Since 2019, Outride has proudly supported community nonprofits by committing more than $1.5 million to 170+ youth cycling projects across the country. Outride is excited to open the 2023 Outride Fund grant application cycle, partnering with community nonprofits to promote cycling as a tool to improve social, emotional, and cognitive health. Outride's work with previous grantees demonstrates the power of cycling to transform lives.
In order to create the greatest impact in communities across the country, The Outride Fund has moved to providing direct community grants. Organizations are no longer required to contribute 1:1 matching funds. Organizations seeking grants will no longer need to raise matching funds, providing partners more time to focus on the incredible work they are doing.
"While matching grants were a good way to stoke community involvement in the fundraising process, we wanted to simplify the process for prospective grantees and lower the barrier to receiving funds," said Chazz Robinson, Outride Fund Program Manager. "This change will allow awarded organizations to receive funds more quickly and start creating an impact on a more predictable timeline."
Outride continues to support trails, pump tracks, rider education, workforce learning, after-school programs, and more, with a renewed focus on answering the question: How can cycling improve social, emotional, and cognitive health? Nonprofit organizations are asked to consider this question in their proposal.
"One of the most incredible components of getting an Outride Fund grant is not only the impact that the funds provide, but also becoming a part of the Outride community" stated Tasha Tinagero, Outride's Strategic Partnerships Manager. "We have seen impressive impacts come out of cross-collaboration between our grantees and partners, something unique to our program within the cycling industry."
The Outride Fund grant committee will carefully select grantees according to the funding criteria and work closely with organizations to determine the most sustainable and appropriate level of funding.*
Outride's commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion remains. Outride has an unabiding commitment to harness the power of cycling to improve social, emotional, and cognitive health, to help bring that power to underrepresented demographic groups, and to diversify the populations that participate in cycling. Vast disparities exist when it comes to accessing cycling and its benefits for mental health, so Outride says competitive proposals will demonstrate an intentional commitment to creating equity and inclusion.
The 2023 application cycle opened January 6th, 2023 and closes February 6th, 2023. Grant award notifications and disbursements will be announced between March and April 2023. Application guidelines, frequently asked questions, and more information can be found on the Outride website.
