IFYC Innovation Grant Application: Healing the Heart of American Democracy

Overview, Instructions, and Personal Information

Thank you for your interest in IFYC’s Interfaith Innovation Grants.

Overview of Healing the Heart of American Democracy Interfaith Innovation Grant
IFYC, in partnership with the Fetzer Institute, is offering Interfaith Innovation Grants in the amount of $4,000 to support campuses as they implement initiatives to address the cultural and political divides facing our country. Through this grant opportunity, campuses will create or enhance dialogue among people from different identities about the moral and spiritual values that bind us together as a diverse nation.

Application Process:
Campuses will propose initiatives that bring students, staff, faculty and community partners together to build understanding across different identities and together form a “binding narrative” anchored in shared spiritual and moral values. Initiatives will also advance IFYC's Leadership Practices for Interfaith Excellence in order to advance a culture of interfaith cooperation on campus. We encourage campuses to propose initiatives that fit their unique campus environment and align with their existing priorities (current strategic plans, divisional goals, etc.). We encourage campuses to submit plans that are creative and will best utilize campus assets to heal divides in our country. For examples of possible initiatives, please see the Healing the Heart of American Democracy Innovation Grant RFP.

Healing the Heart of American Democracy Innovation Grant applications are due May 15, 2017. Grants will be awarded in July 2017 and grant funds must be spent between August 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.

Required Materials:
A completed online application, including uploaded copies of:

A list of project stakeholders
The project's budget (itemized)

A completed Campus Interfaith Inventory is also required (to be completed via a separate unique campus link; if you have not received your institution's link by March 10, 2017, please contact megan@ifyc.org).

In the selection process, IFYC will give preference to campuses who:

propose creative ways to enhance dialogue among people from different identities about the values that bind us together as a diverse nation
are uniquely positioned to bridge differences on campus and in the surrounding community based on population, location, campus identity, etc.
are just beginning to plan and implement sustainable interfaith initiatives
will involve a variety of stakeholders from diverse areas across campus in their interfaith efforts, in particular, student leaders
Include concrete mechanisms to ensure sustainability beyond the granting term

Please note that grants are not intended to fund the following activities:

The cost of bringing an IFYC staff member to campus through IFYC’s Campus Engagement program
Infrastructure or furniture

IFYC staff members are available for consultation and feedback during the development of your application. Please contact Megan Johnson at megan@ifyc.org with any questions or to request feedback on your ideas/materials.

General Contact Information

Lead Contact First Name *This question is required.

Lead Contact Last Name *This question is required.

Preferred Name (if not first)

Primary Email Address *This question is required. This question requires a valid email address.

Office Phone Number (xxx-xxx-xxxx) *This question is required.

Mobile Phone Number (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

College/University Name *This question is required.

College/University City *This question is required.

College/University State *This question is required.

College/University Zip Code *This question is required.

Project Stakeholder Information: Please upload an excel spreadsheet with the name, title, email and phone number of additional partners on campus who will be involved in your initiative's planning and implementation. A red X indicates that your file has been attached successfully.

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1. Budget: Campuses may apply for up to $4,000 to support their proposed initiative. Please upload an excel spreadsheet of your proposed budget. A red X indicates that your file has been attached successfully.

Please note that grants are not intended to fund the following activities:

Furniture or Infrastructure
The cost of bringing an IFYC staff member to campus through IFYC’s Campus Engagement program

Travel and conference attendance costs will be considered but must be closely tied to programmatic objectives.

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2. Please provide the name and contact information of the individual responsible for completing your institution's Campus Interfaith Inventory. *This question is required.

Full Name:

Email Address: This question requires a valid email address.

3. Please provide an abstract of your proposed initiative. (150 word max) *This question is required.

4. What are the specific goals or outcomes of your initiative and how will you know that your initiative has been successful? (300 word max) *This question is required.

5. How will your initiative contribute to healing the heart of American democracy? In particular, how will your initiative find common ground across diverging viewpoints, and promote a set of moral and spiritual civic virtues? (300 words max) *This question is required.

6. “Binding narratives” help us focus on the idea of America as an immigrant nation, the prominent place of e pluribus unum (out of many, one), and a national commitment to the sacredness of diversity. By advancing and creating binding narratives such as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “beloved community” or Jane Addams’s “cathedral of humanity,” interfaith leaders catalyze and support the emergence of a morally and spiritually grounded vision for America that transcends religion, ideology, race and class. (Eboo Patel, Interfaith Leadership, 99-100)

How will your initiative advance a "binding narrative" of America? (300 word max)

7. IFYC's Leadership Practices for Sustainable Interfaith Excellence offer a framework for interfaith impact on campus. How will your initiative advance one or more of the following practices? (300 word max)
Leadership Practice 1: Institutional Identity and Mission
Leadership Practice 2: Campus-wide Strategy
Leadership Practice 3: Public Identity
Leadership Practice 4: Respect and Accommodation for Diverse Religious Identities
Leadership Practice 5: Academic Priority
Leadership Practice 6: Staff and Faculty Competence and Capacity
Leadership Practice 7: Student Leadership
Leadership Practice 8: Campus-Community Partnerships
Leadership Practice 9: Assessment of Campus Climate and Interfaith Activities

8. How will you plan for the sustainability of your initiative following the granting period? (150 word max)