In February 2009, Sustainable Bolivia’s staff met to develop a new system to aid our partner organizations while providing increased transparency and volunteer/intern involvement.  We decided to implement a mini-grant program whereby each volunteer will be given funds to spend on a project at his or her volunteer location.

Unlike most foreign aid organizations, Sustainable Bolivia’s volunteers are in the unique position of working at the recipient location with first-hand knowledge of their most desperate needs.  Working alongside local staff, volunteers and interns will design a project, or make purchases, to address these needs.  This will provide the volunteer with additional responsibilities and further incorporate them into their place of work.  Additionally it will provide increased transparency over how the funds are allocated assuring that they appropriately reach their intended recipients.

All volunteers will be provided a mini-grant application form and have access to a minimum of $75 a month; thus a volunteer staying for four months will have a minimum of $300 available to them.  Alternatively, volunteers may opt to have their mini-grant funds roll over to the next volunteer thereby increasing the available funds.  We also encourage fundraising especially if the costs of the project or purchases exceed the allotted amount.  We hope this will encourage additional fundraising allowing us to provide more assistance to our partners.

Below you will find a detailed list of all mini grants awarded by Sustainable Bolivia since this program's inception.  Each link provides a brief description of the mini grant and how the funds were allocated.  In order to provide complete transparency we have also scanned and attached the original mini grant application with all receipts and, in some instances, photos.  Please feel free to click on any of any of the links below to gain a general understanding of the mini grant program and past projects.

Mini Grant Examples