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Bright Idea Fund Grants Fiscal Year 2020 – 2021

For fiscal year 2021, ending June 30, 2021, the Bright Idea Fund was focused on positioning nonprofits to successfully sustain and respond to their mission demands during this challenging time by providing planning grants, bridge grants and spark grants.

Click these categories to view the Bright Idea Fund grants awarded:                        ← Back to the Main Page

Purpose: To enhance appreciation of and participation in visual, musical, performing and literary arts, history and other cultural experiences.

  • PRIORITY 1: Increasing access and inclusion — Create thoughtful ways to include people who ordinarily do not or cannot participate.
  • PRIORITY 2: Educating children and youth — Develop opportunities for school-aged children and youth to understand the value of artistic or cultural experiences, especially those who ordinarily do not or cannot participate.

Grants in Fiscal 2020 – 2021

Friends of the Endries Performing Arts Center – $2,000 to sponsor local, virtual National Philanthropy Day professional development opportunities for nonprofit staff members and the philanthropy awards presentation in fall of 2020.
Priority: Increasing access and inclusion

Purpose: Reduce the number of people in our community who are living in poverty by using innovative or collaborative approaches to address root causes.

  • PRIORITY 1: Self-sufficiency — Support affordable educational and training opportunities or programs that remove barriers to earning a family-sustaining income.
  • PRIORITY 2: Children and youth — Address barriers to future success, including risk-related behaviors, mental health challenges, bullying, abuse and neglect, and opportunity gaps for children and youth.
  • PRIORITY 3: Community Education and Awareness — Educate the community about critical issues or potential solutions related to root causes of poverty.

Grants in Fiscal 2020 – 2021

Rise Together – $5,000 to pilot an online digital training program to help teachers and youth workers better engage and connect with youth around issues of mental health and substance use through a series of 6 modules.
Priority: Children and youth

Life Tools Foundation Inc. – $5,000 to expand the Shoulders to Stand on program, which helps local high school girls overcome barriers to pursuing post-secondary education, to two additional high schools in the fall of 2020.
Priority: Children and youth

Purpose: Build strong communities by supporting government, business, philanthropic and/or nonprofit sectors, along with residents, to improve the places in which they live, work and play.

  • PRIORITY 1: Neighborhood Development — Enrich local neighborhoods by building connections and bringing people together to address local issues, with particular attention to neighborhoods with significant opportunities for improvement.
  • PRIORITY 2: Community Partnerships — Support communitywide projects or planning efforts involving partnerships between people and organizations in the private, public and nonprofit sectors.
  • PRIORITY 3: Community Education and Awareness — Educate the community about issues key to improving quality of life.

Grants in Fiscal 2020 – 2021

The Samaritan Counseling Center of the Fox Valley, Inc. – $1,500 to sponsor the Ethics in Business Summit, which fosters a culture of integrity at work and in our community.
Priority: Neighborhood Development

United Way Fox Cities – $4,400 to support the addition of a project coordinator to prepare, lead and follow-up with Fox Cities Covid-19 Community Solutions Team meeting participants through Dec. 2020.
Priority: Community partnerships

WOMO – $7,500 to support the 2020 luncheon
Priority: Community Education and Awareness

Purpose: Support creative, economically feasible solutions that benefit broad segments of the population to improve the well-being of current and future generations.

Priority 1: Access and Inclusion — Provide opportunities and remove barriers so all people can experience nature and learn the importance of a healthy environment.

Priority 2: Community Education & Awareness — Improve environmental education and increase public awareness about environmental topics affecting our communities, homes and places of business.

Priority 3: Well-Being — Preserve, protect and enhance the region’s natural resources in ways that will improve the well-being of current and future residents.

Grants in Fiscal 2020-2021

Friends of the 1000 Islands, Inc. – $3,000 to hire a temporary Goat Project Manager (Goatherd) for 2-3 weeks, twice a year to take on goat maintenance responsibilities previously handled by volunteers and coordinate educational programs with Thousand Islands staff, community and schools.
Priority: Well being

Purpose: Strengthen the internal functioning of nonprofit organizations so that they can effectively serve our community.

  • PRIORITY 1: Organizational Planning — Encourage and support organizations to plan for change, expansion or partnerships to fulfill their missions more effectively.
  • PRIORITY 2: Capacity Building — Help organizations implement changes in leadership, management or outreach capacity arising from systematic planning.
  • PRIORITY 3: Education and Training — Provide opportunities for nonprofit leaders to become effective in fulfilling organizational missions.

Grants in Fiscal 2020 – 2021

Foundations For Living – $500 to support Census outreach strategy in Waupaca.
Priority: Capacity building

Association of Fundraising Professionals, NE WI – $1,000 to support the 2020 NE Wisconsin National Philanthropy Day event.
Priority: Education and training

Foundations For Living – $150,000 multi-year grant to support the initiative’s efforts to provide Fox Valley nonprofit organizations with resources to develop strong executive leaders and board members to help the organizations achieve their missions.
Priority: Capacity building