This page, Funding Opportunities, contains the most current information about the General Fund, which has the only open grant opportunities with Wisconsin Community Fund.
Request for Proposals (RFP) of the General Fund
Grant seekers submit written proposals in our RFP process. Proposals are reviewed by a committee of social justice activists, who determine which groups receive funding and how much.
The 35th Funding Cycle concluded in January 2012. Grants totalling $37,700 were made to 13 progressive groups from around Wisconsin. Grants ranged from $4,500 to $1,000. See the Grant Guidelines section for a more detailed description of the grant process.
Grantseekers who - after reviewing the grant guidelines - who feel that there a good fit exists between their organizations' missions and projects and Wisconsin Community Fund's social justice grantmaking program should monitor this site for specific dates for future funding cycles.
Community Grantmaking of the General Fund
Community Grantmaking is an in-person event for grant seekers and other allies of progressive grassroots social change. It consists of a one-day, unconference*-style event and grant making process designed to learn about and advance social change in a particular community. The aim is to create and support a community of practice and passion for Change, not Charity™. The end result is a one-time, participatory mechanism to distribute grant funding and to leverage in-kind resources for area grassroots nonprofits committed to social justice. The 3rd Community Grantmaking event is tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2012, possibly in Central Wisconsin.
The 2nd Community Grantmaking event was held in Milwaukee on Saturday, February 26. The event focused on the following question:
What's the best thing we can do together to make our Milwaukee communities more respectful, healthy, sustainable, inclusive, aware, resilient and equitable?
During the Community Grantmaking event, participants self-organized to:
- present grant proposals
- make grant allocation decisions
- build relationships, allies, and coalitions
- share information, technical assistance, and advice
- donate money, goods or services
Together, Wisconsin Community Fund distributed nearly $35,000 in grants to grassroots social change groups that are to small, too new, or too controversial for mainstream funding -- and their allies.
*An unconference brings together a community to learn about and advance the core theme through a series of sessions and presentations that take place throughout the time of the event. An unconference differs from a traditional conference in that participants are in control of the agenda of the day, and propose the sessions and topics themselves; furthermore, they are free (and encouraged!) to move about between sessions - 'voting with their feet' for the topics that hold greatest interest for them. The price of admission is participation - free to attend.