Mission

To nurture environmentally healthy and culturally vibrant communities in Metropolitan Detroit, consistent with sustainable business models, and support initiatives to restore the Great Lakes Ecosystem.

We will only consider requests from eligible non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations for:

• The development or significant expansion of programs that meet our desired outcomes.
• General operating support for organizations whose core work fits our mission. Matching funds or other conditions may be required for these grants.

Environment Program

Desired Outcome: An environmentally healthy City of Detroit, Metropolitan Detroit region, and Great Lakes Ecosystem.

Great Lakes

Stewardship

Our Desired Outcome is healthy Great Lakes, evidenced by increased stewardship and improved water quality in the Bayfield, Clinton, Detroit, Huron, Raisin, and Rouge watersheds.

To achieve that outcome, we support efforts to increase individual and institutional stewardship; improve understanding of emerging contaminants; and coordinate best practices and policies at the state, federal, and binational levels.

We will measure impact through reporting on water quality in our target watersheds.

Agricultural Runoff

Our Desired Outcome is to improve the health of the western basin of Lake Erie by reducing phosphorus from runoff and subsurface drainage from agricultural fields. We aim for a 50 percent reduction from the 2008 baseline loading levels by 2025.

To achieve that outcome, we support efforts to increase farmers’ adoption of sustainable conservation practices, including education, policies, market drivers, and financial incentives, and to engage businesses developing those solutions.

We will measure progress by tracking phosphorus loads into western Lake Erie.

Urban Runoff

Our Desired Outcome is to reduce urban runoff to improve the water quality of Southeast Michigan rivers and the Great Lakes.

To achieve that outcome, we support regional collaboration, research, and policy efforts that result in water quality improvements and climate resiliency.

We will measure impact through reporting on water quality in our target watersheds.

Environmental Health & Justice

Lead

Our Desired Outcome is a reduction in elevated blood lead levels in children in Detroit and Wayne County through reduced lead exposure in housing and soil.

To achieve that outcome, we support efforts to develop cost-effective remediation methods for homeowners; incentives for landlords to reduce exposure in rental properties; collaboration between property owners, businesses, government, and nonprofit organizations; and design of effective policies and policy enforcement through increased public education and engagement.

We will measure impact by tracking the number of children with elevated blood lead levels in Detroit and Wayne County.

Asthma

Our Desired Outcome is a reduction in incidences of asthma in Detroit and Wayne County through improved ambient air quality.

To achieve that outcome, we support efforts to develop new methods to measure, improve and monitor air quality; and design effective policies and policy enforcement.

We will measure impact by tracking incidences of asthma in Detroit and Wayne County.

Sustainable Business

Our Desired Outcome is that Southeast Michigan is a national leader in sustainable business, and the regional business community is collaboratively engaged in a flourishing and just economy, society, and environment.

To achieve that outcome, we support efforts to build capacity for businesses of all sizes to implement sustainable practices; connect organizations with regional sustainability leaders; and bridge the gaps in our education-to-professional pipeline through internships, mentoring, and curriculum.

We will measure impact through an annual review and report of the sustainable business landscape in the region.

NOTE: If your event is less than 30 daysaway, it is unlikely itwill be funded.

Our Mission

The Old National Bank Foundation believes that social responsibility is essential to fostering vibrant, sustainable communities. We realize this belief through strategic partnerships with charitable organizations addressing defined community needs.

Old National Bank Foundation

The Old National Bank Foundation makes contributions to nonprofit organizations to fund widespread community impact programs and/or projects. The Foundation is part of Old National's overall charitable giving initiative, which enables us to support programs that improve quality of life in areas of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin where our clients, associates and shareholders live and work.

Invested in our communities

Caring for our clients means being an active and dynamic partner in the cities and towns we serve. Through sponsorships, Old National helps organizations improve the quality of life in the areas where our clients, associates and shareholders live and work.

Old National Bank Foundation Sponsorships

Old National sponsorships provide monetary support for events or activities, while enabling us to partner with many community organizations. Typically such sponsorships are in exchange for advertising and/or publicity that directly benefits Old National. Our goal is to make meaningful contributions, measure the results of our sponsorships, and work closely with the organizations we support.

