Community Action Grants – Project Support

• Applicants must be incorporated as a nonprofit with a federally designated-tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code. AAUW branches and state organizations with 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status are also eligible and encouraged to apply.
• Projects must serve communities in the United States or its territories.
• Applicants serving geographically and/or demographically underserved communities (preferred).

The following are not eligible for consideration:

• Members of the AAUW Board of Directors.
• Employees of AAUW, including paid or unpaid, part-time or temporary employees, consultants, interns and contract employees.
• Review Panelists.
• Immediate families (i.e., spouses and dependent children) of individuals described in the points above.
• Previous AAUW Community Action Grant recipients must wait 3 years before reapplying.

• Project alignment with promoting equity for women and girls in grades K-12, preferably with an emphasis in STEM fields.
• Strength of project rationale; applicants must provide specific context to show how their project builds on existing work, addresses a need or tackles a topic or problem related to equity for women and girls in a new way.
• Clarity of anticipated results, which are convincingly connected to specific proposed activities and outputs and that are logically connected to the project’s goals.
• Project proposals must reflect how community/stakeholder participation is considered in the project’s design.
• Demonstrated organizational capacity and capability to achieve its objectives.
• Reflect a commitment to learning and evaluation by (1) incorporating monitoring/evaluation methods that enable assessment of project outcomes; and (2) describing how results and/or learnings from project implementation will be shared with stakeholders and/or the communities which the project intends to serve.
• Feasibility of the programmatic work or project — (1) the programmatic work or project has realistic time frames; (2) the project budget is adequate, and expenses are reasonable and necessary; (3) there is adequate support from collaborative organizations and community partners, as appropriate.
• Potential for and/or commitment of additional funds and involvement from community organizations, businesses and funders (preferred).

International Scholarship & Tuition Services (ISTS) serves as the application portal for AAUW Community Action Grants. Please follow the steps below to start the application process:

1. Review the eligibility criteria to ensure you are eligible.
2. Click the Apply Now button below to access the application and create an ISTS account.
3. Follow the instructions provided in the Applicant Guide.

If you experience technical difficulties, please contact AAUW@applyists.com.

Apply Now

• A narrative application.
• IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter (for applicants applying as nonprofit organizations).
• IRS 501 (c)(3) or (c)(4) determination letter (for applicants applying as AAUW branches or state organizations).
• Most recent 990.
• A copy of the applicant’s prior fiscal year’s organizational budget, demonstrating that more than 51% of the organization’s previous year’s expenses and programming/services was devoted to education and equity for women and girls in grades K-12.
• A copy of the applicant’s current fiscal year budget.
• Current fiscal year statement of financial position (i.e., balance sheet).
• Current fiscal year statement of activities (i.e., profit-and-loss statement).

Narrative Project Proposal

The required narrative project proposal includes the following components:

• Abstract
• Rationale (Need Statement)
• Description of Community
• Project Description
• Community Partners
• Project Evaluation

Project Budget

Applicants must provide a detailed line-item budget and accompanying narrative budget justification.

Prohibited Costs

Please note grant funds cannot be used to:

• Influence legislation
• Influence the outcome of elections
• Carry out voter registration drives
• Make grants to individuals or other organizations
• Pay for previous expenditures, deficits or loans
• Pay for copyright or attorney fees
• Fundraising activities

Review panels meet once a year to review applications for funding. Awards are based on the criteria outlined here. The panel’s recommendations are subject to final approval by AAUW. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis according to funds available in a given fiscal year.

To ensure a fair review process, AAUW does not comment on the deliberations of the awards panels. AAUW does not provide written or oral evaluations of applicants. No provisions exist for reconsideration of grant proposals. Applications and supporting documents become the sole property of AAUW and will not be returned or held for another year.