In early 2022, the Bush Foundation announced Strengthen ND as one of its four partners to develop, implement, and evaluate a new funding initiative: Community-Based Grantmaking Programs. Strengthen ND’s approach is to simplify the application, utilize discussion, and offer a North Dakota-attuned program that focuses on the Bush Foundation’s definition of community innovation. 

Creative Community Solutions funds the most promising ideas, across issue areas, that have the potential to make our state better for everyone. Through this program, we aim to develop, test and spread great ideas. Creative Community Solutions grants invest in efforts to develop and test ideas to solve problems and create opportunity, and then spread the best ideas across communities. Importantly the program allows a Grantmaking Committee of diverse North Dakotans to make decisions about how the funds will be invested.

Creative Community Solutions is a program that supports solutions to community problems or issues, it does not support organizational operating support. General operating support is the working capital nonprofits need to sustain their day-to-day operations. This is obviously an important need; however, it is not supported through Creative Community Solutions. 

We are seeking innovative, creative solutions to problems or issues; a solution that might be created, tested, evaluated, and then disseminated to others across the state as a model. This is a new and unique opportunity for North Dakota nonprofits and communities to develop their own solutions and receive the necessary funding to support them. In addition to funding, Strengthen ND will provide connections to short term expertise and grantee convenings.

The Creative Community Solutions Grantmaking Committee will entertain financial requests of up to $300,000 for up to a six-year timeframe. Grant requests for less than $300,000 and on a timeframe shorter than six-years will also be considered.