Search Through North Dakota Grants for Nonprofits in the U.S.

CHS is a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, agronomy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to creating connections to empower agriculture, helping its farmer-owners, customers and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS supplies energy, crop nutrients, seed, crop protection products, grain marketing services, production and agricultural services, animal nutrition products, foods and food ingredients, and risk management services. The company operates petroleum refineries and pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex® brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products. 

Agricultural and cooperative education: AG leadership

The CHS Foundation supports agricultural leadership and cooperative education projects that build a robust, diverse pipeline for agriculture and help people understand the value of the ag cooperative business model.

ASPCA Northern Tier Shelter Initiative Grants

The Northern Tier Shelter Initiative (NTSI) is an ASPCA program that provides grants, free consultations and training to brick-and-mortar shelters, non-profit veterinary clinics and Indigenous communities in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin to improve the quality of life for cats and dogs.

About Us

Our Mission

The mission of The Auto Club Group Foundation is to work on behalf of our members and the communities we serve to create lasting solutions, inspire learning and provide funding in the areas of traffic safety, driver education and financial literacy.

Our History

In 1902, nine motor clubs across the country joined together to form the American Automobile Association (AAA) to protect the rights and interests of automobile users and promote better highway and traffic safety. Today, The Auto Club Group Foundation continues to support those interests by investing in traffic safety, driver education and financial literacy initiatives. The Auto Club Group Foundation which is a private Foundation, represents 14 states and 2 U.S territories, and is an integral part of AAA's evolution and success.

How We Work

Our approach to grant funding comes from a very basic principle which is to have an understanding of the goals and objectives of local communities. Our relationships, which have developed from years of community service, allow us to offer support in a more impactful and meaningful way.

The Auto Club Group Foundation, which is a private foundation, is funded by our sponsoring organization, AAA – The Auto Club Group. We award grants to organizations and initiatives that enhance our mission in the areas of Traffic Safety, Driver Education and Financial Literacy throughout our 14 U.S. states and two U.S. territories.

Priority Areas

Traffic Safety

The Auto Club Group Foundation is dedicated to supporting traffic safety programs and initiatives that make our roadways safer for all users. The ACG Foundation strives to be responsive to emerging traffic safety issues by considering grant applications that are forward thinking and address new technology.

Financial Literacy

The Auto Club Group Foundation supports financial literacy programming in grades K – 12, empowering students with the tools they need to make sound financial decisions.

Driver Education 

The Auto Club Group Foundation wants to ensure everyone has access to quality driver education by supporting scholarships and programming needs in underserved communities.

Background

CHS is a global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, agronomy, grains and foods, we’re committed to creating connections to empower agriculture, helping our owners and customers grow their businesses.

General inquiriesWe consider other requests that benefit the agriculture or cooperative industry.

About the Partnership Fund

The Partnership Fund is exclusively for unique situations, with funding needs that don’t fit into our other programs. It allows us to partner with others to respond to pressing issues and take advantage of opportunities for the region.

What We Fund

The Partnership Fund gives us flexibility to address important community needs in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography. We use the fund to:

• collaborate with other funders to address significant challenges or community crises
• attract other resources to the region
• provide seed funding for efforts that align with Bush strategy and values that don’t fit into our other programs

About Us

Saving pets. Together.

The Petfinder Foundation has been helping animal shelters and rescue groups since 2003. We are the ONLY national organization that does nothing but give cash and product grants to adoption groups.=

How We Work

Our programs are designed to keep homeless pets physically and mentally healthy so they can find loving forever homes.

Our grants put food in bowls, provide medical care, and help rescue animals from disasters. When pets are in need, we’re there to help.

P.L.A.Y. Pet Beds 

Applications are reviewed and awarded 10 Chill Pads on a monthly basis to specific geographical regions. 

The Petfinder Foundation has partnered with P.L.A.Y. Pet Lifestyle and You through the Warm Bellies Initiative to give luxury beds to shelter pets. P.L.A.Y. joins us in the belief that every pet deserves a warm and cozy place to sleep

Applications are reviewed and awarded 10 Chill Pads on a monthly basis to specific geographical regions. You may apply for this grant program once. Grant applications from this program are reviewed based on the location of your organization and the monthly state awarding schedule below:

• January: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts
• February: Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York
• March - Pennsylvania, New Jersey
• April: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia
• May: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida
• June: Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin
• July: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky
• August: Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi
• September: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming
• October: Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas
• November: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada
• December: Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas

Our Vision

For more than 25 years, the Dakota Foundation has sought to combine business discipline and charitable intentions to solve social problems. With grants and program-related investments (PRIs) we take an investment approach: we want the total social return of our investments to be higher than the cost.

