The NDN Collective Abundance Fund provides wealth building grants to Indigenous people who reside within the tri-state region of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The program supports the re-building of generational wealth, while beginning to address the wealth gap among Indigenous individuals and families.  This is just one action that supports the advancement of our work to Defend, Develop, and Decolonize. We see this grant as an opportunity to advance the dismantling of colonial thinking that created exploitative and extractive economic systems that have proven un-useful for our People and communities.  This includes centering this work around a redefinition of wealth from our Indigenous perspective, rather than the western definition of wealth that is rooted in capitalism which promotes the accumulation of money and material possessions often without regard to the protection of people and mother earth. The NDN Collective Abundance Fund embraces the following definition of wealth: 

“Indigenous wealth is a quality of life and mindset that encircles family and community well-being and the care of relationships (self, family, extended family, community, land, environment), and a spirit of generosity. Money is a tool to support basic needs (safety, food, shelter, education) and bring financial security and self-determination so that one can live a “good life,” abundant in social and cultural sharing.

The Collective Abundance Fund is designed by and for the people, including the very definition of Indigenous wealth. To learn more about this unprecedented approach to Indigenous wealth building, including the community engagement and subsequent planning and design of the Collective Abundance Fund, read the Community Voices on the Collective Abundance Fund report here. 

Awarded Grantees will receive flexible grants of $25,000 or $50,000 to invest in and support their self-determined wealth-building activities. In the spirit of  self-determination,  individuals and families will decide for themselves what activities to include in their plan that creates long-term, transformative change. NDN Collective’s principles and strategies to Defend, Develop & Decolonize inspire all Collective work, therefore wealth-building plans must reflect sustainable, generational, regenerative values.  Grant term start dates for selected grantees are scheduled to begin October 1, 2023.

Awarded Grantees will receive an initial 95% of their cash award at the start of their grant.  Upon receipt of an approved report, including documentation of expenses in alignment with the  grantee’s wealth-building plan, release of the remaining 5% will be issued to the grant recipient.

We invite Indigenous individuals and families who reside within the tri-state area of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota to imagine opportunity and envision a collective regenerative economy where all people live well, balanced, and healthy.  We believe that by directly supporting Indigenous individuals and families, we are also investing in their communities, societies, economies,  and the collective movement. 

You Are Not Eligible to Apply for any NDN grant program that is directed to an individual, such as the Collective Abundance Fund, Radical Imagination, or Changemaker Fellowship if you are currently an NDN Collective: 

• Employee
• Member of Board of Directors
• Contractor/Consultant
• Advisory Board/Committee Member
• Immediate blood, adopted family or spouses/domestic partner of an NDN Collective employee or Board of Directors. This includes parents, children, and siblings.

Selection criteria are based on the following grant application and selection priorities. 

Wealth-Building Plans and Activities

Wealth-building plans must describe:

• How activities support your wealth-building goal(s).
• How activities will lead to transformative change in your family’s quality of life and mindset.
• How it supports and strengthens basic needs, financial security, wellbeing, and care of kinship relationships. 
• How your plans and goals align with the Indigenous wealth definition.
• How it supports a spirit of generosity and “being a good relative,” including social and cultural sharing and contributing to family, extended family, clan, or community.

Wealth-building activities must demonstrate:

• Readiness to implement wealth-building plans and activities.
• Sustainable and generational transfer (how the impact extends beyond present and immediate needs). 
• The spirit of reciprocity and being a good relative. Applicants are expected to create safe spaces and protocols of engagement that consider the health and wellbeing of others, including the prevention/protection of participants from the harms of physical/sexual abuse or exploitation, adhere to COVID19 safety protocols and ensure their wealth building activities support community harmony and safety.  

Resource Planning 

Resource planning must describe:

• How the resources will support building resilience and power for the family.
• Strategies for success and how challenges will be addressed.
• How resources align with your wealth-building plan and activities

The following additional areas will be considered during review of grant applications. 

• Household income, family size, and current family conditions
• Reputation and commitment to wellness
• Spirit of generosity and being a good relative
• Collaborations and collective efforts
• Note: Reputation reflects the integrity of our actions and our responsibility for our family and community relationships. As part of its review process, NDN Collective reserves the right to collect additional background information about applicants who may be invited as a grantee. This could include a check of public records and a formal or informal check of references within your community.

The Collective Abundance Fund will NOT support the following:

• Activities that are extractive in nature or that may cause harm to people or mother earth will not be supported. 
• The Collective Abundance Fund is not intended to provide support for emergencies or crises.
• Applicants who are not awarded a grant may reapply in subsequent years. Awarded grantees may not reapply in following years.

