Name of Funding Organization: Gray Family Foundation
Contact Information: Email: grants@grayff.org
Grant Program: Launching an Outdoor School Program
Intent: The Gray Family Foundation's Launching an Outdoor School Program aims to increase the capacity of schools and outdoor school providers to deliver high-quality outdoor school experiences to all Oregon fifth- or sixth-grade students. This program is in collaboration with Friends of Outdoor School and OSU Extension's Outdoor School Program to complement existing statewide funding and ensure all students have the opportunity for an outdoor school experience.
Eligibility: Schools, districts, or ESDs can apply for planning grants to launch or revise an outdoor school program. Outdoor school program providers can request funds to plan how to better serve all 5th and 6th grade Oregon students. Additionally, private, charter, and home school students who are currently ineligible to apply for OSU Extension Service Outdoor School funding can still request programmatic grants to participate in the outdoor school experience.
Award Details: The Gray Family Foundation is accepting three types of funding requests in 2024: planning grants for schools or districts, planning grants for outdoor school program providers, and program grants for schools or student groups currently ineligible for OSU Extension Service Outdoor School funding. The foundation acknowledges that their outdoor school program funding is limited and anticipates that 2024 will be the last year they offer this funding.
Application Deadlines: Funding request letters can be submitted on a rolling basis throughout 2024. The quarterly deadlines for when requests will be reviewed and awards granted are as follows: requests received by January 22 will be considered in mid-February, requests received by May 6 will be considered in late-May, requests received by August 9 will be considered in early-September, and requests received by October 18 will be considered in mid-November.
Other Information: For more information and to download the request letter guidance, visit the Gray Family Foundation's website. Any questions can be emailed to grants@grayff.org.