American Legion Child Welfare Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation supports organizations' efforts to disseminate useful information about health, social-emotional development, education and safety.
IP TAKE: The Child Welfare Foundation prioritizes the dissemination of knowledge and information related to all aspects of child welfare. This funder works with organizations serving broad geographic areas, so gratseekers that work locally are less likely to secure funding here. ALCWF is an accessible funder and runs an open application program that runs from May 1 to July 15 each year. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions and ideas, especially if they concern sharing information about child development with broad audiences.
PROFILE: The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation was founded in 1954 by the American Legion, a veterans' organization, and Commander Dr. Garland D. Murphy, Jr., who bequeathed partial mineral rights to his oil-rich land in Montana and North Dakota to the foundation. The foundation's "foremost philanthropic priority is to contribute to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual welfare of children and youth by aiding progress in the field of child welfare." It invests mainly in projects that disseminate knowledge about new and established programs and organizations that contribute to child and youth welfare "to the end that such information can be more adequately used by society."
Grants for K-12 Education
This foundation approaches child welfare broadly, including programs that address health, socio-emotional development, education and safety. It has funded knowledge dissemination projects including print and electronic media, videos, music and workshops. One grantee, the New York City-based Too Small to Fail, provides early language development resources to families through diaper banks in high-need communities. The National Braille Institute, another grantee, used funding to support its "Free Materials for Blind Children" program. While most of the foundation's investments are directed toward the dissemination of useful knowledge, a smaller portion of its funding has supported scholarships, camps and therapeutic programs.
Grants for Mental Health, Public Health, and Diseases
Any organization concerned with the mental health of children and young people may seek funding from the CWF. The foundation focuses on organizations improving the well-being of children in two ways: “the dissemination of knowledge about new and innovative organizations and/or their programs designed to benefit youth,” and “the dissemination of knowledge already possessed by well-established organizations, to the end that such information can be more adequately used by society.” Past disease-related grantees include Children’s Organ Transplant Association, National Autism Association, and Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the U.S. In the past it has supported groups such as the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, which addresses mental illness in children and adults.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $10,000 to $50,000 and are only awarded for project specific purposes. The foundation does not make general operating support grants. Grants are awarded for one year and must be completed between January 1 and December 31. To get a sense of the types of organizations this funder backs, browse through its current and past grants awarded.
The foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications from May 1 to July 15 of each year. Grant decisions are typically made by mid-October. Applications can be downloaded (PDF) from the foundation’s website.
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