Sparkplug Foundation Grant

The Sparkplug Foundation Grant supports innovative projects from early-stage organizations and established non-profits in education, community organizing, and music. The foundation emphasizes community-led initiatives that address systemic injustices and engage marginalized populations. Grants are available for one year and prioritize projects with small budgets that lack extensive funding sources. The foundation encourages applications from diverse communities, particularly those led by Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQ individuals, fostering equitable access to resources.

NOTE: LOIs can be submitted as early as September 1st. The earlier the LOI is submitted, the longer invited applicants will have to work on the full proposal.Areas of Funding
Sparkplug provides grants to start-up organizations and new projects of established non-profits in the following three areas:

• Education

Sparkplug funds projects to educate or support communities, including but not limited to school-age students, that move beyond traditional classroom instruction. In keeping with our justice-oriented framework, we fund education projects that engage excluded students in new ways, projects that restore knowledge that has been marginalized through racism or colonialism, and projects that rebuild community and collective problem-solving.
We're especially interested in supporting critical and investigative thinking, and projects that address race, gender, and class disparities in education. We do fund community-based education and social justice curriculum development, For example, we have funded the development and sharing of curriculum that explores connections between Palestine and the US/Mexico border region to teach students to think critically about the impact of militarized border zones on youth, families and the environment.
Some examples of education projects that we have funded in the past include:

• A program using digital tools to educate consumers on how they can support farmworkers rights.
• A youth-led education campaign exposing and opposing militarization in their community.
• A digital platform to preserve the archives of a local black community.
• A year-long program bringing together social and environmental justice organizers to train new organizers and develop joint community projects.
• Community Organizing

Sparkplug funds work by members of a community for their community -- work that aims to create justice by making systemic change and/or shifting power. Or in other words, we fund projects that are created, run by, and meet the needs of people with shared lived experience who face the same types of oppression, discrimination, violence, or barriers, who live in the same area, or who have a shared vision and aspirations for the future.
For example, We DO fund projects created and led by LGBTQ youth to change policies that affect them.
Some other examples of community organizing that we have funded in the past include:

• A farmworker-led campaign against deportations and for access to drivers licenses for undocumented people.
• Training community members as housing organizers as part of a campaign to build their leadership capacity and win local housing justice.
• Support to frontline communities in energy democracy organizing.
• A COVID-19 related mutual aid and advocacy project by and for people experiencing homelessness.
• Music

Recognizing the critical importance of music in bringing communities together and building collective creativity, Sparkplug supports emerging musicians in developing new work, sharing existing work with a wider community through events or media, bringing together musicians to collaborate on creating or performing pieces, or facilitating new workshops that bring music to oppressed communities. Applicants for music grants will be asked to submit a sample of their music with their Letter of Intent form.
Some examples of music projects that we have funded in the past include:

• A music and other media production of a multi-ethnic Ottoman world, drawing on the stories and songs of Sephardic women.
• Commissioned compositions and the production of CDs in selected genres.
• The development of a musical program, using historical materials, memorializing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911.
• A multi-media, semi-staged performance based on the life and poetry of the celebrated Italian Renaissance poet, Torquato Tasso.

Eligibility

We Do Fund:Early stage organizations and projects. We offer grants to innovative and important work that has not yet established broad sources of support. For Sparkplug, what matters is that the project comes from and supports an engaged community.Small-to-medium organizations or ideas. We most often fund projects with small budgets, and that are less likely to receive corporate, institutional, or government funding.501c3 non-profits or individuals, communities or collectives that have a US-based 501c3 fiscal sponsor.Materials and activities that make new ideas real and sustainable.This can include support for a new organization’s growth like outreach materials, short-term staff to get your project underway, and short-term general operating support for new organizations only. We have very occasionally funded website development or software purchases where it drives other work. A grant can cover capacity-building expenses like trainings that grow your community leadership.One-year grants. Since we focus on start-up projects and organizations, we accept applications for up to one year. If you're a new organization interested in a start-up grant that spans beyond one year, you are invited to note that on your application - but can only apply for one year of funding.With an eye for community accountability and inclusion. Power imbalances shift how people within organizations interact, and how organizations’ work affects others in their communities. Projects in the US and Palestine/Israel. Our funding in Palestine/Israel, given current conditions of colonial apartheid, is limited to projects that involve Palestinian communities, operate with Palestinian leadership (and may also include non-Palestinian leadership), and work for justice.Can I re-apply in another grant cycle?Yes, you can re-apply if your initial application was not accepted.If I’ve already received a grant, can I apply for another?Yes, but because our aspiration is to spark new ideas and projects, we look carefully before making a second grant to an organization, even for a new project.

Ineligibility

We Don't Fund:Businesses or any organization or individual without a fiscal sponsor.General operating expenses such as regular ongoing salaries, office space rental, etc., except for start-up projects and start-up organizations.Lobbying or election campaigns.
Technology equipment such as computers, printers, etc.Under the Education Funding Area:We do not directly fund schools and do not fund programs that have been eliminated by budget cuts. Finally, we do not fund arts projects under this funding area.Under the Community Organizing Funding Area:We don't fund service projects. We don't fund programs that provide social services for LGBTQ youth.We do not fund projects that provide aid.Under the Music Funding Area: Please note that we do not provide budget replacement funding for music programs in the education system suffering from budget cuts. The best way to understand whether your project may be fundable is to look at our past music grants.Multi-year requests. We accept applications for one-year grants.Projects or organizations in Palestine/Israel that do not have either a US-based 501c3 fiscal sponsor or Israeli documentation of NGO status.Religious projects, projects run by religious organizations, or any project that involves religious practice, no matter how peripheral religion is to the project. We also do not fund projects that limit their work to a religious community.Visual arts projects, films, medical research or relief, dance, animal rescue, athletic programs, tuition grants, or scholarships.University-based projects.Any projects or organizations with budgets larger than $1 million. Chapters of national organizations should not apply if their national organization’s budget is greater than $1 million.Can I apply for more than one funding area?No. Choose what is most important to you and make your best effort to figure out where your project fits.Can I submit more than one application per grant cycle?No, we only accept one application per organization or individual per grant cycle.