Grants

REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.), a national outdoor gear and clothing retailer, announced plans to grant $4.2 million this year to nonprofits across the country that work to preserve and maintain natural spaces through active volunteer programs.

The company designates 3 percent of the previous year's operating profit to its annual grants program. Because REI employees have the most direct connection to local nonprofits, store employees nominate organizations from their local community. REI invites selected nominees to apply for grant funding. Eligible organizations must be outdoor nonprofits that promote active volunteerism through their programs.

At a time when for-profit theaters may be feeling the pressure to cave in to the economic pinch and roll out the revivals, nonprofit San Francisco-based American Conservatory Theater is still taking chances.

Aetna and the Aetna Foundation together awarded $1.03 million in community grants and sponsorships to Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organizations during 2010. The grants were made to organizations addressing a variety of health issues, including obesity among adults and children, racial and ethnic equity in health care, and needed improvements in the integration and coordination of health care services. In addition, grants were made in support of arts and cultural programs, human services and academic organizations, faith-based initiatives and many others.

A Cincinnati-area nonprofit organization is assisting high school students throughout the Tri-State in not only giving to charity, but learning more about the spirit of philanthropy and social causes. Magnified Giving, a nonprofit organization based in the Cincinnati suburb of Reading, enters its fourth year of teaching students to become philanthropists through placing the decision of what charities to donate funds to upon the shoulders of students.

The program allows students and teachers in 15 area high schools to form Youth Grantmaking Councils charged with dispersing a grant of at least $1,000 to charities.

A Milwaukee nonprofit that provides veteran services has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The money will help the Center for Veterans Issues assist veterans in central and southeastern Wisconsin. It's one of 85 nonprofits across the nation to receive a grant.

The VA program is designed to help homeless veterans find permanent living solutions, and to prevent at-risk veterans from losing their homes.

The NBCUniversal Foundation has awarded $800,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations across the country. The grants are part of NBCUniversal’s ongoing commitment to improving public secondary education in underserved communities.

This is the sixth year of the successful NBCUniversal initiative, which targets nonprofits in cities with large NBCUniversal employee populations and significant education needs. Since the Foundation’s inception, close to $7 million has been directed to nonprofits that have demonstrated a commitment to improving educational opportunities for public school students in the 6th through 12th grades.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research, announced more than $19.6 million in new grants to fund promising and innovative childhood cancer research. The grants bring the total to more than $21 million awarded by St. Baldrick's for the fiscal year. Every dollar raised came from the creativity and dedication of St. Baldrick’s volunteers and the generosity of donors, working together to help fund the best possible research.

Nonprofit groups in the 13 Appalachian states can share a $2 million software donation from Microsoft Corp. aimed at training the region's work force to compete in an economy driven by knowledge and technology.

The Appalachian Regional Commission announced Microsoft's second economic-development donation to the region in six years Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Senators from two states that have already received grants, West Virginia and Mississippi, were on hand for the event.

MasterCard Worldwide announced a $1 million grant to the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) to support entrepreneurship education programs geared toward middle and high school students in low-income communities across the United States.

The MasterCard grant will support NFTE’s core U.S. school-based youth entrepreneurship program that provides hands-on learning and classroom lessons on mathematics, analytical skills and management and planning. MasterCard employees will also have an opportunity to get involved as volunteer educators.

ROI Pop Inc., an internet marketing agency, is proud to announce the 2011 recipients of its ROI Pop Grant program to Drop in the Bucket and Healthy Child Healthy World. The grant awards consist of ROI Pop's professional internet marketing services including pay-per-click advertising management and online strategy development. ROI Pop's Grants will serve to increase their website traffic and clickthrough rates, there-by increasing their online visibility and fundraising efforts.