Justice For Athletes (JFA) supports programs that promote sportsmanship, education, fair play and ethics among youth.

The ultimate goals of JFA are:

(a) The development of a child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities;

(b) The development in the world's youth of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

(c) The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values; and

(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups.

JFA operates a grants program through which funding is provided to various charities, and also conducts certain programs internally that further its mission. For the grants program, JFA will consider requests from any bonafide charitable organization devoted to furthering the above stated goals. Programs operated directly by JFA include CESEP [Culture, Education, Sport and Ethics Program] devoted to promoting understanding of sports and ethics among the children of the world.

To accomplish its goals, JFA's grants program as well as its self­operated programs seek to combine sports and education as a vehicle for teaching youngsters:

• What the term "sportsmanship" means.
• To develop a sense of fair play and ethics.
• To improve academic performance.
• To maintain drug free sport.
• To problem-solve and build self-esteem.
• To work with peers.
• To strive for excellence.
• To manage anger and stress.

Within this broad arena, we anticipate giving special emphasis to those groups or communities that are most in need. These will often be communities of lower income.

While servicing all youth, JFA will give special attention to sections of the population known to be underserved by current sports programs: women, minorities, and youth in areas where the risk of involvement in delinquency is particularly high.

In order to help make difficult funding choices, the Board of JFA has adopted the following Grant Guidelines:

Program-Related Criteria

1. Potential Impact: Quantity — Will the program reach a large number or only a few? Other things being equal, we will give priority to programs that will reach large numbers, or large proportions of their populations.
   
2. Potential Impact: Quality — JFA will give particular attention to programs that may have an especially meaningful impact upon their participants. By this, we mean that participation in the program significantly enhances their health, physical abilities, academic performance, sense of pride in self, cooperativeness, success in school, and respect for others.
   
3. Quality of Staff: Grant proposals should describe in detail the nature and backgrounds of staff who will operate the youth programs. We will emphasize programs run by experienced, trained personnel. JFA is also prepared to support programs that utilize, under appropriate supervision, older youth as role models for younger children.
   
4. Choice of Particular Sports: JFA is prepared to consider requests for sports programs emphasizing so-called “minor” sports and sports for individual competition as well as more traditional team sports. The key is not the sport, but the quality of the program.
   
5. Non-Duplication: Is this a program that really cannot be carried out with other resources, or one not already being conducted by others? Our aim is to provide programming in needed areas around the world, rather than to substitute for existing alternatives. Priority will be given to projects where the probability of duplication is low.
   
6. Academic Component: Programs funded by JFA frequently contain a school related academic component, such as tutoring or other programs designed to directly impact a student's academic performance. There need not be a formal school affiliation, so long as the sports program includes educational aspects apart from the education normally derived from participation in sports (i.e. teamwork, discipline). For example, a sports program that also monitors the athletes grades and provides special counseling to assist those athletes who are under performing would typically meet this criteria.

In addition to these six major criteria for program support, there are others that, though perhaps of lesser import, will be given special attention wherever appropriate.

These include:

1.  Measurability — Will we be able to objectively assess the impact of the program?
   
2. Distinctiveness and Creativity — Does the program attempt something new and innovative, that may serve as a model of sports and education programming that might be adopted elsewhere?
   
3. Contribution to Knowledge — Is the program likely to improve our general knowledge about how sports affect people’s lives?

Cost-Related Criteria

The Existence of Other Sources of Funding: Priority will be given to proposals where JFA funding comprises only part of the total funding for the program. The remainder of the funding may come from the local group or community in question, or from other organizations, including foundations and corporations. Consideration will be given to programs that combine public and private sector funding, taking advantage of the benefits of each. This criterion may be modified in the case of new groups in the most resource-deprived areas.

Continuity: All JFA grants will be for a finite period of time. Priority will be given to those requests that show signs of planning for subsequent financing when our grant concludes.

Cost in Relation to Impact: JFA will look closely at the overall costs of the program in relationship to the various other criteria, especially impact. Programs with high dollar cost in relation to impact must be especially meritorious on other criteria if they are to be justified.

Grants for Capital Construction: Capital construction requests will be funded only when, a) a special need can be established, b) a part of the funding will be met by matching grants or other devices that will supplement JFA’s contribution, and c) the cost is small relative to its potential service to the group or community in question.

Eligibility

Grants will be made to organizations, and not to individuals.

Grants will be made only to organizations with open, non-restrictive membership that operate open to all regardless of race, creed, sex, sexual orientation, religious belief or nationality. Nothing in the Guidelines shall prohibit a program from specifying an age, sex, or physical capacity classification, as long as it is reasonable under all the circumstances, and is consistent with applicable law.

The current objectives of the Board encourage assistance to organizations that provide on-going, structured youth sports programs combining the essential elements of teaching, learning, competition and improved academic performance.

The current objectives of the Board discourage grants for:

• Endowments
• Routine operating expenses
• Purchase of land
• Debt recovery or incurring debt liability

The criteria are meant as helpful guidelines setting initial standards. The criteria are not meant to serve as a bar to any particular group.

Administration of the Grants Program

Grants are one of our principal ways of furthering the aims of JFA. To help ensure that grant funds serve these purposes, the staff of JFA intends to be an active participant in all phases of the grants process. We hope to get to know the prospective grantee organizations, to provide help in the formulation of grant applications, and where possible to help in the solicitation of matching funds. For the requests that are approved for funding by JFA’s Board, we expect to be kept informed about the program’s progress, to monitor program expenses, and to be available to help if problems arise.

Suggestions for Grant Applications

Please read the Grant Guidelines carefully, including the section on the administration of the grants program.

JFA does not have a standardized application form. The Board of Directors meets two times per year. Due to the number of requests we receive, it generally takes several months before the Board takes action on the application. To assist you in the application process, we do have several suggestions.

First, before investing a lot of time, send a brief Letter (2 to 3 pages) telling us what you have in mind and wait to hear from us as to the likelihood of our being able to help. For those preparing full grant proposals, your proposal should be responsive to the Guidelines and should also:

• State clearly the purpose for which the funding is requested.
• Briefly describe your organization, its history, status (non-profit, etc.), connection to at risk youth and sport, education and fair play, provide copies of the most current annual operating budget, and the most recent IRS Form 990 and IRS and State tax determination letters.
• Describe in detail how the program would work and whom it would serve. Include an estimate of the number of participants to be served by the grant.
• Describe the personnel who would be carrying out the program, and include brief biographical statements of those who would be most centrally involved.
• Provide a detailed budget with justifications for each major budget item.
• Describe efforts already made or underway to find matching grant funds.
• Provide a clear time schedule for the program.
• Include your contact person, mailing address and daytime telephone number.

Please send a typed original and one copy of your inquiry or proposal to:

The Grants Program
Justice for Athletes
333 South Hope Street, 48th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90071