Ann Arbor, MI
à la Dada
Par Juliet Schlefer March 2025
Silent Sustained Reading for all Peoples and Ages
Par Paola Ortega February 2025
Thrive: Mental Wellness Initiative Program
Par Zahraa Alrafish January 2025
Special Education Transition Room
Par Jennifer Spicer December 2024
FreedomLives Bed Bug Prevention
Par Joe Newman November 2024
Homie Hangz
Par Elisandra Rosario November 2024
Fluttering Wheels
Par Chloe Crawford October 2024
ZeroWaste.Org Trash Talk Tour 2024
Par Samuel McMullen September 2024
Theater for All Abilities
Par Magda Kadlitz August 2024Revamping REpurpose
Par Jess Pascoal July 2024
Family Fun Day
Par Lois Pullano June 2024
Free Art Fridays
Par Lauryn Benning April 2024
Ethnic Hair Care for our food pantry
Par Sarah Shugart April 2024
Camp compassion/ A2outreach
Par Matthew Ousley February 2024
Unique Care Connect Community Center
Par Shahrazad Kennedy January 2024
Furnishing Homes for the Formerly Homeless
Par monique deschaine January 2024
Empower Creative Reuse
Par Caitlin Burr December 2023
Project LIT - More than just a Book Club
Par Deb Schreck November 2023
Coding Class for High School Students
Par Alicia McKay October 2023
Pollinators Eat for Free
Par Steve Veldheer September 2023
The Michigan Foster Care Closet
Par Karen Field August 2023
StoryWalk
Par Linda Bazzi July 2023
Festival of the Pollinator/Rumble of the Bumble
Par Claire Broderick June 2023Birdie's Bookmobile
Par Alyce Hartman May 2023
Brightmoor Volunteers
Par John OBrien April 2023
Postpartum Packages
Par Sara Koussa February 2023
Dementia Friendly Days At The Movies
Par jim mangi January 2023
Deaf and Hard Hearing Social Event
Par Amy Pulaski December 2022
Honey Chile Hives
Par Rachel Williams November 2022
Growing our Coding with Brainpad
Par Christina Adamson October 2022Little Detroit Community Garden
Par Loretta Powell September 2022
Fourth Hand Bicycle Project
Par Chalene Jones August 2022
Bug Pit Collaborative Arts Summer Play Festival
Par Lindsey A Brown July 2022
It's a Whatup Doe Life! Theater Production
Par Alvin Lockett June 2022
Birdie's Bookmobile
Par Alyce Hartman May 2022
Making Mexican history in Michigan
Par Santos Ramos April 2022
Growing Community through Diverse Storytelling
Par Drew Pineda March 2022
Healing Justice Through Art and Meditaion
Par Nicole Johnson February 2022
Dance / Drill Team Uniform Closet
Par Kelly West January 2022
Freeman Elementary Lettuce Grow Stand
Par Isabel Hershey December 2021
Open MI Door Washtenaw Jail Work
Par Carolyn Schafer-Geurin November 2021
Care Seats of Michigan
Par Jenna Dawson October 2021
Elevating Native Voices in a Public Library
Par Miranda Cauchi September 2021
Early Chinese Immigrants in 1890s Ypsilanti
Par Linette Lao & Matt Siegfried August 2021
Rebuilding the community
Par David Neigum II July 2021
The Lookout Project
Par Shelby Shaughnessy June 2021
CASM Pop-Up
Par Brandon LePage May 2021
Love a Lot, Love a Life
Par Patrick McNeal April 2021
Youth Art in Windows grows in Hamtramck & Detroit
Par Vickie Elmer March 2021
Dancing Willow Farms Welding Center
Par Christopher Lemon February 2021
the Poetics Lab (tPL)
Par Mitchel Dipzinski and Dominique Witten January 2021Connect the Camps
Par Matthew Hoostal December 2020
A Girl Like Me Inc Mentoring
Par Tyra Moore November 2020
Sign of the times
Par INGRID ANKERSON October 2020
Activity Packs for Incarcerated Members of SIP
Par Frannie Shepherd-Bates September 2020
Redroots of Ann Arbor
Par Angelica Esquivel August 2020
Summer Books for Students
Par Jessica L. Fleming July 2020
Doorstep Serenades
Par Thomas Militello June 2020
Laundry for houseless/housing insecure friends
Par Sheri Wander May 2020
Operation PPE
Par Adam Smith April 2020
24/7 Free Community Pantry
Par D’Real Graham April 2020
Holmes Elementary Learning and Feeding Garden
Par Jennifer Sopoci March 2020
MI Voz
Par Mayela Rodriguez February 2020
Rule of Three: Black Dance Intensive- West African
Par Erin Falker-Obichigha January 2020Affirmations LGBTQ Community Center Youth Drop-In
Par Ian Unger December 2019
The Detroit Museum of Public Art
Par Viranel Clerard November 2019
Arcasōnica
Par Amelia Taylor October 2019
Flint Culture Mural
Par Corinne Nuzum September 2019
