National Christ Child Society Omaha

How can a community organization get more books into children’s hands—and do it without hiring a professional grant writer? In this episode, Karen Frohoff, president of the Christ Child Society of Atlanta, shares how her chapter used Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) matching grants to support its literacy work.
Karen explains how Atlanta found the opportunity, prepared its application with help from a partner school, and chose RIF’s Read for Success program. She breaks down the one-to-one book match, describes the other grant options and shares how the chapter raises funds for literacy initiatives.
Hear what happens when books reach children and families, why the application is more manageable than many chapters might expect, and what to do now to prepare for the next application window. A practical conversation for Christ Child Society chapters—and anyone working to make reading more accessible.

Chapters:
(00:00) Introducing Karen Frohoff and the RIF grant opportunity
(00:48) How the Atlanta chapter discovered the grant
(02:00) Preparing the application and gathering school data
(02:47) The three RIF programs: Books to Own, Read for Success, and Skybrary
(05:28) Children served and how the one-to-one book match works
(07:12) Funding literacy programs and the chapter’s fundraiser
(08:22) Getting books into children’s homes
(10:04) Advice for chapters worried about grant writing
(11:12) Award payments and preparing for the next application window
(12:03) Choosing a program and getting started