Here are examples of the types of activities we sponsor:

• One-time events
• Fundraisers
• Golf tournaments/scrambles
• Corporate tables at galas
• Sporting events
• Special events (telethons, marathons, races or benefits)

NOTE: The Joyce Foundation accepts grant inquiries online throughout the year. Proposals are considered at meetings of the Foundation’s Board of Directors in April, July, and December. Applicants are strongly encouraged to plan their application and proposal submission process for the April or July meetings, since most grant funds will be distributed at those times.

About

Through its grantmaking and other policy-focused efforts, the Foundation seeks to:

• Racial Equity: Incorporate the voices of, and achieve more equitable outcomes for, Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities in the Great Lakes region.
• Economic Mobility: Improve the ability of individuals in the Great Lakes region to move up the economic ladder within a lifetime or from one generation to the next.
• Next Generation: Incorporate the voices of, and improve outcomes for, the next generation of Great Lakes residents, defined as young people born after 2000.

Education & Economic Mobility Grants

The Education & Economic Mobility Program, through the focus areas below, works to increase the number of historically underserved young people who move up the economic ladder by ensuring equitable access to high-quality education and jobs. We invest in local, state and federal policies that ensure historically underserved young people have effective educators, graduate high school with academic and career momentum, and attain college credentials with economic value. We also support policies that help ensure low-wage workers achieve economic stability, dignity, and mobility. In the short term, we will invest in research, policy development, and advocacy to help the education systems recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective Educators

Advance federal, state and district policies to ensure historically underserved students in the Great Lakes region have highly effective, diverse teachers and principals. Efforts include research, policy development, advocacy, and technical assistance to reform teacher preparation, diversify the educator pipeline, build strong pathways from high school into teaching, and overhaul school staffing models to support principals and spread the reach of great teachers. Our investments here are focused on Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota and on national efforts.

College and Career Readiness

Support federal, state and school district policies that ensure historically underserved young people in the Great Lakes region graduate high school ready for college and career success. Efforts include research, policy development, and advocacy to reform dual-credit and remediation policies, expand access to quality work-based learning opportunities, and align K-12, post-secondary and workforce systems.

Post-Secondary Success

Support federal and state policies to close race- and family income-based gaps in college attainment. Efforts include scaling up proven student support models to improve community college outcomes; preserving access for students of color and rural students to affordable, high- quality public college options and to labor markets that require college degrees; seeking racial and family income representativeness at selective public universities; and supporting advocacy, litigation, and policy development to narrow gaps in post-graduate financial outcomes for students of color and low-income students.

Future of Work

Support state and federal policies to help low-wage workers achieve greater economic stability, dignity, and mobility, with a special focus on technology’s role in the workplace and labor market. Specifically, we will support state policy to ensure employees can access public benefits, refundable tax credit policies, and nascent policy development on issues of technology and the labor market.

About

Strengthening the food system and building a just future

The Chicago Region Food System Fund addresses hunger and business disruption by bolstering the region’s communities and local food system in response to COVID-19 and other systemic shocks. The total support granted by the Fund is $11,438,150 to 156 non-profit organizations since June 2020.

Adapting to strengthen resilience in the food system

The pandemic has taught us a lot. A resilient food system is resilient because people, land, and communities are able to adapt to changing conditions, including major shocks, in ways that minimize immediate losses and strengthen the capacity for everyone to thrive. Food system nonprofits and businesses are moving quickly based on that experience, building on assets, and prototyping new ways of doing things in this changed context. It’s a dynamic moment. The CRFSF team wants to support and accelerate that dynamism as much as possible, both in the grants we make and how we partner to capture learning with a commitment to continual improvement.

Diverse approaches, hopeful future

Some see resilience in the context of climate change. Others in the ability to live through and transform trauma. Still others see it as food sovereignty rooted in traditional ecological knowledge as practiced by indigenous communities. Or in locally owned and well-integrated food businesses. No one approach can define and ensure resilience—but together the region’s vibrant web of rural, urban, and peri-urban food communities can build a resilient, racially and economically just future.

