22 June 2021

Yesterday, The Gold Cup and the Head Of The Charles announced a grant program to support “under-resourced communities”.

The organizations write:

Program Objective

The Head Of The Charles & The Gold Cup Grant Program provides financial support to rowing programs that serve under-resourced communities within the United States and help support their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. We believe programs that are actively committed to the long- term work of supporting youth (and their families and overall communities) in under-resourced areas will help build skills that can be used both on and off the water.

What programs are eligible to apply for this grant?

• Provide competitive racing teams for under-resourced youth aged 19 and under
• Priority will be given to programs that also provide programming such as tutoring, mentorship, college guidance, and enrichment
• Demonstrate financial need
• Committed to USRowing Safe Sport standards
• Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts
• Demonstrate efforts to recruit and sustain a diverse population of student-athletes, staff, and leaders ​​​​

What are under-resourced communities? How do you define “at-risk” youth?

Under-resourced communities lack resources in leadership, physical assets, financial resources, power, political will, institutions, community cohesion, and services. As a result of insufficient resources, youth often time may be considered “at-risk” if they are:

• Homeless or transient
• Involved with drugs and/or alcohol
• Abused sexually, physically and/or emotionally
• Experiencing mental illness
• Living in stressful family environments
• Lacking support materially or emotionally or both   

Application Process

The Gold Cup and The Head of the Charles will accept grant applications through this online portal. You can click here to download a summary of the application questions. We recognize that online grant applications may not allow every applicant to best demonstrate how their program is advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. If you feel that is the case, please reach out to us at GoldCupHOCRGrant@gmail.com to discuss how we can best accommodate your application. 

Timeline

• Applications are accepted through July 25, 2021
• Grant committee will review applications as they arrive so that they can follow up with questions as needed
• The committee will notify the highest rated applications by August 1, 2021
• Those applications will be asked to participate in a 30 minute online conversation with members of the Grants Committee in the subsequent weeks
• Final selections will be made before Sept 1, 2021

FAQs

Q: Who is reviewing the applications?
A: We have assembled a diverse grant review committee comprised of mostly BIPOC in the rowing community.

Q: My club does not operate in the US. Can I apply for a grant?
A: At this time, grants are only available to programs based in the United States.  

Q: Can I apply more than once? 
A: We are only able to accept one application per program. If you do not receive a grant this year, we encourage you to apply when applications reopen. 

Q: How many grants will be awarded? 
A: We anticipate awarding grants to between four and eight programs. Each grant will range from $5k to $20k, depending on the needs of the programs as outlined in their application. 

Q: In addition to the funding, will grant recipients receive any other benefits?
A: Yes! A member of the Grants Review Committee will be assigned to each program to support you as needed throughout the year. Recipients will also have the opportunity to participate in programming sponsored by The Gold Cup & HOCR.