Ann Arbor, MI
Homie Hangz
Por Elisandra Rosario November 2024FreedomLives Bed Bug Prevention
Por Joe Newman November 2024Fluttering Wheels
Por Chloe Crawford October 2024ZeroWaste.Org Trash Talk Tour 2024
Por Samuel McMullen September 2024Theater for All Abilities
Por Magda Kadlitz August 2024Revamping REpurpose
Por Jess Pascoal July 2024Family Fun Day
Por Lois Pullano June 2024Free Art Fridays
Por Lauryn Benning April 2024Ethnic Hair Care for our food pantry
Por Sarah Shugart April 2024Camp compassion/ A2outreach
Por Matthew Ousley February 2024Unique Care Connect Community Center
Por Shahrazad Kennedy January 2024Furnishing Homes for the Formerly Homeless
Por monique deschaine January 2024Empower Creative Reuse
Por Caitlin Burr December 2023Project LIT - More than just a Book Club
Por Deb Schreck November 2023Coding Class for High School Students
Por Alicia McKay October 2023Pollinators Eat for Free
Por Steve Veldheer September 2023The Michigan Foster Care Closet
Por Karen Field August 2023StoryWalk
Por Linda Bazzi July 2023Festival of the Pollinator/Rumble of the Bumble
Por Claire Broderick June 2023Birdie's Bookmobile
Por Alyce Hartman May 2023Brightmoor Volunteers
Por John OBrien April 2023Postpartum Packages
Por Sara Koussa February 2023Dementia Friendly Days At The Movies
Por jim mangi January 2023Deaf and Hard Hearing Social Event
Por Amy Pulaski December 2022Honey Chile Hives
Por Rachel Williams November 2022Growing our Coding with Brainpad
Por Christina Adamson October 2022Little Detroit Community Garden
Por Loretta Powell September 2022Fourth Hand Bicycle Project
Por Chalene Jones August 2022Bug Pit Collaborative Arts Summer Play Festival
Por Lindsey A Brown July 2022It's a Whatup Doe Life! Theater Production
Por Alvin Lockett June 2022Birdie's Bookmobile
Por Alyce Hartman May 2022Making Mexican history in Michigan
Por Santos Ramos April 2022Growing Community through Diverse Storytelling
Por Drew Pineda March 2022Healing Justice Through Art and Meditaion
Por Nicole Johnson February 2022Dance / Drill Team Uniform Closet
Por Kelly West January 2022Freeman Elementary Lettuce Grow Stand
Por Isabel Hershey December 2021Open MI Door Washtenaw Jail Work
Por Carolyn Schafer-Geurin November 2021Care Seats of Michigan
Por Jenna Dawson October 2021Elevating Native Voices in a Public Library
Por Miranda Cauchi September 2021Early Chinese Immigrants in 1890s Ypsilanti
Por Linette Lao & Matt Siegfried August 2021Rebuilding the community
Por David Neigum II July 2021The Lookout Project
Por Shelby Shaughnessy June 2021CASM Pop-Up
Por Brandon LePage May 2021Love a Lot, Love a Life
Por Patrick McNeal April 2021Youth Art in Windows grows in Hamtramck & Detroit
Por Vickie Elmer March 2021Dancing Willow Farms Welding Center
Por Christopher Lemon February 2021the Poetics Lab (tPL)
Por Mitchel Dipzinski and Dominique Witten January 2021Connect the Camps
Por Matthew Hoostal December 2020A Girl Like Me Inc Mentoring
Por Tyra Moore November 2020Sign of the times
Por INGRID ANKERSON October 2020Activity Packs for Incarcerated Members of SIP
Por Frannie Shepherd-Bates September 2020Redroots of Ann Arbor
Por Angelica Esquivel August 2020Summer Books for Students
Por Jessica L. Fleming July 2020Doorstep Serenades
Por Thomas Militello June 2020Laundry for houseless/housing insecure friends
Por Sheri Wander May 2020Operation PPE
Por Adam Smith April 202024/7 Free Community Pantry
Por D’Real Graham April 2020Holmes Elementary Learning and Feeding Garden
Por Jennifer Sopoci March 2020MI Voz
Por Mayela Rodriguez February 2020Rule of Three: Black Dance Intensive- West African
Por Erin Falker-Obichigha January 2020Affirmations LGBTQ Community Center Youth Drop-In
Por Ian Unger December 2019The Detroit Museum of Public Art
Por Viranel Clerard November 2019Arcasōnica
Por Amelia Taylor October 2019Flint Culture Mural
Por Corinne Nuzum September 2019The Free Black Women's Library-Detroit
Por Katelyn Durst August 2019Inside Out Prison Exchange Program
Por Adena Rottenstein, Ph.D. July 2019Kaboom playground build
