The Rose Foundation For Communities and the Environment invites applications for its Consumer Financial Education Fund.

The fund supports projects that address consumer financial education, with an emphasis on issues related to just and equitable banking, basic banking, financial literacy, access to financial services, retail banking accounts, and underbanked and/or vulnerable populations. The 2024 grants opportunity is enabled by a cy pres award from the In Re: TD Bank, N.A. Debit Card Overdraft Fee Litigation, Case No. 6:15-mn-02613-BHH, class action settlement related to improper overdraft fees, and it will be conducted in accordance with the requirements set by the court.

Applicants must demonstrate expertise in consumer education or advocacy, especially related to financial literacy. The project must be designed to serve vulnerable and/or underbanked populations, including low-income communities of color, individuals and families, students, veterans, and non-English speakers and conducted by organizations that have a demonstrated track record of working with these communities. Proposals must relate primarily to financial education issues or fair and equitable banking practices and be targeted toward users, regulators, and enterprises residing in the United States.

Examples of allowable educational activities include teaching adults and children about financial issues and increasing their financial literacy, such as community workshops, classroom presentations, trainings, conferences, and webinars, especially those that present information about overdraft fees and how to avoid them. Educational programs covering the following topics are preferred: fees and choices related to debit cards and pre-paid debit cards that lead to high interest rates; educating consumers to not opt-in to overdraft protection when fees will be charged; the dangers of high-cost, short-term credit such as payday lenders or Buy Now Pay Later programs and how to avoid this type of borrowing; educational projects should seek to adapt and utilize existing curricula (applicants proposing to create entirely new curricula should be prepared to fully justify why existing financial literacy curricula is insufficient); and events for legislators and other policy makers to help them understand pertinent issues.

Projects may be regional, statewide, or local, but must serve people in the following states/territories: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, or Washington, D.C.

The maximum allowable total request is $100,000, even for multi-year proposals.

To be eligible, applicants must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Nonprofit colleges, universities, university clinics, and graduate programs are eligible to apply, but university overhead is limited to 5 percent of the grant award.

Letters of inquiry are due March 1, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. PT, and upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application, due April 5, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. PT.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Rose Foundation For Communities and the Environment website.

Deadline: March 1, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. PT (Letters of Inquiry)

The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment invites nominations for the Anthony Prize, which will provide a $1,000 cash award in recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of grassroots environmental activism during the previous year. Activities must serve California but may be local, regional, or statewide in scope. The prize recognizes outstanding personal or volunteer-based conservation and environmental justice achievements rather than professionally based environmentalism.

The prize money must be awarded to an organization, not an individual; individual winners must designate a grassroots environmental organization to receive the prize money.

Both individuals and small organizations are eligible for nomination. Self-nominations are allowed. Organizational nominees must have an annual budget below $100,000 annually; individual nominees must be volunteers.

For complete program guidelines, application instructions, and information about previous prize recipients, see the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment website.

Deadline: March 22, 2023