Apply for a Beautification Grant!
Have an idea for how to beautify your community? Keep Charlotte Beautiful wants to hear it!
Each year, Keep Charlotte Beautiful (KCB) awards up to $5000 for community beautification projects through its Beautification Grant. The deadline for the 2021 Grant Cycle has passed, please check this page later in the year for more information about the 2022 Grant!
Projects must be visible to the community, be of sound and sustainable design, and fall within the four tenets of Keep Charlotte Beautiful: litter prevention, waste reduction and recycling, beautification, and community greening. For more information about these principles and project ideas, please see the table below.
KCB Core Principles & Eligible Project Opportunities
Clean-Your-Block Parties and educational efforts that promote litter removal & prevention.
Eligible expenses:
Branded safety vests, t-shirts, temporary signage, gloves, tools/tool rental and marketing efforts.
Please note that clean-up supplies, including litter sticks, trash and recycling bags, and safety vests, are available upon request through Keep Charlotte Beautiful.
Competitions and educational campaigns, decorative trash cans and recycling bins, pet waste stations, cigarette butt boxes and other methods to improve collection of waste and recycling.
Eligible expenses:
Program supplies, signage, bins, design fees and installation.
Beautification and placemaking enhancements, decorative elements including sculpture, painted pavement, murals, mosaics, decorative signal cabinet wraps, seating & benches. Façade improvements may include help your neighbor campaigns to manage lawns, landscaping and minor exterior home repairs, painting and other enhancements.
Eligible expenses:
Design fees, supplies and installation.
Community gardens, hydroponic gardens, street plantings, moveable planters or hanging baskets, trees, shrubs and other landscaping to promote bees, butterflies and other species, food production and clean air.
Eligible expenses:
Gardening tools/tool rental, design, signage, decorative elements including planter boxes and benches, potting soil and perennial plants*.
*Must include at least 50% native plant species.
Grant Considerations:
After you apply:
KCB Board Members will review applications and score them based on the following criteria:
Scoring Criteria
Project Impact & Community Need (10 Points)
Will the project have significant impact on beautifying the location's appearance? (0-5)
How visible will the resulting project be to the immediate community and to the broader population? (0- 5)
Project Design (15 Points)
How thorough is the projects design, is it ready for implementation? (0-5)
Have potential challenges or barriers been identified and process for resolution provided? (0-5) Is the schedule provided reasonable and achievable within the time allotted? (0-5)
Level of Participation & Community Involvement (10 Points)
How well does this project lend itself to, and achieve, a broad base of volunteer participation? (0-5) Are there sufficient partners or participants to implement and maintain the project? (0-5)
Project Budget (10 Points)
Was a complete budget provided? (0-5)
Does the budget demonstrate resourcefulness, cost effectiveness, and a thoughtful use of money? (0-5)
Sustainability with ongoing costs or maintenance needs (5 Points)
How well thought-out are the plans to sustain the impact of the project? (0-5)