The Free Black Women's Library-Detroit
Par Katelyn Durst August 2019
Inside Out Prison Exchange Program
Par Adena Rottenstein, Ph.D. July 2019
Kaboom playground build
Par Katrina Watkins June 2019
The Guild Needs A New Community PA
Par Alexis Ford May 2019
Bow School Garden
Par Elena Sica Mosher May 2019Home Builders Workshop
Par Latisha Johnson April 2019
Women of Banglatown Youth Arts
Par Lauren Patterson March 2019
Jade + Woe
Par Lorenza Centi February 2019
WeListen
Par Kate Westa January 2019
Serve Squad
Par Azania Tene' Logan January 2019
Leading the Way to Shed
Par Margaret Munger December 2018
Lenses Collective
Par Jacqueline Carroll, Jane Kramer, and Vivek Vellanki November 2018
Common Cycle Co-Op Launch
Par Emma Wendt October 2018
Woman Activist Incabator Retreat
Par Patrica Fero September 2018
Wander Packs
Par Elizabeth Keller August 2018Project Reentry Resource Navigator
Par Holly Wickham July 2018
National Day of Action- Sport, Lawn, and Garden
Par Jennifer Oprisiu June 2018
SoulSeed Kitchen Connection
Par Vanessa L. Marr May 2018
Shakespeare in Prison
Par Frannie Shepherd-Bates April 2018
Ward 1 Productions, Ypsi's Youth Creative Agency
Par Ariel Moore March 2018
Black Men Read - Kids Club
Par Yodit Mesfin Johnson February 2018
The #Eating Project
Par joseph alnarshi January 2018
Rize Two The Top
Par Tru Ajani (Mark Rowe) December 2017
Sustainability by Design: A School Bus Conversion
Par Victoria Essex November 2017
Michigan Prison Doula Initiative
Par Jacqueline Williams October 2017Seraphine Collective's Beat Match Brunch
Par Seraphine Collective September 2017
Southeast Michigan Doula Project
Par Ashton Steele August 2017Sahbi
Par Essam Al-Snayyan July 2017
Futel
Par Karl Anderson June 2017
Changing The Norm
Par Melvin Parson June 2017
Parisa Ghaderi
Par Mark Tucker April 2017COBBLESTONE FARM MARKET
Par Hilary Marie Nichols March 2017
SMILE
Par Marcy Schwab February 2017Ypsi March for Love, Resilience, and Action
Par Ypsi March for Love, Resilience, and Action January 2017Ypsi High Superhero Program
Par Jermaine Dickerson December 2016
Supporting Inclusion in Girl Scouts
Par Christine Anderson November 2016
Global Water Dances - Flint, MI
Par Shawn Lent October 2016
Reel N Wheel
Par Shoshanna Utchenik September 2016
ÆPEX Access
Par Garrett Schumann September 2016
The 48217
Par Benjamin Corona September 2016
The Leaders of the Future - Leadership Incubator
Par Anders Engnell June 2016
Youth for Flint: A Volunteer Force for Good
Par Brandon Morgan April 2016Ypsilanti Womens mural
Par Lynne Settles April 2016
Foster care survival packages
Par Alana Weems March 2016
YCHS Band BOSTON TOUR!
Par Ypsilanti Community Band Association (President, Dana Leahy) February 2016
Black Nirvana
Par Jamall Bufford January 2016
Techno Poetics
Par Nandi Comer January 2016
Leesta
Par Virginia Lozano October 2015
The Oasis Aquaponic Food Production System
Par MIchelle Leach September 2015
Raising Awareness About Juvenile Justice
Par Belinda Dulin August 2015
The Washtenaw ID Project
Par Janelle Fa'aola July 2015
Festival of the Honey Bee
Par Jamie Berlin July 2015
The CivCity Initiative: Pre-Election Potlucks
Par Mary Morgan July 2015
Festival of the Honey Bee
Par Jamie Berlin April 2015
Live in Peter's Attic
Par Peter Littlejohn March 2015
WICIR teen group mural project
Par Melissa Stek February 2015
Camp Take Notice - Tiny Home
Par Albert Foo December 2014
FEMMES: Females Excelling More in (STEM)
Par Felicia Gray October 2014
art-hut festival: create in the commons
Par Jason Wright September 2014
"The Aquarium" - Alternative Exhibition Space
Par Lea Bult September 2014
National Association of Black Accountants (NABA)
Par Charvez Wesley July 2014
Scarlett Summer Music Academy
Par Deborah Scott Katz June 2014
Permaculture Tool Share
Par Jesse D. Tack May 2014
A2 Summer Fest Tuesday Bike Nights
Par Krysia Hepatica May 2014
First Fridays Ypsilanti
Par Kayj Michelle February 2014
MPowered Makeathon
Par Sydney Bigelow January 2014
Fabulous Contraptions! cardboard arcade pop up
Par Linette Lao for FLY Children's Art Center January 2014
FUSE: Mobile Microcinema
Par Donald Harrison November 2013
Broken
Par Susan Clinthorne November 2013A Face Mask For Girls Playing Field Hockey.
