STORIES

The New York Life Foundation invests in middle–school out–of–school time (OST) programs to help economically disadvantaged eighth graders enter ninth grade on time. This year, we are very excited to announce the launch of Aim High, a new grant competition in partnership with Afterschool Alliance that will amplify our impact in local communities and schools across the country.

Afterschool Alliance is the nation’s leading advocate for afterschool programs, working to raise awareness of the importance of the afterschool hours as well as advocate for more afterschool investments. The Afterschool Alliance has more than 25,000 afterschool program partners and works with government officials across local, state, and national levels in order to improve access to affordable, high–quality afterschool programs.

Details on the new program are as follows:

WHO: Afterschool Alliance is collaborating with the New York Life Foundation to offer a dedicated grantmaking program to support local middle school OST programs over the next three years. Afterschool Alliance will administer the grant program.

WHAT: The Foundation has created a new $1.95M fund to support middle–school OST programming. This year, Aim High: Supporting Out–of–School Time Programs Serving Disadvantaged Middle School Youth will award 18 grants totaling $750,000. Grant funds may be used for technical assistance, enhancing direct service activities, and/or program expansion. Specific grant opportunities include:

• $100,000 over two years: four awards to be made to organizations with annual budgets of $500,000 or greater
• $50,000 over two years: four awards to be made to organizations with annual budgets of between $250,000 and $500,000
• $15,000 one–year grant: 10 awards will be made to programs that demonstrate promisingfamily engagement strategies run by organizations with annual budgets of more than $150,000

Applicants for the two–year grants will need to describe how programs support youth in the transition to the ninth grade.

WHEN: Applications are due by February 17, 2017. Awardees will be notified in May 2017. To learn more, please join Afterschool Alliance’s webinar on January 25 at 2 p.m. ET.

WHERE: Information for prospective applicants can be found here, including the full application and eligibility requirements. Please email Dan Gilbert (dgilbert@afterschoolalliance.org) with any additional questions.

WHY: Research shows that for disadvantaged students, more OST learning opportunities – through afterschool, expanded–day, and summer programs – lead to greater achievement, better school attendance, and more engaged students. While the New York Life Foundation has supported middle–school OST efforts through partnerships with national nonprofit organizations since 2013, this new grant program will enable us to support smaller, local programs in communities across the country.