A.J. Muste Memorial Institute

339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012

tel 212-533-4335 fax 212-228-6193

<info@ajmuste.org> http://www.ajmuste.org

December 2002

These guidelines are newly updated. New requirements are underlined. Guidelines are also available in a downloadable RTF version.



GRANT GUIDELINES



The A.J. Muste Memorial Institute has, as one of its programs, the funding of projects which promote the principles and practice of nonviolent social change. They must be concerned with one or more of the issues to which A.J. Muste dedicated his life: peace and disarmament; social and economic justice; racial and sexual equality; and the labor movement.



From its regular grant program, the Institute makes about 20 to 30 grants annually to international, national and local projects, giving priority to those with small budgets and little chance of funding from more traditional sources. The maximum grant amount is $2,000. The Institute funds projects which seek to advance nonviolent grassroots education and action for social and economic justice. The Institute does not make grants for general support of ongoing operations. We do not generally accept proposals from organizations with annual budgets over $500,000 or for projects with budgets over $50,000. The Institute will not accept a new request from a previously funded group for two years after a grant.



We do not fund: academic or research projects; economic development projects; capital projects; schools or universities; direct social services; any group primarily engaged in lobbying, electoral politics or litigation; any project or organization which has significant access to government, corporate or mainstream charitable funding; any project geared toward personal improvement or business success; or conflict resolution or violence reduction programs which do not directly promote activism for social justice. We do not provide academic scholarships, and we do not make grants to individuals.



Grant proposals must be eight pages or less, and must include the following:



-description of the project, including its relevance, targeted community, and evidence of the group's ability to carry it out;

-name of the contact person, with day and evening phone numbers and email/fax if available;

-detailed project budget with a list of other projected funding sources;

-annual organizational budget with a list of other projected funding sources;

-actual revenue & expense statement from the most recent year available, listing any foundation grants or other institutional support received;

-brief relevant biography of project coordinator(s);

-list of advisors to the project or organization;

-amount requested (maximum $2,000), preferably a line item from the project budget.



Additional supporting material, including printed matter, press clippings, etc., may be included where relevant. The Institute requires two copies of the complete proposal and supporting materials and seven copies of a one page (one side of one page) summary of the project: please use either the HTML summary page form or the RTF summary page form. You may make your own version of the form, as long as the same information is provided in the same order, and as long as it does not exceed one side of one page.



Please be sure to include your organization's name and address on the first page of the proposal; please also remember to include the amount requested, as well as the name and phone numbers of the contact person, in the full proposal. The Muste Institute accepts the National Network of Grantmakers (NNG) Common Grant Application. If you use the NNG application, please send two copies each of the narrative, attachments, organizational and project budgets, and actual revenue and expense statement; and seven copies of our one-page summary form (instead of the NNG cover sheet).



The Muste Institute can and does directly fund organizations which do not have their own 501(c)3 non-profit tax-exempt status, and those which are not incorporated. The only time we require a fiscal sponsor is if the organization does not have its own bank account; we cannot issue checks to individuals. Please specify in your grant proposal whether you would be receiving our grant directly (with the grant check made out to the name of your organization) or through a fiscal sponsor. If through a fiscal sponsor, please include the letter indicating tax-exempt status and some basic information about the sponsoring organization.

The next deadlines for submitting proposals are February 21 and May 2, 2003. Proposals must be in the Institute office by 5 pm on the deadline day (NOT postmarked on the deadline day). We will not accept proposals sent by fax or email (exceptions can be made--by prior arrangement only--for groups sending proposals from countries with unreliable mail service).



The Institute's review and decision process takes approximately eight to ten weeks. The Institute does not consider proposals for projects which will have already taken place by the time our decision is made, so if your project has a definite timeline (like a conference, training, workshop, etc.) we urge you to apply at least three months before it is set to begin.



Implicit in your request is your willingness and ability to provide a complete financial accounting for all funds received from the Institute, demonstrating that they were used in accord with the grant agreement. This financial accounting is due as soon as the money is spent or within six months, whichever comes first. If funds from a grant remain unspent after six months, you must submit an updated accounting every six months until the funds have beenspent in full. This financial accounting must include a statement of expenses, with receipts where appropriate, copies of materials produced with Institute funds, and a brief narrative report on the project. New grant requests will not be accepted from any group that has previously failed to submit these reports in a timely fashion.

 

A.J. Muste Memorial Institute
Policy on Funding Film, Video, Theater or Art Projects

We often receive funding inquiries for film or video projects. We do fund some film and video productions, but very few, and only under certain conditions. Our grant guidelines do not go into detail on this issue, so we hope this memo will help clarify our grantmaking priorities with regard to such projects. The same criteria apply to theater and art projects.

While we realize that a powerful film on an important subject may motivate people to take action, we rarely fund such projects unless they are part of a broader grassroots organizing or educational campaign. (This was the case with “Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins,” a documentary we funded in 1997 about activist efforts to shut down the U.S. Army School of the Americas; and “An Act of Conscience,” a documentary about war tax resistance for which we funded a grassroots distribution tour in 1996.) In such cases, the prospective grantee must clearly demonstrate how the film or video will be used in these organizing efforts to further nonviolent activism for social justice.

Occasionally we fund a production which is not part of an organizing campaign, but generally only when the subject matter directly addresses the issue of disarmament, conscientious objection or anti-war activism and when the project appears to stand little chance of finding more mainstream funding. (For example: “Against the Tide...Those Who Refused to Fight,” a documentary about conscientious objectors during World War II, which we funded in 1997; “Regret to Inform,” a documentary about Vietnamese and US war widows, which we funded in 1994; and “Another Brother,” a documentary about the life of Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist Clarence Fitch, which we funded in 1994.)

We hope this helps you decide if applying for funding to the Muste Institute is a good use of your time. Whether or not you choose to seek our support, we wish you luck in finding the resources you need to complete your project.



If you have questions, feel free to contact the Muste Institute staff at the address and telephone number above. Guidelines, deadlines and rosters of our recent grants and sponsorships are available on our web site at http://www.ajmuste.org. Information can also be obtained via email by writing to <info@ajmuste.org>.