In doing so, we hope to foster organizations and activities that are both economically and environmentally sustainable. We help people invest in themselves to improve their economic condition and those of their families and communities. This mission stems from our values: self-reliance, personal responsibility, human dignity, equal opportunity, and the preservation of life and beauty on our earth.

General Rules of Thumb

The Dakota Foundation generally makes PRIs with non-profit groups whose programs empower people and increase their control over their own economic destinies. For more information about our PRIs, please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) .

The Dakota Foundation opposes unlawful or unfair discrimination in all its activities, and our resources are available to organizations that serve their constituencies without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status or national origin. 

We support organizations that collaborate with other community groups to create bottoms up solutions to common issues. It is important to us that a project or program is sustainable, scalable, and that benchmarks and indicators are in place to ensure meaningful and measurable results. 

Requests We Encourage

While not limited to the list below, we offer the following suggestions of partnerships we have supported in the past and hope to support again in the future. This list is not exhaustive, but is provided to be representative of the spirit of the requests we are likely to consider:

• Entrepreneurial endeavors with high social impact
• Programs that develop education or specific job training that empowers individuals to become more economically self-sufficient
• Programs supporting improved employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged members of the community

The Impact Fund awards recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits, private attorneys, and small law firms who seek to confront economic, environmental, racial, and social injustice. Since our founding in 1992, the Impact Fund has made more than 800 recoverable grants totaling more than $10 million for impact litigation. We award grants four times per year, most within the range of US$10,000 to US$50,000.

Social Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants and legal support to assist in human and civil rights cases. We have helped to change dozens of laws and win cases to improve the rights of thousands. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Texas and North Carolina, incarcerated people with mental health disabilities are forced to remain in jail despite being found not guilty and unable to proceed with a criminal trial.
• In Orange County, California there are currently 13 gang injunctions under effect, which disproportionately affect young men of color.
• In Chicago, Illinois, the city’s homeless shelter program is inaccessible to people with disabilities.
• In Springfield, Oregon, the city and its police department used excessive force against Black Lives Matter protesters.
• In West Virginia, the state fails to protect children in foster care from abuse and neglect. 
• In Montana, voter suppression laws disadvantage young adults and give priority to gun owners.
• In Gary, Indiana, a gun manufacturer negligently marketed and distributed its guns, leading to an epidemic of gun violence in the city. 
• In Vancouver, British Columbia, the police perpetuate systemic discrimination against Indigenous people through bureaucratic measures.

Environmental Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants to support local litigation for environmental justice. These grants are for cases aiming to help people or communities who are affected by environmental harm or who lack access to basic environmental needs, such as clean water, clean air, adequate waste treatment, and green spaces. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Centreville, Illinois, the city’s failure to maintain its sewer system has caused raw sewage to flood peoples’ homes, endangering the property and health of a predominantly Black community.
• In Fresno County, California, the California Department of Transportation approved a highway expansion project that would increase air pollution and traffic in one of the state’s most environmentally burdened communities.
• In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the proposed expansion of a highway would divide the region's Black, Asian, and Latine neighborhoods and cause pollution and ill health.
• In North Dakota, the five-month closure of a highway in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests disproportionately affected the livelihoods and health of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe members.
• In Ontario, Canada, mercury contamination of the English-Wabigoon river system causes catastrophic environmental and health impacts for the Grassy Narrows First Nation.
• In Sacramento, California, the county government and Sacramento Area Sewer District violated the Clean Water Act by discharging raw sewage into nearby rivers.
• In the Eastern Coachella Valley in California, 1,900 residents of the Oasis Mobile Home Park suffer from arsenic-laced drinking water, wastewater contamination, and overcharging for utilities.

Economic Justice

The Impact Fund provides financial and other forms of support to cases fighting for economic justice. From workers' rights to consumer protection for vulnerable populations, impact litigation is a powerful tool to hold corporationss and the government accountable. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Brooklyn, New York, a prominent mortgage lender engaged in predatory practices, leaving homeowners of color at risk of losing their homes. 
• In Washington, live-in caregivers are unconstitutionally excluded from the state’s wage-and-hour protections.
• In Ravalli County, Montana, the county has created a “modern-day debtors’ prison” by incarcerating people unable to afford pre-trial fees. 
• In San Diego, California, vehicle ordinances target unhoused vehicle owners even when no adequate housing alternative exists.
• In New York, a federal immigration detention facility is violating minimum wage and forced labor laws by forcing detainees to work for just a dollar a day. 
• In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the city and county destroy the property of unhoused individuals and conduct forced evictions from public spaces. 
• In Miami, Florida, insurance companies discriminate against a nonprofit community development corporation renting to tenants with Section 8 rental subsidies.

