Funded by the City of San Diego, the WDC 2024 Community-Driven Design Grants Program (Grants Program) enables nonprofit organizations and other designated business entities located within the City of San Diego’s geographic boundaries, to design, develop, and implement humanity-centered activities that support WDC 2024 goals and responds to one or more of WDC 2024’s core focus areas.
Donor Name: City of San Diego
State: California
City: San Diego
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/31/2024
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
San Diego Tijuana World Design Capital 2024 seeks applications from eligible San Diego-based nonprofit arts, culture, and design organizations; cultural districts; Small Local Business Enterprises (SLBE), Property Business Improvement Districts (PBID), Business Improvement Districts (BID); and other nonprofit community and business associations for the design, development, and presentation of WDC 2024-related activities such as programs, projects, and initiatives in communities and neighborhoods across San Diego’s nine Council Districts.
Goals
Successful applications will clearly demonstrate the Activity’s ability to meet the following WDC 2024 Grants Program goals:
- Accomplish a short-term collective impact or long-term systems change through humanity-centered design;
- Engage the San Diego Tijuana region’s stakeholders and audiences;
- Provide an opportunity to prototype and scale-up so that the Activity could continue after 2024; and
- Provide content unique to the San Diego Tijuana region’s cultural and economic ecosystem.
Focus Areas
A proposed Activity must respond to and align with one or more of the following WDC 2024 core focus areas:
- Arts & Culture
- Provide a lens for exploring diverse perspectives, fostering connections and a sense of shared humanity.
- Climate & Sustainability
- Address the urgent need to protect the planet’s environment; promote social equity; and ensure economic, social, environmental, and political wellbeing for our present and future.
- Health & Wellbeing
- Bring attention to various aspects of health — including physical activity, interaction with the natural environment, emotional resilience, social connections, access to fresh and high-quality food, healthcare, and supportive environments for all stages of life.
- Planning & Placemaking
- Support and encourage shaping the built environment to improve the quality of life for San Diegans, and the creation of welcoming, inclusive, vibrant places that promote culturally important spaces and places.
- Science & Technology:
- Focus on science and technology that drive progress, innovation, and the development of new capabilities, providing us new opportunities to shape the way we live, work, and interact with the world.
- Youth & Education
- Focus on recognizing the potential of young people as drivers of positive change, and aim to provide them with the tools, opportunities, and support to lead fulfilling lives and contribute to the betterment of their communities and society at large.
Other Areas of Interest
- Homelessness and Innovative Border Design: We also encourage applications addressing homelessness and innovative border design that fall within the above focus areas.
- Benefits for Children and Youth: While not a core focus area, eligibility requirement, nor guarantee of funding, applicants whose applications describe how their Activity is designed (in whole, or in part) to benefit children and youth will receive an advantage in the application scoring process.
Funding Information
This is a highly competitive program. A total of $550,000 is available to fund 17 successful applications. There are three funding categories. Grants will be awarded as follows:
- Four (4) grants of $75,000 each
- Eight (8) grants of $25,000 each
- Five (5) grants of $10,000 each
To encourage Activity that benefits children and youth within the six core focus areas, at least $250,000 of the $550,000 will be directed towards applications that specifically identify how the Activity, either in whole or in part, benefits children and youth.
Eligibility Criteria
Each application requires a lead applicant, and only eligible organizations and businesses may be the lead applicant. Although WDC 2024 is a San Diego Tijuana regional initiative, this City of San Diego-funded Grants Program is open only to San Diego (city) based:
- 501(c)3 nonprofit arts, culture, and design organizations;
- 501(c)6 nonprofit business or professional association;
- City and state designated arts and cultural districts;
- City of San Diego certified Small Local Business Enterprises (SLBEs), including organizations consistent with San Diego City Council Policy 100-10 (e.g., Emerging Local Business Enterprises (ELBEs). For a list of eligible certified SLBE and ELBE entities, refer to the City of San Diego’s SLBE/ELBE approved vendor list; and
- Property (PBIDs), Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and other community and business associations.
For more information, visit City of San Diego.
