In a universe where decisions are all too often imposed on Indigenous peoples, the Community Self‑Determination Grant at NDN Collective is the ultimate reversal. The grant is literally designed to support Tribal Nations, Indigenous nations, and Indigenous-affiliated organizations with the resources and freedom to drive regenerative change on their own accord. With a mandate built around justice, equity, and Indigenous self-determination, the program invests the aforementioned projects, among others, that defend, develop, and decolonize.
Through multi-year, adaptable grants, NDN Collective demonstrates confidence that the communities it serves will determine how to prioritize, protecting land, building regenerative economy, revitalizing languages, or individual and family wellness.
What Is the Community Self‑Determination Grant?
The Community Self‑Determination Grant is among the leading grants offered by NDN Collective. Its main point is to construct collective power among Indigenous peoples at Turtle Island (North America) and associated island nations through enabling the provision of support to organizations and societies toward sovereign work.
Strategic Plan: Oppose, Improve, Decolonize
Grant applications must comply with at least one among these thrice-pillars:
- Defend: Safeguarding land, water, and power
- Create: Sustainable community economies, climate resilience, regenerative systems
- Decolonize: Culture, language, politics, customary knowledge system
Key Features of the Program
Flexible Use of Funds: Beneficiaries can spend grant funds on general support for operations, power-building, capital, or program-related projects.
Grant Term & Size: Generally, grants last for up to two years. Awards were up to $125,000 per year in 2024, for two years total, $250,000.
Focus on Grassroots Leadership: Although national campaigns are qualified, NDN Collective supports ground-up, Indigenous-driven initiatives that are place-based.
Power-building & Community Engagement: Grantees are invited to orientation, learning spaces, and power-building circles led by NDN staff.
Reporting Requirements: Two comprehensive reports are needed to be submitted within the grant duration: mid-term and end-term reports.
Who Is Eligible?
Eligibility is built around Indigenous leadership and community engagement. Applicants are generally:
- Tribal Governments and tribal arms of Nonprofit Governments
- Indigenous-controlled nonprofit groups
- Indigenous grassroots movements and collectives
- Indigenous peoples around North America and island nations
NDN Collective means "Indigenous-led" to include Indigenous people in main decision-making positions on the board, leadership groups, or governing bodies.
Groups that are living in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Hawai‘i, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands are qualified.
For institutions that are not entirely Indigenous-driven, NDN supports candid discussion within applications and an explicit agenda toward further Indigenous leadership.
How to Apply (General Process)
1. Online Registration
Applicants start by registering through NDN Collective’s grants portal. Registration commonly comes before the window for the full application.
2. Make Full Application
Applicants are requested to give:
- Organization background and mission
- Explanation of the society and problems
- A proposition that complements at least one among the Defend, Develop, or Decolonize columns
- Aim, strategy, and results
- A project or operating budget
- Proof of Indigenous or leadership development
- Letters for support or rather endorsements
3. Review and Select
NDN Collective screens proposals with a focus on Indigenous sovereignty, community engagement, and alignment with the principles of the decolonial.
4. Award and Orientation
Some grant winners participate in the onboarding workshops and learning circles that help develop common strength among movements.
5. Reporting
The grantees must also present mid-term and terminal reports that outline progress, learned lessons, and financial stewardship.
NDN Collective supports an anecdotal reporting style, enabling the grantees to set the terms for what is successful.
Why the Community Self‑Determination Grant Is Crucial
Reasserting Power and Leadership
Differently from classical philanthropy, this grant enables Indigenous people to own the process for themselves. It forswears model-building through grants and acknowledges that the nearest to the problems are nearest to the solution.
Multi-Year Support, Multi-Year
Not many grant opportunities grant unrestricted funds, fewer, still, over several years. The versatility of this grant enables organizations to fund salaries, construct infrastructure, or conduct strategic planning. It’s for staying the course, not for showing results.
Honor, Respect, and Humane Engagement Are Paramount
Projects under the "Decolonize" category are frequently:
- Revitalization
- Ceremonial land reclamation
- Traditional governance restoration
- Cultural curriculum design
These are critical to recovery and long-term cultural sustenance and this grant undergirds them not as “baked goods,” but at the heart of Indigenous flourishing.
Addressing Climate and Ecological Harm
Within the "Defend" and "Develop" columns, the grantees can be tackling:
- Sustainable transport
- Sustainable food systems
- Land restoration
- Water protection
- Renewable energy
- Solar
These projects synthesize age-old wisdom and contemporary science to conserve ecosystems and promote the well-being of people.
Tips for a Strong Application
If future application windows become available, try these strategies:
- Focus the community voice: Make the needs and goals of your community the foundation, not someone else’s expectations.
- Emphasize Indigenous leadership: If your organization is not already Indigenous-led, demonstrate how it’s moving in that direction.
- Interconnectedness: Illustrate how land, culture, economy, and wellness are connected in your practice.
- Emphasis on sovereignty: Describe how your project enhances the power of the community over land, resources, or decision-making.
- Go for broke: Bid for what is needed, whether it is unlimited operating funds or facility support.
- Monitor progress, not merely metrics: Report how your learning, adaptability, and success are being learned, observed, and tracked.
What’s Changing in 2025
NDN Collective has also stated that the Community Self‑Determination Grant will not necessarily include an open call in 2025. The grant will rather be directed at return or existing grantee-partners.
Yet this move also indicates the larger strategy for the long-term relationship-building and further investment for movement from NDN. The organizations are invited to remain up to date, to enroll for updates, and to get active with other NDN projects, for example, the Collective Abundance Fund.
Indigenous Futures Leadership
The Community Self‑Determination Grant is an example of how grantmaking must come to the other side, not simply through the size of grants, but through relationship, value, and power-sharing. Trust that Indigenous communities know the direction that is best for themselves, and the result is not grant awards, but a movement.
For Indigenous-driven organizations, tribal government, and grassroots movements, this grant is not only a chance, it is an opportunity to dream bigger, to lead bolder, to build the future the way they want it.
For more information or to find updates on the Community Self‑Determination Grant check out NDN’s website.
