Educating Character Initiative 2026

Note to Potential Applicants: 

This opportunity is part of a larger character education initiative located at Wake Forest University. In addition to reviewing the high-level description below, please contact limitedsubs@uw.edu to receive the set of full guidelines for a more complete picture of the initiative, its goals, and the required application pieces.  

The Educating Character Initiative was founded in 2023 as a project of the Program for Leadership and Character through the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc. Since our launch, we have welcomed over 1,600 faculty, staff, and administrators from more than 600 institutions and organizations to join a community with a common purpose: educating character and building communities of character in higher education and beyond.  

In 2026, the Educating Character Initiative will award grants varying in scale, focus, and expected impact, including Institutional Impact Grants of between $100,000 and $1,000,000 and Capacity-Building Grants of up to $50,000. Successful grantees will be teams of faculty, staff, and administrators at U.S. colleges and universities with outstanding proposals for developing the moral, civic, and/or intellectual character and capacity of faculty, staff, and students. 

These grants are meant to provide institutions with the time, resources, and freedom to discern what might work best in their context. Priority will be given to applications that show strong institutional support; clear alignment with the institution’s mission, vision, and values; the potential for integrating character in ways that are robust and impactful across the institution; a commitment to preparing students to engage the world beyond their institution; and a willingness to contribute to the community of character through shared wisdom and resources.

1. ECI will award Institutional Impact Grants of between $100,000 and $1,000,000 to institutions who wish to undertake a substantial and sustained effort to educate character in undergraduate populations at their institution or through multi-institutional collaborations.

Institutional Impact Grants may be especially useful for institutions that have already begun educating character in their context, that have previously received a Capacity-Building Grant from the ECI, and/or that have faculty and staff with the relevant expertise to undertake a major initiative dedicated to character. We imagine these grants will be focused primarily on coherent and collaborative implementation rather than initial exploration and development of a character framework, though we welcome innovative ideas that have not been fully tested. 

2. ECI will award Capacity-Building Grants of up to $50,000 to institutions who wish to strengthen their ability to educate and embed character in their distinctive contexts. These grants may be especially useful for institutions that are just beginning to explore how to educate character or envisioning discrete projects that do not require substantial funding. Some teams may wish to use funding from this grant to develop a larger grant application to a funding initiative in a future year. 

Eligibility Requirements

The funder welcomes applications from cross-institutional networks of colleges, universities, and organizations that wish to collaborate on a shared project or initiative.

The project leader(s) must be in or contracted to a long-term faculty or staff position at an accredited college or university in the United States.

Application Instructions

Please submit: 

1.  A 1- to 2-page letter of intent stating which of the two programs you are applying for and including the following: 

• A brief overview of the institutional context that provides a frame for the proposed efforts in character education, including a sense of how the overall mission, vision, culture, orientation, or tradition at the institution supports the understanding and integration of character.  
• A description of work already undertaken at the institution toward the education of character in undergraduate students and any relevant outcomes. 
• A description of the character approach [SEE ATTACHED GUIDELINES] that applicants intend to use for the project, noting the applicants’ relevant expertise and/or experience with this approach.  
  • (For capacity-building projects) If the project aims to determine the most appropriate character frameworks, orientations, or approaches for the institution, please explain how this discernment will proceed. 
• A description of the core capacity-building (if applicable) and character goals of the project. 
• A description of the project activities, articulating the connection between those activities and the project goals.

2.  CV (not biosketch) of the PI.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by  12/17/25 (5pm). See sponsor deadlines, above. Please reach out to Sumathi Raghavan (sumathi@uw.edu), UW Corporate & Foundation Relations, with any questions. 

Institutional Impact Grants: A required  Letter of Inquiry is due 2/20/2026. If invited, full applications will be due 6/1/2026 with the OSP deadline of 5/20/2026. 

Capacity-Building Grants: 3/20/2026 for full proposal, with the OSP deadline of 3/11/2026.