Literacy Initiative Grant

NEHS has provided financial support to non-profit organizations local to the Sigma Tau Delta convention cities for a number of years. We are now able to expand our support and provide funding not only to organizations close to the convention city, but also across the USA and around the world.

This grant aims to support literacy-focused non-profit community organizations working with children and young people that foster any aspects of literacy including literature, language, writing, and media, and to help organizations develop, expand, or maintain their community literacy programming.

If you would like further information about eligibility or would like to nominate a literacy-focused non-profit organization within your community for the grant, please email Chris Lockwood, NEHS Director at ctlockwood@niu.edu.

Awards

An annual total of $3,000 is available to support literacy-focused non-profit community organizations working with children and young people.

Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year will be accepted September 11 - October 10, 2023.

Eligibility

Applicant non-profits may only contend for this award once every two years and can only win the award once.

  1. Group 1
    Literacy-focused non-profit community organizations working with children and young people based within the city hosting the Sigma Tau Delta International English Convention (in 2024: St. Louis, MO).
  2. Group 2
    Literacy-focused non-profit community organizations working with children and young people located anywhere in the world.

Application Requirements

  1. All submissions must be made via the NEHS AwardSpring platform during the fall period.
  2. Applicants must complete demographic data questions prior to submitting their documentation.
  3. All applicants must include a brief overview of the offerings/programming provided by the applicant organization within the last two years.
  4. All applicants must submit a written narrative (of no more than 750 words), in PDF format, which contains:
    • details of the organization’s registration as a non-profit or charitable enterprise;
    • contextual information about the area in which the organization works;
    • details of the current programs offered by the applicant organization including the measurable impact they have had on local communities;
    • the plan for how NEHS funding would be used, where, and the intended impact; and
    • information about how the local community will be affected by the funding in the short-, medium- and long-term.
  5. All applicants must upload a PDF budget clearly detailing how any funding would be allocated to current or new programs.
  6. The application process will require applicants to provide the name and email address of a local authority figure who can vouch for the organization’s legitimacy and impact. This person will then be contacted to submit a recommendation letter including the following information: a. confirmation of demographic and geographic information about the area in which the organization works; b. endorsement of plans for using the requested funding; and c. the writer's mailing address, email address, and phone number. 
  7. Applicants must agree that, should they win a grant, they are willing to provide a written report and photos detailing the impact the grant has had on their organization and their local community, which can be used by NEHS to promote this and other awards in future years.

Evaluation Process

  1. All submissions will be evaluated by the NEHS Advisory Council.
  2. Submissions will be evaluated in terms of the significance and contribution the request makes to the applicant organization and their local community, and the concept, clarity, and organization of the request.
  3. Awards will be given purely based on merit, not based on the imperative that all funds should be spent annually.

 

Scholarships/Awards