Ann Arbor, MI
Thrive: Mental Wellness Initiative Program
Por Zahraa Alrafish January 2025
Special Education Transition Room
Por Jennifer Spicer December 2024
FreedomLives Bed Bug Prevention
Por Joe Newman November 2024
Homie Hangz
Por Elisandra Rosario November 2024
Fluttering Wheels
Por Chloe Crawford October 2024
ZeroWaste.Org Trash Talk Tour 2024
Por Samuel McMullen September 2024
Theater for All Abilities
Por Magda Kadlitz August 2024Revamping REpurpose
Por Jess Pascoal July 2024
Family Fun Day
Por Lois Pullano June 2024
Free Art Fridays
Por Lauryn Benning April 2024
Ethnic Hair Care for our food pantry
Por Sarah Shugart April 2024
Camp compassion/ A2outreach
Por Matthew Ousley February 2024
Unique Care Connect Community Center
Por Shahrazad Kennedy January 2024
Furnishing Homes for the Formerly Homeless
Por monique deschaine January 2024
Empower Creative Reuse
Por Caitlin Burr December 2023
Project LIT - More than just a Book Club
Por Deb Schreck November 2023
Coding Class for High School Students
Por Alicia McKay October 2023
Pollinators Eat for Free
Por Steve Veldheer September 2023
The Michigan Foster Care Closet
Por Karen Field August 2023
StoryWalk
Por Linda Bazzi July 2023
Festival of the Pollinator/Rumble of the Bumble
Por Claire Broderick June 2023Birdie's Bookmobile
Por Alyce Hartman May 2023
Brightmoor Volunteers
Por John OBrien April 2023
Postpartum Packages
Por Sara Koussa February 2023
Dementia Friendly Days At The Movies
Por jim mangi January 2023
Deaf and Hard Hearing Social Event
Por Amy Pulaski December 2022
Honey Chile Hives
Por Rachel Williams November 2022
Growing our Coding with Brainpad
Por Christina Adamson October 2022Little Detroit Community Garden
Por Loretta Powell September 2022
Fourth Hand Bicycle Project
Por Chalene Jones August 2022
Bug Pit Collaborative Arts Summer Play Festival
Por Lindsey A Brown July 2022
It's a Whatup Doe Life! Theater Production
Por Alvin Lockett June 2022
Birdie's Bookmobile
Por Alyce Hartman May 2022
Making Mexican history in Michigan
Por Santos Ramos April 2022
Growing Community through Diverse Storytelling
Por Drew Pineda March 2022
Healing Justice Through Art and Meditaion
Por Nicole Johnson February 2022
Dance / Drill Team Uniform Closet
Por Kelly West January 2022
Freeman Elementary Lettuce Grow Stand
Por Isabel Hershey December 2021
Open MI Door Washtenaw Jail Work
Por Carolyn Schafer-Geurin November 2021
Care Seats of Michigan
Por Jenna Dawson October 2021
Elevating Native Voices in a Public Library
Por Miranda Cauchi September 2021
Early Chinese Immigrants in 1890s Ypsilanti
Por Linette Lao & Matt Siegfried August 2021
Rebuilding the community
Por David Neigum II July 2021
The Lookout Project
Por Shelby Shaughnessy June 2021
CASM Pop-Up
Por Brandon LePage May 2021
Love a Lot, Love a Life
Por Patrick McNeal April 2021
Youth Art in Windows grows in Hamtramck & Detroit
Por Vickie Elmer March 2021
Dancing Willow Farms Welding Center
Por Christopher Lemon February 2021
the Poetics Lab (tPL)
Por Mitchel Dipzinski and Dominique Witten January 2021Connect the Camps
Por Matthew Hoostal December 2020
A Girl Like Me Inc Mentoring
Por Tyra Moore November 2020
Sign of the times
Por INGRID ANKERSON October 2020
Activity Packs for Incarcerated Members of SIP
Por Frannie Shepherd-Bates September 2020
Redroots of Ann Arbor
Por Angelica Esquivel August 2020
Summer Books for Students
Por Jessica L. Fleming July 2020
Doorstep Serenades
Por Thomas Militello June 2020
Laundry for houseless/housing insecure friends
Por Sheri Wander May 2020
Operation PPE
Por Adam Smith April 2020
24/7 Free Community Pantry
Por D’Real Graham April 2020
Holmes Elementary Learning and Feeding Garden
Por Jennifer Sopoci March 2020
MI Voz
Por Mayela Rodriguez February 2020
Rule of Three: Black Dance Intensive- West African
Por Erin Falker-Obichigha January 2020Affirmations LGBTQ Community Center Youth Drop-In
Por Ian Unger December 2019
The Detroit Museum of Public Art
Por Viranel Clerard November 2019
Arcasōnica
Por Amelia Taylor October 2019
Flint Culture Mural
Por Corinne Nuzum September 2019
The Free Black Women's Library-Detroit
Por Katelyn Durst August 2019
Inside Out Prison Exchange Program
Por Adena Rottenstein, Ph.D. July 2019
Kaboom playground build
Por Katrina Watkins June 2019
Bow School Garden
Por Elena Sica Mosher May 2019The Guild Needs A New Community PA
Por Alexis Ford May 2019
Home Builders Workshop
Por Latisha Johnson April 2019
Women of Banglatown Youth Arts
Por Lauren Patterson March 2019
Jade + Woe
Por Lorenza Centi February 2019
WeListen
Por Kate Westa January 2019
Serve Squad
Por Azania Tene' Logan January 2019
Leading the Way to Shed
Por Margaret Munger December 2018
