Here comes the Alumni Project Fund! Give your support to the best ideas!

Since its inception, Operation Groundswell has been firmly committed to taking people outside their comfort zones by showing them how to ‘backpack with a purpose’. Although we are not an international development organization, long-term community-enhancing projects is at the heart of all that we do. The partnerships and collaboration that we share with non-profit organizations and communities in the various regions we travel to during the summer continue long after we return home.

One integral way this partnership is sustained throughout the years is through our Alumni Project Fund. Program participants and program leaders alike are given the opportunity to propose projects in collaboration with our on-the-ground partners. Our Project Fund jury (made up of past recipients, program leaders, board members and co-founders) then reviews and rewards the proposals according to these three criteria: sustainability, solidarity, and innovation. Supported by a portion of each participants’ in-country community contribution, it is a ground-breaking vehicle that connects OG alumni with communities abroad. From our first grant in 2011, we’ve given over $50,000 to projects ranging from a seed microfinance project in Ghana to a styrofoam building block technology in Haiti.

GIVE YOUR SUPPORT TO THE BEST IDEAS!

GIVE YOUR SUPPORT TO THE BEST IDEAS!

This year, we’ve received proposals for some of the most exciting and ambitious projects Operation Groundswell has ever seen and we are incredibly excited to share them all with you. We will be running a 9-part blog series highlighting the amazing proposals for 2013-2014. More than that, we are asking YOU to help us select this year’s Alumni Project Fund grant winners!

How does it work? Throughout the next few weeks, we will be rolling out the project proposals on our blog. If it’s an idea that strongly resonates with you and that you support, hit the ‘like’ button on the Facebook post we share about it OR leave a comment at the bottom of each blog entry. Whichever project receives the most votes and comments by March 14th will automatically advance to the final round of grant selection. Our jury will then select and announce the final winners by late March. So get ready to read about some seriously innovative and sustainable projects that have come out of the brilliant minds of our alumni and partners! Best of all, you get to play a part in its fruition!

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

The Alumni Project Fund disperses grants in two forms:

• Small-Scale Projects: Grant sizes range from $500-4,999

• Large-Scale Projects: Grant sizes range from $5,000-15,000

Showing your support will give these ideas the extra push they need it to make it through to the final selection. The funding received will turn innovative, game-changing ideas into reality!