Chicago Region Food Fund Grants

The Chicago Region Food System Fund continues its grantmaking with $1.5 million in grants designed to build on community assets to strengthen Chicago’s local food system. The Spring Community Asset Round prioritizes projects that will further cultivate existing community assets to aid in long-term food system transformation. Funding in this round focuses on two areas: building on the resources and capacity of individual organizations, and on strengthening partnerships between organizations and institutions of various size, geography and type that implement community-led food initiatives. 

The CRFSF team takes a broad view of food system work and encourages participation from diverse communities: urban neighborhoods and rural communities; tribal nations; LGBTQIA+ organizations; veterans; food chain workers; food system businesses; investors; and more.

The Fund will focus support for community-based food work in two different ways: building on the assets of individual organizations, and supporting multi-organization initiatives. Funding may range from $10,000 to $250,000 in both categories. The Fund is committed to funding at all levels in each category.

Community Assets

“Community” means different things to different people. For some, it’s centered in a place like a neighborhood or town. For others, a community is cultural. Or springing from an identity such as gender. Or shared experience or status, such as veterans. We respect all these forms of community and ask, as you write, that you focus on the assets your form of community builds on.

Yes, communities suffer from structural disinvestment, racism, and economic discrimination and fall on hard times. The pandemic has had tragic impacts, including on how food is produced, processed, distributed, and consumed in the Chicago region. As we know, these challenges don’t translate into community deficiencies. Rather, they call for community-driven responses that build on the strength within: the gifts of committed people; community associations like block clubs and veterans groups; institutions like schools, houses of worship, and hospitals; the resources inherent in land, water, and buildings; and the local food businesses that bring food from farm to table. Communities gather and deploy these social and physical assets to increase the value and availability of food, while building community wealth. The Chicago Region Food System Fund wants to provide the support communities need to do that.

The Spring Community Asset Round prioritizes projects that will further cultivate existing community assets to aid in long-term food system transformation. While emergency food assistance may still be supported as part of an initiative, it must be coupled with some other food system activity such as a farm or community garden, wasted food rescue, processing food for prepared meals, or support for businesses providing emergency food.

The Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation was founded by Mrs. Eda U. Gerstacker in 1957, in memory of her husband. Its primary purpose is to carry on, indefinitely, financial aid to charities of all types supported by Mr. and Mrs. R.M. Gerstacker during their lifetimes. These charities are concentrated in the states of Michigan and Ohio.

More specifically, most charities are in Midland, Michigan, and Midland County, but also in greater Michigan. In Ohio, most grants are given to groups in Cleveland – the hometown of Rollin and Eda Gerstacker. Grants are also made to communities where major Dow operations are located.

Foundation Giving

The major share of Gerstacker Foundation giving in it’s 56-year history has gone to:

• Homes for the elderly
• Health care and research
• Research institutions
• Colleges and universities
• Youth work
• General community support

Granting Areas

Midland’s Downtown & Riverfront

To avoid the trend of downtown decline, the Gerstacker Foundation has taken a leading role in the renaissance of Midland’s downtown and riverfront. It and other contributors have realized a vision to transform downtown Midland into a vibrant hub of business and recreational activity. Attractions include the Tridge, Gerstacker Sprayground, Pere Marquette Rail-Trail, Riverside Place senior housing, Farmer’s Market, skate park, conference center and hotel, canoe livery and Currie Golf Course – all enjoyed by thousands of residents and visitors every year.

Affordable Housing

For most people, growing old means less income and mobility, which is why many move into senior citizen housing – if it’s available. Thanks in part to Eda Gerstacker’s determination, Midland County has outstanding, affordable housing for the elderly – including The King’s Daughters Home, Washington Woods, Riverside Place and Pere Marquette Senior Estates in Coleman. Senior housing remains a cornerstone of Gerstacker Foundation giving and has led to the support of related activities, such as the Affordable Housing Alliance, Habitat for Humanity and Midland Area Homes.

