NOW SEEKING PROPOSALS

grants of $1,000 & $2,000 & $5,000 available

Deadline Extended: October 25th, 2024

PLEASE REVIEW THE ENTIRE RFP BEFORE COMPLETING

THE ATTACHED MLK DAYS OF SERVICE GRANT APPLICATION

Partners for Campus - Community Engagement is part of the Partnership Alliance that is a recipient of a $250,000 per year, multi-year grant with the purpose of honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. The Partnership Alliance, a network of higher education coalitions across the United States, has received this funding through an AmeriCorps’ Days of Service Grant. The funded program proposes to engage over 7,000 students across 11 states in service on or around Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2025 that support underserved and marginalized individuals and communities. 

The Partnership Alliance is a vibrant network of state and regional place-based organizations across the country. This group of organizations, named the Partnership Alliance, is dedicated to supporting the public purposes of higher education and community engagement nationally through a robust and diverse array of programs, initiatives, and events. 

Grants for MLK Day of Service activities that are awarded funding through the Partnership Alliance must show adherence to the spirit of service that Dr. King espoused. Throughout his life, Martin Luther King Jr. sought to bring diverse people together to solve problems in an effort to form "the beloved community." He once said that "life's most persistent and urgent question is 'What are you doing for others?'" For volunteer students serving in communities, these awards will increase not only their capacities to see how they truly make a difference in their communities, but also increasing their desire to continue volunteering.

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Each member of the Partnership Alliance represents a state or region, as follows: Washington Campus Coalition for the Public Good (Washington and Idaho), LEAD California, Engage New Jersey, Community-Engaged Alliance (Indiana), Partners for Campus Community Engagement (New York and Pennsylvania), North Carolina Campus Engagement, Transform Mid-Atlantic (Maryland, Washington D.C., and Delaware). Collectively, we are a coalition of 270 institutions of higher education.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT DATES

9/9/24                             - Request for Proposals Open

9/17 & 9/18               - Technical Assistance Grant Information Webinars 

9/17 at 4 pm EDT - Registration for the 17th

                        9/18 at 12 pm EDT - Registration for the 18th

10/25/24                               - Deadline for Campuses to Submit Applications

11/4/24                         - Campus Awards Announced

11/15/24                           - Deadline to Complete Criminal History Background Check for

Lead Person who Doesn’t Currently Have a Completed  Check*1

- MOU signed by 11/15 in order to begin tracking time

1/5/25 – 1/27/25           - MLK Event Timeframe (Funded events are not allowable after 

1/27/25)

1/31/25                       - Final Financial and Event Report (takes less than one hour to complete)

Spring ’25 TBD             - Shared Learning and 2026 Event Preparations (optional)

Fall ’25 TBD                  - Campuses Submit Proposals for 2026 MLK Events (optional)

*1 – The designated person overseeing the MLK award as an in-kind match must FIRST begin the Criminal History Background Check, as required by the MLK Day of Service Grant Terms and Conditions, and be cleared BEFORE counting that time under the grant. More information can be found in the Appendices.

ELIGIBILITY & TYPES OF AWARDS

1.    All nonprofit higher education institutions are eligible to submit a proposal for MLK Day of Service grants*2 . The level of grants to be awarded are:

·         $1,000 – based on an estimated 50-100 students serving at the MLK Day of Service event

·          $2,000 – based on an estimated 101-200 students at the MLK Day of Service event

·       $5,000 – based on an estimate 201 students or more serving at the MLK Day of   Service event

Please note that these numbers are used as a guiding metric rather than a strict criterion. Campuses should use past events as a benchmarking tool. First-time MLK Day of Service events should lean toward setting very conservative targets.

2.    Applicants must select one or more partner for your event, such as a nonprofit, charity, social service agency, or public school

3.  Applicants should demonstrate your capacity and experience in implementing successful service projects

4.     Applicants must use your Partnership Alliance state or regional sponsors’ guidelines regarding the use of their logo as sponsor on your marketing materials and press releases

*2  - Please note PCCE member campuses will receive priority status in the proposal review process. Funds not allocated to member campuses will be awarded to nonmember campuses, following a selection process. Please contact dave@pcce.org for more details regarding membership and eligibility

Please also note that if your application is not accepted for MLK 2025, you will still be able to

 re-apply for further funding for MLK ‘26 & ‘27

GRANT MANAGEMENT

 Each successful applicant must identify an MLK coordinator of your event and grant, serving as the primary contact for your state or regional director. It is preferable that this MLK coordinator is a full-time salaried individual, with sufficient capacity and access to students to be successful in coordinating your MLK event.

