Monday, November 7, 2005: Volume #2, Issue #95
The VERB Weekly Email Digest
Edited by Sophy Pich, VERB Project Associate

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In This Week's Issue

1. Announcements
• Legacies of War Benefit
• Advanced Manufacturing Conference Call
• PandemicFlu.gov
2. Promising Practices
• Fundraising in the Wake of Disaster
3. News
• CMAA Receives $250g to Renovate Building
• Vietnamese AO Victims Visit America
• George HW Bush, Bill Clinton express gratitude to President Tran ...
• Group's Report Questions Vang Trial
• Loring: US Settlement Was Its Own Genocide
• Hmong Hunters Eager for Season Opener
• a New School's 'Broad View'
• Freddie Mac, Asian-American Groups to Help Vietnamese, Cambodian ...
• Report on Chai Soua Vang Trial Released
• Hmong Veterans Recall US Secret War
• Hmong Keep Traditions Alive at New Year Celebration
4. Funding Opportunities
• California Story Fund
• MTV and Youth Venture
• National Education Association and Youth Service America
• James Irvine Foundation
• Disability Funders Network
• The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council (CA)
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
• Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Program
• American Legacy Foundation
• Talbots Charitable Foundation
5. Resources
• Free Fundraising Software
• Fundraising Guide

I. Announcements

Legacies of War Benefit

Join us for a night devoted to building new legacies.

November 17, 2005
6:30pm - 9:00pm

Come out to support Legacies of War in launching a national fundraising campaign to develop a museum exhibition about the history and legacies of the secret bombings in Laos. The event will include:

• A special preview of historic drawings done by survivors of the bombings, which will be featured in the museum exhibition.
• Laotian appetizers, music, & cocktails.
• A silent auction with items of tantalizing proportions.
• Special guests Ambassador Phanthong Phommahaxay, Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Bobby Muller, formerly with the Int'l Campaign to Ban Landmines and leaders in the Laotian-American community.

Suggested Donation: $20 or 217,300 Lao Kip - pay at the door

The Josephine Butler Parks Center
2437 Fifteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 10016
Tel. 202-462-7275

Background: Laos is officially the most bombed country in history. During the Vietnam War, the US military dropped over 80 million anti-personnel cluster bombs on Laotian territory. Up to 30% of those bombs did not explode. As a result, someone in Laos is injured or killed by unexploded ordnance (UXO) every day. The Legacies of War project was created to engage the Laotian Diaspora and international community in raising awareness of the need for increased UXO clean-up efforts in Laos and to aid survivors.

Supporting organizations: Center for Hmong Studies, Fund for Reconciliation & Development (FFRD), Laotian-American National Alliance (LANA), Laotian American Women's Alliance (LANA), Newcomer Community Service Center, Public Interest Projects, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), TeAda Productions, ThaiLinks, United Laotian Community Development (ULCD)

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Advanced Manufacturing Conference Call

Second in a Five-Call Conference Call Series on Apprenticeship Training Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services

Join us on Wednesday, November 9th at 2:00 PM EST as we conduct the second of our five conference call series on apprenticeship training in the advanced manufacturing business sector.

Many faith-based and community organizations are unaware of employment and training opportunities in their own communities. There are many emerging industries in your local communities, and businesses in these industries are eager to work with reliable partners to meet their workforce needs. Additionally, many businesses provide important training for these jobs. This series of toll-free conference calls is designed to help educate FBCOs about emerging apprenticeship occupations and training opportunities in their communities.

The second conference call will feature the advanced manufacturing industry. Mr. Stephen Mandes, Executive Director of the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, Inc., and a member of the federal Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship, will discuss apprenticeship occupations in this growing industry and how you can connect those you serve with employment opportunities.

The call will last for an hour with the presenter speaking for about 20 minutes, and then we’ll have about a half hour for Q and A. Please note, that we only have 125 lines for this call. Only the first 125 people to call in will have the opportunity to participate. Callers can dial in for the call 10 minutes prior to the 2:00 PM start.

We hope you can join us for this call!
When: Wednesday, November 9, at 2:00 PM, EST
Conference Call Line: 888-272-7337
Conference ID: 3120361, then the # sign.
Website: www.doleta.gov/atels_bat

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PandemicFlu.gov

The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new website - PandemicFlu.gov - to provide comprehensive government-wide information on pandemic influenza and avian influenza. In the event of a pandemic, PandemicFlu.gov will be the authoritative site for U.S. government information on the pandemic. Visit the site now for general information on pandemic flu as well as an online copy of the the HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan, a detailed guide for how our nation's health care system can prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic.

