Wanted to post this resource (from my colleague Matt Leighninger at the Deliberative Democracy Consortium):

The Case Foundation has just launched an exciting new grant program called Make It Your Own. It is designed to help grassroots leaders involve their fellow citizens in dialogue, deliberation, and action on community problems. This is one of those rare instances where a national foundation will make grants directly to local and neighborhood-level projects; it is even more unusual in that the decision-making process on who gets the grants will be made, in part, by citizens themselves (see “Foundation Lets Public Help Award Money” in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/2 6/us/26charity.html). This is a citizen-centered funding effort that will produce citizen-centered projects.

Many of you know grassroots leaders who would make terrific applicants for Make It Your Own (and some of you fit that description yourselves). Please check out the details at http://www.casefoundation.org/make-it-your-own and pass this email along to anyone you think would be a good candidate. If you know someone who is intending to apply, help them think through their proposed project and point them toward other organizations that can help (such as the ones listed at http://www.casefoundation.org/ma ke-it-your-own/take-action/place s).