Our office helps fund outreach and engagement projects that connect research, teaching and creative work with communities external to CU Boulder around Colorado and beyond and fit with the campus' strategic priorities of fostering innovation, training tomorrow’s leaders and positively impacting humanity.
The annual CU Boulder Outreach Awards as well as our office's Community Impact and Micro Grant programs fund project-related expenses such as, stipends, materials, supplies, equipment, travel and more. Each grant program has its own selection criteria, application requirements and allowable expenses.
Who Can Apply
- Faculty can apply for the CU Boulder Outreach Awards
- Faculty, staff and graduate students (with a faculty advisor) can apply for our Community Impact Grants
- Faculty, staff and both graduate and undergraduate students can apply for our Micro Grants. All students must have a faculty advisor.
Funding Types
CU Boulder Outreach Awards
- Awarded by interdisciplinary CU Boulder Outreach Awards Committee
- Supports substantive faculty-led outreach and engagement projects
- Up to $24,000 (group), $11,000 (individual)
- Deadlines for 2023-24 proposals have passed. Stay tuned for 2024-25 deadlines.
- For CU Boulder faculty
Community Impact Grants
- Seed or extend community-engaged work
- Up to $5,000
- For CU Boulder faculty, staff and graduate students (with a faculty advisor)
- Spring 2024 Dates & Deadlines:
- Proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, February 12, 2024.
- Virtual info sessions will be held on Thursday, January 11, at Noon, and Monday, January 29, at 10 a.m.
- Note that Community Impact Grants offered by our office are different from the DEI Impact Grants offered by the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. For more information about the latter, with deadlines in Jan. and Feb. 2023, see here.
Office Micro Grants
- Fund costs associated with public outreach events (e.g., lectures, workshops, etc.) and community partnership development activities including travel, materials, and more.
- Grant Maximum: $2,000
- Accepted on a rolling basis each semester:
- Fall 2023: August 28 – December 14, 2023
- Spring 2024: January 16 – May 2, 2024
- For CU Boulder faculty, staff and currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate students (student applicants must have a faculty advisor)
Which Grant is Right For Me?
Each grant has its own selection criteria, application requirements, allowable expenses and application deadlines. The main differences are summarized in the table below.
| Micro Grants | Outreach Awards | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can apply | Faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students | Faculty, staff and graduate students | Faculty |
| Award amounts | $2,000 | $5,000 |
$11,000 for individual applicants $24,000 for groups |
| For | Public outreach events, partnership development | Seeding or extending public and community-engaged scholarship projects | Established faculty-led community-engaged scholarship projects |
| Reviewed by | OOE office staff | OOE office staff + prior grant recipients | Campuswide review committee |
| Deadlines | Rolling | August and February | April |
These differences are described in more detail on separate web pages for each grant type.