Bush Prize: North Dakota
In partnership with Strengthen ND and the Bush Foundation
The Bush Prize celebrates organizations that are highly valued within their communities and have a track record of successful community problem-solving.
Bush Prize grants are flexible and can be used to build up reserves or test that next big idea or whatever else would best support the organization’s ongoing good work. The grant amounts are up to 25% of an organization’s most recent fiscal year expenses, with a maximum of $500,000.
The Bush Prize is done in partnership between the Bush Foundation and Strengthen ND. Strengthen ND will select and announce the Bush Prize winners, as well as provide any support along the way.
Launching Leadership Coming May 30 - June 3, 2023
Launching Leadership is a youth leadership program that coordinates several regional youth (9-12 grade) leadership institutes throughout the state of North Dakota. Spring/Summer session spots are now available!
OUR MISSION
Strengthen ND is a dynamic, multi-faceted and well-connected organization that works across North Dakota (ND) to elevate nonprofits and rural communities to support a high quality of life and resources for vulnerable populations through community development.
OUR VALUES
Strengthen ND’s staff encompasses more than 75 years of experience in rural capacity building, planning, development, and placemaking. Through their experience, candor, and “let’s get it done” attitude, Strengthen ND’s team has had the privilege of learning and exercising the “ND Way” of problem solving. We’ve learned from communities that it is imperative to exercise a bottom-up approach, prioritize listening, facilitate community buy-in, and that nearly every disagreement can be resolved through a robust conversation over a shared plate of hotdish. In short, our experience has shaped our values and approach – the actual HOW of Strengthen ND’s work. The way in which we approach our mission is in line with our organizational values:
Meeting Communities & People Where They Are
We believe that every community is different, every organization is different, and every individual is different; therefore, a blanket approach does not best support ND. We “meet them where they are” in terms of attitudes, beliefs, skills, capacity, and available resources
Deploying a Pragmatic Approach
Our approach to supporting communities, organizations, and leaders focuses on inspiring them to think bigger and differently, while also cheerleading small, incremental victories achieved through practical tools and strategies.
Being Resourceful
Strengthen ND’s resources are limited. It is imperative that we are resourceful and leverage all of the other great service providers and assets within ND to create a web of resources and providers that can support organizations and communities to deepen the level of impact made.
Meeting People & Communities Where They Are
Change Network
North Dakota Change Network is a year-long program that will help you build the techniques and networks you need to make the places you live and work more inclusive.
Community Succession Planning
Community-Centered AmeriCorps
Through the support of AmeriCorps, Strengthen ND assists North Dakota communities to access the people-power they need to undertake community projects by providing individuals to build their community’s capacity
OUR FOCUS
Strengthen rural North Dakota.
Communities with Opportunities
Communities with Opportunities is about fostering the relationship between rural North Dakotan, small communities, and prospective newcomers. By showcasing things that make each community great along with each unique and exciting opportunity, Strengthen ND’s goal is to keep rural communities thriving by encouraging growth!
Strengthen ND’s technical assistance is delivered through customized engagements to accomplish organizational and program-oriented objectives. In each project, we begin with a discovery period to work closely with the organization to design a process that is well-timed and suited to the people within the community, how the community functions, and the objectives of the work.
Find Your Book Here
OUR SERVICES
Empowering North Dakota’s nonprofits & rural communities.
Board and Staff Development
Executive Search
Program Design and Evaluation
Grantmaking and Charitable Investments
Strategic and Organizational Action Planning
Community Succession Planning
Economic Development & Community Planning
Meeting Facilitation
Organizational Succession Planning
FEATURED RESOURCES
Learn more about how we could help!
USDA Tribal Toolkit
With this great toolkit, Tribal Governments can learn more about USDA’s programs and grants.
PESTEL Analysis
A PESTEL Analysis is an important planning tool used for understanding the external macro-level external factors that impact the working of an organization.
Funding Opportunity Database
Utilize this resource to access funding opportunities relevant to rural North Dakota!
Prioritization Exercises
Do you need an exercise to help prioritize your organization’s activities? This one is for you!
Developing a Case Statement
The questions in this tool can help guide the creation of an organization’s Case Statement.
Key Responsibilities Audit
A Key Responsibilities Audit is a simple tool that can be utilized to estimate how much time you spend working on a specific area of operations.
IN THE MEDIA
Learn more about our community outreach!
Strengthen ND Invests Nearly $2.28M in Community Solutions across North Dakota
Minot, ND – Through its inaugural grantmaking round for the Creative Community Solutions grantmaking program, which is funded by the Bush Foundation, Strengthen ND has selected 10 organizations to receive $2,275,000 to develop, test, and spread community-driven...
Strengthen ND: Pioneering Solutions Since 2015
When Strengthen ND was started in 2015, we didn’t have a lot. We had no money. We had no clients. No way to make payroll. But what did we have? A whole lot of ambition, optimism, and, most importantly, a willingness to listen and learn. Eventually, months into our...
Finding home 6,000 miles away from home
(AGWEEK) DICKINSON, N.D. — Barnabas Nyaaba has called Dickinson home for the past five years. It’s a lengthy 6,000-mile jaunt from his native country of Ghana, Africa — a move he’s glad he made. “I’m pretty comfortable here. I do see myself staying,” he said. As a...
Couple makes North Dakota home again and finds a deeper connection to community
(AGWEEK) GRANDIN, N.D. — For Amber and Ross Lockhart, North Dakota holds a special place in their hearts. So much so that after the two moved away to Sacramento, it beckoned them back. “It was nice, we loved living out there. It just, something was missing,” Ross...
Kansas City couple builds better life in Bowman, North Dakota
(AGWEEK) BOWMAN, N.D. — During the great recession in 2008, Melinda Padilla Lynch and her husband Matthew were facing challenging times in their hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. Jobs were few and far between, and getting by was becoming harder and harder for the...
Family and sense of home bring Idahoans to Ashley, ND
(AGWEEK) ASHLEY, N.D. — Shane and Carley Peacock knew they wanted to start their own business; they’d been dreaming about it for a long time. But as residents of the fast-growing city of Boise, Idaho, the two knew it’d be an expensive, challenging and risky venture....
Hawaii native becomes ‘small-town treasure’ in rural North Dakota
(AGWEEK) CROSBY, N.D. — North Dakota wasn’t where Jonathan Kauhako expected to live and work. “If you would have told me three years ago I’d be living in North Dakota, doing this, I’d be like sure, right, right,” said Jonathan Kauhako, owner of Hindsite Creations, a...
Pioneer spirit pulls Coloradan to a new life in North Dakota
(AGWEEK) WATFORD CITY, N.D. — Like a modern-day pioneer, Sandy Rieker packed up her family and moved to the country to start a new life. But unlike the early settlers, Rieker and her family headed north, not west, 10 years ago, leaving her native Colorado and landing...
Divide County Journal: Focus on Community
June 1, 2021 - This is the first of a three-part report on a series of discussions held in Divide County to aid future planning and development work by the Divide County Economic Development Council. Read the full article here.
KX News: Someone You Should Know
April 2, 2021 - With small-town North Dakota roots, Warwick-native Megan Laudenschlager is passionate about improving her home state in any way she can. “There’s nothing better than growing up on a farm and living in a small town, graduating with a class of five...
