The Bush Foundation has moved to a rolling application process for its Community Innovation grants. Eligible organizations working to develop more effective, equitable and sustainable solutions to community problems can now apply anytime for grants between $10,000 and $200,000 to support their work.
Established in 2013, Community Innovation grants support organizations working to develop and test breakthrough solutions to community challenges. The Foundation believes that the new rolling application process will help reduce the time it takes to make funding decisions and allow it to be more responsive to community needs.
“Community Innovation grants are a unique resource for organizations that actively engage their communities in an effort to solve a problem or seize an opportunity. The rolling application process will allow them to apply when an issue is pressing. Moreover, we hope it means they can spend less time waiting for our decision and more time doing this important work,” said Community Innovation Director Molly Matheson Gruen.
In the past, the time between when an organization could submit an application, and ultimately receive a grant, was as much as ten months. The Foundation estimates that with a rolling application process it can reduce the time it takes to award a grant to five months.
Matheson Gruen said the rolling application process should also give staff more time to work with organizations as they consider whether to apply for a Community Innovation grant. She also strongly encourages organizations to contact the Community Innovation team to discuss their proposals by calling 651-379-2249 or sending an email to staff@bushfoundation.org.
The Community Innovation team will also host an online information session on October 13, 2016 from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm Central. The team will discuss key aspects of the Community Innovation grant program, including selection criteria, eligibility and selection process. To register for the online information session visit http://bfdn.org/CIRoll