Education is the key to opportunity: Children who receive a quality education are more likely to find meaningful work and contribute to their communities as adults. High-performing early-learning providers, schools, and colleges contribute directly to academic success. But many children also benefit from community-based programs that are focused on creating measurable, positive impacts, especially for low-income students. These services are often provided by nonprofits and tribes working in conjunction with education institutions.
We fund innovative, formal collaborations between educational institutions and community organizations or tribal governments—particularly ones with partnerships that have been clearly established, that show evidence of organizations working closely together, and that feature shared goals between partners.
Collaborative projects must include at least two separate entities working together—one being a community organization and the other an educational provider, which can include:
- Early learning providers
- A K-12 school, a network of schools, or an entire school district
- Postsecondary institutions (including two-year community and technical colleges and four-year public and private universities)
Note: For tribal governments applying for funding, in addition to collaborations between tribes and community organizations, we will consider funding collaborations between tribal departments (one of which should be education focused).
Collaborative efforts should be able to demonstrate positive effects on a student’s capacity to engage in schoolwork and with classmates, to make academic progress, and to complete their education. We are also interested in collaborations that incorporate direct community feedback and student involvement into the project.
Because there are different ways to support academic success, we accept Letters of Inquiry (LOI) for collaborative efforts that emphasize academic goals, social and emotional development, family involvement, or community development that will increase student success. Goals can also focus on parents rather than emphasize students.
We will support efforts at a variety of levels—focusing on some students in a school or college, an entire school, or an entire school district or network of schools. We will fund a specific phase of a collaborative project, such as planning, a pilot program, or efforts to grow or scale-up an existing collaboration. Only one phase of a project is eligible at a time for funding. We will also consider funding projects related to building field capacity or sharing knowledge and sound practices such as conferences or reports.
Because we feel that close collaborations can yield greater results for students, our funding will prioritize collaborative projects that propose jointly derived goals, ongoing and frequent communication between partners, an investment from both partners, and a commitment to collecting and sharing data. Letters of support from lead collaboration partners are also requested when organizations submit Letters of Inquiry.
