1% for the Tetons announces new “Grant Guarantee” program

1% for the Tetons (1%T) announced today a new "Grant Guarantee" program for 2011.

In 2011, eight grant Finalists are eligible for funding from 1%T (see table below). Under the “Grant Guarantee” program, 1%T guarantees to fund any Finalist project to which non-members donate at least 50 percent of the amount requested from 1%T.

1%T is a project of the Jackson-based Charture Institute. 1%T members donate one percent of their sales to 1%T, which uses those contributions to fund projects focusing on the long-term sustainability of the Tetons region. In its first four years, 1%T members have donated $485,000 to fund 37 such projects.

Jonathan Schechter, Charture’s executive director, explained the genesis of the "Grant Guarantee" program: "Many 1%T members want to allocate their donations among each year’s Finalists. In order to give them this choice, each year 1%T picks more Finalist projects than it can fund from members’ donations alone. And because 1%T does not partially-fund projects, in past years no Finalist has been guaranteed funding for its project."

Schechter continued: “To try to fully fund all our Finalists, we ask the Tetons community as a whole – in other words, non-1%T members – to support our Finalists’ projects. This year, some 1%T members asked how they could use their donations to maximize the chances of all eight Finalists being funded. Their innovative solution was to use their donations to incentivize community contributions to our Finalists.

"Specifically, any Finalist project which receives non-member donations totaling at least 50 percent of the money they've requested from 1%T will be guaranteed funding. "For example, suppose a Finalist requests $5,000 from 1%T. If non-members go to 1PercentTetons and donate at least $2,500 to that project, then 1%T members will make up the difference and guarantee that the project receives full-funding. With this added incentive, we hope to fund most, if not all, of our truly-innovative Finalist projects for 2011."

Full copies of each 2011 Finalist proposal can be downloaded at 1PercentTetons.org. Donations to any or all of the eight Finalist projects can also be made at 1PercentTetons.org. The website also contains descriptions of all projects previously funded by 1%T.