John Deere FIRST

John Deere and FIRST are together committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion which encourages teams to be more innovation, creative, and make better decisions. We encourage your team to support and encourage diversity within your team.

John Deere grants are focused on increasing the participation and positive outcomes for students in John Deere home communities who historically have been underserved and underrepresented in STEM (Engineering, Computer Science/IT, and Manufacturing). This focus is supporting John Deere’s Bold Commitment of reaching at least one million underserved/underrepresented youth by 2030.

Current U.S. & Canada John Deere Inspire Home Communities

United States:

• California - Torrance
• Georgia - Augusta
• Illinois - Champaign & Quad Cities
• Iowa - Des Moines, Dubuque, Paton, Ottumwa, Quad Cities, & Waterloo
• Kansas - Coffeyville
• Louisiana - Thibodaux
• Missouri - Springfield
• North Carolina - Raleigh-Durham
• North Dakota - Fargo & Valley City
• Tennessee - Greeneville
• Wisconsin – Horicon

Canada:

• Alberta - Edmonton 
• Manitoba - Altona
• Ontario - Grimsby
• Ontario - Oakville
• Saskatchewan - Regina

John Deere FIRST

John Deere and FIRST are together committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion which encourages teams to be more innovation, creative, and make better decisions. We encourage your team to support and encourage diversity within your team.

John Deere grants are focused on increasing the participation and positive outcomes for students in John Deere home communities who historically have been underserved and underrepresented in STEM (Engineering, Computer Science/IT, and Manufacturing). This focus is supporting John Deere’s Bold Commitment of reaching at least one million underserved/underrepresented youth by 2030.

Current U.S. & Canada John Deere Inspire Home Communities

United States:

• California - Torrance
• Georgia - Augusta
• Illinois - Champaign & Quad Cities
• Iowa - Des Moines, Dubuque, Paton, Ottumwa, Quad Cities, & Waterloo
• Kansas - Coffeyville
• Louisiana - Thibodaux
• Missouri - Springfield
• North Carolina - Raleigh-Durham
• North Dakota - Fargo & Valley City
• Tennessee - Greeneville
• Wisconsin – Horicon

Canada:

• Alberta - Edmonton 
• Manitoba - Altona
• Ontario - Grimsby
• Ontario - Oakville
• Saskatchewan - Regina

Project Apis m.'s mission Is to fund and direct research to enhance the health and vitality of honey bee colonies while improving crop production.

FAQ's & Research Proposal Guidelines for Applicants

Since its inception in 2006, Project Apis m. has infused over $10 million into bee research and programs in the USA and Canada, including more than 160 projects involving research institutions throughout North America. We have brought new technologies to honey bee health research, discovered new pathogens, developed Best Management Practices programs, and are supporting long-term stock improvement. We are recipients of grants from the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and USDA-APHIS. Project Apis m. is the largest non-governmental, non-profit bee research funding organization in North America.

Thank you for your interest in submitting a research proposal to Project Apis m. We are funded largely by beekeepers and farmers, and dedicated to enhancing the health of honey bees, thereby improving crop production. Proposals are expected to clearly state how they fulfill our mission. Proposals and the review process are kept confidential. We offer the following frequently asked questions to help you submit a research proposal to Project Apis m. for project funding. 

Proposals are reviewed by the executive director, scientific advisory board, ad-hoc reviewers, and a board of directors. Projects must clearly meet the criteria outlined in the Request for Proposals or address PAm’s mission. Please note proposals must be scientifically sound (i.e., short format USDA or NSF grants without all the extra forms). Funding decisions are primarily based on an overall evaluation, which includes the following review criteria:

• Focus on solving problems facing the beekeeping industry in either the short or long term.
• Relevance to bee health, nutrition, productivity, crop pollination                                        
• Likelihood of obtaining practical/usable results for the beekeeping industry
• Project strengths and weaknesses    
• Inclusion of unique strategies, sustainable solutions, or establishment of knowledge that will lead to sustainable solutions in the long-term                                       
• Use of adequate experimental approaches, inclusion of logically linked experiments and project feasibility
• Identification of risks and adequate solutions (e.g., potential pitfalls and solutions)
• Likelihood of success (PIs credibility, record of success, experience with techniques, etc.)
• Adequate indication that PI(s) will communicate their findings to commercial beekeepers.
• Economical and adequate budget for proposed research

What type of research projects does Project Apis m. fund?

