About Us

AWESOME NOVA: Making NOVA more awesome, $1000 at a time. Our mission is to inspire & support ideas that can make NOVA an even better place to live, work and play.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH $1,000?

Do you have an awesome idea for the Northern Virginia (NOVA) area or know someone who does? Apply today for an opportunity to pitch in front of LIVE audience and trustees on April 4, 2018 at the Arlington Drafthouse and Cinema. The application deadline is March 15, 2018.

To attend the Awesome Pitch Night 2018, please rsvp at https://awesomepitchnight.eventbrite.com.

The NOVA chapter of the Awesome Foundation is excited to reflect the growth and change of the community. We are looking to fund awesome projects that touch everything from technology to education, art to social media, innovation and far-out creativity. All are welcome to submit their idea! Applications are reviewed on a monthly basis and grants are up to $1,000.

BELOW ARE OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

We like things that are possible:

We're all for crazy ideas, but we also want to know that you can achieve what you're setting out to do. If a project fails, we want it to be due to the inherent risks of the idea, not the implementation.

We like projects that are not incremental:

Keeping a good thing going is great, but it's not what we're here for. We want our grants to help new ideas take off!

We like local projects:

We're invested in our local community and we want to do things that help NOVA grow. If your project isn't based in the Northern Virginia area, consider applying to one of the more than 70 Awesome Foundation chapters around the world.

We like projects that are visible and have clear community benefit:

Continuing with our focus on community, we also lean towards projects that bring people together. We like to see people coming together through a project instead of enjoying it in isolation.

We like projects that are run by people:

There are a lot of funding channels for established organizations, and we're all for that. However, we prefer to use this money to support individuals and small groups.

We like projects that are Awesome:

Like we said before, these aren't rules, they're guidelines. We are more than happy to throw away everything we mentioned earlier for any project that makes us stop in our tracks and quote Al Pacino in Scent of a Women “Whoo Ah!"

YOUR APPLICATION SHOULD ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING FOUR QUESTIONS:

#1 - Is it awesome, unique, or interesting?

#2 - Does it directly benefit the NOVA region?

#3 - Will $1,000 make an actual impact?

#4 - Is it immediately actionable?

OUR ONLY RULES:

1.The project must be feasible and completed within 3 months of the award.

2.The money cannot be used for personal expenses or operating expenses for an established charity.

3.You agree to come back to the next trustee meeting and tell the community all about your project, thus inspiring future awesomeness.

(Hint for success: In your application, state very specifically, how your project will make NOVA even more awesome.)