2024 RIF Matching Grant

 

Grant Information

Since our founding in 1966, RIF has fostered local partnerships to bring books and literacy materials to children in under-resourced communities to create a culture of literacy and foster opportunities for children to read, learn, and grow. RIF is committed to providing high-quality, diverse books in print and digital formats that provide opportunities for children to see themselves represented in the books they read and extend their worldview through diverse characters and experiences. Our matching grant program enables local literacy partners to double their impact by partnering with RIF to drive reading outcomes for children in their community. Through our matching grant program, RIF matches 100% of local dollars to bring books and literacy resources to children that need them most. The matching grant program empowers local innovation and long-term sustainability to create collective impact centered on providing critical access to diverse books and literacy resources. All educational institutions and youth-serving organizations are eligible to apply.

RIF’s 2024 Matching Grant program is now closed. Explore the Grantee Spotlights below to see how our program is making a difference in communities nationwide. Be sure to check back for updates on our 2025 program which will accept applications for three RIF programs: Books for Ownership, Read for Success, and Skybrary. To learn more about the program options, visit Our Solutions page.

2024 Matching Grantee Spotlights

Grant Details

RIF’s matching grant program maximizes your impact by doubling your dollars through RIF’s support. The grant program can benefit your organization from two different perspectives:

  • The RIF grant award doubles the amount of money you have to purchase RIF programs for the children you serve with RIF’s match equal to your local investment.

  OR

  • The RIF grant award enables you to purchase high-quality RIF programs at just half the cost. For example, RIF books cost $4/book but with the matching funds, you’ll be able to obtain the books at just $2/book.

This year, applications will be accepted for any of RIF’s three programs: Books for Ownership, Read for Success, or Skybrary. You can only apply for funding to support one of the programs. Details and costs for each program are listed below. Please contact our team at LiteracyNetwork@RIF.org if you need help identifying the best program to fit your needs.

RIF Matching Grant 2024 Information Webinar

Books for Ownership

Books for Ownership, Reading Is Fundamental’s (RIF) flagship reading program, is grounded in choice, access, and engagement. It enables children to select new, age-appropriate books to take home and own and is supported by resources for educators, families, and volunteers to create a continuous focus on reading. The matching grant award provides grantees with books for them to distribute to the children they serve to take home and own, building home libraries and creating a culture of literacy.

Program Requirements

  • Order all books from RIF’s online Bookstore where you can select from thousands of high-quality, diverse titles that children can see themselves in as well as books that provide a window into the world around them.
  • Distribute the books to children during at least 1 book celebration event during the program period.
  • Children must be able to choose the book(s) they take home and keep.
  • Engage families in the program. Downloadable take-home letters and other resources to engage families can be found at https://www.rif.org/literacy-network/our-solutions/books-ownership/program-implementation/plan-your-book-celebration.

Read for Success

Read for Success is an interactive supplemental read-aloud program that uses high-quality, diverse, interdisciplinary books with evidence-based strategies and activities to engage children in the reading experience and encourage a passion for reading. Read for Success also provides books for students to build home libraries and is aligned with RIF’s philosophy that having access to books combined with an increased interest in reading can improve reading proficiency. When applying for the Read for Success grant, please note that a single Read for Success program provides resources to support up to 25 students with 6 books to take home and own, a student journal, and a tote bag. Program facilitators will also receive a collection of 15 read-aloud titles, a program guide with extension activities tied to the read-aloud books, and professional development resources

Program Requirements

  • Incorporate read-alouds from the collection books (set of 15 read-aloud titles) and extension activities from the facilitator’s guide into your program throughout the grant period.
  • Engage families by utilizing the family resources found within the facilitator's guide and aligned to support each read-aloud title.
  • Order all student take-home books from RIF’s online Bookstore where you can select from thousands of high-quality, diverse titles that children can see themselves in as well as books that provide a window into the world around them.
  • Distribute the books (6 per student) to children during at least 1 book celebration event during the program period.

Skybrary

Skybrary for schools is a web-based digital library for K-3 students featuring hundreds of eBooks across multiple subject areas, each with optional narration; real-world video field trips; standards-aligned lessons; and easy-to-use teacher management tools. It combines several key components that help children develop their literacy skills: high-interest books, read-to-me features, and encouragement for independent reading. When applying for the Skybrary grant, please note that a single Skybrary classroom subscription can provide access to the service for up to 35 students.

If you still have questions about the service, please reach out to Skybrary@RIF.org

Program Requirements

  • Students must have access to a school or home desktop or laptop to access the digital library.
  • Fully activate the subscription for both an account administrator (such as a media specialist, reading specialist, classroom teacher, etc. – that act as the administrator for all users) and educator (will support and enable student access and use of Skybrary assigned to the classroom).
  • Roster students within the service and ensure they have access to their login information for use in class and at home; ensure families are aware of the service for at-home use.
  • Encourage and monitor the use of the service throughout the grant period.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include school districts, individual schools, public libraries, community-based organizations, civic organizations, and other youth-serving entities that serve children in the United States from birth through grade 12.

Grant Requirements

If awarded a RIF Matching Grant, you commit to the following:

  • Remit payment to RIF for your organization’s local match (50%) amount of the grant award by the set deadline.
  • Remit signed award letter and required administrative documents to RIF by the set deadline.
  • Complete all program activities by March 31, 2025.
  • Submit an online program activity report to RIF by April 25, 2025.

Grant Budget Calculation

The grant program requires local matching funds equal to the grant amount requested from RIF. Grantees will be invoiced for the local matching funds and payment for the match must be sent to RIF before receiving the program resources. See the details below for the costs associated with each program.

