Mini Grants

New Jersey Library Association Mini Grants

The New Jersey Library Association is excited to announce a new competitive grant opportunity for committees and sections of NJLA. Due to a generous bequest from NJLA Past President Learned T. “Dag” Bulman, NJLA is offering annual awards of up to a maximum of $750 per committee or section.

Mission of the New Jersey Library Association
Established in 1890, the NJLA is the oldest and largest library organization in New Jersey. It advocates for the advancement of library services for the residents of New Jersey, provides continuing education and networking opportunities for librarians, supports the principles of intellectual freedom, and promotes access to library materials for all.

Purpose of the Mini Grants
The purpose of these mini grants is to support work that will help NJLA achieve the goals and objectives of its current strategic plan, in alignment with NJLA’s core values.

Alignment with NJLA’s Strategic Plan and Core Values
Applicants should align proposals with one (1) goal of NJLA’s most recent strategic plan, and at least one (1) of NJLA’s core values.

The NJLA Strategic Plan can be found at: https://www.njla.org/njla-strategic-plan

The Core Values of NJLA can be found at: https://www.njla.org/core-values-of-the-new-jersey-library-association

Additional Criteria
Special consideration will be given to NJLA committees and sections that have not previously received a mini grant award.

Funding Available
NJLA has designated $75,000 from the bequest of Past President Learned T. “Dag” Bulman to be used for the purpose of mini grants. A maximum of $750 will be awarded per committee/section per year, with an annual maximum distribution of $7,500 per fiscal year. Any funds not distributed in a given year will be kept in the fund to be distributed in future years.

Grant Period
Grant applications will be accepted on three dates throughout the year. Applicants will be eligible for (1) award per year, with a year defined as July 1 through June 30. Grant monies must be fully expended within 12 months of award notification.

Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants are official committees, subcommittees, and sections of NJLA, as approved by the Executive Board.

Applicants will not be eligible to reapply until all previous mini grant award funds have been expended, and the impact report has been submitted.

Committees and subcommittees of the NJLA Executive Board are not eligible to apply. Mini Grant Task Force members will recuse themselves from voting on applications sponsored by committees or sections of which they serve in a leadership capacity.

Important Dates

September 15 - deadline to apply for 1st application period
October 15 - award notification of 1st application period
January 15 - deadline to apply for 2nd application period
February 15 - award notification of 2nd application period
May 15 - deadline to apply for 3rd application period
June 15 - award notification of 3rd application period

Project Partners
NJLA encourages partnerships in project design and implementation. NJLA sections and committees may submit separate applications for mini-grant awards to be used for the same collaborative project. However, approval of one applicant’s request does not guarantee approval for other project partners. If separate project partners are applying for funds to be used for a joint project, each application should describe how the specific funds will be used and how the use of funds differs from applications from separate project partners.

General Application Criteria
Only complete applications received by the stated due date will be reviewed.

Ineligible Costs

Food
Promotional giveaways

Fund Distribution
A list of all awards will be submitted to the NJLA Office after each application review period is completed. Distribution of approved funds will be made by NJLA directly to relevant vendors. Following notification of an approved mini-grant, all invoices should be submitted to the NJLA Office for processing and payment. Based on quantity and quality of applications in any given period, some, all, or no funds may be disbursed.

Reporting
Successful applicants will be required to submit an impact report (250-500 words) following the completion of their grant project, including a summary of expenditures to [email protected].

Application
The mini grant application can be found at: https://bit.ly/NJLAminigrant

Questions
Please submit questions to [email protected].

Documents
Mini Grants Guidelines
Scoring Rubric

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