Mini Grants

The Mini Grants program provides small grants of $250-$500 to student organizations to assist them in activities that reflect the values of the IDEA Fund. These grants support not just diverse organizations, but projects, activities, and ideas that promote inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. To learn more about the previous work that has been done, please visit our past winners page.

Mini Grants are offered in the fall and spring and the application can be found online or below.

We encourage applicants to keep in mind some general criteria:

The Mini-Grant should not be the entire budget of the event. We want to assist, not fund entire activities.
If the funding request is tied to a defined item, it strengthens the request.
The Mini Grant should be for an item that is a key part of the event, not something like pizza for the volunteers.
The event should have active diversity or inclusion purpose or focus. Just because the requesting organization is diverse, it will not be funded for any random activity.

Mini-Grant Application Form

The mission of the University of Virginia IDEA Fund is to provide action-oriented leadership and support to University initiatives, in collaboration with the Office for Diversity and Equity, in order to ensure that the values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access permeate the University community and culture. To that end, the IDEA Fund provides support in the form of mini-grants to innovative projects that promote a diverse and inclusive culture at the University of Virginia and that show meaningful and measurable results.

Date*
MM slash DD slash YYYY
Organization Name:*
Organization Area of Focus:*
Contact:*
Email:*
Phone:*
Address:
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Event/Project Information
Title:*
Purpose:*
Date of Event:*
MM slash DD slash YYYY
Description:*
Anticipated Outcomes: (Please include the anticipated number of attendees or participants to be influenced by your event:*
How will you measure the success or impact of your event?*
Grant Request (Not to exceed $500)*
Total Budget:*
Please include an itemized budget for the entire event or project for which funds are requested.
Has your organization been awarded a grant from the IDEA Fund in the past two years?*
- No
- Yes
Please provide details of your previous grant:
For student organizations: Have you applied to VPSA for funding for this project?*
- No
- Yes
What was the outcome for the VPSA funding you applied for?
NOTE: Organizations awarded a grant from the UVA IDEA Fund agree to abide by all University policies and regulations, including all University COVID-19 safety guidelines and protocols. If your organization is awarded a grant, you will be required to submit a brief summary of your event that discusses the success or impact of the event, an actual itemized budget, and photos or video of the event no later than two weeks after the event. You must use the IDEA Fund logo or indicate “Supported by the UVA IDEA Fund” on all promotional materials for the event. If the event does not receive full funding or is cancelled for any reason, all funds must be returned to the IDEA Fund. Only one application per organization.

Please note that the funds must be used within the semester indicated and for the purpose indicated in the grant application. If you have not notified the IDEA Fund and the check has not been cashed by the end of the semester, the organization will not be permitted to apply for another mini-grant for one calendar year.

Please note that the mini-grants application deadlines have been revised as of Fall 2020: Fall 2020 application deadline: September 22, 2020 Spring 2021 application deadline: November 30, 2020

If you have additional questions about the IDEA Fund mini-grants process, please email Ms. Karima Bouchenafa (COL ’94) at ideafund@virginia.edu.

HooRaas Dance Team, 2017 Mini Grant Awardee

We cannot express enough gratitude for your sponsorship, and congratulate you as well on making UVA history. With your continued support, this event can become a new tradition here at UVa. For many of us, this powwow was, as dancer Galí Sanchez said to us, “the best medicine possible.”

The Native American Student Union at UVA, 2015, on the First Annual UVA Powwow, supported by a Mini Grant.

Mini-Grant Application Form

Event/Project Information