The MLK coordinator is required to provide the following as a condition of the grant:

1. As an in-kind contribution, the coordinator must state their salary and fringe in the grant tracking sheet. Similarly, the coordinator must use a “Partnership Alliance MLK Grant Tracking Sheet” to approximate your time spent on event- and grant-coordination. You will receive more information from your regional Alliance Partner if you are awarded. A sample time-tracking sheet is provided in the Appendices for your reference

Please note that you will also have the opportunity to track other non-personnel in-kind contributions to your event (those donated to the event such as free transportation, space, food, guest speakers)

2. Successful applicants must provide and adhere to an MLK event budget equal to the amount being awarded - $1,000; $2,000; or $5,000. Spending lines in your budget may include:

1. Transportation - including vehicle rental or mileage reimbursement. The standard mileage reimbursement should not exceed the federal mileage rateEquipment and Supplies - including print, food, drinks - must include an individual listing of items costing more than $1,000
2. Contractors - including guest speakers and event facilitators
3. Other - Please note that you should contact danelle@pcce.org to discuss and agree “other” budget items AND significant budget amendments, following your selection as a grantee, in advance of these expenses being made

A sample budget sheet is provided in the Appendices for your reference. 

GRANT MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED)

3. Successful applicants must track:

a. The primary issue(s) as the focus of the MLK event (see next section showing focus areas)

b. The number of people serving at the MLK event

c. The number of community entities partnered with or involved in the event

d. The number of people and communities who confirm their commitment to future service activities

4. PCCE and AmeriCorps logos (samples and guidance for which will be provided by PCCE to successful applicants) must be displayed at all project/event locations and on materials, including marketing materials, relating to the project

5. Receipts must be kept for all grant spending, with unused funds or funds spent without available receipts returned to your state or regional office upon completion of the MLK event, no later than 1/31/25

6. The completed “Partnership Alliance MLK Grant Tracking Sheet” must be sent to your Partnership Alliance office with receipts by 1/31/25.

FOCUS OF MLK DAY OF SERVICE EVENTS

Campuses in receipt of MLK grants must outline in your proposal, and then focus on during the activity, one or more of these focus areas to *3:

• Support underserved individuals and communities
• Engage in activities to counter the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety
• Increase economic, environmental, educational, or other forms of equity and that meet an important immediate community need or advance racial justice and equity solutions
• Support Environmental Stewardship, including supporting communities to become more resilient through measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve land and water, increase renewable energy use and improve at-risk ecosystems, especially in underserved households and communities
• Engage volunteers from historically underrepresented groups—including but not limited to Black, Indigenous, and people of color; LGBTQI+; veterans and military families; persons in rural areas; and persons with disabilities—in order to remove barriers to their full and equal participation

Please note that the Partnership Alliance and AmeriCorps are interested in advancing service events that, collectively as a portfolio, include -

• Geographic diversity  
• Rural communities  
• Small to large participation events, and  
• Faith-based organizations

*3 - Please note that you will not be required to quantify or measure the effects of your activities in one or more of these areas

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & APPENDICES

            I.       Contact Information for State or Regional Office in Partnership

Alliance: 

• Engage NJ - Nathan Reilly - nathan@engagenj.org 
• Lead California - Piper McGinley - piper@leadcalifornia.org 
• Partnerships for Campus Community Engagement - Danelle Wagner - danelle@pcce.org
• NC Campus Engagement - Leslie Garvin - lgarvin@ncengage.org
• Transform Mid-Atlantic (MD, DC, DE, WV) - Nicki Fiocco - fiocco@transformmidatlantic.org 
• Community-Engaged Alliance (IN) - Elijah Howe - elijah@engagedalliance.org
• Washington Campus Coalition for the Public Good - Jennifer Hine - hinej@wwu.edu 

  II.       Criminal History Background Check

All persons receiving wages or salary which they intend to include in their budgets as a match, while planning and coordinating their service event under the duration of the MLK award, MUST comply with obtaining clearance checks from the National Sex Offender Registry FBI records, with one Americorps-approved vendor - Truescreen - using accounts created by Engage NJ and sent to successful applicants to begin the online background check process as soon as they are notified of their award grant.

Until these clearances are received from the vendors in the form of redacted certifications, the above-mentioned persons cannot begin to count your time on any award or service event activities as in-kind contributions. The turnaround time for these clearances is anywhere from 1 day to three weeks, depending on the complexity of the person’s history. 

> In the event that a background check is not cleared, awardees can proceed with one or both of the following steps, which will add a brief delay to commencement of MLK planning:

Submit an appeal form to the vendor to request a review of the background record in question. Sometimes there are mistakes reported or made that are responsible for non-clearance.

Amongst collaborators- simply choose another person to assume these responsibilities, and begin the aforementioned required background checks. This person will still have to wait to receive their clearances from the same approved vendor (mentioned above) before they begin counting time as in-kind contribution  as well as start activities funded by the MLK award.

> If, however, that person has already undergone a CHBC after 1/23/07 without a change in employer, and there is a valid record of it, the person(s) are no longer required to conduct a new background check, but rather ensure that the background check includes a clearance document for both the FBI and National Sex Offender Registry List check. In this situation, Engage NJ will require validation via a copy of that clearance before starting time-tracked MLK activities. Successful applicants will provide a copy via email to info@engagenj.org as well as your Alliance Partner (that accepted your proposal). Note: These individuals may find it more convenient to conduct a new background ground check through Engage NJ’s vendor accounts- that is acceptable.

> Once awarded, regional Alliance partners will provide their grantees with the specific sites and access information needed for MLK coordinators to sign up for the two specific background checks, each conducted by a separate vendor but tied to Engage NJ

3. Sample Time-Tracking Sheet

4. Sample Budget

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