Description

On behalf of the New York Life Foundation, the Afterschool Alliance invites out-of-school time programs to apply for a competitive grant opportunity to support and bolster the ability of afterschool and summer learning programs to help prepare middle school students for success in high school, college, and life.

Why Middle School?

A large body of evidence indicates the critical role of middle school in determining a young person’s long-term academic trajectory. Enriching out-of-school time (OST) programs—such as afterschool and summer learning programs—are an effective means of helping middle school students successfully transition from 8th to 9th grade. In addition, these programs provide benefits to students that extend beyond academics, helping develop the whole young person—cognitively, socially, and emotionally. The New York Life Foundation’s educational enhancement grantmaking strategy aims to provide opportunities that help students in middle school thrive and become better prepared to complete high school and go on to college, providing them a brighter future.

Why was the Aim High Program created?

The New York Life Foundation created the Aim High grant program to support the ability of local community-based afterschool and summer learning programs to provide the foundational skills and guidance that middle school students need to be prepared for the critical transition into high school.

The Aim High Grant Program

This competitive grant program includes both one- and two-year grant opportunities. Applicants can only apply for one of these grants. One-year grants will begin in June 2024 and end in May 2025. Two-year grants will begin in June 2024 and end in May 2026.

One-Year Grants:

Twenty one-year grants of $15,000 each will be awarded. Ten of these will focus on supporting programs’ efforts around racial equity and social justice, and ten will focus on supporting programs’ efforts around youth entrepreneurship.

The New York Life Foundation recognizes that it is imperative to build on its legacy of support for marginalized communities as part of its ongoing commitment to support an equitable and just society. Understanding the unique role that afterschool and summer learning programs can play in addressing equity, ten of the one-year grants are dedicated to supporting programs in their efforts to advance racial equity and social justice.

The New York Life Foundation also recognizes the importance of empowering and inspiring young people. To strengthen a program’s ability to enhance the leadership skills of the youth they serve, ten of this year’s one-year grants will go towards program efforts to support youth entrepreneurship.

Applicants for all one-year grants will further be required to describe how they support middle school youth in the transition to high school. Organizations with annual organizational budgets of $150,000 or more will be eligible for these grants.

Two-Year Grants:

The two-year grant opportunity focuses on supporting programs in enhancing direct service activities, technical assistance, capacity building, and their efforts in continuing to serve youth while facing the challenges of the pandemic and beyond.

There are two separate 2-year grant opportunities included in this RFP. Each program will only be allowed to apply to one of these grant opportunities, as explained below:

10 grants at $50,000 per year over the span of two years, for a total 2-year grant award of $100,000. Only afterschool and summer programs with annual program budgets of $250,000 or more AND annual organizational budgets of $500,000 or more will be eligible to apply for these grants.
10 grants at $25,000 per year over the span of two years, for a total 2-year grant award of $50,000. Only organizations with annual organizational budgets of $250,000 or more will be eligible for these grants.

Application deadline: 5 p.m. EST, Thursday, February 1st, 2024