The purpose of the Collective Abundance Toolkit is to provide educational guidance on how to promote awareness for the Collective Abundance Fund on social media platforms for your organization, business, or personal use.

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Download the PDF file to complete the Application Questions

All applicants must register before accessing the grant application portal. Even if you’ve registered in the past for any NDN grant opportunity, you must still register by completing the eligibility quiz.

Wealth Building Goals. Wealth building goals present your individual/family’s overall intention and projected outcomes as a result of your wealth building activities. Your goals should speak to the transformative change you expect and align with NDN’s Indigenous wealth definition.
Indigenous wealth is described as a quality of life and mindset that encircles family and community well-being and the care of relationships (self, family, extended family, community, land, environment), and a spirit of generosity. Money is a tool to support basic needs (e.g., safety, food, shelter, education) and bring financial security and self-determination so that one can live a “good life,” abundant in social and cultural sharing.

1. What are your overall wealth building goals? Where do you see yourself and your family if you were awarded this once in a lifetime opportunity? What will you make happen that transforms you and your family and that reflects Indigenous wealth and a “good life” of abundance? (4000 character count)

Family Information. Grant awards are intended to support Indigenous individuals and families from the tri-state (MN, ND, SD) region. Family information should provide an overall picture of your current situation and circumstances.

2 a) What is your household income?

b) How many people are in your household (individuals living with you 50% or more of the time or anyone who spends at least 183 nights in your home in a year)?
(number of adults, children, other dependents)

c) Please indicate whether you or your household currently or expect to receive public county or tribal assistance.

(Yes currently receive assistance; No, but I expect to apply in the future; No, I do not receive and do not expect to apply)

Check all that apply (optional).

• Food and Nutrition (e.g., SNAP, TANF, WIC, free or reduced school lunches, FDPIR)

• Housing (e.g., rental assistance, housing vouchers, Section 8 housing)

• Income Assistance (e.g., BIA General Assistance, Supplemental Security Income, EITC)

• Health Care (e.g., MNCare, Medicaid, CHIP)

• Child Care Assistance

• Energy Assistance (e.g., LIHEAP)

• Education Assistance (Pell grants, Head Start program)

A grant award through the Collective Abundance Fund may impact a household’s current and/or future eligibility for public assistance programs and services. Please describe how you will address the potential loss of benefits (if applicable).
(4000 character count)

d) Please share general information that describes the makeup of your household and current family conditions. For example, you may include information on the care of additional family members outside of the home, or significant debt that impacts household obligations.
(4000 character count)

Wealth Building Plan and Activities. A clear wealth building plan will describe how the activities would support Indigenous wealth in a sustainable, generational (children, grandchildren, or community benefit from the activities), and regenerative (renew, restore, revive, not harmful to people or the planet) manner and directly support the wealth building goals as described. Plans should outline how grant resources would support activities that are strategic and timely to make lasting change and impact.

3 a) Drawing upon your wealth building goals, describe your plan and timeline for activities. How does your plan support making changes for lasting impact and building wealth in your family? How would having access to this resource at this point in time make a difference to you and your family, in other words, why now? Describe what will be sustained or lasting beyond the grant period? How does your plan support the next generation? How does your plan uphold regenerative practices that are non-extractive?
(4000 character count)

b) Select one or more wealth building activities that your plan includes that supports your overall wealth building goals. Select all that your grant would support.

• Homeownership or Household Stability
• (down payment, home repair, home rehabilitation, home addition, multi-generational housing development)
• Education or Skill Building: Higher education, trade and vocational training attainment.
• (tuition, fees, books, supplies)
• Financial Planning
• (financial education courses, training, financial advisement)
• Business Development: business investments that leverage or supports business vitality
• and sustainability.
• (capital investments, equipment, supplies)
• Food Security: sustainable family food systems
• (gardens, greenhouses, land purchase, infrastructure investments, livestock, food processing/production equipment and supplies, hunting/fishing)
• Cultural Traditions: Language, Cultural Knowledge, Healing Practices, Art
• (cultural mentors, apprenticeships, supplies, equipment)
• Health and Wellness
• (activities supporting mental, physical and spiritual well-being)
• Reliable livelihood:Other areas that may be considered that support providing for you and your family in dependable ways to secure the necessities of life: food, water, shelter, education, healthcare, ceremony, and community.
• (reliable childcare, technology, debt relief, reliable transportation)

Reputation & Commitment to Wellness. Reputation reflects the integrity of our actions and our responsibility for our family and community relationships. As part of its review process, NDN Collective reserves the right to collect additional background information about applicants who may be invited as a grantee. This could include a check of public records and a formal or informal check of references within your community.

