Montana Community Foundation and Montana State University Extension are piloting Community Heart & Soul to help rural communities across the state build community and take action on what matters most to them.
Donor Name: Montana Community Foundation
State: Montana
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Program
Deadline: 04/19/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town to identify what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it. This program has been developed and implemented in over a hundred communities across the country.
Benefits of Community Heart & Soul
- Pride and confidence grow in the community
- Volunteerism increases and new leaders emerge
- Residents feel more connected to one another
- Investment in economic and community development projects
- Local governments better understand what matters to residents
- Community endowment funds grow.
How It Works
3-6 communities will be selected for “Getting Started,” a series of exploratory conversations and activities to determine if Community Heart & Soul is the right approach and if your town is ready. After completing the “Getting Started” series, 1-3 communities will be selected for the entire Community Heart & Soul process which will occur over a two-year period.
This will include:
- Community Support: Montana Community Heart & Soul Coaches will support communities throughout the entire process. Coaches will provide capacity-building training and facilitation for program coordinators and resident-led teams who steer the process.
- Community Grants: Communities will receive a $2,500 grant for a community-based exploratory coordinator to organize “Getting Started” activities and a $500 grant for Getting Started expenses. Then, selected communities will receive a $20,000 grant to implement the entire Community Heart & Soul process; funds will support a community-based project coordinator and activities during the two-year period.
- Community Match: Communities selected to participate in “Getting Started” will be required to provide a $500 match. Then, communities selected to launch the entire Community Heart & Soul process will be required to provide a $10,00 match over the two-year period.
Eligibility Criteria
A number of people! The process can be initiated by residents, community-based organizations, or local governments. The official applicant must be a nonprofit or unit of local government, or there must be a fiscal sponsor that meets these qualifications.
For more information, visit MCF.