The goal of the Extension Faculty Incubator Fund (EFIF) is to enable MU Extension Community Development (CD) faculty to innovate and strengthen their work through small dollar capacity-building grants and facilitated partnerships with MU System academic resources.
The EFIF will support new research-based pilot projects, evidence-based improvements on existing programs, engaging partners/stakeholders/researchers for community development field-building, or other innovative community development-focused initiatives.
In order to provide CD faculty with support to ensure projects are research-based, the UMSL Community Innovation and Action Center (CIAC) will provide every project grantee with a 2 hour deep-dive individualized virtual workshop to support their research component. Topics may include data collection needs, literature review, dissemination and implementation plan, connections to additional system resources.
Team-based applications are encouraged.
EFIF Grant Details:
- Project Grant Amount: Up to $5000
- Rolling deadline until funds are expended.
- Funds must be spent in fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026)
- Project activity report By October 1, 2026
- Grant awards will be decided by Creating Whole Communities leadership advisory team grant review committee.
- Grant application considerations:
- Project must be based in academic research
- Project must clearly fall within the CD focus of “Building Civic Capacity for Thriving Communities” and one or more of the 4 buckets of CD focus: Belonging, Contribution, Leadership, Vitality
- Project demonstrate commitment to furthering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Community Development systems