Intercultural Harmony Program

THE LAURA JANE MUSSER FUND would like to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between groups and citizens of different cultural backgrounds within defined geographical areas through collaborative, cross-cultural projects.  Projects must be inter-cultural, rather than focused on just one culture.

Priority is placed on projects that:

• Build positive relationships across cultural lines
• Engender intercultural harmony, tolerance, understanding, and respect
• Enhance intercultural communication, rather than cultural isolation, while at the same time celebrating and honoring each culture's unique qualities
• Offer members of various cultural communities an opportunity to work together on projects with common goals

Projects must demonstrate:

• Grassroots endorsement by participants across cultural lines, as well as active participation in planning and implementation
• Need in the community for the intercultural harmony project
• A specific geographic focus and location

Projects eligible for support:  Intercultural Harmony projects can be carried out in a number of areas, including (but not limited to):

• The Arts
• Community Service
• Youth Activities

Outcomes should include:

• Increased comfort in interaction between the groups and individual citizens addressed by the project
• Increased level of interaction between the groups individual citizens addressed by the project
• Harmonious shared use of public space and community facilities
• Continued cooperation by the participants or communities addressed by the project

Example List Of Previous Grants

WHAT THE PROGRAM WILL COVER:

• New programs or projects within their first three years
• Either the planning or implementation phase of a project

WHAT WILL NOT BE FUNDED:

• Capital Expenses
• General Operating Support
• Ongoing Program Support

WHO CAN APPLY:

• Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations
• Organizations that are forming if they are sponsored by a 501(c)(3) organization
• Organizations that are located in, and serve the population of the United States

To apply for a grant under the Intercultural Harmony Program:
Please construct your application in the following format, and include cover sheet when you submit it. The proposal body can be no more than 5 pages. Complete proposal packets must be received in the Musser Fund office by October 1, 2008. Funding decisions will be announced in February, 2009.

1. SUMMARY: Provide a three sentence summary of your project at the beginning of your proposal.
2. BACKGROUND: Summarize your organizational background and the history of your involvement in your community.
3. INTERCULTURAL PARTICIPANTS: Describe, using qualitative and quantitative descriptions, the identity of the cultural groups participating in your project.
4. NEED: Provide a synopsis of the need or cultural situation in your community that the proposed project will address.
5. GOALS AND ACTIVITIES:  Describe the overall goals of this project and the activities planned that will accomplish these goals; provide the timeline for the activities that includes schedule and completion for the project.
6. COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND INSTITUTIONS: Describe the community members involved in this project.  Please be specific to indicate how community members and institutions link themselves with the participants of your project.
7. PROCESS:  Describe the process you will use to implement your project.  Please be specific about how the different cultural groups in your project are involved in planning and implementation.
8. COMMUNITY IMPACT:  Describe the impact the project will have on the various strengths of your community.
9. OUTCOMES:  List the outcomes expected (where possible, please address the OUTCOMES described above in these guidelines).

The Directors of the Laura Jane Musser Fund continue to be interested in the replicability of projects requesting funding.  If you have plans to share your project results, please include them in your proposal

• BUDGET: Include a budget for the project with projected income and expenses; also include a budget for your organization for the current year.
• MAP: Include a map that indicates the location of your project and local community, and which places your project in the context of the larger community or state.
• LETTERS OF SUPPORT: Please include letters of support from at least two (but not more than six) community members and institutions involved in your proposed project. The Fund is only able to consider letters that arrive in the same packet with your proposal and before the submission deadline.

Please include a copy of your 501(c)(3) statement.

PROPOSAL FORMAT: Electronic proposals can not be accepted. Please send your application packet in single-sided, unbound format. Please only send one copy. No materials other than those listed above will be included in the proposal review process. Only complete application packets can be considered.