Project Apis m. seeks projects that will ultimately improve honey bee health. Our main areas of focus include:

• pests and disease prevention and control,
• honey bee nutrition,
• impacts of pesticides on bees, and
• long-term honey bee stock improvement.

We are looking for projects that fill the gaps in honey bee research, and benefit honey bees and agriculture in the USA and Canada. The reviewers will ask questions that ensure the commercial beekeeping community will benefit from the research and its application. For example, PAm seeks research projects that will:

• Enhance the economic viability of pollination businesses.
• Provide practical solutions for managed colonies.
• Yield results that can be efficiently transferred into field practice.
• Provide an excellent rate of return for beekeepers and farmers.

How much does PAm fund?

PAm funding is dependent on the project and the goals. We have funded from $5,000 – $200,000. Typically, proposals are in the range from $20,000 to $40,000. As you might imagine, the higher the funding request, the more scrutiny administered in the proposal review. We offer several initiative RFPs, in addition to accepting proposals outside those periods, and do our best to coordinate funding with other industry sources to partner and avoid duplication.  

RFP: Project Apis m. and the National Honey Board ​are requesting research proposals to support ​and enhance honey bee health. 

Background

U.S. Honey yield per colony is decreasing while colony losses are increasing, as many crops dependent on pollination services continue to expand. Winter honey bee colony losses in the United States were reported at 37.7% during 2019. Colony losses are often attributed to pathogens, parasites, pesticides, hive management (queen mating, genetics, maintenance), climate, and available nutrition. United States honey yield per colony averaged 54.4 pounds in 2018, down 2% from 55.5 pounds in 2017. (www.nass.usda.gov) Sustainable beekeeping is dependent on maximizing outputs (colony health, colony numbers, pollination contracts, honey production, profitability) while minimizing the inputs (time, money, personnel). A sustainable beekeeping industry contributes to a more sustainable agricultural landscape through a stable supply of bees for crop pollination. Therefore, PAm is requesting research proposals that focus on enhancing the health, survival and productivity of honey bee colonies, which provide practical and tangible solutions to the beekeeping industry.

The funding sponsor for these proposals is the National Honey Board (NHB), with Project Apis m. (PAm) administering the proposal, accountability and funding process. The NHB funds, collected by a federal research and promotion program ($0.015/lb), for Production Research, were approximately $347,000 in 2019. PAm administers several other initiatives with funding from many sources, including corporate sponsors, private donations and grants. Past proposals received and funded by PAm and NHB reflect a similar focus on supporting the industry.

The National Honey Board is an industry-funded agriculture promotion group that works to educate consumers about the benefits and uses for honey and honey products through research, marketing and promotional programs. Project Apis m. is the largest nongovernmental, non-profit honey bee research organization in the USA. Established by beekeepers and almond growers in 2006, PAm has infused over $8 million into bee research to provide growers with healthier bees resulting in better pollination and increased crop yields.

Priority Areas for Funding

With this call for research proposals, PAm is requesting proposals for research addressing honey bee health, nutrition and productivity. Priority will be given to proposals which aim to produce solutions to industry problems. Current specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Addressing practices for sustainable profitability of beekeeping and the provision of pollination services to agriculture
• Innovations to control and manage AFB, EFB, nosema, varroa and viruses
• Studying and developing innovative management techniques including: indoor overwintering; supplemental forage impacts on pollinators, resource management, and landscape carrying capacity; cropping system management.
• addressing gaps in honey bee complete nutrition
• pollination and colony density economics, including stocking rates, land use and landscape level comparisons, transportation and inspection impacts
• cover crop efficacy and management studies including seed composition, implementation, establishment, termination, soil benefits, pest/pathogen/beneficial insect use, frost, irrigation, etc.

Other projects will be considered, and research outside the U.S. is possible (all application materials must be in English). The goal of this research is to help producers maintain colony health and honey production. Most proposals will likely be of one-year duration. If multi-year projects are considered, it is with the understanding that funding for subsequent years would be contingent on performance and National Honey Board budget availability beyond 2020. The amount of funds available for a particular proposal will depend on the number and merit of successful proposals. 

Investing in the future of the cooperative system

The CHS Foundation supports cooperative education projects that develop and enhance understanding of the ag cooperative business model through education, professional development, and practical experience.