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II. Promising Practices

Fundraising in the Wake of Disaster

GuideStar

It may seem hard to fundraise when there are so many pressing disasters in the world, but if your nonprofit has been actively engaged in cultivating donors, you may find that, rather than encountering donor fatigue, you receive an outpouring of compassion.

The recent disasters are waking people up to all the real need in the world, and many are feeling more generous than ever, even to local causes. Loyal donors don't slip away in a crisis. On the contrary, they seem to have a special "extra pocket" out of which they give for disaster relief in addition to their regular contributions to their favorite organizations.

The last quarter of the year is a huge fundraising season, and since the hurricanes struck, many groups we're working with are finding that their fundraising activities are as strong as ever. Although donor fatigue may be a reality for some international nonprofits, it doesn't seem to be having a large effect on local causes. Just 10 days after Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast, the American Red Cross chapter in Hampton Roads, Virginia, went ahead with its scheduled fundraising breakfast on September 15 to raise funds for its local operating budget, not Katrina relief.

"If we had canceled it, then we would have lost the opportunity tell our story to the 650 people who needed to hear it most," said CEO Heather Livingston. "We had people camping on our doorstep because they needed help from the storm."

The message Livingston wanted to get out is that in addition to working with evacuees and sending teams to the crisis, it deals with local emergencies every day-whether it's a house fire, heart attack, accident, the need for blood, or staying in touch with loved ones serving in Iraq.

Her chapter raised more than $200,000 in gifts and pledges (not including money earmarked for Katrina); it was the most successful fundraising event in the chapter's history.

Read on...

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III. News

CMAA Receives $250g to Renovate Building
Lowell Sun
November 1, 2005

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Vietnamese AO Victims Visit America
VietNamNet Bridge
November 1, 2005

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George HW Bush, Bill Clinton Express Gratitude to President Tran ...
OhmyNews International
November 2, 2005

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Group's Report Questions Vang Trial
Pioneer Press
November 3, 2005

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Loring: US Settlement Was Its Own Genocide
MaineToday.com
November 3, 2005

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Hmong Hunters Eager for Season Opener
KTSP.com
November 3, 2005

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A New School's 'Broad View'
Fresno Bee
November 4, 2005

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Freddie Mac, Asian-American Groups to Help Vietnamese, Cambodian ...
Yahoo! News
November 4, 2005

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Report on Chai Soua Vang Trial Released
St. Paul Asian American Press
November 4, 2005

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Hmong Veterans Recall US Secret War
Seattle Post Intelligencer
November 5, 2005

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Hmong Keep Traditions Alive at New Year Celebration
Marshfield News Herald
November 6, 2005

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IV. Grants

1. (National)
   California Story Fund

   Hurricane Katrina-related proposals sought for December funding cycle of California Story Fund. For the December round of funding for the California Story Fund, the Council is seeking proposals that use the humanities to document stories of Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina now living in California. For such projects, the Council will award up to $15,000. To view the California Story Fund guidelines, visit http://www.calhum.org/guidelines/guidelines_ca_story.htm.

   California Story Fund online application now available. An online application for the California Story Fund is available at http://www.calhum.org/guidelines/guidelines_ca_story_apply.htm. All applications must be submitted electronically via the CCH website by 5 pm on December 1. The California Story Fund supports humanities projects that bring to light compelling stories from California’s diverse communities. To view previously funded California Story Fund projects, visit http://www.calhum.org/programs/story_intro.htm.

   Workshop update. CCH is holding a workshop in Los Angeles on December 10 to provide information on the California Stories initiative and associated grant lines.

2. (National)
   MTV and Youth Venture

   MTV: Music Television and Youth Venture are offering Hope Venture Grants of up to $1,000 to support young people who want to launch a venture—an organization, club, or business—that will aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

   First priority will be given to proposals that support the creation of sustainable ventures that aid citizens and communities affected by the disaster. A second priority will be proposals to start organizations solely for the purpose of raising and distributing funds for those in need.

   Hope Venture Grants will be offered every week for the next six months to groups of two or more young people (ages 13-20) with the most compelling venture ideas to assist the people and communities affected. Applications for one-time projects will not be considered. All entries must be postmarked by March 17, 2006, and received by March 24, 2006.

   Deadline: March 17, 2006 (Rolling)

3. (National)
   National Education Association and Youth Service America

   Youth Leaders for Literacy, an initiative of the National Education Association and Youth Service America works to help youth direct their enthusiasm and creativity into reading- related service projects. During a six-week program period and beyond, the program's organizers seek to create a groundswell of literacy service in communities across the country.

   Grant applications should highlight youth leadership in developing and implementing a literacy project to begin on NEA's Read Across America Day, March 2, 2006, and that concludes during YSA's National Youth Service Days, April 21-23.

