Grant Application Information

The Common Good Grant program is pleased to request proposals from community organizations for the 2024-2025 grant cycle.

Overview

We are delighted to inform you that Bowdoin College will again offer the Common Good Grant through the McKeen Center for the Common Good. The Common Good Grant provides over $20,000 to local non-profits that serve Mid Coast Maine and who collaborated on Community Immersion Orientation Trips 2024 with our office. Please review this document for full details about eligibility and process before applying.

We are requiring a Letter of Intent (LOI) from interested organizations as the first phase of the application. This LOI must be submitted by this form by Monday, November 18th at 5 p.m. EST. You will be notified by mid-December regarding your status and, should you advance, be invited to submit a full grant application electronically in January. This grant is intended for use during the time-period between May 2025 and April 2026.

Letter of Intent Information

Your organization’s letter of intent (LOI) should be no more than one page, single spaced, and written, if possible, on the letterhead of your organization. In the letter, addressed to the Common Good Grant Committee, we ask you to provide the following information:

  • A brief history of your organization and its programs;
  • How much funding you are applying for ($4,000 or less) and what your objectives are with the funding;
  • What outcomes you expect from the grant;
  • Additional support, financial or programmatic, your organization has for the grant;
  • Contact information for your organization’s grant steward.

 

We will also be holding a Grant Writing Workshop on 10/25 at 9:30 AM on campus for community partners and students. Please register here if you are interested in attending.

 

The 2024-25 Common Good Grant is now soliciting letters of intent (LOI) from community organizations. Please submit your LOI via this link by Monday, November 18th at 5 PM. 

 

2024-25 Committee Areas of Emphasis

Over the last few years, the Common Good Grant Committee students have identified certain areas of need that they wish to emphasize in a given year. This year, the committee has made a commitment to fund at least one organization providing services in each of the following four areas:

  • Health and Basic Needs
  • Adult and Youth Education and Development
  • Environment, Agriculture, and Sustainability
  • Social Impact, Community, and Culture 

The committee will likely fund more than one grant from some of these areas, but this commitment is based on the committee recognizing the importance of diverse group of non-profits that do many different types of important work.

The committee has also committed to funding at least one organization with Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) leadership. BIPOC-led organizations working anywhere in Maine may apply for Common Good Grant in 2024-2025.

Questions about the Common Good Grant application or student committee can be directed to Sam Cogswell, Associate Director of the McKeen Center for the Common Good.