Bowdoin College’s Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good is opening its 2019-2020 Common Good Grant application process. This year, community organizations may apply for a grant of up to $2,500 or for a $5,000 grant that may increase their impact on their constituents.  

This year’s Common Good Grant student committee commits to funding at least one qualified grant in each of the four following areas: Arts, History & Culture; Health & Basic Needs; Adult & Youth Education & Development; Environment, Agriculture & Sustainability. The committee will likely fund more than one grant from some of these categories, but this new commitment is based on students’ desire to fund some organizations that do important work in areas different from meeting basic needs, according to a news release from Bowdoin College. 

All 501(c)3 organizations that are based in or serve communities in Bath, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Freeport, Georgetown, Harpswell, Lisbon, Phippsburg, Topsham, Woolwich and Yarmouth are eligible to apply. 

Started in 2001, the Common Good Grant supports local non-profit groups by offering funding to maintain existing programs and to start new initiatives while educating Bowdoin students on the importance of local non-profits and the foundations that support them. Since its inception, the Common Good Grant Program has awarded over $300,000 to fund 155 projects in the greater-Brunswick area; in the recent years, the total amount awarded has exceeded $20,000 annually. 

 The Joseph McKeen Center is requesting a brief letter of intent (LOI) in November, from which we will invite organizations to complete a full application in the new year. More information about the Common Good Grant can be found at the Common Good Grant website through bowdoin.edu. 

All one-page letters of intent must be emailed to Tom Ancona (tancona@bowdoin.edu) by noon on Friday, Nov. 8. Organizations will be notified in December about their status and full grant applications would be due in January with site visits for finalists taking place in March. The program will conclude with an award ceremony in April. Contact Ancona with any questions about the program.