Program priorities and guidelines

The CHS Foundation will consider programs that:

• Educate the next generation about the agricultural cooperative business model
• Demonstrate a history of success and/or increase in growth or demand
• Incorporate technology and new, innovative approaches
• Target middle school, high school, college-age students and young producers
• Clearly identify strategies for engagement with key audiences and outline goals with measurable outcomes
• Use funding to support program-related costs
• Have a national or state level reach within the main CHS trade area (Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming)

Awareness. Education. Prevention.  These are three key tenets of Bayer Fund’s investments in health and wellness.  With a focus on cancer and cardiovascular disease, we provide resources to organizations dedicated to educating and/or providing services to patients, caregivers and at-risk populations.

Health & Wellness Grants

Programs that Bayer Fund will support include those that focus on patients and their families needing assistance with issues to managing cardiovascular disease and cancer. This includes education, disease awareness, and supportive services for these diseases. In areas related to cardiovascular disease, priority (though not exclusivity) will be given to charitable organizations that focus on programs and support for the African American community due to the high incidence rate of disease in this population.

Giving in this category will focus on support services such as education, disease awareness, and general access to care (e.g., housing for families traveling for cancer or heart care).

All funding requests and budgets must be for program activities and expenses that start after funding decisions are made. All programs must be completed within one year of the start date, except in limited situations where longer term programs have been agreed upon. Grant award amounts vary, depending on the size of the community, the type of programming, and the reach of the organization.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

About School-Based Healthcare Solutions Network (SBHSN).

Utilizing a unique framework of funding systems offered by the Department of Health and Human Services, managed care organizations, health insurers, and private donors, SBHSN promotes a system of care model (Coaching Model℠) offering a mix of evidenced-based intervention, prevention, and care coordination services to children in grades K-12. The Coaching Model aims to expand quality mental healthcare access on public school campuses and improve children's social, emotional, behavioral, family, and wellness outcomes.

School-Based Mental Health Implementation Grant

In response to the growing number of students who need mental health counseling, the School-Based Healthcare Solutions Network (SBHSN) is accepting applications from Local Education Agencies (LEA), Public and Private Universities, State and local Colleges, Charter School Management Companies, Public Schools, Charter Schools, and Non-Profit Organizations (501c3) to implement and expand mental health program services on local school campuses. Grantees will receive direct funding and reimbursement to support the following activities: 

• Expanding access to School-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).
• Coordinating mental healthcare services with school administration and staff. 
• Delivering mental healthcare services and coordinating academic-support activities to students with a history of attendance, behavior, and poor academic performance.

FUNDING

5-Years, renewable based on meeting performance goals 5-year award ceiling is $5,500,000.

The FM Area Foundation's community grand round addresses needs throughout Cass County, North Dakota, and Clay County, Minnesota, and promotes collaborative efforts to improve life in these areas. We will have one grant cycle that aligns with our five areas of impact. Organizations will self-select the focus area that best describes the work of their organizations.

The FM Area Foundation will consider grant applications covering a wide rang of community needs with a focus on:

• Arts, Culture & Creativity: Inspiring imagination and innovation through arts and culture
• Basic Human Needs: Building ladders out of poverty
• Community Building: Fostering initiatives that strengthen the community
• Education: Lifting lives through learning
• Women's Fund: Empowering women and children

Grant Criteria

In reviewing applications, the Foundation will consider the following criteria:

• The extent to which the organization addresses a community need, demonstrates broad-based community support, and provides benefits to the community-at-large.
• The extent to which the proposal maximizes community resources through cooperation and collaboration with other organizations in the community and the elimination of redundant services, programs or projects.
• The extent to which the proposal and organization prioritizes engaging and serving underrespresented populations.
• The capacity of the applicant's organization and the staff to achieve organizational success.
• Grant requests ranging from $500 to $15,000 will be considered.
• You must select if you are applying for General Operating Support or Existing Program/Project Support.
• Each year, the needs far outweigh our ability to fund. We strive to support a wide variety of organizations in our community.

Ecosystem Grants

The Bush Foundation works to inspire and support creative problem solving — within and across sectors — to make our region better for everyone. We know problem solving is hard. Our Ecosystem grant program provides operating support to the organizations that support the people doing this work.

Some might call these infrastructure organizations or intermediary organizations or just can’t-do-without organizations. We call them Ecosystem organizations because they create the environment needed for organizations and leaders to solve problems. 

The Ecosystem program primarily supports organizations helping people solve problems across a number of issues, rather than orgs focused on a particular issue area. The exceptions to this are organizations working on spreading student-centered learning or using the arts to address community challenges. (These exceptions reflect our long-standing commitments to education and the arts.) We also want to make sure we are funding organizations focused on Native nation building in ways that support sovereignty. 

