Feb. 10, 2021
Initial proposals due March 10
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is now accepting proposals to improve the lives of children in Springfield-Greene County. The new “Musgrave Multi-Year Impact Grants: Change for Children 2021” program will support selected projects with up to $300,000 over three years.
The Musgrave Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on four areas: Children and Senior Services; Healthcare and Education; Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness; and Arts and Community Betterment. Each year, the Musgrave Multi-Year Impact Grants will target a different aspect of these areas.
For “Change for Children 2021,” concept letters may propose new or existing programs, expansion of programmatic work or capital efforts lasting one to three years in length. Funding requests may be of any size and vary from year to year, but may not exceed $100,000 per year. Each proposal must define ways to fundamentally improve children’s lives in Springfield and Greene County.
Eligible 501(c)3 nonprofit agencies, including local government entities, faith-based organizations and school districts, have until March 10 to submit a concept letter. Agencies can begin the application process online.
Concept letters will be reviewed by the Musgrave Foundation distribution committee and finalists will be announced April 1. Full proposals from finalists will be due May 1, with grants announced in early June.
“The Musgrave Multi-Year Impact Grants are a return to the large-scale grantmaking efforts that Ms. Musgrave enjoyed supporting,” said Bridget Dierks, vice president of programs for the CFO. “After the success of the Northwest Project and Every Child Promise, we know that this type of grantmaking can make an incredible difference in our community.”
The Northwest Project and Every Child Promise are community projects targeting poverty alleviation and early childhood education respectively. The Musgrave Foundation was among several funders, including the CFO, that supported the projects over several years.
The CFO began managing the Musgrave Foundation’s grantmaking last year in partnership with U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees the Musgrave Foundation Charitable Trust. The longstanding Musgrave Foundation distribution committee continues to guide the foundation’s grantmaking. They are: Chair Rob Baird; Thomas J. Carlson; Ferba Lofton; Peggy Riggs, Ed.D; and Thomas Slaight.
Since its inception, the Musgrave Foundation has awarded more than $15 million to Springfield-Greene County nonprofits with missions in its areas of focus. The foundation was created by Jeannette L. Musgrave, whose husband, Dr. Edward Musgrave, was a dentist whose family held oil leases in Oklahoma and Texas. Dr. Musgrave died in 1970. Mrs. Musgrave created the foundation in 1983; she lived to be 101.
