The South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) recently awarded Dakota Resources with a $200,000 Beyond Idea Grant (BIG) to support work to engage and energize rural leaders across the state. Funds will be disbursed over a two-year timeframe. Offered in partnership with the Bush Foundation, the BIG program supports innovative, community-based, problem-solving efforts.
“One of our strategic directions for Community Coaching is positioning economic development organizations (EDO) for success,” says Paula Jensen, Vice President of Program Development at Dakota Resources. “The Beyond Idea Grant will allow us to implement the B.O.L.D Framework (Building Organizations for Local Development) over the next two years and engage local EDO boards in quality organizational capacity building activities that can help them and their communities thrive.”
With funding from the BIG program, Dakota Resources plans to assist 20 EDOs in rural communities with 8-12 facilitated training sessions. The B.O.L.D Framework’s purpose is to provide leaders with quality organization capacity-building activities that upgrade their ability to develop organizational sustainability and a thriving community.
“Rural communities are so important to our state,” says Ginger Niemann, SDCF Senior Program Officer. “We’re glad to support Dakota Resources in their work to equip local leaders with the skills to energize local development.”
A total of $1.2 million will be available to nonprofits in 2023 through the Beyond Idea Grant program. To learn more about funding opportunities offered by the SDCF, please visit our website at https://www.sdcommunityfoundation.org/
SDCF is a public non-profit organization established in 1987. SDCF, with offices in Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Aberdeen administers 1,200 funds benefiting hundreds of charitable organizations annually. The Foundation distributed nearly $30 million in grants in 2022 which made a tremendous difference in communities statewide. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors. If you have a specific cause you would like to support or would prefer to give for the general good of our state, please visit https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/giving to learn more or call 1-800-888-1842.
The Bush Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them. Established in 1953 by 3M Executive Archibald Bush and his wife Edyth, the Foundation encourages individuals and organizations to think bigger and think differently about what is possible in communities across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geographic area.