Por Katrina Watkins June 2019Bow School Garden
Por Elena Sica Mosher May 2019The Guild Needs A New Community PA
Por Alexis Ford May 2019Home Builders Workshop
Por Latisha Johnson April 2019Women of Banglatown Youth Arts
Por Lauren Patterson March 2019Jade + Woe
Por Lorenza Centi February 2019WeListen
Por Kate Westa January 2019Serve Squad
Por Azania Tene' Logan January 2019Leading the Way to Shed
Por Margaret Munger December 2018Lenses Collective
Por Jacqueline Carroll, Jane Kramer, and Vivek Vellanki November 2018Common Cycle Co-Op Launch
Por Emma Wendt October 2018Woman Activist Incabator Retreat
Por Patrica Fero September 2018Wander Packs
Por Elizabeth Keller August 2018Project Reentry Resource Navigator
Por Holly Wickham July 2018National Day of Action- Sport, Lawn, and Garden
Por Jennifer Oprisiu June 2018SoulSeed Kitchen Connection
Por Vanessa L. Marr May 2018Shakespeare in Prison
Por Frannie Shepherd-Bates April 2018Ward 1 Productions, Ypsi's Youth Creative Agency
Por Ariel Moore March 2018Black Men Read - Kids Club
Por Yodit Mesfin Johnson February 2018The #Eating Project
Por joseph alnarshi January 2018Rize Two The Top
Por Tru Ajani (Mark Rowe) December 2017Sustainability by Design: A School Bus Conversion
Por Victoria Essex November 2017Michigan Prison Doula Initiative
Por Jacqueline Williams October 2017Seraphine Collective's Beat Match Brunch
Por Seraphine Collective September 2017Southeast Michigan Doula Project
Por Ashton Steele August 2017Sahbi
Por Essam Al-Snayyan July 2017Futel
Por Karl Anderson June 2017Changing The Norm
Por Melvin Parson June 2017Parisa Ghaderi
Por Mark Tucker April 2017COBBLESTONE FARM MARKET
Por Hilary Marie Nichols March 2017SMILE
Por Marcy Schwab February 2017Ypsi March for Love, Resilience, and Action
Por Ypsi March for Love, Resilience, and Action January 2017Ypsi High Superhero Program
Por Jermaine Dickerson December 2016Supporting Inclusion in Girl Scouts
Por Christine Anderson November 2016Global Water Dances - Flint, MI
Por Shawn Lent October 2016The 48217
Por Benjamin Corona September 2016Reel N Wheel
Por Shoshanna Utchenik September 2016ÆPEX Access
Por Garrett Schumann September 2016The Leaders of the Future - Leadership Incubator
Por Anders Engnell June 2016Youth for Flint: A Volunteer Force for Good
Por Brandon Morgan April 2016Ypsilanti Womens mural
Por Lynne Settles April 2016Foster care survival packages
Por Alana Weems March 2016YCHS Band BOSTON TOUR!
Por Ypsilanti Community Band Association (President, Dana Leahy) February 2016Black Nirvana
Por Jamall Bufford January 2016Techno Poetics
Por Nandi Comer January 2016Leesta
Por Virginia Lozano October 2015The Oasis Aquaponic Food Production System
Por MIchelle Leach September 2015Raising Awareness About Juvenile Justice
Por Belinda Dulin August 2015The Washtenaw ID Project
Por Janelle Fa'aola July 2015The CivCity Initiative: Pre-Election Potlucks
Por Mary Morgan July 2015Festival of the Honey Bee
Por Jamie Berlin July 2015Festival of the Honey Bee
Por Jamie Berlin April 2015Live in Peter's Attic
Por Peter Littlejohn March 2015WICIR teen group mural project
Por Melissa Stek February 2015Camp Take Notice - Tiny Home
Por Albert Foo December 2014FEMMES: Females Excelling More in (STEM)
Por Felicia Gray October 2014art-hut festival: create in the commons
Por Jason Wright September 2014"The Aquarium" - Alternative Exhibition Space
Por Lea Bult September 2014National Association of Black Accountants (NABA)
Por Charvez Wesley July 2014Scarlett Summer Music Academy
Por Deborah Scott Katz June 2014A2 Summer Fest Tuesday Bike Nights
Por Krysia Hepatica May 2014Permaculture Tool Share
Por Jesse D. Tack May 2014First Fridays Ypsilanti
Por Kayj Michelle February 2014MPowered Makeathon
Por Sydney Bigelow January 2014Fabulous Contraptions! cardboard arcade pop up
Por Linette Lao for FLY Children's Art Center January 2014FUSE: Mobile Microcinema
Por Donald Harrison November 2013Update on Cooperative Phonograph for skate park
Por Michael Flynn November 2013A Face Mask For Girls Playing Field Hockey.