Family Services

Today’s families face a growing number of social and economic challenges that can’t be resolved through government funding alone. To help address those challenges, the Gerstacker Foundation contributes heavily to organizations that unite families, prevent violence, address disabilities, stop substance and physical abuse, and promote educational opportunities. Examples include the Foundation’s support of three Midland-area community and family centers: the David Reece Memorial Fund, the Ten-Sixteen Treatment Centers and the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Local Schools

Inspiring and maintaining a love for education is no easy feat. It’s made easier, however, with contributions from the Gerstacker Foundation, which has a long history of supporting K-12 education in Midland and other communities. Foundation funding enables the school system and teachers to initiate projects that would not otherwise be possible. These range from unique teaching activities and a new auditorium, to science additions, stadium upgrades and school renovations.

Higher Education

Eda Gerstacker, a teacher by profession, firmly believed in the value of a quality college education. In this spirit, the Gerstacker Foundation has supported more than 30 public and private colleges and predominantly African American colleges. Most college grantees are in Michigan and range from Albion, Alma and Northwood University to Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. Ohio colleges include Hiram and Wooster.

Faith-Based Initiatives

Although the Gerstacker Foundation is not affiliated with any single religious group, it applauds activities that benefit our communities and give our youth self-confidence and respect for others. It therefore supports several faithbased organizations that have similar goals, including the Salvation Army, SpringHill Camps, University of Michigan Hillel, Young Life, St. Brigid Catholic Church and the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Cleveland – an inner-city mission church that Eda Gerstacker attended.

Youth Activities

The work of the Gerstacker Foundation has always been focused on children, preparing them for lives of useful service. This has been done by funding activities that inspire leadership, and that also help troubled youth find the way. Examples include the Midland Soccer Complex, the Michigan 4-H Foundation, the Starr Commonwealth for Boys, Eagle Village,Big Brothers Big Sisters in the Heart of Michigan, and The ROCK Youth Center.

Health Care and Advanced Research 

Two areas of major support from the Gerstacker Foundation are health care and advanced, non-profit research. The Foundation believes immediate care for physically and mentally impaired people is just as important as innovative research for future cures and treatments. More than 30 diverse health care organizations benefit from Gerstacker funding. These range from its largest grantee, MidMichigan Health, to the Association for Children’s Mental Health, Neighborhood Clinic, Arthritis Foundation, National Parkinson Foundation and Alzheimer’s Association.

Environment and Conservation

The Gerstacker Foundation is a strong believer in progress, but not at the expense of the environment. For this reason, the Foundation supports more than a dozen programs that educate the public and preserve the environment for centuries to come. Programs range from the Chippewa Nature Center and The Nature Conservancy to a unique Wildlife Recovery program, the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative, Little Forks Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and American Farmland Trust.

Arts & Culture

To encourage creativity and provide enriching experiences, the Gerstacker Foundation supports a number of cultural endeavors in Midland and other communities. These include the Midland Center for the Arts, Matrix: Midland, Tridge Summer Concerts, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Brazosport Fine Arts Council (in Texas), The Dairy Center for the Arts (Boulder), Chinese Cultural Ongoing Program (Midland) and Michigan Jazz Trail Festival.

Public Service

The men and woman in public service work hard to enhance their communities, sometimes putting their own lives at risk. To support public service and fill the gaps in limited budgets, the Gerstacker Foundation offers funding to many worthy groups and programs, including the Michigan State Police, Midland County firefighters, Midland County Law Enforcement Center, Midland County D.A.R.E. group and the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team.

Public Policy Intiatives

To preserve our democratic freedoms and way of life, the Gerstacker Foundation supports a variety of nonpartisan think tanks and other groups at the national and state levels. These organizations objectively evaluate public policy issues, and share their findings with decision makers and the public to help people make informed decisions. Grantees range from the American Enterprise Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy to Economics America of Michigan, Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Heritage Foundation.

With a funding contribution from Toyota in connection with the launch of the RAV4 Hybrid Woodland Edition, NEEF is seeking projects that will help make public lands more accessible and enjoyable for Americans of all abilities together with their families and friends. Through the Driving Mobility and Accessibility on Public Lands grant, NEEF aims to:

• Increase the capacity of local organizations to address mobility and accessibility considerations on public lands and waterways; and
• Improve the level of access, comfort, and enjoyment experienced by public lands visitors of all abilities together with their families and friends.

