summarize the organization's mission (2-3 sentences):

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Summarize the project or grant request (2-3 sentences), i.e., "This grant will be used....":

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How did you learn about "A Brighter Future for Children and Youth" funding?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church

A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH – 2004
Grant Application

I NARRATIVE (maximum of 5 pages)

A.        Describe your organization

    1.      Problem statement: what problems, needs or issues does it address?
    2.      Briefly describe your organization's history and major accomplishments.
    3.      Describe your current programs and activities.
    4.      Describe how your organization meets the goals of criteria #1 as outlined on page 1.

B.        Describe your request

   1.      Describe the program for which you seek funding, why you decided to pursue this
            project, and whether it is a new or ongoing part of your organization.
   2.     Which of the strategies in criteria #3 as outlined on page 1 does your project address?
            Explain how your program employs each of the strategies your project addresses. Be
            specific about ages served.
   3.      What are the goals, objectives and activities involved in this request? What is your
             timeline?
   4.      Who is your constituency? (Be specific about demographics such as race, class,
             gender,
            ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and people with disabilities.) How are they actively
             involved
            in your work and how do they benefit from this program and/or your organization?
  5.      Describe systemic or social change(s) you are trying to achieve.

II ATTACHMENTS (Supply the following items of information)

A.        Evaluation

    1.      Describe your plan for evaluating the success of the project or for your organization's
             work. Who will be involved in evaluating this work--staff, board, constituents,
             community, consultants? How will the evaluation results be used?

B.        Organizational Structure/Administration

   1.      How representative are the board, staff, volunteers, and members of the communities
            with which you work? Please outline general demographics of the organization
   2.      Who will be involved in carrying out the plans outlined in this request? Include a
             brief paragraph summarizing the qualifications of key individuals involved.
   3.      Provide a list of your board of directors with related community and employment
            affiliations. Indicate gender of each.

C.        Finances

   1.      Organization's current annual operating budget. (See attached budget format)
   2.      Current project budget; indicate this request. (See attached budget format)
   3.      List individually other funding sources for this request. Include amounts and whether
            received, committed, or projected/pending.

D.       Other Supporting Material

  1.      You may include up to three: letters of support/commitment, recent newsletter, articles,
           newspaper clippings, evaluations, or reviews. Photos may also be included. Items will
          not be returned.

E.       Location

  1.      Please give instructions or a map for locating your organization for possible site visits.
          A site visit is not a guarantee of funding.

Please check one:

Organizational_______

Project________

Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church

Grant Application - Budget

If you already prepare organizational and project budgets that approximate this format, please feel free to submit them in their original forms. You may reproduce this form on your computer and/or submit separate space for income and expenses. Please indicate organizational or project on budget forms.

Budget for the period: _______________________ to _______________________

EXPENSES INCOME

ITEM AMOUNT Position FT/PT SOURCE AMOUNT

Salaries & wages       $   _________         _________               Government grants &         $ _________
(breakdown by                                                                             contracts (specify)
individual position    $ _________          _________
and indicate full
or part time)               $   _________          _________              Foundations (specify)         $   _________

$ _________ _________ Corporations $ _________

$ _________ _________

$ _________ _________ Religious institutions $ _________

Fringe benefits &      $ _________              _________           United Way, Combined
payroll taxes                                                                                 Federal Campaign &
                                                                                                     other federated campaigns $   _________

Consultants & $ _________ Individual contributions $ _________
professional fees

Travel $ _________ Fundraising events $ _________

Equipment $ _________ Membership income $ _________

Supplies $ _________ In-kind support $ _________

Training $ _________ Other (earned income, $ _________ consulting fee etc. specify)

Printing & copying $ _________ _________ $ _________

Telephone & fax $ _________ _________ $ _________

Postage & delivery $ _________ _________ $ _________

Rent & utilities $ _________ _________ $ _________

In-kind expense $ _________ _________ $ _________

Other (specify) $ _________ _________ $ _________

$ _________ _________ $ _________

TOTAL EXPENSE $ _________ TOTAL REVENUE $ _________

BALANCE $ _________