Small Communities Grants

The Small Communities Grant Program by the Blandin Foundation aims to empower Minnesota's smallest, most diverse, and economically challenged communities by providing essential funding for projects that enhance community well-being. By fostering collaboration and trust among residents, the program seeks to drive meaningful economic, social, and physical changes. Grant awards typically range from $25,000 to $150,000, with a focus on sustainable initiatives that build local capacity and pride.

Please note: We anticipate a high number of inquiries; Blandin Foundation funding will be directed toward the smallest, lowest income, most diverse, and remote communities. Deadline dates may change depending on the volume of applications received.
Funding resources, skills, and needed system changes in rural Minnesota’s smallest communities.
Our Small Communities Grant Program is a program focused on reaching small, often overlooked places, and providing funding for the resources and skills they need to solve community issues.
The Small Communities Grant Program will build on the pride rural residents feel for their communities. Rural connection and interdependence can be powerful community forces. When people work together to solve community issues, they create trust, ownership and buy-in which again translates to success with completing projects and initiatives, and ultimately strengthening the community. Activities funded by our Small Communities Grant Program should drive positive economic, physical, and social change in a rural community.
Build Rural Capacity
Strengthening the resources and skills rural MN needs to address community problems and opportunities. We are focusing our funding and programming on strategies that produce measurable, sustainable outcomes in our three impact areas and those that can demonstrate coordinated, regional impact.
Build Connection
Enabling can-do communities that are rich in people-to-people connections and generate opportunity at the individual, community and state levels. Connected individuals stay healthier, are happier, achieve higher education, improve their job outlook and are more likely to have long-term economic upward mobility. Connected communities thrive amidst change, both unintended (disaster, economic uncertainty) and proactive (future-forward community initiatives).
Planning
Planning for a small communities initiative.Engage community in evaluating its financial, cultural, and natural assets to support community development planning.
Plan and design programs, inclusive community events, public spaces, and community amenities that improve wellbeing and increased livability.
Research to support community planning or increased access to grants and other financial resources.
Implementation
Executing a small communities initiative.Implementing community initiatives, including events, discussions and gatherings.
Creation, enhancement or revitalization of indoor and outdoor physical spaces, such as:Community gathering and ceremonial places.
Community centers.
Downtowns/Main Street projects.
Repurposing buildings.
Redevelopment.
Addressing brownfields.
Libraries.
Revitalization and capital improvements.
Parks and trails.
Capacity Building
Building small community skills and attracting resources.Build the skills and resources of a community or organizations to drive positive economic, physical and social changes:Grant-writing assistance.
Technical assistance.
Consulting expertise, including inter-generational knowledge sharing.
Leadership skill-building.
Research to support skill and resource-building.
Collaboratively changing how systems work and the outcomes they produce.
Outcomes We Seek
Proposed projects should impact one or more of the following objectives and should include a description of how your organization will measure progress toward those. It is acceptable to measure “what happened/what’s different” (qualitative data) along with or instead of “how many or how much” (quantitative) because impact in small rural communities is often challenging to demonstrate with numbers only.
Bring about positive, visible change in the community, including increasing community/leadership engagement, planning, nurturing community pride and revitalization. Possible metrics: visible community change in structures or enhancements, new construction, beautification, increased civic engagement, survey results showing increased pride in place.Engage in productive discourse around issues affecting small, rural Minnesota communities, including race, class, gender, and other self-identified divides. Possible metrics: notable signs of a more connected, engaged and less divisive community, including possible survey results, social media tenor, examples of new community cohesion, policy changes or advocacy.Prepare for the future by enhancing community aesthetics and amenities, cooperating with neighboring communities for mutual benefit, and laying the groundwork for future development. Possible metrics: visible community change in structures and amenities, established partnerships with other communities or partners, local business and job growth, and completing professional development and skill building and training opportunities.
Please see FAQs on the Grant Eligibility & Applications page for additional guidelines and information.
Funding Range
Please request an amount that speaks to what you need to complete your proposal. Typical grant awards will be between $25,000 and $150,000. Funded projects can have a timeframe of up to 3 years. Requests over $250,000 may follow a different timeline for review and approval.

Eligibility

Projects should demonstrate how community participation in decision making around improvements to physical spaces will result in:New or strengthened capacity for local community development, including seeking artist and cultural perspectives when addressing civic challenges and opportunities.
Improve the quality of civic discourse around issues that affect a community’s ability to thrive, such as an increased number of people engaged in community conversations, including typically under-represented populations, or improved ability of community members to take productive action around an issue.Or involve making visible improvements to community gathering spaces, including increased visibility of arts and culture in the community:New or upgraded indoor and outdoor public spaces and/or community amenities.
Increased number of community art installations and/or cultural activities.
New or strengthened arts and cultural organizations.
Increased number of community members participating in arts and culture activities.
Boost impact of the creative economy in rural communities.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.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.For applicants utilizing a Fiscal Sponsor, please contact our grants team prior to submitting an LOI.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):Volunteer time
Donated space
Donated equipment uses and laborThere is not a matching requirement, but organizations are encouraged to leverage other resources.Capital expenditures such as building projects may be considered in communities that demonstrate the greatest need, especially in communities under 5,000 residents.

Ineligibility

Metro-based organizations are ineligible to apply for funding under this RFWe will not fund the following:

• Grants to organizations outside of the state of Minnesota
• General operating support (operating support can be part of a capacity-building or project-based request)
• Grants to individuals
• Grants intended to influence specific legislation, specific candidates, or lobbying

Intervene in any campaign for elective public office, or support or oppose any political party, by expenditure of any resource, including volunteered labor, or in any other way
Supplant public funding for development of infrastructure ordinarily provided by government entities such as water, sewer, roads, streets, and public safety
Religious organizations seeking funding for religious purposes
Grants for private benefit, including for-profit businesses or commercial ventures