Lenses Collective
Por Jacqueline Carroll, Jane Kramer, and Vivek Vellanki November 2018
Common Cycle Co-Op Launch
Por Emma Wendt October 2018
Woman Activist Incabator Retreat
Por Patrica Fero September 2018
Wander Packs
Por Elizabeth Keller August 2018Project Reentry Resource Navigator
Por Holly Wickham July 2018
National Day of Action- Sport, Lawn, and Garden
Por Jennifer Oprisiu June 2018
SoulSeed Kitchen Connection
Por Vanessa L. Marr May 2018
Shakespeare in Prison
Por Frannie Shepherd-Bates April 2018
Ward 1 Productions, Ypsi's Youth Creative Agency
Por Ariel Moore March 2018
Black Men Read - Kids Club
Por Yodit Mesfin Johnson February 2018
The #Eating Project
Por joseph alnarshi January 2018
Rize Two The Top
Por Tru Ajani (Mark Rowe) December 2017
Sustainability by Design: A School Bus Conversion
Por Victoria Essex November 2017
Michigan Prison Doula Initiative
Por Jacqueline Williams October 2017Seraphine Collective's Beat Match Brunch
Por Seraphine Collective September 2017
Southeast Michigan Doula Project
Por Ashton Steele August 2017Sahbi
Por Essam Al-Snayyan July 2017
Changing The Norm
Por Melvin Parson June 2017
Futel
Por Karl Anderson June 2017
Parisa Ghaderi
Por Mark Tucker April 2017COBBLESTONE FARM MARKET
Por Hilary Marie Nichols March 2017
SMILE
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 2016
Supporting Inclusion in Girl Scouts
Por Christine Anderson November 2016
Global Water Dances - Flint, MI
Por Shawn Lent October 2016
ÆPEX Access
Por Garrett Schumann September 2016
The 48217
Por Benjamin Corona September 2016
Reel N Wheel
Por Shoshanna Utchenik September 2016
The Leaders of the Future - Leadership Incubator
Por Anders Engnell June 2016
Youth for Flint: A Volunteer Force for Good
Por Brandon Morgan April 2016Ypsilanti Womens mural
Por Lynne Settles April 2016
Foster care survival packages
Por Alana Weems March 2016
YCHS Band BOSTON TOUR!
Por Ypsilanti Community Band Association (President, Dana Leahy) February 2016
Black Nirvana
Por Jamall Bufford January 2016
Techno Poetics
Por Nandi Comer January 2016
Leesta
Por Virginia Lozano October 2015
The Oasis Aquaponic Food Production System
Por MIchelle Leach September 2015
Raising Awareness About Juvenile Justice
Por Belinda Dulin August 2015
The CivCity Initiative: Pre-Election Potlucks
Por Mary Morgan July 2015
Festival of the Honey Bee
Por Jamie Berlin July 2015
The Washtenaw ID Project
Por Janelle Fa'aola July 2015
Festival of the Honey Bee
Por Jamie Berlin April 2015
Live in Peter's Attic
Por Peter Littlejohn March 2015
WICIR teen group mural project
Por Melissa Stek February 2015
Camp Take Notice - Tiny Home
Por Albert Foo December 2014
FEMMES: Females Excelling More in (STEM)
Por Felicia Gray October 2014
art-hut festival: create in the commons
Por Jason Wright September 2014
"The Aquarium" - Alternative Exhibition Space
Por Lea Bult September 2014
National Association of Black Accountants (NABA)
Por Charvez Wesley July 2014
Scarlett Summer Music Academy
Por Deborah Scott Katz June 2014
Permaculture Tool Share
Por Jesse D. Tack May 2014
A2 Summer Fest Tuesday Bike Nights
Por Krysia Hepatica May 2014
First Fridays Ypsilanti
Por Kayj Michelle February 2014
MPowered Makeathon
Por Sydney Bigelow January 2014
Fabulous Contraptions! cardboard arcade pop up
Por Linette Lao for FLY Children's Art Center January 2014
A Face Mask For Girls Playing Field Hockey.
Por Allen Samuels November 2013
Update on Cooperative Phonograph for skate park
Por Michael Flynn November 2013FUSE: Mobile Microcinema
Por Donald Harrison November 2013
Broken
Por Susan Clinthorne November 2013Adolescent Hackers Alliance
Por Katherine Dana Nelson May 2013
Ypsilanti Heritage Festival/Noise Permit
Por Andrew Clock May 2013
ExtinBreachR
Por Albert Foo March 2013
Ceramic Arts at Sunny Days Summer Camp
Por Julie Corey February 2013
Rutherford Pool Rebuild
Por John Weiss January 2013Information Access is Awesome: Learning About MDOC
Por Lindsey E. Krantz December 2012
YEP (young entrepreneurial people)
Por lisa waud, pot & box November 2012
Field Trips For Tutoring Students At YMS!
Por Amanda Uhle September 2012
Ypsi-Arbor Unsung Musical Hereos
Por William Streety August 2012Spontaneous Art Washtenaw County tour
Por Trevor Stone of Spontaneous Art August 2012
Shakespeare in Prison
Por Frannie Shepherd-Bates June 2012
Upgrade Video Camera for Community Events
Por Roger Rayle May 2012
Dome Sweet Dome
Por Amanda Sari Perez April 2012
Bona Sera Above Ground
Por Bona Sera March 2012
Youth Fitness Room
Por Quinn Phillips February 2012
Peddle Powered Vegetable Grow Rack
Por Nathan Ayers December 2011
Sobre Nós
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