Por Allen Samuels November 2013Broken
Por Susan Clinthorne November 2013Adolescent Hackers Alliance
Por Katherine Dana Nelson May 2013Ypsilanti Heritage Festival/Noise Permit
Por Andrew Clock May 2013ExtinBreachR
Por Albert Foo March 2013Ceramic Arts at Sunny Days Summer Camp
Por Julie Corey February 2013Rutherford Pool Rebuild
Por John Weiss January 2013Information Access is Awesome: Learning About MDOC
Por Lindsey E. Krantz December 2012YEP (young entrepreneurial people)
Por lisa waud, pot & box November 2012Field Trips For Tutoring Students At YMS!
Por Amanda Uhle September 2012Ypsi-Arbor Unsung Musical Hereos
Por William Streety August 2012Spontaneous Art Washtenaw County tour
Por Trevor Stone of Spontaneous Art August 2012Shakespeare in Prison
Por Frannie Shepherd-Bates June 2012Upgrade Video Camera for Community Events
Por Roger Rayle May 2012Dome Sweet Dome
Por Amanda Sari Perez April 2012Bona Sera Above Ground
Por Bona Sera March 2012Youth Fitness Room
Por Quinn Phillips February 2012Peddle Powered Vegetable Grow Rack
Por Nathan Ayers December 2011Acerca de Nosotros
The Ann Arbor Awesome Foundation is the Ann Arbor chapter of the Boston-based micro-philanthropic organization known as the Awesome Foundation. We award a $1,000 grant every month to a group or individual working to make an impact in our community. These micro-grants come out of the pockets of the chapter's "trustees" – awesome individuals just like you who want to see Michigan become even awesomer than it already is! Grants are given on a no-strings-attached basis. We fund one project per month from what can be a large pool of applicants, so don't be discouraged if your project isn't funded and feel free to apply again for future projects!
Anyone can apply. Yep, even you! Don’t worry if you’ve never applied for a grant.
HOW WE WORK
Every month trustees review applications submitted from the previous month. As a result, it may take up to six weeks for us to consider and respond to grant applications. We then come together to discuss applications. We look through photos, follow shared links, and give impassioned speeches about which awesome application is most awesomest. We then vote on the spot and our local dean follows up soon after with the winner to issue the grant. No reporting is required, but we always love updates!
WHAT WE FUND
-Where: While we consider applications from across Michigan, we prioritize projects in Southeast Michigan and even more in our stomping grounds of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
-Topics: We support projects and causes of all types including: art, culture, music, community, education, environment, animal welfare, human rights, diversity, and community events.
-Impact: We favor grant proposals with a clear articulation of how the money will be used to make an impact in your community. Especially if it is something that would not be possible without this funding, rather than our grant being just a small contribution to a larger fundraising campaign. It's a big help to us when an applicant can clearly articulate what our mini-grant would make possible.
-Who: We’ve funded individuals, collectives, nonprofits, and grassroots organizations, regardless of formal nonprofit status.
WHAT WE DON’T FUND
-Business costs - there are a lot of seed funding opportunities out there.
-Personal creative projects - sorry, we can’t fund your novel.
-Rent, bills, travel, supplies, stipends, or limited scholarships.
-Individual education or training.
-General operating funds for nonprofits.
ADDITIONAL TIPS
-Be sure to describe how your project will make your community more awesome.
-Break down how you will spend the grant. Is this budget part of a larger fundraising effort OR will $1,000 get your project off the ground?
-Have partners? Let us know if you’re working with anyone to make your awesome project possible.
-We prefer to support projects where our $1,000 makes a difference - either enabling a project that might not otherwise happen, or supporting an individual or group that may otherwise be overlooked or not fit within more traditional funding and grant opportunities.
-Finally, equity and inclusion aren’t just words for us. We’re committed to supporting those on the ground working to make their communities more fair and just.
Questions? Email us at annarbor@awesomefoundation.org