Deadline: March 15, 2025
The Lou Frey Institute of Politics & Government (LFI) is excited to announce the launch of a civics education micro-grant program for K-12 teachers and museum and library educators who are looking to support initiatives that drive civic education and civic engagement for K-12 students.
The goal of this grant program is to support educators who are striving to create the next generation of engaged participants in civic life. For the purposes of this grant, “civic engagement” is defined broadly as a process in which people engage with neighbors and colleagues to address issues of public concern. “Civic education” is broadly defined as developing the content knowledge and skills necessary to engage in public life. The Institute firmly believes that good civic education and its related civic engagement can take a wide variety of forms, so we encourage applicants to be both creative and explicit in connecting their application to the principles of civic education and civic life. Applicants are encouraged to review the CIRCLE white paper “The Republic is (Still) at Risk–and Civics is Part of the Solution” for use in developing their proposal and to understand how the Institute perceives the important practices of civic education.
Eligibility
All Florida-based educators involved in civic education are eligible to apply. Grants will be available, on a rolling basis, for K-5 and 6-12 educators. For the purposes of this award, ‘educator’ includes K-12 public, private, and charter school staff, museum, and library personnel. If you are not sure if you qualify, please email stephen.masyada@ucf.edu for clarification.
Awards may be used for student and faculty support, the purchase of resources, and similar activities. Please note that payments cannot be made to students, and ‘student and faculty support’ depends on what is allowed by University of Central Florida processes. Should there be an issue with your application as a result of conflict with what we can do, we will let you know as soon as possible.
Individuals who have been awarded a grant from the Institute previously must wait one year before applying again. This restriction does not prevent another individual from the same school or organization from applying. If you have not been previously awarded a grant but have applied, you are welcome to apply again.
Grant Details
• Rolling Awards: Up to 10 (ten) micro-grants are awarded on a rolling basis throughout the 2025 Spring academic calendar. Qualified individuals can submit applications until March 15th, 2025. Note that applications will reopen for summer/fall at a later time.
• Notification Timeline: Please keep in mind that it can take up to two weeks to review the grant applications, so it’s helpful to consider timelines for planned events.
• Funding Amount: Successful applicants may receive up to $500 in support. These funds can be used for relevant purchases and expenses associated with your civic education and engagement initiative. All expenses must be pre-approved through the application process or subsequently amended and executed before June 15, 2025. Please note that depending on UCF policies, this may be reimbursement rather than an immediate award.
• Processing of Funds: Awards will be processed through the Lou Frey Institute of Politics & Government.
• Final Report Requirement: All grant recipients will need to submit a brief final grant report at the end of their project. This report should include a narrative description of the project outcomes and an expenditures report.
Please direct any additional questions about the micro-grant or application process to stephen.masyada@ucf.edu.
Application Procedure
The micro-grant is available on a rolling basis for the Spring 2025 academic calendar, and all programs or initiatives must be completed by June 15, 2025. Interested applicants should submit the following materials via the 2024-25 LFI Civics Microgrant Application portal.
Please include the applicant’s name, their school/district/organization, and the relevant contact information.
1. Project Description/Initiative Summary (250-word limit): This abstract should explain the objective, outputs, and significance of your initiative.
2. Proposal Narrative (250-word limit): This narrative should detail the specific components of your initiative that you are applying to receive funding for and what the expected outputs (if any) are.
3. Budget Expenses and Justifications (1-page limit): Please divide this budget by the location of expenses and the type of activity therein (e.g., supplies, space rental, food, program materials, etc.).
Expectations
• Understand that award payment involving a reimbursed expense can take up to six weeks after the award letter is issued, so the project activities should be proposed with that timeline in mind.
• Adhere to the proposed budget submitted with their grant application.
• Adhere to UCF policies related to purchases and other expenses. Applicants will be informed if there is an issue with this so that they may re-submit.
• Submit a final report narrative and expenditures sheet via the Google form link, accounting for the use of the grant award and summarizing the outputs that may have resulted. Final reports are due June 20th, 2025.