   Each year the NEA awards twenty grants of $500 each to student-led initiatives. Applicants must be age 21 or younger, and can be either individuals or groups.

   To be eligible for a grant, applicants must include a scheduled activity (e.g., read-aloud session, trip to the library, book-making, etc.) for each week of the project period as part of the proposed service project.

   Deadline: November 21, 2005

4. (National)
   James Irvine Foundation

   The James Irvine Foundation has announced the launch of the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards, which will recognize leaders who are advancing innovative and effective solutions to significant social issues in the state of California. In concert with the foundation's mission to expand opportunity for the people of California, the Leadership Awards are designed both to support effective leaders and to advance solutions to the social issues that the leader's project or organization is addressing. The program will provide up to $2.25 million over three years.

   The foundation is currently seeking nominations of individual leaders, or leadership groups, working in any field—such as education, health, housing, economic development, or the environment—in the public, private, or nonprofit sector. The awards will honor those whose demonstrated leadership is: significant, effective, innovative, inclusive, substantial, and yet-to-be celebrated.

   The new program will reward four to six recipients annually with $125,000 of flexible resources to support the work of their organization and to allow them to engage in professional development activities. Of the total awards, at least $100,000 will be designated for core support of the leader's project or organization and up to $25,000 for the leader's own professional development. The awards also provide opportunities for strategic communications activities, undertaken jointly by awards recipients and the foundation, to educate policymakers and practitioners of the challenges and promising solutions implemented by each leader.

   The foundation invites third party nominations. Awardees will be selected by an independent committee comprised of nine distinguished California leaders from a diverse array of backgrounds and experience.

   Nomination forms, as well as detailed information on the awards criteria, selection process, and timeline are available from the foundation's Web site.

5. (National)
   Disability Funders Network

   A program of the Disability Funders Network, the William Diaz Impact Award honors grantmakers who have a positive impact on the disability community and whose work encourages the foundation community to be more inclusive of disability. DFN created the award to identify and recognize grant-makers committed to disability funding, especially those whose work has a significant impact on people with disabilities who are also members of other minority groups.

   DFN will present the award to a funder who has awarded grants that have significantly enhanced and/or supported programs that break down physical and attitudinal barriers that keep people with disabilities from participating fully in their communities and whose work encourages the foundation community to promote inclusion, integration, and equal rights. Eligible funders are those non-governmental entities/individuals that engage primarily in grantmaking. Funding areas may include, but are not restricted to, legislation, policy development, programs and services, education, and research. The work and impact of the award recipient will be highlighted in/on internal and external publications, listservs, and Web sites. Award recipients will also be presented with a monetary gift and plaque in recognition of their work. The presentation of the William Diaz Impact Award will be made in conjunction with the DFN's events at the Council on Foundations' annual conference.

   Nominations are open to the general public. Nominees are not required to be members of the Disability Funders Network. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

   Deadline: January 6, 2006

6. (California)
   The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council

   The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council, a collaborative land conservation and youth investment foundation, has launched a new grantmaking program that will provide $2.6 million in 2006 to connect underserved youth with the outdoors. The Youth Investment Program will support open space, parks, and programs in both urban and rural areas of Northern and Central California. This funding is the first phase of a ten-year, $30 million commitment by the Stewardship Council.

   The council intends to fund programs that give underserved youth in Northern and/or Central California greater access to meaningful outdoor experiences in urban or rural settings. The foundation also seeks to improve the cultural relevance of programs to better serve California's diverse youth; make the outdoors a more integral part of young people's lives to improve their general health and well-being; help young people develop the curiosity, self-confidence, and leadership skills that will help them thrive; and improve the infrastructure of urban parks and open spaces.

   The foundation will accept a wide-range of proposals for funding, including such examples as after-school programs with an outdoor emphasis or wilderness-based organizations seeking to offer transforming outdoor experiences; efforts to invigorate run-down parks or to provide maintenance, upkeep, or acquisition of parks and open space; efforts to incorporate youth into a regional or local habitat restoration project; and programs that provide multiple outdoor adventures that take place in urban parks and culminate with an extended wilderness backpacking trip.

   Grant categories include Small Grants, Midsize Grants, and Partnership Grants, with grant amounts expected to range from $1,000 to $200,000.

   Deadline: Various

7. (National)
   Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation

   Fit Together, a grant program of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation will provide funding and technical assistance to rural North Carolina communities that seek to improve community health by implementing innovative and integrated strategies to increase physical activity. Projects will utilize a comprehensive "5Ps approach" developed by Active Living by Design, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

   The Fit Together program provides funding to create opportunities for increased physical activity in rural counties as defined by the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center. To see if a county qualifies, visit the REDC website.

