Blooming Prairie Foundation is Accepting Grant Applications

The Blooming Prairie Foundation is accepting applications for the 2018 grant cycle. 

Non-profits working in the following are encouraged to apply:

•  Development, research and education in the organic industry and/or cooperative community;

•  Development of organic and natural products;

•  Cooperative development in the natural products industry.

The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2018 at Midnight CST.

Visit www.bloomingprairiefoundation.org for qualifications and to apply.

History of the Blooming Prairie Foundation

The Blooming Prairie Foundation (BPF) was established with money generated from the sale of Blooming Prairie Cooperative Warehouse, a cooperative distributor of natural and organic products. The warehouse served cooperatives, retail stores and buying clubs in a 12-state Midwestern area extending from the warehouse in Iowa City, Iowa, to Blooming Prairie Natural Foods in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For over two decades the Blooming Prairie Cooperative Warehouse brought products and education prioritizing personal health alongside the ecological health of our planet to Midwestern communities.

Memorializing the priorities and values of the Blooming Prairie Cooperative Warehouse, the Blooming Prairie Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization with a similar ethos. Specifically, the Blooming Prairie Foundation will work to further the health of people, the planet and the cooperative business model by supporting development, research, and educational efforts in the organic industry and the cooperative community.  BPF will work to encourage, support, promote and enhance the development of organic and natural products and enhance cooperative development in the natural products industry.

Requirements

The Blooming Prairie Foundation has specific qualification requirements for grant applicants.

• 501(c)(3) status.

  • Blooming Prairie Foundation is legally obligated by IRS regulations to make grants to other organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This means that Blooming Prairie Foundation is not allowed to make grants to individuals, cooperatives, retail stores, production or distribution companies, or any other group of individuals that has not applied for and received tax-exempt status at this time. Grants cannot be made to organizations in the process of obtaining tax-exempt status until tax-exempt status is final.

• Conduct any of the following activities:

  • Developmental, research and education efforts in the organic industry and the cooperative community;

  • The development of organic and natural products or services;

  • Cooperative development in the natural products or organic industry.

Determination of qualification for each grant applicant is made by the Board of Directors of Blooming Prairie Foundation and its legal counsel.