Foundation Funding Sources for Tribal Libraries

Updated 11 August 2000.

Welcome. Below are links to foundation funding sources for North American Indian tribal libraries. Please email your comments and questions regarding this site to Elaine Cubbins, MA-IRLS at ecubbins@u.arizona.edu

Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts (AGM)
"AGM is the regional association of grantmakers serving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the premier organization in New England supporting nonprofits engaged in corporate and foundation fundraising. This dual focus, articulated in the Mission and Goals statements, uniquely positions AGM to bridge the gap between grantmakers and grantseekers, providing both communities with professional support and skill development opportunities, while elevating the impact of philanthropy." A list of AGM members, some with Web pages, is available online.

Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
Since 1989 this foundation has funded 143 family literacy programs in 39 states. Total funding is for $500,000 per year, and no grant is over $50,000. The focus is to realize that home is the child's first school and parents are the child's first teachers, and therefore to strengthen intergenerational family literacy by parents and children reading together. Some Indian groups that have received funding include:

• Native Americans for Community Action, Flagstaff: Families and Schools Together
• Southern Ute Community Action Programs, Inc., Ignacio: La Plata Family Literacy Coalition
• The Denver Indian Center: Old Wisdom, New Knowledge
• Mt. Pleasant Area Volunteers: Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Intergenerational Literacy Project
• The Seattle Indian Center: Seattle Indian Center Family Literacy Project

To be put on the mailing list for the 1999 funding cycle, contact:

The Ford Foundation
The following areas are the focus of this Foundation:

• Asset Building and Community Development
  • Human Development and Reproductive Health
  • Economic Development
  • Community and Resource Development
• Education, Media, Arts, and Culture
  • Education, Knowledge, and Religion
  • Media, Arts, and Culture
• Peace and Social Justice
  • Human Rights and International Cooperation
  • Governance and Civil Society

Recent Grants give an idea of the types of projects that have been funded recently. Many are to sovereign nations outside of the United States, and librarians are included in the awards. This is another funding source that may require creative writing effort, but awards are large, and often span several years. Many areas of focus may be appropriate to the tribal library, depending on your project.

The Foundation Center
A clearinghouse providing information on foundation and corporate funding available to grantseekers. Available are custom services from reference to photocopying for grantwriters. Listed sources are in the private and corporate sectors, public charities, and community foundations, the federal government, and nonprofit and international sources. The Foundation WEB page provides direct links to various site web pages that outline the parameters for that organization's grantwriting process. In turn, some of these pages provide additional links to other granting sources worldwide. Affinity groups for specific populations are also listed by the Foundation, including Native Americans in Philanthropy. The Foundation is currently:

• offering library services in 5 different locations;
• seminars and training on the funding process;
• tax information;
• grantwriting materials;
• a multitude of printed resource materials, including The Foundation Directory;
• an analysis of funding trends; and,
• an online subject database of philanthropy of journal and book listings.

Gates Library Initiative
This foundation, created by Microsoft moguls Bill and Melinda Gates in 1997, partners with Canadian and U.S. public libraries to bring electronic hardware and information to communities, particularly those considered to be underserved or that are located in rural areas. GLI hopes to help build partnerships, to encourage sustainability of information resources and technology, and to act as a catalyst to others for helping to support public libraries and information technology. To achieve these goals, GLI will:

• Work with underserved public libraries in low-income areas to provide the hardware and software required for community access to digital information.
• Support and train library staffs to access and manage digital information to maintain and expand their systems as their patrons and communities require.

• Menominee Tribal County Library (Keshena)
• Navajo Nation Library System (Window Rock)

The Libri Foundation
Founded in 1989, this foundation donates quality children's books to rural libraries. Friends of the Library or other local organizations provide up to $350 toward books, and the foundation matches with twice the amount. Titles are selected by the local librarian. The rural library must have an active children's section, serve a population of approximately 10,000 or less, and have a very limited budget. Recipients include many tribal libraries of all types. The Foundation is currently accepting applications for the next round of awards. The application deadline is 1 August 1999. To receive an application packet, mail, telephone, fax or email your name, your library's name and mailing address to:

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Limited to the mid-Atlantic region, grants are specific to artists and critics in residence. Four residences are granted per year per nonprofit organization. Applications are available online.

Public Welfare Foundation (PWF)
Founded in 1946, this nongovernmental foundation provides funds internationally that promote the broad concept of human welfare throughout the Americas. Funding to libraries or other organizations providing information services and resources were made in each interest area. The general areas of interests include:

• criminal justice (e.g., alternatives to incarceration)
• disadvantaged elderly (e.g., community-based home services to the elderly)
• disadvantaged youth (e.g., training and education; working with gang youths)
• environment (e.g., information, education, and organizing assistance to the Northern Cheyenne people on issues relating to environmental protection, economic development, sovereignty, and cultural and religious survival)
• health (e.g., support for education, advocacy and outreach to address hunger; educational activities on health)
• population and reproductive health (e.g., education and information on reproduction and sexuality)
• community support (e.g., organizations that foster community development; development of the teaching skills and leadership abilities of grassroots literacy tutors, and to integrate literacy training with community development work)
• trustee-initiated grants (e.g., library books-on-tape; software for literacy; Internet technology)

The Rockefeller Foundation
Concentration is on efforts in the arts and humanities; equal opportunity; agricultural, health, and population sciences; global environment; special African initiatives including female education; and other areas as the need arises. Grants and fellowships are offered. Each funding area in programs and fellowships has its own guidelines. Recent recipient: Newberry Library, D'Arcy McNickle Center for the History of the American Indian, Chicago, IL; also individual fellowships offered in various aspects of North American indigenous studies with different organizations. Contact can also be made with:

Verizon Foundation
The Verizon Foundation will invest $70 Million in support of the communities we serve from Hawaii to Maine in 2000 -- making us one of the top ten largest corporate foundations in the United States. We support all qualified nonprofit organizations with a valid tax-exempt ID, 501(C)3 assisting communities in the United States." Priority funding areas include:

• Literacy
• Digital Divide
• Women and Economic Development
• People with Disabilities
• Education/Scholarships
• Community Development

Click on the links below to go to other funding sources for tribal libraries, or to return to the main page.

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