Systemic Change Grantmaking

Systemic Change 2023 Grant Program

Systemic Change is a core value of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. We look at systemic change as efforts that work to remove the conditions that hold poverty in place. Home visits help mitigate the causes of need in an individual or family. Systemic change accumulates those causes into community needs. The ideal Systemic Change program uses Vincentian knowledge, and validation from people in need, to design programs that have wide scale and sustained impact on a community.

The National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) will make one-year grants of up to $20,000 to support Systemic Change projects at Vincentian Councils or Conferences. The grant application form and the Systemic Change criteria can be downloaded below. Completed forms are due on Friday, July 21, 2023.

Winners of the 2022 Systemic Change Grants are not eligible to apply in 2023.  Applicants from 2020 are encouraged are encouraged to apply.

Systemic Change Grant Timeline:
Tuesday, June 27 – Systemic Change Informational Webinar
Friday, July 21 – Grant Applications Due
Thursday, August 16 – Winners announced E-mail and E-Gazette
Friday, February 23, 2024 – Mid-Year Report Due
Friday, July 19, 2024 – Final Grant Reports Due

  • GRANT GUIDELINES
    Systemic Change Grants are not eligible for transactional expenses such as paying for rent, utilities, and mortgages. While paying the rent/mortgage for a family so they don’t lose their house does positively impact a group of people, it is not necessarily a long-term solution in your community.

    When developing your application, please consider the criteria below. These criteria are not meant to be an “all or nothing” evaluation tool, but your application should speak to more than one of these points. Does the project have a great deal of social impact? Is it innovative or revolutionary? Making any changes toward Systemic Change is better than standing still.

    GRANT CRITERIA
    Engagement – Involve people with lived experience & their neighbors at all stages of planning.
    Far-reaching social impact – Ensure that the Systemic Change project transforms attitudes in individuals and communities. Does the project include advocacy to help shift the conditions that hold poverty in place?
    Sustainability – Will the project, & the participants, eventually be self-sufficient?
    Replicability – Can other Councils and Conferences implement a similar project?
    Innovation – Does the approach simply increase our capacity to provide services faster or better, or does it reduce or eliminate the need for those services?
    Collaboration – Does the project engage all sectors of the community?
    Data Driven – Assess progress, adjust, and achieve project goals.

    Please refer to the scoring rubric when completing your application. NOTE: Applicants will not receive a copy of the scores. (SCORING RUBRIC)

  • Vincentian Diocesan/District Councils and Conferences are eligible to apply. All applicants should be in compliance with IRS 501(c)(3) requirements. Councils must be instituted, and Conferences must be aggregated. An applicant must be current with its solidarity contribution and have filed its current annual report with the National Council.

    2022 Systemic Change Grant recipients are ineligible to apply this year.  Applicants from 2020 are encouraged to apply.

    A current Systemic Change program is NOT a requirement for funding. The National Council encourages Conferences and Councils establishing new programs to apply.

  • The deadline for grant applications will be Friday, July 21, 2023. Late entries cannot be accepted. A fillable form can be downloaded from Systemic Change Grant Program 2023 Application.  Electronic signatures are permitted,and a submission from the email address of the president will count as a signature.

    The Rule says, “The Society is concerned not only with alleviating need but also with identifying the unjust structures that cause it. It is, therefore, committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and to contributing to their elimination. In all its charitable actions there should be a search for justice; in its struggle for justice, the Society must keep in mind the demands of charity” (7.1). Systemic Change is not a substitute for meeting the “demands of charity” that Vincentians undertake; it is a complement to that work.

    The National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) will make grants of up to $20,000 to support Systemic Change projects at eligible Vincentian Councils or Conferences for one year. The National Council invites Councils and Conferences with either existing Systemic Change programs, or the framework of a new program, to complete a brief Intent to Apply form. Councils and Conferences submitting impactful and innovative programs will be invited to submit full proposals to an open and competitive process.

