Authentic Civic Engagement Mini-Grant

We have information about past grantees here: 2022 grantees, 2023 grantees, 2024 grantees. If you are unsure whether your project is a good fit even after reviewing these examples, feel free to reach out to Cara Scharf in the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement at ces337@drexel.edu. 

The application starts with simple questions about the applicant, including name, email, affiliations, and relationship to Drexel. The next questions are open-ended and ask for more information about the project that you would like funded. You will be asked to provide a summary of the project including the issue it is addressing, whether the project is new or ongoing, how the project aligns with the values stated above such as education and collectivity, who is involved in the project and how the team works together, and, finally, what the funds will potentially be used for and when. We anticipate the application will take 15-20 minutes to fill out.

A PDF copy of the application can be found here, in case you want to draft responses before you go to the actual form.

The grant is reviewed by a diverse team of people representing various offices and groups around campus. They will use a rubric that assesses applications using the values framework above and the planned budget and feasibility of the project.

 

We have enough funding for 5 grants of up to $1,000 each. The number of awardees will vary depending on the quality of applications, funds requested by each applicant, and funds available to disperse.

Selected grantees will have access to funds through the end of the year in which the grant is given. 

Yes - the application must be submitted by a current student but that student can apply as an individual or as a member of an organization or project team that is affiliated with an administrative office or other campus or community entity. As mentioned above, we strongly encourage projects that are collaborative and include diverse teams including students, faculty, staff, and community members. We also have a slight preference for undergraduate students and organizations though we will consider graduate students and organizations. 

Yes. Grantees will be expected to participate in at least one grantee check-in call about midway through the grant period. Grantees will also be expected to turn in a report at the end of the grant period detailing how they spent grant funds and how the project is progressing and/or meeting its goals. Grantees may also be invited to present their work at the Lindy Center or in other forums (for instance, for a Drexel Now article).

If grantee is part of a campus entity such as a student organization or campus office, we will disburse funds through a one-time interdepartmental transfer. If that is not possible or the grantee is not part of an entity that can accept a transfer, then the Lindy Center will facilitate grantee purchases and payments using our departmental funds. There will be a form that grantees will fill out to request the Lindy Center facilitate any purchases, catering, or other expenses, and the Lindy Center will work with grantees to ensure their needs are met. 

Use of grant funds is restricted to certain items. Grantees WILL NOT be permitted to use grant funds for:

• Compensation for themselves for time spent on the grant.
• Alcoholic beverages: grantees may use funds to buy food for events/meetings as part of their project but are not to provide alcohol.
• Any project or work done to fulfill any academic requirement such as a course project, independent study, thesis, etc.

Grantees WILL be permitted to use grant funds for:

• Materials/supplies: grantees may purchase items that will help with their project. Items may include books, tools, art supplies, etc.
• Food & beverages: catering, non-alcoholic beverages, snacks, etc.
• Generally, honoraria can be paid through grant funds but the process can take a long time so grantees must be prepared to wait. Honoraria might include payment for a community organization that is consulting on a project, an expert speaker that is presenting at an event, etc. 

Drexel may be able to offer small grants for events and projects that promote equity, inclusion, and belonging on campus. To inquire about the possibility of funding for these types of efforts, email eicprogramming@drexel.edu. The "Good Idea Fund" and also the Student Center for Diversity and Inclusion (SCDI) offer microgrants for students orgs doing events related to diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Student organizations who are interested in doing skill-building workshops in local schools can also look into the Lindy Scholars program. There may also be funding opportunities through academic departments so be sure to reach out to your advisors and/or department administrators to ask about that. One example is in LeBow, where there is a quarterly "DEI, Environment and Sustainability Innovation Micro-Grant" program (for more information on that specifically, you can reach out to Kimberly Williams in LeBow, kmw25@drexel.edu). If you are seeking funding for a research project, you can look into opportunities through UREP, which has funding for student/faculty research projects and for travel related to presenting research at conferences. 

We will update this space as we become aware of additional funding opportunities.