The Women’s and Girls’ Fund in the US

Deadline: 11-Nov-21

The Kern Community Foundation is seeking applications for the Women’s and Girls’ Fund to transform the lives of women and girls in Kern County by mobilizing the power and passion of women working together.

In particular, they educate to create awareness of women’s and girls’ needs unmet by current strategies; they ENDOW a permanent fund whose annual yield supports programs benefiting women and girls; and they EMPOWER one another and the girls to become philanthropists and advocates of positive social change.

The Women’s and Girls’ Fund values social change grantmaking that focuses on long-term solutions to societal problems facing women and girls in all parts of Kern County. they believe that when women and girls prosper, communities thrive

Focus Area

The focus for 2021-2025 grants – Education
The Women’s and Girls’ Fund prioritizes requests designed to increase passion and enthusiasm for learning while addressing issues pertaining to Educational Attainment:
- Grades K-8
  - Increase the percentage of girls scoring in the “advance/proficient” level on the California Standardized Test or equivalent test.
  - Increase literacy including educational success for English learners.
  - Encourage interest in STEM fields of study.
- Grades 9-12
  - Increase the percentage of girls scoring in the “advance/proficient” level on the California Standardized Test or equivalent test.
  - Decrease need for remediation in math, English, and reading in college.
  - Improve success in A-G course requirements for college readiness.
  - Increase the graduation rate from high school.
  - Increase literacy including educational success for English learners.
  - Provide vocational training with an emphasis on living-wage occupations.
  - Provide opportunity for success in STEM fields of study. Post-high school/adult education
  - Increase the graduation rate from college.
  - Provide opportunity for success in STEM fields of study.
  - Provide vocational training with an emphasis on living-wage occupations.
  - Increase literacy

Funding Information

Total grant dollars available in 2021: Approximately $60,000
Maximum grant request: $25,000

Eligible Projects

They value the direct-service work provided by Kern nonprofits and will consider funding these efforts. However, they look for projects that go beyond direct service to:
- address root causes of problems faced by women and girls
- create underlying and sustainable social change for women and girls as a group
- explore new approaches to solving an issue when status quo has limited effect
- ensure sustainable impact beyond the year that grant monies are received
- cause shifts in individual/community behaviors
- increase skills and/or access to resources for constituents, propelling them to self-sufficiency
- produce leadership from the constituency most directly affected
- extend impact beyond the women and girls immediately involved in the project
- provide potential for replication to multiple sites/communities
- develop ongoing collaboration between the applicant organization and other organizations in the community.

Eligibility Criteria

As a field of interest fund of the Kern Community Foundation, they comply with the Foundation’s grantmaking guidelines. Organizations should have a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit designation or fiscal agent and be registered with Kern Community Foundation. All organizations seeking funds must have current, Silver-level participant status on GuideStar. All must have a presence in Kern County and all programs must benefit women or girls within Kern County.
Funding is typically for one year only. Multi-year grant requests may be considered, but applicant should also be prepared to accept one year’s funding
only. All requested follow-up reports for previous grants from the Foundation (including The Women’s and Girls’ Fund) must be on file before an agency can
apply for additional funding.
Nonprofits submitting full applications should have their organizational profile online at Kern Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Search. Contact the Foundation
for more information and assistance.
The Women’s and Girls’ Fund WILL NOT provide grants to: individuals, political campaigns, one-time events, capital fund drives, litigation, programs inconsistent
with non-discrimination statutes, religious causes, endowments, reimbursements, scholarships, businesses or for-profit organizations, government agencies except
public school districts (although they prefer to grant to a foundation associatedwith the district), programs that do not specifically address the needs of Kern
County women or girls, or any organization that limits options.