Deadline: 1-Jun-22
The Michelson 20MM Foundation is currently accepting applications for its Spark Grants to introduce a process that can fill urgent needs for education organizations that are well-aligned with the focus areas.
The Foundation seeks to fund highly impactful initiatives that would not be possible if they needed to wait through a traditional grant decision timeline.
Focus Areas
- Research the current gaps in understanding the scope and size of automatic textbook billing in California;
- Support the implementation of California’s historic investment in the Zero Textbook Cost program in the California Community College system;
- Execute public education campaigns targeting media outlets with national broad reaching readership to educate policy makers and the broader public on course material affordability issues within higher education;
- Analyze the collection and use of students’ data within courseware and digital textbooks;
- Research that identify the impacts open educational resources have on student outcomes, including retention and success.
Funding Information
- Grant ask is up to $25,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- For this round of funding, they have decided to focus the impact on organizations that are doing work in California.
- Organizations whose work does not impact California will be ineligible for this opportunity.
Criteria
- For this cycle of funding they have decided to focus the impact on organizations that are doing work in California. Organizations whose work does not impact California will be ineligible for this opportunity.
- Preference will be given to grants that cover a specific self-contained milestone focus including inflection points, things that may open up a new foothold with a partner (i.e. enabling a new partnership with a market leader), or a new proof of concept.
- For this funding cycle they will not be funding general operating expenses such as rent, utilities, server costs, etc.
- The Foundation will not be funding initiatives that provide direct assistance to students during this Michelson Spark Grant round (e.g. laptops or hotspots for remote learning). While they realize there is a tremendous need in the communities for this type of direct support, they are leveraging the funding to effect broader systemic change at this time.
For more information, visit https://20mm.org/spark-grants/