Since 2023, and with funding and support from the Bush Foundation, the Good Relatives Collaborative (GRC) manages and awards the GRC Bush Prize: Native Nations grant across MN, ND and SD. Previously known as the Bush Prize for Community Innovation and managed entirely by the Bush Foundation, the program is now known as the Bush Prize and is done in partnership between the Bush Foundation and four community-based, intermediary grant partners:

1. Good Relatives Collaborative (Sacred Pipe Resource Center, Black Hills Community Loan Fund, Four Bands Community Fund, and Native American Community Development Institute) - manages and awards Bush Prize: Native Nations grants across MN, ND and SD and specifically for Native communities.

2. Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation - manages and awards Bush Prize grants in MN

3. South Dakota Community Foundation - manages and awards Bush Prize grants in SD

4. StrengthenND - manages and awards Bush Prize grants in ND

Each partner implements the Bush Prize using the standardized application process and checklist created by the Bush Foundation. Each partner is eager to provide support along the way.

GRC is excited to bring our deeply rooted experience working alongside Native grassroots community-led groups engaged in community-centered problem-solving.

GRC Bush Prize: Native Nations is an annual grant award that celebrates Native-led organizations across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota who have a track record of successful community problem-solving. GRC Bush Prize: Native Nations grant recipients support a culture of innovation, are highly-valued in community, and have a history of building creative, community-powered solutions for challenges in Native communities. The grant application period for the 2024 GRC Bush Prize: Native Nations opens on Monday, April 1, and closes at 12 p.m., Friday, May 31.

GRC Bush Prize: Native Nations grant recipients will receive a grant of up to 25% of their organization’s last fiscal year expenses (grant award up to $500,000). Bush Prize grants are flexible, general operating funds that can be used to support the organization’s ongoing good work in what ever way best suits their needs.

Eligible activities and entities:

• Be a Native-led organization with 60% of its board members and senior leadership/ED identifying as Native.

• Be a Native-led organization and a legally incorporated entity with 501(c)(3), or, 501(c)(4) status, or have a fiscal sponsor.

• Be based in and carry out their work in either Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota or in one of the 23 Native Nations that share the same geography.

• Submit a grant for a charitable purpose

Ineligible activities and entities:

• Native-led organizations who have received a Bush Prize in the last 10 years.

• Projects sponsored by a government agency.

• Endowment funds.

• Individuals; these grants are for Native-led organizations.

• Partisan efforts.

• Late or incomplete application.

IMPACT OF SOLUTIONS - Does the Native-led organization have a pattern of innovative solutions led by those most directly impacted by the issues they address?

• Are these breakthroughs in addressing community-driven solutions more effective, equitable, or sustainable than existing solutions?

• Did these innovative solutions make a significant difference in the Native communities they serve?

• Does the organization’s core work advance equitable access to community-driven outcomes and opportunities?

TRACK RECORD OF INNOVATION - Does the Native-led organization have a pattern of using inclusive, collaborative, and resourceful processes and practices?

• Inclusive: meaningfully engaging key stakeholders, thoughtfully identifying those needed to create the intended change and including those directly affected by the problem.

• Collaborative: a true joint effort, with partners willing to share ownership and decision-making as they pursue an innovation together.

• Resourceful: using existing resources and assets creatively to make the most of what a community already has.

• Does the organizational leadership foster a culture of innovation?

• Is the organization stable and strong in terms of governance and finance?

• GRC Bush Prize: Native Nations application opens April 1, 2024 and ends May 31, 2024.

• Due Diligence and internal reviews begin late June.

• Site visits scheduled in August/September.

• All Bush Prize grantee recipients will be announced on October 15, 2024.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY ONLINE

CLICK HERE TO VIEW APPLICATION PACKET

Application Requirements:

• Complete answers to all application questions, listed here for easy reading

• 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations must provide your most recently completed 990. If your organization does not file a 990, please attach your most recent 990-EZ or 990-N.

• Fiscally-Sponsored organizations must provide: A letter, dated within the last two years from the executive directory verifying the fiscal sponsors relationship. The fiscal sponsor’s most recent audited financials (Please submit their most recent 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N).

• Your organization’s most recent year-end income and expense report, and current balance sheet.

For technical issues with application, please contact Alissa@fourbands.org

For grant support, please contact 1 of the following people from your state:

Minnesota - John Williams at jwilliams@nacdi.org

North Dakota - Cheryl Ann Kary at cheryl@sacredpipe.net

South Dakota - Gerri LeBeau at gerril@bhlcf.org