Free Data Support Grant Application 2025

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Free Data Support Grant Guidelines

Measure is dedicated to empowering Black, Brown, and Indigenous-led organizations in developing impactful, community-driven solutions. Recognizing the unique needs and challenges faced by these communities, our program offers a $25,000 in-kind grant and a $1,000 participant stipend for comprehensive support with the Measure CARE Model© to enhance their capacity to measure impact, share success stories, and attract sustainable funding.

The 2025 grant cycle begins February 1, 2025

Applications will be accepted by November 1, 2024. Before applying for a Free Data Support Grant, organizations must review the below guidelines. To learn more about the Measure CARE Model©, https://wemeasure.org/data-support/.

2025 Key Social Impact Areas

Youth Empowerment
Environment
Economic Growth & Wealth Building

Program Guidelines

  • Free Data Support Grants are awarded through an open application process to eligible organizations operating locally and directly benefiting Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.
  • All organizations interested in applying for a Free Data Support Grant must have a Measure Ignite account on https://ignite.wemeasure.org/. Only admin users of the organization’s Measure Ignite account may apply.
  • Grant amount is $25,000 for in-kind comprehensive evaluation services and a participant stipend of $1,000.
Application
  • Applications open July 31 - September 15, 2024
  • Application review August 5 - September 30, 2024
Interviews
  • Scheduling Begins August 12, 2024
  • Conducting interviews August 19 - October 10, 2024
Selection Notification
  • Email notification October 15, 2024
  • Acceptance deadline October 29, 2024
  • Organizations may only have (1) one submitted and/or approved application at any given time for the calendar year.
  • If approved, grant funds will be directly applied to the organization's invoice for services and the $1,000 participant stipend will be distributed in two payments: $500 at the beginning of the grant cycle and $500 after the completion of final deliverables. Payment will be made via direct deposit.

Organization Eligibility

  • Organizations must have a profile on Measure Ignite. Go to this website to create your profile: https://ignite.wemeasure.org/
  • Organizations are Black, Brown, or Indigenous-led (i.e., the Executive Director and or board are made up mostly Black, Brown, or Indigenous-led)
  • Organizations serve Black, Brown, or Indigenous people
  • The organization's annual operating budget is less than $500,000
  • The organization must provide W9 and banking information to complete the approval process if accepted. The participant stipend will be disbursed via direct deposit.
  • Organizations applying must meet one of the following criteria:
    • An organization holding a current tax-exempt status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, listed on the IRS Master File and conducting activities within the United States, classified as a public charity under Section 509(a)(1), (2) or (3) (Types I or II).
    • A grassroots organization or community-based group driven by volunteer participation and democratic decision-making to address local social, economic, or political issues.
    • A charter school, community/junior college, state/private college or university; or a church or other faith-based organization with a proposed project that benefits the community at large, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, and clothing closets.
Note: For-profit entities, such as corporations and small businesses, including Black, Brown, and/or Indigenous-owned, are not eligible at this time.

Selection and Approval Process

  • Submission of an application does not guarantee receipt of the grant award.
  • Applicants based in Houston, Dallas, and Austin will be prioritized due to funding obligations.
  • Measure's research and executive teams will review completed applications and make initial recommendations on all submitted applications.
  • The approved applicants will be selected for interviews. After the interview, the research team will make their final assessment for the award.
  • Organizations will be notified of any decision via e-mail.
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Let's first learn a little about you... 








Now let's learn more about your organization

 









Organizational Profile






Please select the ethnicity or ethnicities that your organization serves.




Don't worry if you don't have an exact number! We understand that not all organizations track this data in the same way. An estimate is perfectly fine. You can count the number of individuals your organization serves directly or indirectly through your programs, services, or outreach efforts. If you're unsure, think about the average number of people you impact in a typical month or year.




Financial Information

This helps us gauge your organizational capacity and structure.
Strategic Planning and Evaluation

A strategic plan helps guide your organization’s goals and actions over time, but it's okay if you don’t have one in place yet! If you're in the process of developing one or have informal plans and priorities, that counts too. We’re simply trying to understand where you are in your planning process.

This is not required but will help in the evaluation of your application.

Evaluating impact means assessing how well your organization is achieving its goals. This could be through formal evaluations, surveys, or even informal feedback from your community. If you’ve collected data, conducted surveys, or received feedback to understand the effectiveness of your programs, that counts! If you haven’t done any formal evaluations yet, don’t worry—this application is an opportunity to get support in building that capacity.

Select all that apply.



Think about the biggest challenge your organization is currently facing—whether it's related to growth, funding, program impact, or serving your community more effectively. The CARE Model can help address areas like data collection, equity-focused evaluation, and improving community engagement. If you're not sure how to pinpoint one urgent need, consider what keeps you up at night when thinking about your organization’s future or the obstacles you're struggling to overcome.

Values and Alignment

Core Values are defined as fundamental, intrinsic beliefs that guide your work. A Problem Statement is a concise description of an issue to be addressed or a condition to be improved upon. It identifies the gap between the current state and desired state of a process or product.


Invested Parties refers to people, individuals, organizations and groups that are interested in supporting your nonprofit.



During the CARE Model process, further analysis of the problem statement will happen when your organizations hosts a community forum about the problem at the end of Phase 1. For example, a virtual town hall meeting would bring people together to discuss the problem statement. You can ask those that participate in the discussion what is missing from the problem statement and how it impacts them.

Community Asset Mapping: is a process that provides community leaders with a snapshot of local policy, systems, and environmental solutions currently in place and helps to identify areas for improvement. With this data, the CARE Team will create high-level solutions to make positive and sustainable changes in their communities.


Theory of Change is a comprehensive description and illustration of how and why a desired social change is expected to happen.

Community Impact Metrics: A visual comparison that defines the necessary objective evidence of the degree to which a performance result and intended outcomes and impacts occur over time (Barr, 2014) --ultimately prioritizing the effects a program is having on communities served.

A data collection plan that will help create a way to collect and present your data to your community.

Readiness

The CARE Team is a group of people who meet regularly to use the CARE Model to develop community-led solution. There are two main roles: The Organization: An organized group that is seeking to create and or reevaluate solutions to address disparities in their community. CARE Team Members: individuals who commit to working with the organization to develop and implement solutions.



The CARE Team is a group of people who meet regularly to use the CARE Model to develop community-led solution. There are two main roles: The Organization: An organized group that is seeking to create and or reevaluate solutions to address disparities in their community. CARE Team Members: individuals who commit to working with the organization to develop and implement solutions.
CARE Model Usage




Theory of Change and Historical Context

A Theory of Change is a comprehensive description and illustration of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context. It outlines the steps required to achieve long-term goals and the causal relationships between activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact.

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Supplementary Information




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