Additionally, a commitment to personal wellness, healing, and replenishing ourselves is needed to support the “good life” and sustain a life of abundance. You will be required to upload three reference or support letters that speak to your reputation and confirm your commitment to wellness.

4. Describe how your plan and activities will resource you and your family’s wellness and/or healing.
(4000 character count)

Resource Planning. Planning is required to support a life of abundance and living the “good life”. Resource planning includes assessing and identifying the strengths and assets, gaps and challenges, and making deliberate decisions in how resources are allocated and leveraged to fortify the family. Resources should support building resilience and power for you and your family.

5 a) How are you planning for success? What challenges do you anticipate and how will you address them?
(4000 character count)

b) Describe how you will use the grant funds to support your wealth building plan and activities, for example, supplies, equipment, travel, vendor or consultant payments, large purchases, and other activity costs. Include any costs you are allocating towards you and your family’s commitment to wellness and any financial education or advisory services you are planning for. Provide a projected timeline of expenditures, not to exceed 12 months.
(4000 character count)

c) Are there other resources, including, for example, skills, equipment, financial resources, or land that you are leveraging or using to support your wealth building activities? Please identify if they are secured or pending.
(4000 character count)

d) If this is part of a collaborative or collective effort, please describe additional secured or pending resources. Include the names of other members of your collaborative or collective that are applying to the Collective Abundance Fund and whether or how you plan to leverage your group’s resources.
(4000 character count)

Being a Good Relative. Indigenous wealth includes a spirit of generosity and the ability to contribute to social and cultural sharing across our families, clans, and communities. Being a good relative also includes creating safe spaces and protocols of engagement that consider the health and wellbeing of others, including the prevention/protection of participants from the harms of physical/sexual abuse or exploitation and the COVID 19 Pandemic.

6 a) Describe how your wealth building plan supports a spirit of generosity. How will your activities – or the result of your activities – contribute to social and cultural sharing with family, extended family, clan, or community?
(4000 character count)

b) In demonstrating your commitment to the values of being a good relative, please share what that looks like in the spaces your activities take place.
(4000 character count)

Navigators. Applicants may have a relative or other trusted community advisor to assist in navigating the application process, including logging into the application portal on behalf of the applicant. Navigators may also be a program staff member from a Community Development Financial Institution, a Tribal College or University, a Native-led Nonprofit, or a Tribe to assist the applicant in completing the application process. Applicants should select trusted advisors as their Navigator due to confidentiality and personal information shared in the application.

c) Did someone assist you with completing the application?
(Yes; No. I completed the application myself)
(If Yes, please provide their information and describe how they supported you with the application process.
First Name
Last Name
Phone
Phone Extension
Email
Organization (Native-led Community Development Financial Institution or Nonprofit, Tribal College/University, Tribe, if applicable)
Address
City
Country
State/Province
Postal Code (zip)

Describe how the Navigator supported your application (writing, computer support,
etc)__
(paragraph space 500 character count)

Navigator and Applicant Agreement

7. I agree that:
All the information I have provided is true and accurate.

I understand that if awarded, I will be expected to adhere to my wealth building plan and activities. Any changes must be approved by my Program Officer. Further, I will submit a report prior to the end of the grant period, including documentation of grant expenditures.

I commit to living and or working towards a life of wellness.

_____________ (signature/date or a check box)

Upload Documents
Required Documents. The following documents are required for any application to be considered. Failure to include any of the documents will result in an automatic declination due to an incomplete application.

a) A copy of you or the head of your household’s most recent U.S. Individual Tax Return (i.e., first two pages of Form 1040).

If no 1040 or state income tax return is available, then the following documents are acceptable:

If employed: the most recent pay stub
If self-employed: the most recent year-to-date profit and loss statement
If recipient of Social Security benefits: the most recent Social Security benefits letter
If unemployed: the most recent copy of your state Unemployment Income benefits letter

b) Please upload at least three reference or support letters that reflect your reputation (the integrity of your actions and responsibility to your family and community relationships) and your commitment to wellness or how you are working towards wellness. Letters from relatives are acceptable, however at least one letter must be from someone other than a relative.

For help using the Fluxx system, download the Fluxx User Guide PDF: