Below are two email templates that can be sent to either potential donors or businesses that may be a part of the game in some way. 

EMAIL TO DONORS

Dear —-–, 

I hope all is going well. I know you believe in —-, which is why I am writing to you on behalf of Providence Cultural Equity Initiative (PCEI) to ask for your support in our Meshanticut Project. Meshanticut is a growing alternate reality game that will take you through what Providence, Rhode Island would look like if Native American culture survived colonization by European Settlers. Players like you, can navigate Providence by completing a series of quests and puzzles bringing you into local businesses to learn about Rhode Island history. 

We at PCEI, are a non- profit organization with a vision to transform Rhode Island into New England’s premier cultural hub. With Meshanticut serving as a testament to Rhode Island’s indigenous past and heritage that acknowledges and engages these communities as a thriving part of the vibrant fabric of Rhode Island’s contemporary “Living Culture.” We want you to help us fund our project and our vision. Knowing that you share our passion for —-, we thought you would want to help fund us. As of right now we are on track to have a mockup of our game available for this summer 2023, in the hopes to have a full game prepared for the launch of Meshanticut in 2036 for the 400th year commemoration of Providence, Rhode Island. —- help our alternate reality game become a reality.

Thank you so much for your donation —-.

EMAIL TO BUSINESSES

Dear ____,

I am a student at Roger Williams University who is currently working on a project with the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative. The goal of this partnership is to create an initial prototype of a game that takes players around Providence solving puzzles and learning about the indigenous cultural history of the city. The game transports them into a world in which the Natives won King Philip's War. The players are looking to free the River Spirit through the aforementioned puzzles that can be accessed at different areas in Providence via QR codes. 

Your business has been identified as one that is family owned, woman owned, or BIPOC owned and holds significance to these communities. We therefore would like to utilize your business in our game as a stop for the participants to go to. For you, this would mean….[description of what’s asked of them from narrative/technical]. If this is something that you would be open to participating in, please let us know. Additionally, if you are interested in taking a larger role in this project through donations or advertisement, please let us know. 

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Name

Roger Williams University

This is a list of detailed grants that PECI can look into. Some of these grants have deadlines approaching this year and some that are next year. We listed out the name of the grant and a website on where to find more information, the deadline, amount that could be received and the requirements for the grant. There are a lot of different needs depending on the grant, some include an interview and others need a full written proposal. We would like it if PECI can look over these grants and see if there are any of them that they have not yet applied to. If they have not, we can potentially start moving forward with the grant process depending on the requirements. If they have applied to all or most of these grants we can start looking for more. 

Centene Charitable Foundation Grant

https://www.centene.com/why-were-different/strategic-partnerships/corporate-giving.html

• Fall under the education section of what they fund

• Due date: Rolling

• Amount: $300 - $500,000

• For: The event this summer, Meshanticut project, and Meshanticut as a whole

• Requirements: 

  • Relevant program materials

  • IRS Affirmation/Determination Letter

  • Form 990

  • W9 Form

Rhode Island Humanities

https://rihumanities.org/grants/grantmaking/

• Public Project focus on cultural equity

• Due Date: None specified for this cycle - probably around November for Major grants, Mini grants May 1st, 2023, August 1st, 2023 

• Amount: Major:$2,000-$12,000, Mini: $2,000 or less

• For: The money can be used as a whole for the development of the Meshanticut project. 

• Requirements 

  • UEI number

  • 501(c)3 proof

  • Letter of Intent to Apply (For major grants only)

    • Federal Tax Exemption Status

    • Hiatus Policy

    • Currently open grant?

    • Name of sponsoring organization

    • Name of applicant

    • Project name

    • Estimated project state and end date

    • Project format

    • Project Phase

    • Estimated Request from Council

    • Project Synopsis

  • Draft of application

    • UEI number

    • Tax exemption

    • Project director

    • Authorizing official

    • Start/End date

    • Synopsis/Goals/Outcome

    • Outputs & Activities 

    • Civic Relevancy

    • Partners

    • Public & Outreach Plan

    • Total Request 

    • Cost-Share Requirements 

    • Budget in Template

    • Allowable & Unallowable Experiments 

    • Indirect Cost rate

  • Final application

The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation

https://www.mvdreyfusfoundation.org/application-guidelines

• Any non-profits for relatively small amount of funding for a large difference

• Due Date: Fall deadline November 11th to May 10th. Spring deadline May 11th to November 10th.

• Amount: $1,000 - $20,000

• Requirements: This grant requires 2 summaries, a letter of request,most recent 990, itemized operating budget, program budget (if required), and 501(c)3 determination letter.

  • Summaries:  The first summary of PCEI’s purpose and the population it serves. The second one regarding how potential funding would be utilized and the population it might serve. There should be a basic understanding of PCEI’s purpose, service population, and programming based solely on these summaries. 

  • Letter of Request:  This serves as an opportunity to reiterate, elaborate, and expand on the information from the summaries through expanding on how PCEI is unique and how the money would be used.

