Grants

A list of Prior Grantees is HERE.

Grants Program Objective

Repair is a gateway for learning far more than how to solder and sew. While students learning hands-on technologies is celebrated, the Grants Program’s objective is more fundamental.

The Culture of Repair Project helps secure funding and other resources to support K-12 educators and advocates who are: 1) teaching the thinking skills, conceptual frameworks and mindset that undergird a culture of repair, and 2) cultivating students’ agency to take full ownership of their things through daring to repair.

Please review the following pages carefully to learn about priorities and the types of projects supported:

Mission
Resources from Existing Programs
Prior Grantees
Repair in Schools and Educational Non-Profits
Newsletters

Proposal Criteria

All proposals must develop publishable resources for bringing repair into K-12 educational settings. CRP will support developing programs that ultimately create resources, but will not support one-off or ongoing programming without resource creation.

Priority will be given to projects that:

• Lean into the environmental impact of repair.

• Develop resources for integrating teaching about repair into public school curriculum, meeting standards requirements.

• Create resources commensurate with Fixing Things for the Future, Make It Work! or Creating a Repair Mindset Toolkit.

Applicants’ projects should rest on a foundation of repairing physical objects, address learning beyond technical skills, and be designed to have multiplier effects.

Proposals will not be considered that support ongoing operations, or are for a small portion of a project’s total funding. Grants are not intended to be ongoing, but to support developing, refining, and proving effective approaches to teaching repair, and making the accompanying classroom materials, guides, curricula and/or pedagogy widely available.

Grantees should consider copyrighting their resources under a Creative Commons license. Information is here.

Request for Proposals

Key Points:

1. The central question informing applicant evaluation is:
   “How will this project advance a culture of repair?”

2. The project must rest on a foundation of repairing physical objects.

Registered Non-Profit — 501(c)(3):
Grants can only be made to organizations that are registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3), or that are fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3). Applications are made to The Culture of Repair Project Grants Program. Winning applicants are recommended for funding by a donor advised fund which is restricted to 501(c)-(3)’s.

Grant Amounts:

Standard Grants: $1,000 to $5,000. Examples of grants on the lower end of this range might be for work focused on speaking, publishing existing materials, or some other mode of disseminating existing resources and ideas. Grants on the upper end might be used to develop new initiatives and publish resources.

Exceptional Grants: Proposals up to $10,000 will be considered for stellar projects that address ALL focus areas, are integrated into a school’s existing programming or curriculum, and publish materials. Proposals for this level funding that do not address ALL focus areas will not be considered.

Timing and Process:

• Proposals may be submitted at any time.

• Applicants should allow at least eight weeks for a preliminary response.

• If accepted, applicants should allow at least eight weeks for evaluation. A site visit or Zoom interview may be requested as part of the review process.

• If approved, candidates should allow at least eight weeks to be funded.

Sharing:

The Culture of Repair Project places a premium on amplifying the impact of grantees’ work.

Awardees will be featured in Culture of Repair Project newsletters.

On project completion, awardees are expected to be willing to share meaningful aspects of their work. Sharing would take the form appropriate for the content and could range from publishing new resources on the applicant’s website, to readiness to zoom with someone interested in doing a similar project.

Grantees may request an additional $500 to support sharing their work with other educators and advocates at conferences, panels, or professional development events.

Grantees may be invited to participate in an online discussion among current and past grantees. The purpose of the gathering would be to network and share ideas, information and resources.

Submission:
Via email:  cultureofrepair@gmail.com
Only submit PDF’s. Please do not submit other file formats.

Include: 

1. Proposal (maximum 5,000 characters including spaces; excluding budget, 501(c)(3) documentation and any supplementary materials)

2. Budget

3. Documentation supporting 501(c)(3) status or fiscal sponsorship, including nine-digit EIN (Employer Identification Number). A) For nonprofits, for example, an IRS 501(c)(3) affirmation letter or other proof that the Internal Revenue Service currently recognizes your organization as one to which contributions are tax deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. B) For fiscally sponsored organizations, a letter from your fiscal sponsor confirming current sponsorship, accompanied by documentation supporting your fiscal sponsor’s 501(c)(3) status

4. Contact information: Applicant name, email, phone number; organization’s website; and, if fiscally sponsored, fiscal sponsor’s contact information and website

5. Supplementary materials are optional (e.g., letters of recommendation, media coverage, etc.)

6. How you heard about the grant opportunity

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES 

All Proposals Should:

1. Not exceed 5,000 characters (including spaces; excluding budget, 501(c)(3) documentation and any supplementary materials).  

2. Begin with a summary description of the project, not more than 300 characters (including spaces).

3. Discuss logistics, timing and cost.

4. Address these core elements: 
   * Alignment with The Culture of Repair Project vision and mission.
   * Environmental sustainability.
   * Grounding in repairing physical objects.
   * Learning beyond technical skills.
   * Developing resources to support others working to bring repair into educational settings.

Reporting

Reporting is intended to be meaningful and non-burdensome.

Required: Interview after Grantee completes the funded project.
Grantee may be invited to submit written material supporting the interview.

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