Program Basics

You can apply for a Community Innovation grant from The Consensus Council during three open grant periods. Grant amounts typically range from $500 to $10,000. Please note: for Rounds 1-3 of 2021, we are increasing the maximum grant amount to $15,000.

The grant periods for 2021 are:

January 7, 2021 @ 8am – February 8, 2021 @ 5pm

May 20, 2021 @ 8am – June 21, 2021 @ 5pm

September 2, 2021 @ 8am – October 4, 2021 @ 5pm

Ready to apply? Click here for details. Be sure to read requirements and selection criteria and the Community Innovation grant overview.

Program Basics

• For grants over $15,000, Community Innovation grants are available directly from the Bush Foundation.

• We look to you to identify and define your community. This could be a geographic community (e.g., a neighborhood, town, state, or Native nation) or it could be a community of common interest or racial/cultural identity. Grants must be used for projects located in North Dakota or the Native nations that share the same geography.

• We are open to projects that address all sorts of community needs. In addition, projects can be at various stages of the problem-solving process including identifying the need, increasing collective understanding of the issue, generating ideas, or testing and implementing solutions. Proposals can focus on one area or span multiple stages.

• The Consensus Council and the Bush Foundation are committed to addressing racial and economic disparities. At least 50% of Community Innovation grants will be given to projects that address these disparities. For the purposes of this grant program, we define this as proposals that seek to actively reduce structural and/or systemic gaps in access, outcomes, opportunities or treatment based on race/ethnicity or economic standing.

• We will favor/prioritize proposals with project budget sizes that are of appropriate scale to this $500-$15,000 grant opportunity.

• Consensus Council staff will work with grantees to agree on the appropriate grant period for their project. Timelines for the grants are flexible – some may take several months while others might take longer. As a general guideline, we prefer that projects be completed in one year or less. The project can be a phase of a multi-year initiative.

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