The Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest: Capacity-Building for Sustainable Growth

The purpose of the proposed grant is to increase the organizational capacity of the Georgia Rotary Districts Character Education Program (GRDCEP), a new nonprofit whose mission is to operate the Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest. By building capacity for GRDCEP - which was created through an earlier grant from the Templeton Foundation - the Templeton Foundation would dramatically increase the spread of the Laws of Life Essay Contest. The grant would help GRDCEP become a sustainable, well-established nonprofit that would serve as a replicable model for the Laws of Life Essay Contest, and would encourage Rotarians across the United States and beyond to create Laws of Life contests in their own hometowns or states. Short-term, the proposed grant seeks funds for creating a development campaign, creating fundraising materials, recruiting and training board members, hosting Rotarian and teacher workshops, staff training, and similar organizational needs. Outcomes of the grant will include the immediate and long-term growth of the Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest and the expansion of the Laws of Life contest to other regions through Rotary clubs in the United States and internationally. The grant will have an enduring impact by promoting ethical literacy and by helping today's students build a moral vocabulary, so that our next generation will have the tools and skills needed to ask Big Questions and to carry on informed dialogues about spiritual principles and human purpose. * Note: In this grant request, the Georgia Rotary Districts Character Education Program (GRDCEP) and the Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest will often be used interchangeably, since GRDCEP's sole project is to operate the Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest.