Read general information about Gathering Financial Aid before reading detailed information below.

On this page:

First-Time Gathering Attenders

If you receive a scholarship from your monthly, quarterly, or yearly meeting, you are eligible for a matching FGC scholarship (up to established maximums) as long as funds remain. FGC’s scholarship may exceed the amount of this match.  If your meeting is not able to provide as much assistance as it would like, a letter or email from the meeting will increase the likelihood of FGC meeting your financial need. For example, if your meeting can only give $50 but wishes it could give $300, FGC would like to know. If you have not attended an FGC Gathering for at least 15 years, we will consider you eligible for a first-time attender scholarship.

We recommend everyone requesting financial aid register for the Gathering during Early Registration – April 9-23 – for the best chance of FGC meeting your need. 

Without a scholarship or a letter from your meeting, financial aid from FGC will be minimal (approximately half of your program fee).

Teen and young adult first-time attenders (up to age 35) who identify as Quakers and are not connected to a meeting will receive priority scholarship assistance if they have a current or recent affiliation with a Quaker organization (e.g., school, camp, or Quaker employer) in the region of an affiliated yearly meeting.

Returning Attenders

Returning attenders may apply for FGC scholarships whether or not they receive financial assistance from their meeting. You are encouraged to request support from your meeting so that FGC may extend its support to more people.

Families, Youth, and Young Adults

FGC scholarships for families and youth will continue to be awarded after other funds have been fully disbursed.  “Youth and young adults” means anyone 35 years or younger. These funds are awarded via the standard application process which starts by completing the registration form.

Learn more about the Family Discount here.

Friends from Unaffiliated Meetings/Yearly Meetings

FGC is an organization of sixteen yearly meetings or regional groups and eleven directly affiliated monthly meetings. See the complete list here. The conservative yearly meetings are not affiliated, except that some North Carolina Conservative Meetings are affiliated via their membership in Piedmont Friends Fellowship or Yearly Meeting. Many other yearly meetings are also not affiliated.

Friends from affiliated meetings who register by April 23 have priority access to FGC scholarship funds. This means that Friends from unaffiliated meetings who register during April will only have their scholarship requests considered after May 1, with these exceptions:

  • Volunteers who need financial assistance to supplement their workgrant
  • Western young adults and children who qualify for a Western Travel Grant

Mahala Ashley Dickerson & Bayard Rustin Funds

Gathering Travel & Registration Fee Support Fund for People of Color
These funds provide grants to support travel costs and registration fees for Friends of Color. This assistance may be to attend the FGC Gathering, travel to attend FGC People of Color gatherings, or for travel to participate in committee work of FGC. The funds are designed to ensure that Friends of Color can fully participate in the work and retreat opportunities FGC offers.

Given the limited amount of money we have available for grants, and in our attempt to provide equal support for Friends, we may not be able to grant continuous support for Friends who had received aid more than two times from Bayard Rustin Fund. We look forward to a future in which we will have fewer limitations on funding. We encourage those who were unable to receive aid to seek other avenues of support through their Monthly and Yearly Meetings, as well as other sources of financial assistance through FGC.

More information and grant application for the Mahala Ashley Dickerson and Bayard Rustin Funds.

Special Assistance for Young Adults from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Thanks to a generous grant from PhlYM’s Travel & Witness Granting Group, three forms of supplemental financial aid are available to young adults, age 18-35, from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PhlYM). Young adults in the PhlYM region are eligible, whether or not they are a member of a meeting.

Apply for this special assistance simply by stating your scholarship needs when completing your Gathering registration.

For PhlYM young adult First-Time Attenders and Long-Absent Attenders.  If you have never attended the FGC Gathering, or you last attended in 2016 or earlier, then you are eligible for as much as a FULL basic scholarship while funds remain.  A full scholarship covers your program fee, three meals a day in the cafeteria, and housing in a shared room without air conditioning, starting Sunday evening with dinner.

For all PhlYM young adults: There are scholarship funds available to assist in covering registration fees to attend the 2022 Gathering. Please include amount requested when registering.

Travel grants:  All young adults in the PhlYM region may request a travel grant up to $400. Please include mode of transportation and amount needed when registering.

Travel Grants for Western Children, Families, and Young Adults

Thanks to a generous western donor, western Friends 35 years and younger, as well as the parents of attendees age 18 & under, are eligible for a travel grant of up to $350 per person, while funds remain.  To be eligible for this grant, you must meet the age requirements and live in the U.S. or Canada within or west of: New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, and Alaska. Apply for the travel grant when registering for the Gathering.

Exceptions to the Scholarship Maximum

In addition to exceptions described above for young adults from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, the Gathering may exceed the scholarship maximum for a limited number of Friends experiencing financial hardship. Such exceptions are given to individuals or families that meet one or more of these criteria. 

  • Recipient of U.S. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Canadian Guaranteed Income Supplement  (GIS)
  • Recipient of U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • Income below the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines or Canadian LICO

Scholarships for Pre-Gathering Events

Each pre-Gathering event has slightly different arrangements regarding financial assistance. Please refer to information about each event for more information.

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