Michigan Justice Fund Fellowship Grants | Application is closed

We are seeking applications for the Michigan Justice Fund Fellowship grant program, which is designed to give capacity to organizations and efforts focused on dismantling systems of mass incarceration in the state. We are seeking to provide grant funding to nonprofit organizations/government agencies that are supporting individuals who are engaging in work addressing issues across the criminal legal system in Michigan.

The MJF Fellowship grant program will fund fellowships across Michigan at nonprofit organizations or government agencies. Organizations can apply for a $5,000 grant (which should be used entirely for the fellow’s stipend), plus additional administrative costs, up to $1,000, totaling a request up to $6,000 per organization.

For more information on important deadlines and how to apply, read our Grant Guidelines.

DOWNLOAD THE GRANT GUIDELINES

Letter of Inquiry

The Michigan Justice Fund (MJF) has launched a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) opportunity to help streamline our application process and more efficiently connect with potential grantees. The MJF team will review all submissions within 30 days of receipt and will determine if there is alignment between your proposed project and the MJF goals and objectives. If there is alignment, your organization will be invited to submit a full proposal to MJF for consideration of funding. To submit an LOI, we are asking organizations to complete the following steps:

• Review background information about the MJF
• Review the LOI eligibility requirements and application questions; and
• Submit the LOI via email.

Download the LOI

Michigan Justice Fund Rapid Response Grant Program

The Michigan Justice Fund’s Rapid Response Grant program will provide Michigan-based advocacy and direct service delivery organizations with funds to support time-sensitive resource needs or strategic opportunities, which advance the primary mission of the Fund and improve Michigan’s justice reform movement infrastructure and collaboration.

Our desire is to provide funding support in a timely manner that may not otherwise be considered through standard foundation grant application processes.

Requests that align with one or more of the following three categories will be considered:

• Urgent organizational and collaborative movement responses to a crisis or unanticipated event.
• Time-sensitive planning and coordination needs in response to strategic opportunities.
• Incubation or testing of new ideas, which may have the potential for medium-term impact but lack evidence required from standard foundation grant application processes.

Grants of $1,500 – $10,000 will be made on a rolling basis over the next two years. There is no deadline to submit an application, and applications will be reviewed and responded to within 30 days of submission.

Grant examples and more information on how to apply are included in the Grant Guidelines.

Download the Grant Guidelines

Michigan Justice Fund Re-Entry and Workforce Development Innovation Grants | Application is Closed

For the 2022 grantmaking cycle, the Michigan Justice Fund will prioritize advancing innovative, scalable strategies that increase opportunities for formerly incarcerated Michiganders to achieve increased economic mobility. The Fund is interested in strategies developed with direct input from currently and formerly incarcerated Michiganders that possess potential for local, regional, and statewide systems change or realignment, as well as the increased investment or reallocation of public funds. Programs funded will either support the delivery of direct workforce development services for formerly incarcerated individuals, or, the conception of new ideas, particularly those advancing public/private partnerships, new service integration, the replication of proven strategies, or the scaling of promising practices in the delivery of direct workforce development services.

The Fund anticipates that up to $2,200,000 will be awarded to support organizations in implementing workforce development and reentry initiatives to improve opportunities for economic mobility for formerly incarcerated Michiganders. We have two types of grants:

• Planning Grants –grants of up to $100,000 grants for up to a 12-month planning process
• Implementation Grants (3 categories) –grants of up to $600,000 for 18-to-24-month project periods

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