Grand Rapids Community Foundation is seeking proposals from Kent County organizations interested in launching Encore Project Teams – cadres of volunteers age 50+ who come together to address an important organizational need – and is offering $5,000 grants to spark the effort.
In partnership with the Volunteer Center at the Heart of West Michigan United Way and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at GVSU, Grand Rapids Community Foundation has designed this opportunity to demonstrate success in two key areas: (1) accessing the energy and expertise of people age 50+ to help organizations meet their mission and (2) meeting the needs of experienced adults seeking to make a meaningful difference in their communities.
Encore Project Teams are designed to:
- Involve four to seven volunteers age 50+ working as a team
- Address a specific organizational task/challenge
- Produce specific deliverables
- Complete their work in four to six months
Host organizations (grantees) will:
- Design and implement the Encore team project, either initiating a new project or enhancing an existing effort.
- Recruit, within two months after the grant is awarded, an adequate number of team members with the skills required to accomplish the project’s objectives.
- Provide orientation and support to successfully meet the project’s objectives.
- Document outcomes at the conclusion of the project.
Encore Project Team grants are awarded monthly through 2011. Applications are available at www.grfoundation.org/onlinegrants and the grant deadline is the first Friday of each month. Announcement of winners will be by the 30th of each month.
Click here to see the kinds of projects that were funded in the first grant round.
For more information, please contact Foundation Program Director Kate Luckert Schmid at 616.454.1751. The Encore website is www.grfoundation.org/encore