Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation supports economics education and financial literacy in the United States, prioritizing the creation and dissemination of educational materials and the exchange of ideas between teachers, students and institutions.
IP TAKE: This is an accessible and approachable foundation, so don’t hesitate to contact them if you have questions. A niche funder, Kazanjian is laser-focused on its interest area, so your proposal will need to be equally laser-focused on economics education or financial literacy.
PROFILE: Based in Dallas, Pennsylvania, the Calvin K. Kazanjian Foundation was established in 1947 by its namesake, a founder and president of Peter Paul Inc., the maker of Mounds and Almond Joy candy bars. Kazanjian believed that “social and political difficulties could be traced, in large part, to economic illiteracy.” Reflecting his belief, the foundation promotes economic literacy in the U.S., emphasizing the production and dissemination of educational materials and the open exchange of ideas between students, teachers and institutions.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
The Kazanjian Foundation does not articulate specific initiatives or strategies beyond the general area of economic literacy. The foundation has participated in creating, enhancing and updating economics textbooks for OpenStax, a nonprofit collaborative based at Rice University that makes high quality textbooks available at no cost to high school and college students. With the Credit Union Foundation and the Credit Union of Maryland, the Kazanjian Foundation has also supported the Millionaires Club, a mentoring program that brings financial professionals to urban schools and runs a yearly economics competition. Another grantee, the Council for Economic Education, used funding to create teacher education modules that support the inclusion of economic principles into high school social studies and history curricula.
Important Grant Information:
Kazanjian funding is limited to organizations operating in the United States. The average grant size is $22,000, but grants as large as $150,000 and multi-year grants have been awarded to larger projects. See examples of past grants at the foundation’s recent grantees page.
This funder accepts letters of interest with due dates on March 10 and September 10 each year. General guidelines are provided on the foundation’s application page. General questions may be submitted via email or telephone at (602) 456-0214.
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