Jan. 19, 2023
Multi-Year program begins third year of high-impact grantmaking
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is now accepting proposals to improve civic education and enhance community civility for students in the greater Springfield area. The new Musgrave Multi-Year Impact Grants: Student Citizenship 2023 program will support selected projects with up to $750,000 over three years.
The Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on four areas: Children and Senior Services; Health Care and Education; Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness; and Arts and Community Betterment. Each year, the Musgrave Multi-Year Impact Grants target a different aspect of these areas. In 2021, the first year of the program, projects centered on improving the lives of children. Last year, the program focused on benefiting children in foster care, as well as foster parents and biological parents.
This year, the Musgrave Foundation encourages applications for projects that encourage youth, ranging from K–12 to college students, to be more engaged in civic participation and civil discussion. Examples include projects that: support experiential learning; create opportunities to address public problems and engage in local government; focus on civility as a key component of quality participatory government; and make efforts to constructively participate in discussion and decision making with individuals of differing perspectives and ideological viewpoints.
Concept letters may propose new or existing programs or an expansion of programmatic work lasting one to three years in length. Funding requests may be of any size and vary from year to year, but may not exceed $125,000 per year. Each proposal must focus its work within the Springfield MSA of Greene, Christian, Dallas, Polk and Webster counties. This year, a total of $250,000 will be dedicated to the projects, which can be renewed for up to two years.
Eligible 501(c)3 nonprofit agencies, including local government entities, faith-based organizations and school districts, have until Feb. 21 to submit a concept letter. Agencies can begin the application process at cfozarks.org/applyforgrants.
Concept letters will be reviewed by the Musgrave Foundation distribution committee and finalists will be announced March 20. Full proposals from finalists will be due April 21, with grants announced in early June.
“Giving opportunities to be more civically engaged or modeling positive examples of civility will have lifelong impacts for Springfield-area students,” said Bridget Dierks, vice president of programs for the CFO. “This high-impact grantmaking from the Musgrave Foundation makes possible innovative projects that will have lasting improvements for both students and our community.”
In 2020, the CFO began administering the Musgrave Foundation’s grantmaking in partnership with U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees the Musgrave Foundation Charitable Trust. The Musgrave Foundation distribution committee guides the foundation’s grantmaking: Chair Rob Baird; Emily Bowen-Marler; Thomas J. Carlson; Ferba Lofton; Danny Perches; Peggy Riggs, Ed.D; and Thomas Slaight.
Since its inception, the Musgrave Foundation has awarded more than $17 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.
