Miller Foundation: Education Grant

The Miller Foundation: Education Grant aims to ensure equitable opportunities for all Oregon students. It provides funding for K-12 education organizations that create supportive learning environments and prioritize student engagement, especially for those from underserved communities. The grant encompasses a variety of programs, including arts education and early childhood initiatives, while emphasizing the importance of family and community involvement. Organizations may apply for single or multi-year grants, fostering long-term partnerships to enhance educational equity across the state.

Every Oregon student deserves an equal chance at success. That's why we want schools and education organizations across our state to have the resources they need to teach, support, and inspire students.
We believe
Schools must be welcoming, supportive, and reflective of every student.Supporting a child's social and emotional health, along with their academic needs, helps every student grow and thrive.
Activities We Fund
Miller Foundation education-focused grants go to organizations working to create a more holistic and equitable K-12 education system that provides a supportive learning environment and high quality education to all students, including those furthest from opportunity. Together, we can help Oregon students, families, teachers, and schools achieve success.
K-12 Support Organizations
We fund community-based organizations supporting K-12 teachers, youth, and families. These include efforts to support teacher effectiveness and student success in core subjects, and to improve school culture and leadership.
K-12 Schools
We occasionally fund K-12 schools that serve historically underserved communities; these include public, charter, and tuition-free private schools with demonstrated student outcomes.
Arts Education Organizations
We support K-12 Arts Education activities through our Arts grant programs.
Education Systems Change
We fund organizations focused on education policy, advocacy, and systems change, including those focused on improving equity in Oregon’s education system.
Early Childhood
We fund early childhood practice, policy and advocacy work only through invitation or in collaboration with other funders.
Funding
We provide operating support through our standard grant process. (Occasionally we also provide project support.) To help our grantees succeed, we offer a flexible partnership model with single- and multi-year grants.
The minimum allowable annual operating expense for eligibility is $25,000. This excludes any expenses covered through in-kind.
Our operating support grants typically represent between 3-5% of an organization’s annual operating expenses. (We consider an average of the organization's expenses over recent years).
Grant Duration Options
Applicants may apply for one, two, or three years of support. However, please note that newer applicants are unlikely to receive multi-year support. We recommend first-time applicants request a one-year grant.
If you have a 5-year history of grant funding with Miller, you are eligible to apply for up to 3 years of support.For those applicants with a grant history of between 2-4 years of funding, you are eligible to apply for up to 2 years of support.
Grant history can be non-sequential. (i.e. Past funding does not need to have been in 5 consecutive years.)

Eligibility

We fund organizations in Oregon with activities in arts or K-12 education.Organizations can apply after providing programs or services to the community for 3 years or more.Applicants can be 501(c)(3) organizations, public entities, tribal or municipal governments, schools, or school districts. We sometimes fund work that has a fiscal sponsor.When you can applyOrganizations that do not have current open grants with Miller may apply once in a 12-month period. Organizations with current open grants with the Foundation are eligible to re-apply after submitting their final report.Prior grantees are eligible to reapply 12 months after their last grant decision date (24 or 36 months after a multi-year grant award decision).Specific Eligibility ConsiderationsEligible private schools are those where the majority of students attend tuition-free.For schools and districts participating in an active partnership with community-based partners to support students and families, we encourage the partner organizations (if otherwise eligible) to apply.Charter and alternative schools are eligible to apply if the majority of their students belong to historically underserved communities.Miller Foundation operating support grants can be used for a grantee's operating expenses.Examples:Contractor feesStaff wagesRent/utilitiesTechnologyProgramming, presentation, or exhibit expensesMoveable equipmentGeneral business expensesMarketing, fundraising or technical supportAddition of new paid staffIn rare cases, an organization may wish to apply for project support for a discrete opportunity, rather than operating support. Examples of discrete opportunities for project support grants:​Partnerships, mergers, acquisitionsSpecial opportunities, change capital, re-structuring

Ineligibility

The Foundation does not fund:
Capital purchase and permanently installed (non-movable) equipmentFacilities constructionDebt relief and endowmentColleges and universitiesReligious institutions and programs significantly shaped by religious affiliation (with rare exceptions for religiously-affiliated schools providing tuition-free opportunities to specific student populations) Exclusions - specific to educationSocial service supports, including foster care and juvenile justice programsAdult education, including adult literacy programsPhysical education, including sports programsEnvironmental or ecology education, including gardening programsSTEM-focused educationAfter-school enrichment programs such as Boys & Girls ClubsScholarships or tuition assistanceTraditional, tuition-based private schools where most students pay tuitionPre-K/Early Learning supports (we fund these only by foundation-led initiative)Parenting/Caregiver education (as distinct from school-based family engagement)Food and housing assistance for familiesRecreational camps and summer programs (except for programs addressing academic disparities or summer learning loss)Museums (except statewide institutions with extensive K-12 education programming)Standalone career skills development Higher Education institutionsPermanent school personnel and activities that fall under public schools' core operating budgetsWe do not accept grant requests to support early childhood or pre-K classrooms.