Tis the season for applications to be filed for potential assistance, whether it’s financial or a hand up. The latest call for applications comes from the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas for its GroundFloor program.
Having been established in 2013, it got up and running thanks to “seed investment from AT&T, Ernst & Young and generous donations.”
Exactly what is GroundFloor? No, it’s not a program to teach folks how to fix elevators. Rather it offers “social innovation endeavors that would typically not be eligible for a grant through United Way’s competitive Community Impact Fund process, as a result of the early stage of their business.”
That all sounds sort of heady. To put it simply, it’s a three-part program that includes
- financial capital for seed and early-stage ventures;
- human capital from our world-class mentors representing leaders in the areas of entrepreneurship, academics, public policy and the social sector; and,
- social capital through connecting our portfolio companies with resources from over 1,000 corporate partners and over 80 service providers.
According to a United Way spokesperson, UW has invested $300K in GroundFloor fellows with individual fellows receiving gifts ranging from $35,000 to $175,000.
It might help to know past recipients. While the press release reported that “The first GroundFloor Fellows, including Café Momentum, Dallas Teacher Residency, Upswing, and AdvanceNet Labs leveraged their mentoring, support and seed funding investments of $610,000 to raise an additional $3M to fund their impact work,” the very first crop of fellows for 2013-2014 was actually made up of Café Momentum, Dallas Teacher Residency, LiftFund and Spark 101.
According to Café Momentum Executive Director/Chef Chad Houser, “As the first GroundFloor fellow, United Way has been critical in helping us grow this unconventional youth program that everyone told me wouldn’t work.”
And Chad should know since Café Momentum has been a “fellow” twice!
Other fellows for the past couple of years have included
- 2014-2015: Per Scholas, Upswing, 2ndSaturday and AdvanceNet Labs’ SafeNight
- 2015-2016: Café Momentum and Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
But back to the GroundFloor process. The selection will be made through a competitive business plan and pitch competition for “promising social ventures focused on solutions that address the issues of education, financial stability and health.”
If selected, the group will receive seed funding, thousands of dollars’ worth of training, mentoring and support that will help them rise to the next level within their industry. Other perks include:
- One-on-One Mentorship: Mentors have experience in a variety of fields and are paired with Fellows based on need and expertise. Mentoring can range from providing an overall sounding board as a business develops, or more strategic problem-solving in specific areas. Mentors have included Yvonne P. Booker, Trey Bowles, Debra Brennan Tagg, Dana Brown, Christopher Cervantes, Sejal Desai, BJ Fineman, Rick Galloway, Mike Gelhausen, Rick Jackson, Peter Klingman, Selena LaCroix, Robin Minick, Cynthis Nevels, Kimberly O’Neill, Marlon Rollins, Frank Santoni, Jessica Shortall and Bob Wright.
- Peer Learning: GroundFloor Fellows navigate the Accelerator as a group and benefit by watching and learning from each other. An important component of the program is building a camaraderie with a group of like-minded entrepreneurs who can serve as support and a resource in the future.
- Workshops: GroundFloor Workshops cover a variety of topics that are valuable to early-stage ventures. These topics can include: pitching, marketing, board development, legal structure, social media strategy, accounting, crowdfunding and measuring impact.
- Financial Capital: Seed money is awarded to give Fellows the runway to get their startups established.
- Increased Visibility: The social capital of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas helps to shine attention on GroundFloor Fellows through media coverage and participation in community-wide events.
- GroundFloor Staff: After an initial assessment of an organization, staff will work to establish short and long-term goals and help to achieve them during the 10-month program. Staff strives to provide accountability and create forward momentum for Fellows.
But the catch is that the applications are due in less than a month — Friday, August 21. Here are the deets on how to apply. Now get going, if you want to be a fellow!