Camp Funding Opportunity

The Connector Summer Enrichment Mini-Grant

Up to $10,000 per accepted proposal is being awarded to University of Missouri faculty and staff who submit applications for summer enrichment funds.

The Connector is providing one-time grants for summer enrichment programming through a collaboration with the Missouri Afterschool Network. Applications are to focus on increasing existing program quality, expanding access, or expanding services through new programs.
These Summer experiences will be enhancements to the current curriculum or new opportunities afforded by additional funding. The goals for these experiences are:

Expand educational offerings to different audiences, and those not typically able to participate in summer learning experiences offered on campus;
Create opportunities for new, creative educational opportunities for members of our community,
Establish new community partnerships with campus by partnering with new 501c3 organizations or enhancing existing partnerships;
Provide professional development for students, staff, and researchers to provide quality, evaluable, educational offerings

Please review the guidelines below before applying. Applications will only be accepted through the Qualtrics link below. A pdf outline of the application can be found here.

Application

Guidelines

The Missouri Department of Secondary Education (DESE) has been allocated funds through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to the Missouri Afterschool Network (MASN) to increase access to summer enrichment programs that help students most impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic to address the social, emotional, health, and well-being needs of youth. This opportunity will help to eliminate barriers to summer program access based on geography, socio-economic factors, demographics, and the impact of COVID-19, along with increasing access to summer programs for children and youth with disabilities and other traditionally marginalized populations.

The Connector will provide the following resources for those who receive funding on an as-needed basis.

Camp staff to manage youth (on a first come first served basis)
Program advertising
Registration management
Program development consultation
Evaluation consultation

To be eligible for mini-grant funds applicants must submit a completed application for funding that includes items as outlined in the application materials section by the deadlines indicated. Additional grant requirements include:

Registration with the Office of Youth Protection for all relevant enrichment activities;
Inclusion of enrichment activity on the Connector Summer engagement searchable public database;
Attend at least one youth curriculum development professional development offering ahead of Summer Enrichment activity;
Collection of specific evaluation metrics for ARPA Summer Enrichment reporting and submitted by August 23, 2024.

Interested applicants should apply via the Qualtrics form by April 22, 2024. All proposals are required to include:

A program overview, agenda, specific audience, and learning objectives.
Description of how ARPA Summer Enrichment funding will enhance programming;
Itemized budget and budget narrative for all requested funds

Rolling submissions will be accepted until July 31, 2024, or until funds are depleted. Priority applicants will be notified by April 26, 2024 of acceptance. Rolling applications will be notified within two weeks after application submission.

Budget and Narrative

An itemized budget and budget narrative are required as part of the application. Expenses cannot begin before April 1, 2024, and all expenses must be submitted by Friday, August 23. Funds will not be awarded in a lump sum, and what is not used will not be rolled over. University and grant purchasing guidelines must be followed, and purchases must be made through ePro, OneCard, or other standard procedures. Reimbursements will not be considered. Budgets will be reviewed based on the number of youth served to demonstrate these funds’ most cost-effective use. Minor budget amendments (in line with program design, intent, goals, etc.) may be submitted for approval before the final payment.

Budget Categories

Salaries and Benefits: Support for new and existing personnel, including faculty, staff, and undergraduate or graduate student workers to support summer enrichment programs.

Travel and Transportation: Transportation expenses include those to and from programs to increase access/participation. Specify by each type of transportation and travel (i.e., field trip transportation; busing transportation to/from home and center)

Supplies: supplies (and materials) are either consumed in nature, have a useful life of less than one year, cost less than $1,000 per unit, or are more feasibly replaced than repaired.

Equipment: tangible personal property (including information technology systems) with a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost that equals or exceeds $1,000

Purchased Services: specify all services for which grant funds pay. All purchased services must have a contract, and the contract must be available upon request.

Items that cannot be covered

Food not for instructional purposes such as lunches and snacks
T-shirts (unless for safety purposes)
Entertainment for amusement, diversion, and social activities
Student camp fees or scholarships
Funds are limited to the duration of the funding opportunity (April 1st August 30th, 2024)
Summer salary not related to direct programing efforts

Learn more

The Connector will offer a virtual one-hour overview of the funding opportunity and will answer questions from interested applicants during our information sessions being held April 11th, 2024 at 12:00PM and April 18th, 2024 at 12:30pm.