The Rural Placemaking Grant is designed to maintain and improve the quality of rural places, to help people feel connected, invested, and proud of where they live.
Donor Name: Blandin Foundation
State: Minnesota
County: Itasca County (MN)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/24/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
What is Rural Placemaking?
Placemaking is a comprehensive approach to community development where residents are encouraged to connect and contribute toward a shared vision for their community, and work toward achieving that vision. It can include creative and cultural activities, community-centered design, and lively gathering spaces – helping people feel connected to one another and their community.
Placemaking should engage across sectors of the community including public, private and philanthropic organizations, and include residents often overlooked, such people with lower incomes, young people, and community members from Native and other cultural communities. An inclusive process builds trust and increases a community’s capacity to take action around shared values, ultimately leading to greater community well-being.
Placemaking projects may be as simple as new playground equipment or bathrooms at the park, renovations to a community center or other public building, a mural on the side of a building, or converting an empty lot into a pop-up park. These activities, though seemingly minor, can make a huge difference in the character of the town, and draw people together to use the amenity. It can help promote connections between people, foster community pride, help residents see that they can make change, and their place is worth investing in.
Focus Areas
Rural Placemaking grants should fall into three overarching categories:
- Capacity Building
- Planning
- Implementation
Targets for Funding
Funding should address one or more of the following.
- A known community need and/or issue facing its residents.
- Show engagement across different beliefs, races, ages, genders, socioeconomic status, educational, physical and cognitive abilities, and differing experiences present in the community.
- Systemic barriers through new or continued partnerships; implementing projects that are sustainable, innovative, scalable and/or replicable; increasing the capacity of the community to engage in, plan or facilitate activities.
- Demonstrate ideas that move small communities forward.
- Show evidence of community support.
- Examples of community support (monetary and nonmonetary):
Funding Information
Typical grant awards will be between $25,000 and $150,000.
Grant Period
Funded projects can have a timeframe of up to 3 years.
Geography & Population Requirements
Applicants under this RFP will be required to meet the following target geography and/or population requirements:
- Be Native Nations, cities, towns, and townships in the Blandin Foundation local giving area: Itasca County plus Northome, Blackduck, Hill City, and Remer. Find the size of your community using the U.S. Census.
- Organizations (including fiscal sponsors) located in rural hubs of more than 5,000 people may apply if funding can be demonstrated to directly benefit small communities.
- Metro-based organizations are ineligible to apply for funding under this RFP.
Eligibility Criteria
Grantee organizations and projects must align with Blandin Foundation’s mission and meet the following requirements:
- Authorized by the Internal Revenue Service as having Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or be fiscally sponsored by an eligible organization for charitable purposes or categorized as a Tribal government entity, public agency, or a unit of government with a charitable purpose.
- Must adhere to Blandin Foundation’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.
For more information, visit Blandin Foundation.
