Awards Application Tips
Below are some general guidelines to keep in mind when applying for a CGI U Outstanding Commitment Award.
Focus on action: CGI U is more likely to fund an innovative and tangible idea rather than a broad networking, advocacy, or awareness-building project.
Be specific with your commitment: Don?t send us your group?s entire mission statement ? describe a new, tangible project you aspire to launch which would benefit from funding through CGI U.
Be specific with your budget: Don?t just tell us that this grant will reduce your campus? overall carbon footprint; detail exactly what supplies will be bought ? and at what cost ? in order to do that.
Make sure your commitment is your idea...not a large infrastructural project or international campaign that you?re naming as your own. It will obviously take guidance and mentorship from countless individuals and organizations. Most importantly, we do want you to develop your own commitment and be in the driver?s seat.
We like to fund great ideas: In some small way, you should be innovating or learning from previous projects and organizations that have addressed a similar global challenge in the past.
Your commitment can be just an idea...but it has to have an action plan: a blueprint with all the specifics, partners, and potential hurdles. Don?t just draw the 3-D models of your idea; tell us how you will implement your plan from start to finish.
Be honest and realistic: We don?t expect your commitment to immediately have the backing of your university president ? just be honest about your expectations and what you can realistically accomplish.
We don't fund: dissertations, internships, staff salaries, personal stipends, or research without a tangible action component. In most cases, we?re also unlikely to cover travel or large organizational capacity-building grants.
Make it sustainable: Focus on the long-term viability of your project. We seek projects which have multiplier effects that extend far beyond the original scope of the commitment.
The 2010 CGI U Outstanding Commitment Awards are sponsored by Walmart.
