Deadline: June 1, 2019.

Spark’s Investment Committee is a group of young professionals who are Spark members, with two chapters in San Francisco and New York. Spark staff will screen all applicants and select 3-4 qualified applications for the Investment Committee to further review and vote on at one of the approximately 8 voting meetings throughout the year.

 

ELIGIBILITY

All Spark grant applicants are expected to meet these criteria to be considered eligible for a grant.

You are eligible to apply, if your organization:

1. Addresses root causes: They support organizations engaged in addressing the root causes of challenges that women and girls face, which can include but are not limited to gender norms, poverty, education, economic opportunities, and access to health resources.

2. Meets an unmet need: They look for organizations that provide a service that is not currently available to women in that geographical area.

3. Employs norm shifting and innovative solutions: They prioritize organizations that use creativity to improve lives while challenging traditional norms and approaches.

4. Has leadership comprised primarily of local women: They specifically select organizations with leadership comprised of at least 50% of women from the community served.

5. Has a budget under $150K: They want to make a difference with our $3-5K grant, therefore, we support only organizations with an annual operating budget under $150,000 USD.

In addition to meeting the criteria above, organizations with the following characteristics may be given priority.

1. Belief in the Leader: As with most startup endeavors, Spark shows favorable consideration to strong, passionate, persevering leaders with qualities that make us believe they will make their initiative a reality.

2. Entrepreneurial Spirit: Spark believes in funding organizations that are “taking a chance” to improve their local communities.

3. First/Early Funder: Spark takes pride in being an early funder and being the “spark” for an organization to achieve long term success.

4. Beyond the Dollar: We want to give more that just money, but have organizations tap into our pool of diverse talent.

 

GRANT

The average grant amount is $3,000-5,000 USD, and is determined at the end of our yearly grantmaking cycle.

 

OFFICIAL LINK

 

Spark’s Grant