What We Fund

We award Ecosystem grants to organizations that other organizations and leaders within our region rely heavily on to do one or more of the following:

• Provide critical data and analysis.
• Advance public awareness and policy.
• Spread great ideas and build capacity.
• Build and support leadership networks.

Ecosystem grantees work across a variety of issues, or on one of three specific issues: supporting the sovereignty of Native nations, spreading student-centered learning, or using art to solve community problems. Organizations may apply to receive as much as $450,000 over three years in operating support. The annual grant amount is typically 25% of the organization’s expenses, up to $150,000 per year. All Ecosystem grantees receive an additional $10,000 in capacity building funds to build or increase their skills to work across differences. 

Invest Native

Wells Fargo announces a Notice of Funding Opportunity for Invest Native, a $20 million philanthropic commitment to Native American communities in six states. The Invest Native initiative aims to impact work within Wells Fargo’s four priority philanthropic pillars of Housing Access and Affordability, Small Business Growth, Financial Health, and Sustainability & Climate Resilience among Native American communities in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The program is designed as a grantmaking initiative to support a more equitable and prosperous future for Native Americans.

Implementation Grant

Implementation grants are one-year grants up to $400,000. Funding will be for project/program costs aligned with one of the four focus areas including strengthening housing access & affordability, small business growth, financial health, and sustainability & climate resilience.

Funding Pillars

Projects must fit within one of Invest Native’s four funding pillars to be eligible. These pillars are:

• Small Business Growth: Focus is to primarily support initiatives that accelerate growth opportunities for established small businesses to help them scale. Investments center on key drivers of growth: Capital, Network, and Knowledge.
• Sustainability & Climate Resiliency: Focus is to support sustainability initiatives that drive an equity-focused transition to a low-carbon economy, with a focus on mitigating climate impacts and facilitating transition opportunities in low and moderate income (LMI) communities. Emphasis is to expand availability and access to sustainable finance transactions in LMI communities and developing and centering community power.
• Financial Health: Focus is to invest in foundational structures and transformative solutions that address systemic inequities, build financial security, and advance wealth and legacy creation among historically marginalized communities. Emphasis is on financial stability (including financial access, asset building and financial counseling).
• Housing Affordability & Access: Focus is to strive to foster interventions and innovative solutions that increase access to affordable, sustainable, and wealth-generating housing for vulnerable populations and communities. Emphasis will be on keeping people housed, housing stability, and opening doors to access.

About the Bush Prize

The Bush Prize celebrates organizations that are highly valued within their communities and have a track record of successful community problem solving.

Bush Prize grants are flexible and can be used to build up reserves or test that next big idea or whatever else would best support the organization's ongoing good work. The grant amounts are up to 25% of an organization’s most recent fiscal year expenses, with a maximum of $500,000.

Previously known as the Bush Prize for Community Innovation, the program is now known as the Bush Prize and is done in partnership between the Bush Foundation and its four community grant partners – Good Relatives Collaborative, Headwaters Foundation for Justice, South Dakota Community Foundation and Strengthen ND.

Each partner operates the Bush Prize using similar criteria and announces the winners at the same time yet has the flexibility to run different application and selection timelines. The four partners also will select and announce the Bush Prize winners, as well as provide any support along the way.

The Bush Prize: Native Nations

The Bush Prize: Native Nations is an annual award that celebrates Native-led organizations that have a culture of innovation and a history of building creative solutions for challenges in Native communities.

Bush Prize: Native Nations winners will receive a grant of up to 25% of the organizations last fiscal year expenses up to $500,000. Bush Prize Grants are flexible general operating funds that can be used to support the organizations ongoing good work in what ever way best suits their needs.

Bush Prize: Native Nations winners will be Native-led organizations that are highly valued within their communities and have a track record of successful community problem-solving. Their core work applies inclusive, collaborative, and resourceful practices that support community-powered solutions.

Supporting North Dakota Communities

The Rural Community Grant Fund supports local communities in western North Dakota impacted by mineral development in the Bakken region. AgriBank partners with AgCountry Farm Credit Services and Farm Credit Services of Mandan to provide the program.

Grants up to $50,000 are available within the Rural Community Grant Fund to facilitate infrastructure improvement and/or development initiatives encompassing housing projects, health, safety and environmental programs, medical facilities, educational programs, and more. AgriBank funds the Rural Community Grant Fund annually based on income earned on mineral interests within western North Dakota, as designated by our board of directors. AgriBank acquired mineral interests in western North Dakota as a result of loan activity following the Great Depression.

