Funding Guidelines for Non-Profits

The General Atomics Sciences Education Foundation (GASEF) provides funding to support K- 12 science education efforts that have countywide or at least multiple school district impact, predominantly in San Diego County where most employees of General Atomics and Affiliates work. Here science broadly encompasses Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. For a listing of recent awards, please visit this link.

The Foundation favors support of programs that directly and immediately improve the STEM education of students, particularly those from traditionally underserved backgrounds. The Foundation is also interested in providing support for programs that foster STEM-based vocational training for high school students, who may not be college bound.

Funding decisions are made throughout the year, approximately every 4 months, at the end of April, August, and December. Awards tend to range from $1,000 to $15,000; there are generally 15 - 25 awards per year. The GASEF funds non-profit entities that focus on providing STEM education opportunities for traditionally underserved communities.

In very rare instances, the Foundation may support individual schools or districts, but only if the opportunity is unique and sufficiently compelling. Prior to submitting a full proposal for a school or district, please send a short summary of the request to Lawrence.Woolf@ga-asi.com.

If you wish to request funding for your non-profit organization, please follow the guidelines below.

  1. Submit your request to Lawrence.Woolf@ga-asi.com. Proposals should not exceed 3 pages.
  2. Include (a) the name of the organization requesting funding; (b) the name that the funding check should be made out to if funding is awarded, (c) person who is the primary point of contact and their organizational title, (d) email address for the point of contact, (e) organization’s mailing address, (f) web site address, and (g) phone number.
  3. Explicitly confirm that your organization is a non-profit and provide an Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  4. Indicate the funding amount requested and the time period over which the funding will be used.
  5. Briefly describe the background and context for the funding request, including previous efforts and past successes.
  6. Describe in detail what the funds will support and how you plan to use the funding.
  7. Include the expected number and diversity or demographics of the students who will be affected by the program being funded.
  8. Indicate what you plan to accomplish with the funding and how it will positively impact STEM education for students.
  9. If you received previous funding from the GA Sciences Education Foundation, briefly describe what you proposed and what you actually accomplished.

Please submit your application at least 4 months prior to any specific critical need date.