A Grant To Help Make Your Idea A Reality!

This grant program is looking for individuals, or individuals working with small, local organizations or groups, who reside in one of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico, to submit an idea for one of these same locations (no international projects, please).


To be eligible to apply you can be:

• You must be 14 years of age or older at the time you submit your application online. It's okay to be affiliated with an organization, as long as you apply as an individual -- not on behalf of your organization.
  
  
• A community member not connected to any organization, who is looking to connect people in the community to discuss common issues, form solutions, and take action together
  
  
• A leader or employee of a small, grassroots organization or group, or a local elected official or government employee, who wants to create opportunities and places for people to come together to discuss ideas, form solutions, and take action

Three sets of financial grant awards will be given out and the maximum grant award totals will be as high as $35,000!

Brief applications will be accepted online and a group of people from diverse backgrounds and communities will review all the applications and select the top 100 proposals. Then these 100 applicants that were accepted will then be invited to pitch their ideas as a full proposal.

All applications must be sent through the foundation's online application process. No applications will be accepted through the mail, fax, or as an e-mail attachment. Applications sent by mail will not be considered and will be returned to sender.

Grant funds are to be used to implement the idea outlined in the application and full proposal. This is not a prize for good works already done, but fuel to help move a great idea forward. Grant funds will be paid out over the course of one year in a schedule to be determined by the foundation. Grant recipients who receive the higher level grant awards must also submit reports to the foundation during the project year -- content and timeline will be decided before award distribution.

While this is the pilot year for this program, the foundation is excited about applying this citizen-centered approach to philanthropy in the future. You can sign up here to stay informed about upcoming grant opportunities.