Papitto Opportunity Connection

https://pocfoundation.com/how-we-work/grant-seekers/ 

• Funds “unique and narrative changing programs that are designed to create success stories for Rhode Island’s” “we make investments only to organizations or individuals whose activities primarily benefit people of color living in the State of Rhode Island.”

• Due Date: June 1st-15th

• Amount: No set amount

• For:  The money can be used as a whole for the development of the Meshanticut project. 

• Requirements:

  • Application made available in June

Rhode Island Energy, Empowering Communities Grant

https://www.rienergy.com/Our-Company/Empowering-Communities

• Funds non-profits focused on education, diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Due Date: First wave February 1st to March 15th. Second wave August 1st to September 15th

• Amount: $1,000 to $50,000 

• For: This money can be used for the development of the Meshanticut project

• Requirements: Below are a list of questions that will be asked for the application

  • Explain desired results of the program. 

  • Specify the performance targets and critical milestones you must achieve to reach the desired results.

  • How the program aligned with PPL Foundation’s priority areas of education; diversity, equity and inclusion; or sustainable communities?

  • Please provide a budget summary of this program, describing how this program fits in the overall organization budget and outlining major expenditures, additional revenue sources and the role this grant would play for this program.

Rhode Island Foundation, Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant

https://rifoundation.org/grant/racialequityandsocialjustice

• Non profits that have been active for at least one year, priority given to organizations with BIPOC leadership

• Due Date: December 2023.

• Amount: N/A

• For: This money can be used for PCEI as a whole and for the development of the Meshanticut project.

• Requirements: The first step is an application and then there will be an interview process. Here is an example of an application for this grant: https://assets.rifoundation.org/documents/Racial-Equity-and-Social-Justice-Grant-Application_v2.pdf

  • Proposal budget

  • Organizational budget

  • Copy of most recent Form 990, 990EZ, or 990N and 501(c)(3) IRS determination letter if not already on file at the Rhode Island Foundation

  • Organizational budget for the current fiscal year with year-to-date actuals (not required for public schools, hospitals or local municipalities)

  • Audited financials for the two most recent years, if available (not required for public schools, hospitals or local municipalities)

  • Organization board list

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts

https://risca.online/grants/general-operating-support-for-organizations/

• Funds non profits that have been active for 5 years, have arts and culture in their mission, and present programming in ADA accessible spaces

• Due Date: Budgets over $500,000: FY24 – Deadline is April 1, 2023. Budgets from $100,000 – $500,000: FY25 – Deadline is April 1, 2024. Budgets under $100,000: FY26 – Deadline is April 1, 2025.

• Amount: Up to $500,000 or 3,000 – $40,000 (different in different spots)

• For: The money can be used as a whole for the development of the Meshanticut project. 

• Requirements

  • Email director and then he will explain and assist with the application  todd.trebour@arts.ri.gov.

Gladys Brooks Foundation Grants

http://www.gladysbrooksfoundation.org/guidelines.html

• Funds only institutions/organizations which are exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundationsas defined in section 509 of the Code.A Grant Proposal Letter generally will be considered when {a} outside funding for the project (including governmental) is not available; {b} the project will be largely funded by the grant unless the grant request covers a discrete component of a larger project; and {c} the funds will be used for endowments, capital projects or capital equipment .

• Due Date: May 31st, 2024

• Amount: $50,000 - $150,000

• For:  The money can be used as a whole for the development of the Meshanticut project.

• Requirements: 

  • If there is no other funding for this project. 

  • A grant proposal letter

Dr. Scholl Foundation Grants 

https://www.instrumentl.com/grants/dr-scholl-foundation-grants?browse_grant=grants-for-bipoc-in-rhode-island

• Fit under the education and civil and cultural engagement sections for application

• Due Date: Between October 1, 2024 - March 1, 2024

• Amount: $5,000, $25,000

• For: The money can be used as a whole for the development of the Meshanticut project. 

• Requirements: 

  • Letter of Inquiry

  • Application

Our Work in Action: Fund

https://www.commonfuture.co/initiatives/capital-strategies/

• Funds organizations that create projects directly impacting communities

• Due Date: No clear due date, contact them to work as a partner

• Amount: N/A

• For: The money can be used as a whole for the development of the Meshanticut project.

• Requirements: The requirements seem to just be a project that is representing or made up of BIPOC individuals

  • The rest of the requirements seem to come from contact with them

Below is information about the donor box that we have created that would allow us to collect donations:

Donor box is an online platform that allows organizations to accept donations. It is something that is very versatile and will make donating very easy for the donor. We can add this donation platform as a popup or embedded into our website, and donors can join a mailing list. This will allow us to reach a wider range of individuals and have a place for them to go when receiving a letter asking for donations. Whether or not the letter is via paper mail or email it can be one of the many ways for a donation. The only downside is there can be a membership fee if that is the route PECI decides on. 

The email address was created in order to create the donorbox account. The log on for the donor box is the same as the email address. 

Email Address: Meshanticut2023@gmail.com

Password: 2036Meshanticut!

Donorbox: https://donorbox.org/org_admin/forms