Not every grant is about paying a bill. Sometimes it’s about funding an idea. The Awesome Foundation is built around exactly that: giving regular people money to try something interesting, with no repayment and no strings attached.
How Does It Work?
The Awesome Foundation isn’t one central organization handing out money. It’s made up of independent local chapters all over the world.
Each chapter is funded by around ten trustees who each personally contribute $100 a month, adding up to $1,000 per chapter, per month. Every chapter decides for itself what counts as “awesome,” so what gets funded can range from arts and technology projects to community development ideas.
Who Can Apply?
According to the foundation, “The Awesome Foundation is open to all people and organizations. There are no prerequisites to apply.”
This isn’t specifically a low income assistance program, it’s project funding, but that openness means it’s genuinely worth a look if you have an idea for something that could help your community and you don’t have the cash to get it off the ground.
How Do You Apply?
The application is an online form that takes about 15 minutes to fill out. Once submitted, it goes into a shared pool that chapters review.
Chapters meet monthly and pick their winner through group consensus, then the $1,000 goes out with no repayment required.
They generally do not help with personal purchases, keeping an already-established organization running, and vague or unclear proposals. The foundation favors specific, well-thought-out ideas that could genuinely benefit a community.
Because this runs monthly through hundreds of independent chapters, there’s no single annual deadline; you can apply anytime, and your application stays in the pool for chapters to review.
Relief Recap
This is a different kind of grant than most of what we write about, cash for an idea rather than for a bill, but it’s real money with almost no barrier to entry. If you’re looking for more traditional cash grants for bills and everyday expenses, our roundup of real hardship grants is a better fit.