Books for Ownership

The matching grant is provided in the form of a book award, redeemable online in RIF’s Bookstore. Each applicant is required to submit a grant application for the number of books requested to implement RIF’s Books for Ownership program, priced at $4 per book. Please note, the RIF grant award only covers the costs of the books through RIF’s Bookstore and cannot be used for any supplemental purposes/supplies.

For example, if you plan to serve 100 children in your community providing them with one book each, your grant request would be calculated as 100 children x 1 book x $4 = $400. RIF would award you a $200 book award and the other $200 would be matched with your organization’s local funds. RIF funds and local funds are combined for a final book award allocation to make your book selections in RIF’s online Bookstore.

Read for Success

The matching grant is provided in the form of a Read for Success program to serve 25 students. Each individual program costs $1,150 and supports a classroom of up to 25 students.

For example, if you plan to serve 100 children in your community with Read for Success, your minimum grant request would be calculated as 4 Read for Success programs x $1,150 = $4600. RIF would award you a $2,300 program award and the other $2,300 would be matched from your organization’s local funds. RIF funds and local funds are combined for a final program award to cover the Read for Success program costs.

Skybrary

The matching grant is provided in the form of a Skybrary classroom subscription. Each individual subscription costs $179 and supports a classroom of up to 35 students.

For example, if you plan to serve 100 children in your community with Skybrary, your minimum grant request would be calculated as 3 Skybrary subscriptions for 105 students (cannot request a partial subscription) x $179.00 = $537. RIF would award you a $268.50 program award and the other $268.50 would be matched with your organization’s local funds. RIF funds and local funds are combined for a final program award to cover the Skybrary subscriptions.

Award Details

  • RIF’s grant awards cover RIF program costs for print and digital books and related supplemental program resources as described above (rather than cash awards).
  • All student books must be ordered on RIF’s online Bookstore, if applicable to the program (Skybrary does not offer any physical books).
  • RIF's matching grant program requires local matching funds equal to the amount requested from RIF (funding can be derived from a variety of sources including school budget, PTA, local businesses, local, state, and federal funding like Title I dollars, American Rescue Plan COVID Relief Funds, etc.).
  • Each dollar requested from RIF must be monetarily matched by the grantee. The entire dollar amount (local match plus RIF grant award) will be converted into a RIF program award.
  • In-kind donations are not accepted for the required local matching funds.
  • Grantees will be invoiced for the local matching funds and payment for the match must be sent directly to RIF.
  • Once funds are received, the grantee payment in combination with RIF’s matching grant will be used to purchase the RIF program.
  • While there is no limit to the amount grantees can request in their grant application, RIF reserves the right to award a lower level than what was requested upon review of all grant applications. RIF anticipates that awards will average between $5,000-$15,000.
  • RIF may not be able to make awards to all applicants.
  • Grantees are required to submit detailed activity reports at the end of the implementation period. RIF may request additional information at any point.

Award Evaluation Criteria

The purpose of RIF’s matching grant program is to foster local partnerships to bring books and literacy materials to children in under-resourced communities to create a culture of literacy and foster opportunities for children to read, learn, and grow. RIF is committed to providing high-quality, diverse books in print and digital formats that provide opportunities for children to see themselves represented in the books they read and extend their worldview through diverse characters and experiences. RIF seeks to prioritize grant requests that will provide resources to children and communities that need them most. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of RIF staff and evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Project Narrative: Clear, detailed description of how the applicant plans to implement the requested program(s), why it is the best solution for their service population, and how their students will benefit from the program.
  • Implementation and Engagement Strategy: Clear plan to engage children from under-resourced communities and their families. Describe how the books and literacy resources will be utilized to drive engagement.
  • Demonstrated Need: Applicant must demonstrate the need of its intended service population, clearly articulating who will be the recipients of the program. Need indicators that applicants might choose to include are Title I school status, percentage of children receiving free and reduced-price lunch, reading scores, community poverty thresholds, etc.
  • Experience in Children’s Literacy: Demonstrated history of implementing literacy programming as well as well-defined long-term goals for the organization including sustainability post-grant.
  • Matching Funds: Applications must detail the source of the local matching funds. Sources could potentially include local funding partners or plans for community outreach and fundraising efforts to secure the required matching funds.

Key Dates:


DateDescription
 January 29, 2024RIF Matching Grant Application Opens
 February 1, 2024RIF Matching Grant Informational Webinar (Register here)
 February 29, 2024RIF Matching Grant Application Closes
 March 25 - 29, 2024RIF Matching Grant Awards Announced
 April 9, 2024RIF Matching Grant Program Awardee Webinar
 April 12, 2024Signed Award Letter Due to RIF from Grantees
 May 1, 2024Payment and Administrative Documents Due to RIF from Grantees
 May 1, 2024Program Implementation Begins
 March 31, 2025Grantee Must Complete Program Activities
 April 25, 2025Program Activity Reporting Must be Completed by Grantee

Preview RIF’s Current Book Inventory

Want to check out our student book inventory in the RIF online Bookstore and make sure it fits your needs before applying for the Books for Ownership or Read for Success program? Log into RIF’s bookstore to explore the variety of titles offered for children birth through Grade 12. Please note that the inventory is subject to change and titles are not guaranteed.

RIF Bookstore Website: www.RIF.org/bookstore 
Username: community.RIF@gmail.com 
Account Number and Password: RIFID000000

Application

RIF 2024 Matching Grant application is now closed. Register on Literacy Network to stay informed about future grant opportunities.