Par Allen Samuels November 2013
Update on Cooperative Phonograph for skate park
Par Michael Flynn November 2013Adolescent Hackers Alliance
Par Katherine Dana Nelson May 2013
Ypsilanti Heritage Festival/Noise Permit
Par Andrew Clock May 2013
ExtinBreachR
Par Albert Foo March 2013
Ceramic Arts at Sunny Days Summer Camp
Par Julie Corey February 2013
Rutherford Pool Rebuild
Par John Weiss January 2013Information Access is Awesome: Learning About MDOC
Par Lindsey E. Krantz December 2012
YEP (young entrepreneurial people)
Par lisa waud, pot & box November 2012
Field Trips For Tutoring Students At YMS!
Par Amanda Uhle September 2012
Ypsi-Arbor Unsung Musical Hereos
Par William Streety August 2012Spontaneous Art Washtenaw County tour
Par Trevor Stone of Spontaneous Art August 2012
Shakespeare in Prison
Par Frannie Shepherd-Bates June 2012
Upgrade Video Camera for Community Events
Par Roger Rayle May 2012
Dome Sweet Dome
Par Amanda Sari Perez April 2012
Bona Sera Above Ground
Par Bona Sera March 2012
Youth Fitness Room
Par Quinn Phillips February 2012
Peddle Powered Vegetable Grow Rack
Par Nathan Ayers December 2011
A Propos
The Ann Arbor Awesome Foundation is the Ann Arbor chapter of the Boston-based micro-philanthropic organization known as the Awesome Foundation. We award a $1,000 grant every month to a group or individual working to make an impact in our community. These micro-grants come out of the pockets of the chapter's "trustees" – awesome individuals just like you who want to see Michigan become even awesomer than it already is! Grants are given on a no-strings-attached basis. We fund one project per month from what can be a large pool of applicants, so don't be discouraged if your project isn't funded and feel free to apply again for future projects!
Anyone can apply. Yep, even you! Don’t worry if you’ve never applied for a grant.
HOW WE WORK
Every month trustees review applications submitted from the previous month. As a result, it may take up to six weeks for us to consider and respond to grant applications. We then come together to discuss applications. We look through photos, follow shared links, and give impassioned speeches about which awesome application is most awesomest. We then vote on the spot and our local dean follows up soon after with the winner to issue the grant. No reporting is required, but we always love updates!
WHAT WE FUND
-Where: While we consider applications from across Michigan, we prioritize projects in Southeast Michigan and even more in our stomping grounds of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
-Topics: We support projects and causes of all types including: art, culture, music, community, education, environment, animal welfare, human rights, diversity, and community events.
-Impact: We favor grant proposals with a clear articulation of how the money will be used to make an impact in your community. Especially if it is something that would not be possible without this funding, rather than our grant being just a small contribution to a larger fundraising campaign. It's a big help to us when an applicant can clearly articulate what our mini-grant would make possible.
-Who: We’ve funded individuals, collectives, nonprofits, and grassroots organizations, regardless of formal nonprofit status.
WHAT WE DON’T FUND
-Business costs - there are a lot of seed funding opportunities out there.
-Personal creative projects - sorry, we can’t fund your novel.
-Rent, bills, travel, supplies, stipends, or limited scholarships.
-Individual education or training.
-General operating funds for nonprofits.
ADDITIONAL TIPS
-Be sure to describe how your project will make your community more awesome.
-Break down how you will spend the grant. Is this budget part of a larger fundraising effort OR will $1,000 get your project off the ground?
-Have partners? Let us know if you’re working with anyone to make your awesome project possible.
-We prefer to support projects where our $1,000 makes a difference - either enabling a project that might not otherwise happen, or supporting an individual or group that may otherwise be overlooked or not fit within more traditional funding and grant opportunities.
-Finally, equity and inclusion aren’t just words for us. We’re committed to supporting those on the ground working to make their communities more fair and just.
Questions? Email us at annarbor@awesomefoundation.org