Developed by the Kansas Department of Commerce’s Office of Rural Prosperity (ORP), in collaboration with the Kansas Sampler Foundation (KSF) and the Patterson Family Foundation, this program will address critical public needs in rural communities and build capacity moving forward.
Donor Name: Office of Rural Prosperity
State: Kansas
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant | In-Kind
Deadline: 07/31/2024
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The Rural Champions program is designed to create a network of grassroots individuals who possess the necessary tools to resolve critical community needs in a quick and effective manner. These Rural Champions will receive strategic training, compensation, and will be connected with resources to assist them.
The Rural Champions grant opportunity was created to provide development support to cities, counties, community foundations, tribal nations or community organizations that have experienced difficultly making progress on critical issues that have hindered economic and community growth.
Twelve champions, representing 12 communities, will be selected for this program and will receive a stipend to focus strategically on a critical need for their community from October 2024 – October 2025. Selected Champions will develop an implementation strategy for the identified community need in the first three months and then have the until December 2025 to fully implement this strategy. In this application you will describe the needs in your community and how having a Champion will benefit your community.
Funding Information
The grant will be a stipend and will be based on $20/hour for 20 hours/week, approximately $20,800. A 25% match of cash &/or in-kind is required for $5,200. A cash match for additional hours is encouraged. The applicant organization is expected to provide a match through in-kind workspace, provided computer and technology access, travel reimbursements, etc. Stipends will be reimbursed quarterly, upon receipt of a quarterly payment and matching funds reports. In addition, each selected Champion will receive a $25,000 implementation grant that will be provided at the end of the year-long initiative.
Eligible Examples
Examples of eligible community projects include, but are not limited to:
- Rural grocery/food access
- Childcare
- Placemaking/Beautification/Art
- Trails/Recreation
- Entrepreneurship
- Co-Working/Maker space
- Health/Wellness
- Housing
- Broadband
- Regional talent recruitment.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants, in counties with population less than 40,000, include:
- Division of local government
- Economic/Community Development
- Community Foundation
- Local Chambers of Commerce or Tourism
- Nonprofits (501(c)3 or 601(c)6)
- Main Street organizations or Affiliates
- Federally recognized tribal nations.
For more information, visit Office of Rural Prosperity.
