Apply for Potato Seeds

Thank you for your interest in applying for Potato Seeds!

Potato Seeds is a grant program run by the One of Us Global Foundation which provides $50-200 for youth developed projects and individualized mentorship to help develop youths as leaders. To be applicable, you must currently be 13-24 years old and live in the United States of America. 

Because we will not be able to support every application, public access to our asynchronous leadership and training resources is on our website. You are fully welcome and encouraged to apply again, if you are still applicable, in the next application cycle.

If you have any questions during the process, please refer to the FAQ section where we provide examples of applications and clarify our evaluation methods. If you have any further questions, please email contact@oneofusglobal.org.

Example Application

Project Description:

Which area(s) of interest most resonate with your project? (Provide a list of at most 6 interest areas)

A few examples of interest areas: homelessness, LGBTQIA+, environment, education, mental health, social justice…

Ex: “Education”

What community do you want to impact? (Maximum 50 words)

Ex: “Youth ages ~12-16 in my local community and broaden their knowledge of a new career path and foster their creativity.”

Explain which value(s) of One of Us resonates most with your project and why. (Maximum 100 words)

The values of One of Us are Love, Hope, Courage, and Wholeness. More about our interpretation of them can be found on our website.

Ex: “My project would best fit the values of hope and wholeness. The project fits hope because it is giving mostly underrepresented kids an opportunity to figure out their dreams. Additionally, the project fits wholeness because it brings the local youth community together with a single event.”

What do you plan to do and hope to change with your project? (Maximum 250 words or a 3 minute video).

Videos must be shared as a Youtube link. Here is a guide on how to upload an unlisted Youtube video.

Ex: “My plan is to bring together the creative power of LEGO and careful instruction to highlight a career path for youth who are starting to think about their future (this is found to be usually around age 13). The goal is to host an event in a public library where youth can build a LEGO set based around a certain career path and listen to someone speak about what jobs there are in a career and what has been happening in that career recently. The active building of a LEGO set and having a physical object to keep and take home increases memory retention due to our brains tying memories to objects. The best case scenario is a youth goes on a life-changing path with a new career trajectory. The middle-of-the-road scenario is that a youth broadens their knowledge and retains it more than if it were in a classroom setting. The worst-case scenario is a youth gets to bring a LEGO set home to use as they wish, which is a luxury many don’t have.”

Timeline Description:

Provide a timeline describing what you will accomplish in 6 months. Explain any resources, supports, and collaborations you may have which makes the timeline more feasible. (Maximum of 100 words, a photo, or a 3 minute maximum video).

Here is an example of a timeline. Videos must be shared as a Youtube link. Here is a guide on how to upload an unlisted Youtube video.

Ex: “1. In the first week reach out to my local library staff to gauge interest and place the event preferably in early fall. 2. Reach out to any teachers or businesses that may be interested in speaking. If for whatever reason a speaker can’t be at the event I would host the lecture as the backup plan.3. 2-3 weeks before the event spend the provided money on ~12 sets. Time and/or amount of sets may fluctuate based on availability and potential discounts. 4. Host the event”

Budget Description:

Provide a narrative budget within $50-200, including expenses and revenue. Explain any resources, supports, and collaborations you may have which makes the budget more feasible. (Maximum 100 words)

A narrative budget is a description of what you plan to do with the money. For example, “Expenses would include website hosting ($20), marketing ($10), and buying composting materials ($150). Fundraising will be used to cover the expenses for the crafts and the rest of the materials will be provided by the school I am helping.”

Ex: "My requested budget would be $130. All funds would be spent on multiple copies of this set: https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/space-shuttle-31134. The set costs $8-10 and around 10-15 would be bought depending on estimated event demand and any potential discounts. Any leftover money would be donated to the library. Additionally, in the (hopefully) unlikely scenario the project never gains any ground in any form, the money would be donated back to the foundation."