June Is Funding for Education Month at the Foundation Center

New York, NY, June 1, 2009 — While quality education is a key part of the government's recent economic stimulus package, to survive and thrive in difficult economic times, many educational institutions must also gain support from private foundations. Throughout June, the Foundation Center is offering free events, classes, and online resources designed to help nonprofits and individuals alike become more effective grantseekers and find new funding prospects.

"Education is a top priority for America today, and in a challenging funding environment, it takes on all the more urgency," said JuWon Choi, the Center's vice president for educational services. "Our month-long focus on funding for education offers those working with education-related nonprofits unique opportunities to strengthen fundraising skills and learn from colleagues in the field, and gives students the tools to find scholarships and financial aid."

The new "Focus on Funding for Education" area of the Center's web site offers visitors frequently updated information on programs, news, and research related to education funding — a "one-stop shop" of free, easily accessible information including:

¥ Links to live events, classes, and webinars, as well as podcasts and recorded programs in an online Events Archive
¥ Interactive maps and charts that display the geographic locations and aggregate giving of grantmakers supporting education globally
¥ News, interviews, book reviews, job postings, and RFP listings from the Center's Philanthropy News Digest
¥ Online reports on education published by foundations and nonprofit organizations, available through the Center's PubHub catalog Special events in the Center's five regional offices will address such topics as: support for youth programming, proposal development, demystifying planned giving, building relationships with alumni groups, funding for school enrichment programs, and financial resources for college education. The Center will also offer two national webinars: Find and Apply for Government Grants Using Grants.gov, and Foundation Funding Trends in Higher Education. For complete listings of events, visit the June calendars for Atlanta, Cleveland, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

The Foundation Center thanks the Lumina Foundation, national sponsor for Funding for Education Month.

About the Foundation Center
Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 600 foundations, the Foundation Center is the nation's leading authority on philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants 52; a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 400 funding information centers located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions in every U.S. state and beyond. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call (212) 620-4230.