echo/ekō/verb,
…repeat or reverberate after the original sound has stopped.

WHO MAY APPLY:

Public and Non-Public Schools and Youth Serving 501(c)(3) organizations within the 8 counties of WNY
(Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming)

MINI-GRANT AMOUNT:

May request up to $400. Member School applicants may request up to $500*.

PURPOSE:

Provide financial support of character-based initiatives within the school, organization or community. Programs/projects should ideally seek to be sustainable, ongoing or create a long-lasting outcome much like an echo.

Samples of mini-grant focus areas:

• Developing a Character Recognition Program.
• Service project or service learning opportunity for students benefiting their outside community.
• Integration of Character development into the school’s curriculum. (Example: project that weaves the CCWNY monthly traits into existing curriculum to connect character concepts to the real world.)
• Action project or initiative that addresses a concern or problem in the school in which the implementation of the character-focused program will make an impact. (Example: an initiative to help students in crisis or building empathy/kindness.)

Priority consideration will be given to projects:

• In which students have participated in the proposal’s idea and/or in the implementation of the project.
• That is sustainable over time.
• That is interactive and/or actively engages students.

Mini-Grant funds are not for:

• Purchasing stand-alone materials. (i.e. grant is written to provide every student with a folder as its only aspect)
• Salaries/Stipends/Substitutes
• Assembly that is not part of an ongoing initiative. (One shot assemblies without follow-up programming do not yield the best outcomes.)

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How to apply:

Submit your application online at charactercouncilwny.org/grant along with an itemized budget indicating how the funds will be spent. Grants will be reviewed using the chart below. If your project is selected, we will contact your administrator (if not the applicant) to confirm the project will receive approval to move forward. Please make your administrator aware of your application. You will be able to print a PDF of your application to share and for your own records.

Awards:

If your grant is selected, you will receive an email notifying you of your grant award. We will send a check to the school, club or organization listed on the application. Checks will not be made payable to an individual person. Grant winners will be invited to our Character Excellence Awards Celebration Dinner held in the May following your award. You will be given an opportunity to do a table display at the dinner to showcase your project.

Follow-Up:

We want to see your project come to life! We ask that you send us pictures or a brief reflection of your project and how it went (ideally within 3-6 months of funding.) If you have any evidence (statistics) of the impact the project had in changing your school or organization’s culture, we would love for you to share that as well.

Pictures may be posted on our website, social media and/or shared with Character Council of WNY donors, including but not limited to the Harvest Time Partners Foundation, and other sponsors of our grant program. Schools/organizations seeking additional grants must submit follow-up documentation to be considered. *Member Schools- School must be a Member School at the time of the application.