NOTE - Not all Regions offer Round 2 (January) funding. Please contact your Regional Services Agency to confirm if Round 2 funding is available. 

The Minigrant program is a partnership between the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC) and Regional Services Agencies throughout the state within fifteen (15) regions determined by county(ies). The Arts Projects Minigrant program is a competitive grant program that provides support for production, presentation and creation of arts and culture that promotes public engagement, diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening or livability of communities through locally developed arts and culture.

Minigrant Arts Projects

Minigrant Arts Projects provide up to $4,000 for special opportunities to address arts and cultural needs locally. These projects connect communities with the world by exploring, sharing and supporting creative expression, and by doing, so they promote the health and well-being of communities and citizens throughout our state. We believe that by sharing creative experiences and expressing our creativity, we build powerful connections with the people we are closest to, with our community, the world around us and with ourselves.

 Region 8

The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, the Regional Regranting Agency for Region 8, serves the following seven counties in Michigan’s Southwest Prosperity Region: Berrien, Branch, Cass, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren.

NOTE: Not all Regions offer Round 2 (winter deadline) funding. Please contact your Regional Services Agency to confirm if Round 2 funding is available.

About Us

CultureSource is a member association for non-profit arts and cultural organizations in Southeast Michigan serving Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe and St. Clair counties. As a regional service organization, we do this work through hosting professional development workshops that grow creative and leadership capacities, presenting programs that provide space for exchanging ideas about arts and culture, and leading initiatives that bring together stakeholders interested in the public accessing creative expression.

Mission

Our mission is to advance the work of organizations that cultivate creative and cultural expression in Southeast Michigan.

History

Founded in 2007 as the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan, on January 1, 2013, we became CultureSource, the source for arts and culture in southeast Michigan. With its establishment, CultureSource filled a void major organizations identified in the region based on shared needs for capacity building, advocacy and marketing resources, welcoming small and mid-size organizations into the conversation. Quickly, CultureSource grew from 32 member organizations to 72, now serving over 170 annually.

Supporting the Arts in Wayne County

CultureSource serves as the regranting agency for the Michigan Arts and Culture Council Minigrant program in Region 10, serving Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

Through administering this program, CultureSource manages four minigrant opportunities geared towards nonprofits and institutions, artists, and schools in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

Arts Project Grants

The Minigrant program is a partnership between the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC) and Regional Services Agencies throughout the state within fifteen (15) regions determined by county(ies). The Arts Projects Minigrant program is a competitive grant program that provides support for production, presentation and creation of arts and culture that promotes public engagement, diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening or livability of communities through locally developed arts and culture.

Minigrant Arts Projects provide up to $4,000 for special opportunities to address arts and cultural needs locally. These projects connect communities with the world by exploring, sharing and supporting creative expression, and by doing, so they promote the health and well-being of communities and citizens throughout our state. We believe that by sharing creative experiences and expressing our creativity, we build powerful connections with the people we are closest to, with our community, the world around us and with ourselves.

What does this program do?

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.

What is an eligible area?

Rural Business Development Grant money must be used for projects that benefit rural areas or towns outside the urbanized periphery of any city with a population of 50,000 or more. Check eligible areas. 

What kind of funding is available?

There is no maximum grant amount; however, smaller requests are given higher priority. There is no cost sharing requirement. Opportunity grants are limited to up to 10 percent of the total Rural Business Development Grant annual funding.

How may funds be used?

Enterprise grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application. Uses may include:

• Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling and training, market research, feasibility studies, professional or/technical reports or producer service improvements.
• Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings; plants, machinery, equipment, access for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities.
• Pollution control and abatement.
• The capitalization of revolving loan funds, including funds that will make loans for start-ups and working capital.
• Distance adult learning for job training and advancement.
• Rural transportation improvement.
• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.

Opportunity grants can be used for:

• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.