    The Application form should be brief (no more than two pages) that includes:
    1. Program Description: A couple paragraphs the explain the root cause of poverty in the community being addressed, whatthe program does, how you know it will address the root cause, specific populations served (if relevant), and duration.
    2. Statement of Need: In a few sentences, describes how the program embodies at least some of the Systemic Changeprogram criteria.
    3. Desired Outcomes: Tell us the desired outcome of your program.
    4. Amount Requested: The total amount requested and how the funds will be spent (can be a brief paragraph, a full proposalwill need a detailed budget).
    5. Award winners must fill out the mid-year progress report by February 23, 2024 – Systemic Change Grant Program 2023 Progress Report

    Completed forms can be submitted to Gerri Sample, Senior Advancement Services Associate, at gsample@svdpusa.org.

    Questions can be directed to Steve Uram, National Director of Poverty Programs, or Becca Kazdoy, Manager of Poverty Programs at systemicchange@svdpusa.org.

  • Council / Conference Region State Program Name
    ADCC of Galveston-Houston S. Central TX Resiliency F.I.R.S.T.
    ADCC of Indianapolis Mideast IN Changing Lives Forever Graduate Program
    All Souls Conference Southeast FL Educational Retraining for Successful Employment
    Basilica of St. Mary Conf. Eastern VA Sustainment Fund
    Christ the King Western CA Developing Financial Literacy
    Denver Metro Dist. Council Midwest CO Fresh Start Loan Program
    Diocesan Council of Austin S. Central TX Predatory Loan Conversion Program
    Diocesan Council of Columbus Mideast OH SVdP Men’s Shelter of Delaware County
    Diocesan Council of Dallas S. Central TX Neighborhoods of Hope
    Diocesan Council of Phoenix Western AZ One at a Time 1st Generation College Scholarship Program
    District Council of Baltimore Eastern MD Getting Ahead Implementation
    District Council of Cincinnati Mideast OH Workforce Development for Returning Citizens
    District Council of Dayton Mideast OH Bridges Out of Poverty: Building Transformative Relationships
    District Council of Des Moines Midwest IA Back2Work and Immersion Hybrid
    District Council of Green Bay N. Central WI Back2Work
    District Council of Peoria N. Central IL Coming Together to Get Ahead
    District Council of San Francisco Western CA Domestic Violence Services
    District Council of Sonoma County Western CA Home for Success
    District Council of SW Idaho Western ID SVdP Reentry Roundtable
    District Council of Waukesha Co. N. Central WI Getting Ahead
    Pax Christi Conference N. Central WI Education Towards/For Certification
    Risen Savior / Prince of Peace S. Central NM Getting Ahead
    St. Clare Southeast MS Basic Money Handling Skills
    St. Fabian Mideast MI Farmington Hills Systemic Change
    St. Genevieve Midwest MO Foundations for Success
    St. John the Evangelist Eastern MD After the Storm
    St. Joseph N. Central WI M&M Transportation
    St. Jude Mideast IN Changing Lives Forever
    St. Peter Claver Prison Ministry Southeast FL St. Peter Claver Prison Ministry
    St. Philip Neri Mideast IN Getting Ahead Changing Lives
    St. Rita Southeast FL Zephyrhillis Correctional Prison Reentry
    Upper Pinellas Co. Dist. Council Southeast FL Community Kitchen & Resource Center
    Western District Council Southeast FL Vision Named Hope Claimed
           
  •  

    Council / Conference Region State Program Name
    ADCC of Detroit Mideast MI Bridges Out of Poverty
    Basilica of St. Mary’s Conf. Eastern VA Sustainment Fund
    District Council of Contra Costa Western CA Workforce Development / Mentoring
    District Council of Des Moines Midwest IA Reentry: Emerging from Covid
    District Council of Phoenix Western AZ Scholarship/Mentoring: 1st Generation Students
    Diocesan Council of Rockville Centre Northeast NY Reentry: Dismas House
    District Council of Marinette North Central WI Getting Ahead
    Atlanta Council Southeast GA Motel 2 Home
    Louisville Mideast KY Art Therapy for Domestic Violence Victims
    St. Ambrose Conference East MD Family to Familia Scholarship Program
    St Peter Claver Prison Ministry Southeast FL Reentry: Passport to Success
    St. Rita’s Conference Southeast FL Reentry: Getting Ahead by Getting Out

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