Professional Development Grants
As a partner in your professional development, we provide modest funding to Indiana’s youth-serving professionals, enabling you to develop your professional practice to improve student success.
IYI’s Professional Development Grants program offers financial assistance for youth workers to access continuing education that they might not otherwise be able to attend.
This award may be used for conferences, training, workshops, or tuition reimbursement and should be related to the applicant’s position and the agency’s mission. The grants are intended to improve the applicant’s ability to do their job and the agency’s ability to serve and support children and youth.
Grant Amount: Up to $750, maximum of three awards per organization per IYI fiscal year (July-June). This is a competitive grant and limited funds will be available for each review period.
PLEASE REVIEW THE DEADLINE SCHEDULE BELOW:
Eligibility
- Grants are limited to three per organization per IYI fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).
- Grants are limited to one grant per individual per IYI fiscal year.
- Each grant is intended to allow one individual to attend one professional development opportunity.
- Applicant must be a staff member, board member, or active volunteer of a tax-exempt organization that provides services to Indiana youth.
- The professional development opportunity must begin on or after the 1st of the month following the application window.
- Awards may be used for conferences, training, or college courses that focus on healthy youth development or nonprofit management.
- Opportunities must be significantly related to the applicant’s position and the agency’s mission.
- Funds will not be awarded for events or training hosted by IYI.
- Click here for examples of eligible opportunities.
- The maximum amount available to each eligible applicant is $750. Awards may only be used for the following expenses:
- Registration fee or tuition reimbursement
AND/OR one of the following:
- Hotel expenses
- Mileage reimbursement
- Mileage reimbursement is calculated as roundtrip from the place of employment to training location if the two are more than 30 miles apart.
- Airfare reimbursement
- To claim airfare reimbursement, submit your application with a flight receipt displaying the price. Purchasing airfare in advance is at your risk; IYI isn’t liable for non-refundable costs if your funding application is denied. Reimbursement covers only the flight price, excluding extras like baggage fees or in-flight purchases.
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted via the online form below.
Upon completing your application, you will be redirected to a webpage verifying that your application was received. No further action is necessary.
We strongly recommend that you gather all necessary documents and prepare your responses to the narrative questions in a separate document before beginning the online application.
A screenshot of the conference details, such as a website screenshot or brochure. This must include all of the following: Date(s), registration fee, location, and general overview of the opportunity.
Applications will not be accepted if questions 2-5 contain narrative responses substantially identical to another applicant.
Download the Narrative Prep Template below.
If requesting, the following is required:
- Documentation indicating the hotel room rate, such as a conference brochure, hotel reservation quote, or invoice.
- Receipt of airfare purchase.
- Document or image displaying the total number of roundtrip miles from the applicant’s place of employment to the opportunity.
A copy of your agency’s IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter or, in the case of schools, government agencies, and religious institutions, your general sales tax exemption certificate (Form ST-105 or NP-1).
A signed copy of the W9, ACH Authorization Form, and Bank Authorization for the applicant’s organization. Bank Authorization can be a voided check (for checking accounts), blank deposit slip (for savings accounts), or a letter from the bank confirming the routing and account numbers. Any forms providing the personal financial/banking information of the applicant will result in automatic denial of the application.
Selection & Disbursement
Applications will be evaluated based on the following:
- All required documents are present and accurate.
- Adherence to the grant eligibility guidelines
- Score of the narrative question response review meets or exceeds the minimum threshold of 20 points. (See the scoring rubric linked below)
- Awards will be disbursed to the applicant’s organization via direct deposit within 30 days of award notification.
Post-Award Follow Up
- All recipients must submit a signed form verifying their attendance at the funded opportunity within two weeks of attendance. (See resources below)
- All recipients must complete the survey sent to you electronically within a month following your event.
