IAmShaman Grant

IAS-SG EARTH GRANT – $5,000.00 PRIZE!

We’re trying this again in 2015: Here is a first of its kind grant as another way of IAmShaman & Shaman’sGarden doing their best to give back to the community we will always be a passionate part of.  We continue to explore finding ways of contributing in some small way to the preservation of this planet as well as the freedom of thought that has been under attack from so many and for so long.

The program couldn’t be more simple: Anyone from anywhere in the world is invited to submit a proposal in which you explain how you would use a grant of $5,000.00 in one of these Five Categories:

1. ETHNOBOTANICAL RESEARCH
2. ENTHEOGEN RESEARCH
3. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
4. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
5. GREENING YOUR WORLD

Maybe you’d like to use it to bring a speaker on shamanism to your college, or maybe you would make a donation in your name to the cause of your choice as they fight for cognitive freedom for all of us, or hopefully, for something that you might think of something that has never occurred to anyone before. As an example of what $5,000.00 can do, we started the Peruvian Cooperative on $5,000.00.  Surprises and thinking out of the box is highly encouraged, so don’t cater to what you think THEY want; submit a proposal based on what YOU want.  We were shocked at how many “proposals” we received that there nothing more than a paragraph asking for the money to “do research” but with no details whatsoever.  Wow us.  Make us offer TWO Grants instead of one each year! 

A minimum of 20 submissions that we find acceptable for consideration are required to offer the grant each year. To give you an idea of what we’re hoping for, here are examples of a REJECTED PROPOSAL and a PROPOSAL IN CONSIDERATION as inspiration. Combined the proposals from all of 2008 with the proposals from 2009, we are pleased to announce that the Grant WILL be awarded in 2009!  Wow us.  Make us offer TWO Grants instead of one each year, and let us give this money away to help our planet in some small way you dream of!

SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 01 SEPTEMBER OF EACH YEAR FOR CONSIDERATION.

With the proposals there will be will be three rounds of voting:

1. FIRST ROUND: The staff will choose the initial Top 20 proposals based on their expert opinions, as well as taking comments posted on the grant blog into consideration.
 
2. SECOND ROUND: The public gets to decide which will be the Top 5, by voting on which of the Top 20 proposals are your favorites.  Yes, IP addresses will be logged, and each person is allowed one vote, but we’ve got nothing against gathering as many of your friends to vote for you as you can.
 
3. FINAL ROUND: Deciding the Winner and 1st Runner-up will a group effort by our staff and all if your votes.  Decisions are final, and results will be posted on the website at all times to ensure transparency.
 
You don’t need to be a customer to apply; you only need to share a mutual desire to help preserve our freedom of thought, to help expand consciousness in some way, to add to the ripple effect that we hope will raise the awareness and the consciousness in relation to ethnobotanicals, rainforest destruction, and the continuing decimation of our Earth’s precious resources.
 
Yes, this grant is a drop in the bucket, but we believe in our mission to preserve and to promote the kinds of thought that promote the preservation of this planet, all of its peoples, plants, and animals, as well as the unique thought, cultures, and traditions that go with each. We only hope that the existence of the program will get people to think in ways they wouldn’t have otherwise, to network and share ideas or gain inspiration from someone else’s.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Top 20 proposal submissions chosen will be posted, so visitors will be then able to vote for their favorite proposals, and their vote will weigh heavily on deciding the final winner.

Winners will then sign a contract with general rules governing how they conduct their projects, as we follow their progress throughout the year, posting it on the website. Each applicant will also get their own space to upload documents, photos, files, etc., to show what they’ve accomplished throughout the year.
 
PLEASE SEND SUBMISSIONS TO: shamanelf at iamshaman dot com.
 
In past years, we’ve received under 10 submissions that we would consider for the grant! – We never thought it would be so difficult to give away $5,000.00 in exchange for a good idea, so we are considering how to move forward for EarthGrant.

NOTE ON SUBMISSIONS: No proposals can be returned, so please make sure you have a copy of anything you send to us for consideration.  Any proposals that are not considered for the contest will be securely destroyed, and upon request, we will delete any digital record of your proposal as well.  Also, we will not, under any circumstance, share your proposal with any third party or use it for any purpose other than the explicit terms of this contest.