The Office for Outreach and Engagement Micro Grants support projects that connect with  communities external to CU Boulder.

Micro Grants support community-engaged scholarship and outreach-related events, materials, travel and more.

Please see the CU Boulder Outreach Awards for funding larger and ongoing community-engaged project requests. See our Community Impact Grants for seeding and extending new projects and our Undergraduate Community-Engaged Scholars Grants, if you are an undergraduate. 

Community-engaged scholarship and outreach activities that are the most competitive provide clear evidence of how communities beyond the CU campus are involved in and benefit from the project and meet the following criteria:

  • Align with the campus definition of outreach and engagement
  • Align with our office's mission
  • Involve communities external to the CU Boulder campus, especially those with less access to university resources (e.g. rural, black, indigenous, Latino, immigrant, low income)
  • Connect to CU Boulder scholarship (research, teaching or creative work)
  • Provide mutual benefit to CU Boulder and external community participants
  • Promote equity, access and inclusion for groups with less access to university resources
  • Develop innovative ways to address community issues in collaboration with community partners

Please be aware that multiple proposals from a single unit within a given cycle may not be awarded, because our office has made it a priority to support activities from units across campus.

Grant Funding Comparison Spreadsheet

Frequently Asked Questions about Office Grants

Grant Recipients

There are two grant cycles per academic year:

Fall

  • For activities during the fall and spring terms
  • Proposal deadline:  Sunday, Aug. 14 by 11:59 p.m.

Winter 

  • For activities during the spring, summer and fall terms
  • Proposal deadline: Sunday, Feb. 5 by 11:59 p.m.

Decisions on funding will typically be announced within 30 days of the submission deadline. The awards selection process is competitive. Award funding is subject to availability and partial funding may be awarded.

Applicants must complete the online proposal form. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Applicants and projects may receive up to one Micro Grant per academic year.

Applicant must be a CU Boulder faculty member, staff member or currently enrolled graduate student (with faculty sponsor).

Allowable Expenses

  • Travel and project costs for community-engaged research, teaching or creative work and outreach events or activities.

  • Program materials or supplies, including food

  • Participant stipends and expenses

  • Pay for currently enrolled students up to $1,000

Non-allowable Expenses

  • Pay or travel expenses for professional consultants or outside speakers

  • Faculty and staff pay, honoraria or release time

Review a copy of the application here.

An academic unit or department must sponsor and maintain fiscal oversight of the project. 

Funding requirements

Orientation requirement

  • Attend a virtual orientation on one of the following dates: Monday, Sept. 19, Noon -1pm or Thursday, Sept. 22, Noon -1 p.m.

Communications requirements

  • If you want publicity for your project, please review information about outreach communications. 

  • Inform your department communicator and Gretchen Minekime, OOE's community impact manager, about any events or story ideas related to your project. Gretchen can help you determine who to contact and connect you with Strategic Relations resources, and suggest ways to advertise the event. Please include our office's logo on any posters or ads, which we can provide. 

  • Acknowledge that the project received Office for Outreach and Engagement grant funding on a webpage about your project, a story or a press release, using the following language: "This project was funded through a grant from the Office for Outreach and Engagement." Note that the link is to the Micro Grants page.

  • Make sure to select “Outreach and Engagement” under the interest category section on the CU Events Calendar to have your event promoted on the campus Public Outreach and Community Engagement website.

  • Tag @CUOutreach on any social media posts related to your project.

  • Respond in a timely manner to office staff about project deadlines or publicity related to the project, which may be featured on the Public Outreach and Community Engagement website.

Status Report Requirements

  • When the project or event is completed, grantee must fill out a status report that describes the impact of funded activities. The status report due date will be provided in the funding agreement. Note that the status report must be completed prior to submitting for additional funding requests to the office.

Questions?

Contact Katie Kleinhesselink, communications director