About the Virginia Literacy Foundation Grants

Each January, the Virginia Literacy Foundation announces the availability of its Tier One and Tier Two matching grants. Click here for the 2010 Memo, Grant Coversheet, and Grant Guidelines. Community-based and faith-based literacy organizations eligible for VLF grants must be located in Virginia and serve adult students who read at a fifth grade level or below, are 18 years of age and older, and stay for at least 6 hours of direct instruction. Organizations must have 501(c)3 status (or be closely partnered with an established 501 (c) 3 organization) and work with nonprofit staff, volunteers and an active Board of Directors.

If your organization is unsure about our eligibility requirements, please read the list at this link or contact Victoire Sanborn at 800-237-0178 or vsanborn@valrc.org. For grant packets, contact Julia Norman at 804-237-8909 or norman@theliteracyinstitute.org. After grant announcements are made in mid-January, instructions and application forms will be made available at www.valrc.org and on this website. All new applicants are required to fill out a Survey Form and return it with their grant application. Your ability to fill out the Survey Form in detail will help you to determine whether your organization is eligible to apply for a VLF grant.

Our matching grants are offered in tiered categories. The amount of funding for which an organization is eligible is tied to the numbers of adult literacy students it served in the last full fiscal year.* Funding tiers are as follows:

Tier One: One-year matching grants, 4-page narrative required

• Programs that served 30-49 students* are eligible to apply for a $2,500 matching grant.
• Programs that served 50+ students* are eligible to apply for a $5,000 matching grant.

Tier Two: Two-year matching grants (eligibility for this competitive grant is at the VLF’s discretion), 8-page narrative required

• Programs that served 200-399 students* are eligible to apply for $7,500 per year.
• Programs that served 400 + students* are eligible to apply for $10,000 per year.

* "Students served" is defined as permanently matched adult students who have received at least six hours of basic literacy instruction in the last full fiscal year in one or more of these areas: one-on-one tutoring, small group classes, family (adult literacy component), pre-GED instruction, computer literacy, jail program, etc.

Required grant sections

1. Grant narrative
2. Survey form
3. Budget sheet
4. Board list
5. Staff list
6. Assurance of nonprofit status

2010 Grant Instructions

Guidelines (Optional resources for enriching your proposal)

1. Grant guidelines – these instructions will improve your chances of receiving a VLF grant
2. Sample goals, objectives, and activities table, which should be incorporated in the main body of the narrative
3. VLF database request guidelines

If you cannot download these documents when they become available or if you have additional questions about our matching grants, please contact Julia Norman at 804-237-8909 or norman@theliteracyinstitute.org.

Grant deadline: The original grant and five copies must be received by 5 pm on the day of deadline. This deadline changes each year; therefore, it is important to use the current grant application forms. Faxed or emailed submissions are not accepted.