The Neighborhood Small Grants Program (NSGP) is designed to strengthen neighborhoods in the City of Knoxville by supporting a wide range of community-based initiatives through grants and technical assistance.
Donor Name: City of Knoxville
State: Tennessee
City: Knoxville
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/21/2025
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Goals
- The NSGP’s Primary goals are to:
- Encourage neighborhood organizations to connect neighborhood residents with one another and to engage the skills and knowledge of the residents
- Build neighborhood capacity to plan and implement neighborhood improvement strategies
- The NSGP’s Secondary goals are to:
- Increase the number of residents and resident leaders (including youth) involved in responding constructively to neighborhood issues, problems, and opportunities
- Strengthen each neighborhood’s connection to other neighborhoods, existing community assets, and partnership opportunities.
Funding Information
Awards to support one-year projects can range from $500 to $5,000 or $6,500.
Uses of Fund
Here are examples of items that funds can be used for:
- Supplies and materials to benefit the group as a whole
- Equipment that will be used again or that can be shared with other groups
- Printing and copying
- Postage – can include postage for first issue of a start-up or revived newsletter (maximum of one mailing per grant cycle)
- Disaster preparedness items deployed for the benefit of the entire neighborhood
- Consultant fees
- Permit fees
- Equipment rental
- Food and non-alcoholic drinks (Having potlucks can add to the group’s matching contributions either by a dollar amount or time).
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be resident-led, resident-controlled, democratically run neighborhood groups serving neighborhoods in the City of Knoxville
- Neighborhood groups that received funding under the previous rounds are eligible to apply for 2026 funds if their projects will be more than halfway completed by September of 2025 unless an extension has been approved
- Neighborhood groups can include neighborhood associations, homeowner associations, tenant associations and neighborhood watch groups
- In the case of neighborhoods that are only partly in the city, more than 50% of the housing units must be located inside city limits
- Umbrella organizations that are made up of and controlled by member City neighborhood groups, and are democratically run, are also eligible to apply
- A group must have a defined geographic boundary, hold regular meetings as defined in the organization’s bylaws, maintain meeting minutes, and be registered with the Office of Neighborhood Empowerment
- A group cannot discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or disability when carrying out any aspect of the funded project
- To receive funding, a neighborhood group must be a non-profit organization with tax exempt 501(c)(3) status OR have made arrangements for a Fiscal Sponsor.
For more information, visit City of Knoxville.
