The NASD Investor Education Foundation has launched a new grant program, formally inviting non-profit groups and researchers to apply for funding for projects designed to protect investors from fraud. Grant proposals must be submitted by June 11.

The targeted grant program is aimed at raising investors’ awareness about fraudulent tactics, encouraging investors to conduct due diligence before committing to an investment and taking precautions to safeguard their financial and other personal information.

“It is not enough to warn investors every time a new scam comes along,” said Foundation chairman Mary Schapiro, who also serves as NASD’s chairman and CEO. “It is more important — and, in the long run, far more effective — to help investors recognize what makes them susceptible to scams, so they can protect themselves from financial predators. The more easily investors can recognize a scam, the more easily they will recognize legitimate investment opportunities.”

For education projects, applicants are encouraged to devise cost-effective ways of evaluating their efforts. Research proposals must have practical outcomes for individual investors, regulators and nonprofit organizations active in the field of personal finance.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to read the Investor Fraud Study, which looks at why certain elderly investors were more susceptible to investment fraud than others and exposes the various tactics used by criminals to exploit seniors. The NASD Foundation, in cooperation with The Consumer Fraud Research Group, released the study in 2006.