About the Bush Prize

The Bush Prize program identifies and honors extraordinary organizations that consistently engage and lead their community toward creative solutions and provides them with flexible support to keep doing that work and supports them to amplify their story to inspire others.Beginning in 2023, the Bush Foundation Prize competition has been operated in partnership with the Bush Foundations and 4 community grant partners in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnestoa and the 23 Native nations in that geography divided among the three states and Native Nations sharing their geography supported by the Bush Foundation, with separate localized organizations managing the competition for their state and 23 Native Nations.

About GIG Fund

The GIG Fund is a grant of $2,000-4,000 that supports creative projects and educational events in the Midwest. These funds help organizations present artists in their community by supporting programming and touring costs.

The GIG Fund provides flexible grants for nonprofit organizations to support programs and activities featuring professional artists. GIG Fund grants help cover fees for touring or local artists. Funds may also be used for project costs such as accessibility accommodations and marketing. We work with a panel to help us review applications and distribute grants annually.

GIG Fund

Flexible support to help arts and culture organizations grow their capacity, fund artist engagements, and build community.

What is the GIG Fund?

The GIG Fund is a grant of $2,000-4,000 that supports creative projects and educational events in the Midwest. These funds help organizations present artists in their community by supporting programming and touring costs. The GIG Fund is a grant that supports Midwestern organizations that want to contract with a professional artist to offer activities to their community. 

Matching requirement

Organizations will be required to demonstrate matching funds on a 1:1 basis for the grant amount.

To demonstrate the match, your expenses should each be at least double your GIG Fund grant. Potential sources for the match include salaries and wages, in-kind contributions, volunteer hours, earned and contributed revenue (donations, ticket sales, other non-Federal grants), or cash from the applicant or partner organizations.

Our Approach

The Tom & Frances Leach Foundation, Inc. is committed to sustaining vibrant, healthy communities where all people have the opportunities and means to achieve their dreams and make a positive difference in the world. Through our grants, we support effective organizations that are creating significant, lasting and transformational change either through smart and innovative responses to today's needs or through systematic solutions that address the root causes of economic and societal challenges.

The Foundation provides single and multi-year grants to support nonprofit organizations through direct program funding and general operating grants, as well as endowments, scholarships and capital campaigns. A significant portion of our grantmaking is geographically focused in the Bismarck-Mandan area and Western North Dakota.

Focus Areas

Education

A quality education is the foundation for self-sufficiency, preparing young people for success in life.

• Educational Opportunities - Our education goal is for all of North Dakota's children, regardless of the socio-economic status, to be equipped with the building blocks for lifelong learning and healthy social-emotional development. We support high-performing schools and evidence-based programs that have the capacity to make dramatic educational gains for all students. Our commitment to providing excellent educational opportunities spans from early childhood through secondary education.

Health & Science

• Facilities/Clinics - We aim to increase and improve the availability of superior medical care by supporting hospitals primarily in the Bismarck-Mandan and Western North Dakota areas. 
• Mental Health - Our goal is to support those with mental illness by sponsoring education, advocacy and community service programs. We support organizations working to expand and enhance resource options for individuals and families impacted by mental health challenges.
• Disease Specific Support - We work to improve treatment and care for patients with specific diseases by funding projects at hospitals and clinics.

Human Services

The field of Human Services is broadly defined as, "uniquely approaching the objective of meeting human needs through an interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations."

• Quality of Life Improvement - Our Foundation supports services that help the vulnerable of all ages in the Bismarck-Mandan and Western North Dakota areas to maintain or enhance their quality of life, which may be threatened by lack of financial resources, emotional crises, disabling conditions, or an inability to protect themselves.

Arts & Humanities

Our Foundation supports preserving and expanding artistic knowledge by funding programs such as those which include or combine both arts and humanities disciplines in the visual, performing and literary fields.

Communities are built by helping them discover their cultural assets, building audiences and promoting the excellence of the creative sector. The humanities explore the nature and value of human experience through literature, history, theology, philosophy and the disciplines of social and political science.

The range of potential projects under our Arts and Humanities grants is limited only by the community's imagination.

Our Priorities

We focus our resources on the communities where we work and live. Our funds are for innovative projects and programs that create measurable impacts in our areas of emphasis.

The Foundation will consider requests from qualified organizations to support operating budgets and capital fund programs for the construction, refurbishment or purchase of buildings, structures, equipment or physical enhancements.

