The Nanogrant

We award $250 cash to weird, wonderful, and timely ideas that better Buffalo. It’s no-strings-attached, meant to give your ah-ha the boost it needs to become a thing!

What makes an idea ah-ha-able?

We use the following loose criteria to select ideas. Consider addressing these areas in your application:

• Is it ah-ha-able?: Is it unique? A new idea? Something that may be unfundable through traditional means? We’re looking for your Silly Walks and your bus stop jazz clubs. 
• Will $250 make an actual impact? : We try to support individuals and small groups, rather than organizations that are already well-funded. We’re looking for the small, but mighty ideas for which $250 will make the difference between trying or not. Be as specific as possible; tell us exactly how the cash will be spent, so we can best understand your idea.
• How will the project help the Buffalo area?: It’s important to us to fund projects that directly support and impact our neighbors in the Buffalo-Niagara community. We’ll consider projects outside city limits, but maybe not all the way to our large-city neighbors right now.

We don’t typically fund:

• Personal use: We think you’re really great, but we can’t give you $250 for personal salary/a car/vacation/rent payment/home reno/pony.
• Charities, foundations, organizations: We’re primarily interested in new ventures and not the continuation of an existing organization. But existing organizations with a specific, creative $250 idea can apply!
• Promotion: We want to hear all about your great idea and how we can help fund its happening, not just its posters.

If all of this sounds awesomely familiar, you may be right. Its scaffolded off past work with the now-sunset Awesome Buffalo giving circle and will continue to grow into its own. Wanna help? Say hello at an event or drop us an email.