Seed Capital Funding for CED Projects

Community and Economic Development – Blog by UNC School of Government

https://ced.sog.unc.edu

Seed Capital Funding for CED Projects

By CED Guest Author

Published March 30, 2012

Kendra Cotton is a Project Director with the Community-Campus Partnership Program.

Since December, School of Government faculty member Tyler Mulligan has penned a blog series (Posts: I, II, III, IV, V) that discusses the benefits of “asset-based development” for economically distressed communities. The series highlights approaches described in a School of Government web guide on asset-building tactics for individuals and communities on the economic margin. This week, the NC Community Development Initiative announced that its Innovation Fund is now accepting grant applications from nonprofit organizations to “test and implement effective sustainable approaches that create wealth and economic prosperity in persistently poor communities in North Carolina.” Given the community development priorities (job creation, green economy, leadership development, and/or sustainable development) that the fund supports, the asset-building series and web guide are just a few of the many helpful resources featured in this blog that communities can turn to during the application process.

In addition to these, communities interested in advancing a ‘green’ approach in the grant proposal may find motivation here.  While those that believe that a sustainable development approach is best, might find the information provided here useful.

The fund supports projects that:

• Test new and creative approaches to generating economic activity in persistently poor communities that are designed to produce individual and/or community assets and increase income and wealth for such communities and their residents.
• Implement strategies for achieving those types of outcomes, the efficacy of which have been demonstrated in other settings but not tested in persistently poor communities.

Local nonprofit organizations may apply for funding if they:

• Qualify as a 501(c)(3) organization.
• Serve a defined geographic community.
• Have community representation on the applicant organization’s governing board.
• Have as a primary mission creating economic opportunities for the residents of the persistently poor community(ies) that the applicant serves through CED strategies.

More detailed information can be found in the full RFP. The deadline for application submission is April 30, 2012.