Grants

 The Mid-Michigan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure^®—along with those who generously support us with their talent, time and resources—is working to better the lives of those facing breast cancer in our community. We join more than 100,000 breast cancer survivors and activists around the globe as part of the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer. Through events like the Komen Mid-Michigan Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $3 million in local breast health and breast cancer awareness projects in Ingham, Eaton, Clinton, Shiawassee, Jackson, Livingston and Washtenaw Counties. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Komen Mid-Michigan Affiliate stay in the Mid-Michigan Affiliate service area. The remaining income goes to the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grants Program for energizing science to find the cures.

We strive to maintain the highest levels of integrity in our organization, and as such we have a very detailed procedure for awarding grants.

Our funding decisions are guided by the breast cancer needs of the Mid-Michigan area as identified in our Community Profile. This document is formally reviewed approximately every two years and our current Profile can be seen here, our priorities are summarized here.

We invite grant applications annually through a Request for Applications (RFA) document. This details our funding priorities, what items we will and will not fund and the details of how to apply. When the RFA is issued an announcement inviting organizations to apply for a grant is circulated as widely as possible, giving a summary of the RFA and a link to the detailed document. In addition grant writing workshops are held which give potential applicants information about our grants process and the RFA. The RFA for our most recent round of funding may be seen here.

When applications are received they are reviewed to ensure that they are in compliance with the RFA, for example were they received by the deadline? Do they fund breast cancer programs? Applications are then reviewed, assessed and ranked by an Independent Panel. The Panel comprises a variety of people involved in research, community health, and business and includes volunteers and breast cancer survivors. 

The ranked list of applications is submitted to the Komen Mid-Michigan Board of Directors for approval. The Board can only accept or deny the ranked list; they are not able to change the application rankings. They determine the amount of funding available for the grant program and grants are funded in ranking order.

Once the grant has been awarded Komen Mid-Michigan maintains a relationship with its grantees. This includes site visits, grantee involvement in Affiliate events and regular reports from grantees as to the progress of the funded program.

Grants made by Komen National aim to energize science to find cures by funding research critical to ending breast cancer. More about their grants can be found here. Locally, grants made by the Komen Mid-Michigan Affiliate aim to change behaviors and health care systems to increase access to early detection and quality treatments. Details about our current community grants are described here. 

If you have any questions about our grant making process please email us at info@komenmidmichigan.org.