Systemic Change Grantmaking

GRANT GUIDELINES
Systemic Change Grants are not eligible for transactional expenses such as paying for rent, utilities, and mortgages. While paying the rent/mortgage for a family so they don’t lose their house does positively impact a group of people, it is not necessarily a long-term solution in your community.

When developing your application, please consider the criteria below. These criteria are not meant to be an “all or nothing” evaluation tool, but your application should speak to more than one of these points. Does the project have a great deal of social impact? Is it innovative or revolutionary? Making any changes toward Systemic Change is better than standing still.

GRANT CRITERIA
∗ Engagement – Involve people with lived experience & their neighbors at all stages of planning.
∗ Far-reaching social impact – Ensure that the Systemic Change project transforms attitudes in individuals and communities. Does the project include advocacy to help shift the conditions that hold poverty in place?
∗ Sustainability – Will the project, & the participants, eventually be self-sufficient?
∗ Replicability – Can other Councils and Conferences implement a similar project?
∗ Innovation – Does the approach simply increase our capacity to provide services faster or better, or does it reduce or eliminate the need for those services?
∗ Collaboration – Does the project engage all sectors of the community?
∗ Data Driven – Assess progress, adjust, and achieve project goals.

Please refer to the scoring rubric when completing your application. NOTE: Applicants will not receive a copy of the scores. (SCORING RUBRIC)

Vincentian Diocesan/District Councils and Conferences are eligible to apply. All applicants should be in compliance with IRS 501(c)(3) requirements. Councils must be instituted, and Conferences must be aggregated. An applicant must be current with its solidarity contribution and have filed its current annual report with the National Council.

2023 Systemic Change Grant recipients are ineligible to apply this year.  All others are encouraged to apply.

A current Systemic Change program is NOT a requirement for funding. The National Council encourages Conferences and Councils establishing new programs to apply.

The deadline for grant applications will be Friday, June 14, 2024. Late entries cannot be accepted. A fillable form can be downloaded here: Systemic Change Grant Program 2024 Application.

Electronic signatures are permitted, and a submission from the email address of the president will count as a signature.

The Rule says, “The Society is concerned not only with alleviating need but also with identifying the unjust structures that cause it. It is, therefore, committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and to contributing to their elimination. In all its charitable actions there should be a search for justice; in its struggle for justice, the Society must keep in mind the demands of charity” (7.1). Systemic Change is not a substitute for meeting the “demands of charity” that Vincentians undertake; it is a complement to that work.

The National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) will make grants of up to $20,000 to support Systemic Change projects at eligible Vincentian Councils or Conferences for one year. The National Council invites Councils and Conferences with either existing Systemic Change programs, or the framework of a new program, to complete a brief Intent to Apply form. Councils and Conferences submitting impactful and innovative programs will be invited to submit full proposals to an open and competitive process.

The Application form should be brief (no more than two-three pages) that includes:
1. Program Description: Explain the root cause of poverty in the community being addressed, what
the program does, how you know it will address the root cause, specific populations served (if relevant), and duration.
2. Statement of Need: Describe how the program embodies at least some of the Systemic Change
program criteria.
3. Desired Outcomes: Tell us the desired outcome of your program.
4. Amount Requested: The total amount requested and how the funds will be spent (can be a brief paragraph, a full proposal
will need a detailed budget).
5. Award winners must fill out the mid-year progress report by February 14, 2025

Completed forms, along with any questions, can be submitted/directed to Steve Uram, National Director of Poverty Programs, or Becca Kazdoy, Manager of Poverty Programs at systemicchange@svdpusa.org.