Marion County K-12 Private Schools Initiative: Implementation Grants (US)

Eligible applicants are invited to submit a proposal requesting a grant to initiate, enhance or expand compelling programs or projects designed to help improve the academic achievement or the prospects for post-secondary success of their students.

The Endowment will make funding available to eligible private schools and private school networks that submit high-quality proposals to initiate, enhance or expand compelling programs or projects that show promise to improve academic achievement or the prospects for postsecondary success for their students.

Priorities

• Eligible applicants interested in pursuing funding through this initiative may propose programs or projects that address the aim of the initiative through one or more of the following three priorities:
  • Improving academic achievement: Applicants may seek funding to implement programs or projects that aim to directly increase K-12 academic achievement of students attending their schools.
  • Improving post-secondary success: Applicants may seek to implement programs or projects that show promise to equip graduates for future success in post-secondary education or careers.
  • Addressing challenges and opportunities that can affect academic achievement or postsecondary success: Applicants may seek to implement programs or projects to help students overcome non-academic challenges or provide students with opportunities that can, based upon convincing research and other evidence, improve students’ academic achievement or prospects for post-secondary success.

Proposal Elements

• In addition to addressing one or more of the three priorities, proposals and concept papers must include the following elements:
  • A description of the extent to which programs or projects will support the success of populations of students that, as mentioned previously, have historically faced and may be currently facing societal, economic or other challenges to academic achievement.
  • An explanation of how the proposed programs or projects are based on convincing research or other evidence indicating that they show promise to improve academic achievement or the prospects for post-secondary success for students.
  • Data-driven analyses of the challenges faced by students and use of relevant data and information to establish expected outcomes and guide proposed programs and projects.
  • A description of promising collaborations with other organizations that share an interest or have demonstrated expertise in addressing challenges and opportunities faced by students, if applicable to the proposed programs or projects.
  • Articulation of the extent to which proposed programs or projects are informed by and aligned with priorities and requirements of the Indiana State Board of Education, Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), Indiana Commission for Higher Education and other relevant authorities.
  • A commitment to strong and sustained oversight of proposed programs or projects by the applicant’s most senior organizational leaders.
  • A plan to sustain programs and projects that the applicant expects to continue beyond the grant period.

Funding Information

• Each eligible applicant may apply for an implementation grant of up to $500 multiplied by the number of K-12 students enrolled at the applicant’s school(s).
• Duration: Implementation grants may be used for a period of up to five years.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible applicants for the Endowment’s Marion County K-12 Private Schools initiative include accredited, exempt, nonprofit private schools physically located in Marion County. Eligible private schools must be accredited by the Indiana State Board of Education or by a third-party entity recognized by the Indiana State Board of Education. Eligible schools must also be public charities described in Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 501(c) (3) and Code section 509(a)(1) (which incorporates Code sections 170(b)(1)(A)(i) – (vi)), 509(a)(2), or 509(a)(3) (Type I or Type II). Schools that are affiliated together for governance and operating purposes, such as school networks, will be viewed as single applicants and should provide a single submission for each phase of the initiative.
• Although the Endowment often supports K-12 education efforts across the state of Indiana, this initiative is focused only on schools physically located in Marion County. Virtual schools and homeschool cooperatives are also not eligible for this initiative.

For more information, visit Lilly Endowment Inc.