Civic Seal Mini-Grant
✅ Kentucky Civic Seal Mini-Grant Program, 2025 ✅
About the Mini-Grant Program
The Kentucky Civic Seal Mini-Grant program is a new initiative for 2025. It is designed to support a variety of activities, where educators and students are enacting the Civic Seal criteria.
Launched with support from the CivXNow, the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Fund, as well as support from the Rural Urban Exchange and other community partners, the 2025 program will invest a series of small grants (awards from $100-1000) to support short-term projects in service of planning, enactment, or showcasing of the Kentucky Civic Seal.
Applications close: December 21
Be sure to review the criteria (below) before submitting!
Application Process
Mini-grant applications are reviewed and scored by a special committee from the Kentucky Civic Education Coalition (and Kentucky Council for the Social Studies).
Timeline:
Application Available: November 1
Application Deadline: December 21
Award notification: Monday, January 6
Award disbursement & Orientation Meeting: January 13 (tentative)
Project Overview / Grant Report Due: July 1, 2025
Guidelines
PURPOSE: The purpose of the mini-grant program is to support teachers and students in enacting or reflecting upon their work on the Civic Seal.
DIVERSITY COMMITMENT: Application review will take into consideration diversity of applicants, including student demographics, grade bands, geography, proposed activities, etc.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: Applicants must be a Kentucky educator working directly or indirectly with a school/program enacting the Civic Seal. Interested students must partner with an adult sponsor.
GRANT ACTIVITIES: Mini-grant applications should revolve around one or more of the following activities: (1) planning, (2) enacting, or (3) showcasing students’ Civic Seal work.
Planning: Funding in this category helps teachers lay the groundwork for their civic engagement projects. It can be used to cover resources for project design, collaboration with community partners, curriculum development, and any preparatory work that ensures a strong foundation for project success.
Enacting: This category provides funding for the direct implementation of civic engagement projects. Teachers can use these funds to bring their ideas to life, including covering costs for materials, event coordination, guest speakers, field trips, or any other activities that engage students in active, hands-on civic learning. The enactment phase emphasizes student participation and real-world impact.
Showcasing: Funding in this category is designed to support the presentation and celebration of completed civic engagement projects. This includes creating opportunities for students to share their work with peers, families, and the broader community through events, exhibitions, or digital presentations/documentaries. It also supports documenting the project’s outcomes and lessons learned, highlighting the importance of civic action in schools and communities.
Review Criteria
When submitting your application, please consider the following review criteria to be used by the selections committee:
How well does this project support student work?
How well is the project aligned to the Civic Seal’s components?
Is the project well-designed to support the planning/enactment/showcasing of the Seal?
How realistic is the timeline/work plan?
Is the budget appropriate for the planned activities?
How likely is the project to have a positive impact on students?
Will this project impact the broader school/regional community?
How does this application reflect diversity from other applicants/potential recipients (e.g., student demographics, grade bands, geography, etc.)