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small grants equal big support!
Recently Danforth Livable Communities was awarded a $4K grant from the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund to support their Breaking Bread With Others meal program.
For a small community-based program, this means almost a year’s worth of food and supplies and keeps the program running!
The Grassroots Fund focuses on supporting “grassroots organizers who are directly shifting resources into their communities” and they understand many funders “underfund” community-led and community-driven work and organizations.
They offer two grant programs perfect for age-friendly groups. The “seed” grant is for new projects or ones that are “starting to significantly change the direction of an existing project”. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis for $500 to $1,000.
Their “grow” grant is for established groups to support “current work or build on past success” for $1,000 to $4,000 with applications due on the third Tuesday in March and September.
Grassroots funding is particularly accessible to age-friendly initiatives because Grassroots expands traditional eligibility to groups who do not have formal tax status, are volunteer driven and have an annual operating budget of less than $100K.
The application process can be a bit daunting because groups have to demonstrate they are not just doing good work but incorporate four “guiding principles” into how they are accomplishing that work. Luckily, many age-friendly communities already base their work around these principles - rooted innovation, shifting power in decision making, equity in participation, and centering just transition - they just may not call it the same thing!
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