Education

Especially early childhood education initiatives and programs that support schools of higher learning with special interest in curricula and capital improvements in the study of business, political science, economics, engineering, and natural/physical sciences as they relate to the energy and industrial industries. 

Health and Human Services

Including initiatives and programs that help individuals and families struggling with daily living challenges, including hunger, poverty, domestic violence, homelessness, and disabilities.

Community, Civic, and Cultural Development

Programs and projects that focus on local, regional, or statewide economic and cultural development, including efforts that increase awareness of culture and the arts and encourage their growth, particularly for regions or populations that would otherwise be unable to participate.

Environment

programs that emphasize sustainability, preservation, environmental education, and stewardship of our land, water, and air with an emphasis on collaborative programs that strengthen ties between businesses and communities.

About Arts Midwest

We amplify Midwestern creativity, building community and opportunity across our region and beyond.

Arts Midwest advances creativity across our region, building unprecedented opportunity for everyone who calls this place home. We support, inform, and celebrate arts organizations and creative communities in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, the Native Nations that share this geography, and beyond. As one of six nonprofit United States Regional Arts Organizations, we work to strengthen local arts and culture efforts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, state agencies, private funders, and many others. Together, we nourish the creative roots of the Midwest—and share our region’s transformative ideas with the world.

This year, we’re pleased to offer two tracks of funding: GIG Fund: Arts and Wellness, and GIG Fund.

GIG Fund: Arts and Wellness

The GIG Fund: Arts and Wellness is a grant of $2,000 – $15,000 for organizations of any budget size whose projects have an arts and wellness focus.  Funds may be used for performances, workshops, programs in clinical settings, creative aging programs, efforts that engage veterans in the arts, etc.  Applicants may only apply for one GIG Fund grant per year.

Arts Midwest recognizes the field of arts and wellness to be far-reaching and applicants should identify how their arts project addresses some element of health and wellness.

This round of GIG Fund grants is for supporting activities taking place between December 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. There are three requirements.

1) Engage a Professional Artist or Ensemble 2) Offer at Least Two Activities Featuring the Artist(s) and 3) Professional Development: With support from The Hearst Foundations, Arts Midwest will offer professional development opportunities to grantees to strengthen arts and wellness initiatives across the Midwest.

John Deere FIRST

John Deere and FIRST are together committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion which encourages teams to be more innovation, creative, and make better decisions. We encourage your team to support and encourage diversity within your team.

John Deere grants are focused on increasing the participation and positive outcomes for students in John Deere home communities who historically have been underserved and underrepresented in STEM (Engineering, Computer Science/IT, and Manufacturing). This focus is supporting John Deere’s Bold Commitment of reaching at least one million underserved/underrepresented youth by 2030.

Current U.S. & Canada John Deere Inspire Home Communities

United States:

• California - Torrance
• Georgia - Augusta
• Illinois - Champaign & Quad Cities
• Iowa - Des Moines, Dubuque, Paton, Ottumwa, Quad Cities, & Waterloo
• Kansas - Coffeyville
• Louisiana - Thibodaux
• Missouri - Springfield
• North Carolina - Raleigh-Durham
• North Dakota - Fargo & Valley City
• Tennessee - Greeneville
• Wisconsin – Horicon

Canada:

• Alberta - Edmonton 
• Manitoba - Altona
• Ontario - Grimsby
• Ontario - Oakville
• Saskatchewan - Regina

The Myra Foundation was established in 1941 and was the first private charitable foundation of its kind in the State of North Dakota. It was organized according to the terms of the Last Will and Testament of the late John E. Myra who died in 1939. In his will, Myra stated that the bulk of his estate would be used to establish the Myra Foundation. The Foundation was to be incorporated and administered by three trustees who would distribute the money for "charitable, character building and educational purposes." Since its inception on April 28, 1941, it has awarded nearly $13,000,000 in grants within Grand Forks County, ND.

The Foundation was founded for charitable and educational purposes, and therefore its grants have been limited to those for such purposes. Because of the great amount of grant applications received in recent years, the effective focus of the Foundation’s energies and limited resources has required that it concentrate its grant making activity in the Grand Forks County area. Consequently, the Foundation has limited its grants to qualified organizations and institutions located within Grand Forks County and serving or benefiting the citizens of such county, including the City of Grand Forks. 

Today, the Foundation owns 5545 acres of farmland in Grand Forks County. It leases the land to local farmers and the income generated from the farming operations is distributed according to the terms of the Foundation's mission. The three trustees currently administering the Myra Foundation are Donna Gillig, Kent Cronquist, and John Botsford.