   Up to five grantees will be chosen to develop and maintain interdisciplinary community partnerships that seek to implement programs, policies, physical projects, and promotional strategies that increase access and reduce barriers to opportunities for active living.

   Selected nonprofit or government organizations will receive up to $40,000 per year for three years (a total of up to $120,000).

   Deadline: December 16, 2005

8. (National)
   Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Program

   The Lemelson-MIT Program works to inspire young people to pursue creative lives and careers and, in particular, to engage in invention and pursue sustainable new solutions to real-world problems.

   As part of this effort, the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams program supports a non-competitive, team-based approach to invention and innovation among high school students. To that end, the program annually awards grants to teams based on the inventiveness, ingenuity, and feasibility of their project proposals.

   InvenTeams projects have spanned many fields, from assistive devices to environmental technologies and consumer goods. Applicants are encouraged to consider the problems or needs of the world's poorest people (those earning $2/day) in brainstorming project ideas.

   Up to eighteen grants of up to $10,000 each are available. Grant funding is intended for research, materials, and learning experiences related to developing the team's invention; it may not be expended on capital equipment or professional services. In recognition of their dedication, teachers who facilitate extracurricular invention projects can designate up to $2,000 of their grant toward a teacher's stipend.

   High school science, mathematics, and technology teachers—or teams of teachers—at public, private, and vocational schools are eligible to apply. Intra- and inter-school collaborations are also welcome to apply. Team diversity and inclusiveness with school activities and classes is encouraged. Teams may range in size from a small extracurricular club of five members to entire classes of thirty or more students.

   Deadline: May 6, 2006

9. (National)
   American Legacy Foundation

   Established as part of a settlement agreement between forty-six state attorneys general and a group of tobacco companies, the American Legacy Foundation seeks to reduce tobacco usage in the United States. The organization has adopted two goals toward that end: 1) arming all young people with the knowledge and tools to reject tobacco; and 2) eliminating disparities in access to tobacco prevention and cessation services.

   Twice a year, the foundation supports a limited number of grants under its Small Innovative Grants Program. Through this program, Legacy supports projects that advance creative, promising solutions based on sound principles of tobacco control to remedy the harm caused by tobacco use in America. The program is designed to seed new projects or enable an organization to pilot a new idea or approach. Applications must address one or both of Legacy's goals.

   Legacy issues renewable grants for up to $100,000 for the first year of funding. Upon invitation, grantees may apply for a second year of funding for up to 50 percent of the amount awarded in the first year. Grantees must provide a 1:1 cash match for second-year funding. A match is encouraged but not required for the first year of funding.

   Funding is available only to state or local political subdivisions and legally constituted tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations based in the forty-six states, the District of Columbia, and five territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) identified in the Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco product manufacturers (http://www.naag.org/issues/issue-tobacco.php). Indian reservations, tribes, or tribal organization located within the forty-six settling states or non-governmental entities that serve such a reservation may also apply for funding. (Legacy cannot award grants to organizations in Florida, Texas, Mississippi, or Minnesota.)

   Legacy will not award a grant to any applicant that is in current receipt of any grant monies or in-kind contributions from any tobacco manufacturer, distributor, or other tobacco-related entity.

   Deadline: February 15, 2006 (Letter of Intent)

10. (National)
    Talbots Charitable Foundation

    National apparel retailer Talbots, Inc. (http://www.talbots.com/) has launched its 2006 Women's Scholarship Program, a fund that annually awards $100,000 in college scholarships to outstanding women seeking a bachelor's or associate's degree later in life.

    Sponsored by the Talbots Charitable Foundation, the Talbots Women's Scholarship Fund annually awards five $10,000 scholarships and fifty $1,000 scholarships to women throughout the U.S. Since its inception in 1997, the fund has awarded college scholarships to 440 women, ranging in age from their late 20s to their early 60s.

    Eligible applicants must be women currently residing in the U.S. who earned a high school diploma or GED at least ten years ago; are currently seeking a degree from an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school; and have at least two full-time semesters or twenty-four credits remaining to complete their undergraduate degree.

    The postmark deadline for entries is January 3, 2006, or until one thousand eligible applications have been received.

    Deadline: January 3, 2006

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V. Resources

Free Fundraising Software to Aid Long-Term Relief Efforts for Hurricane Katrina Victims

FundRaiser Software is offering a free copy of FundRaiser Basic to nonprofit agencies that were themselves hurt by the hurricane or that have an ongoing committment to helping meet the needs of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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This Guide features twenty grant proposals that were funded by some of the nation's most influential grantmakers. Each proposal-reprinted in full-includes a critique by the program officer, executive director, or other decision-maker who granted the proposal.

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If you wish to contribute to the VERB Weekly e-Digest, please send all materials to sophy@searac.org