Ian Helms Award
Apply for the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship
The Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship honors organizations whose creative and inspiring projects increase self-sustainability while also providing a strong social return.
The primary objective of the Ian Helms Award is to help already-active small nonprofits establish or grow a source of regular revenue that will both help secure the sustainability of the organization while also providing employment, education, or support to those in need.
As program-related investments (PRIs) have great potential but are still relatively unknown and under-utilized, this program will also help expand awareness of this funding vehicle within the broader philanthropic community. We hope to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit and to fund the start or ongoing sustainability of social enterprises, formed by non-profits to diversify their funding resources while also increasing their social returns.
About Ian Helms
Capt. Ian K Helms, USAF, grew up moving around for his father's Air Force career. He graduated in 2008 from the U.S. Air Force Academy where he served as the Fall 2007 Cadet Wing Commander. Ian then attended Exeter College, Oxford University as a recipient of the Holaday Scholarship, a Dakota Foundation program supporting graduate education. After Oxford, Ian flew the B-1 bomber in combat supporting the Global War on Terror. Ian passed away from cancer in March 2016 and is survived by his wife Alexandra, his parents, and brothers. In honor of Ian's tremendous record of leadership and devotion to serving his community, the Dakota Foundation is honored to sponsor this award bearing his name.
Description of the award program
The program consists of three phases, subject to review at each stage, characterized by a reciprocal agreement between the Dakota Foundation and the beneficiary:
First, the Dakota Foundation will provide an initial grant that the beneficiary will use as upfront capital to help establish or expand a source of revenue.
If feasible, once the initial phase has been realized, the Dakota Foundation will expect to consider a program-related investment (PRI) to consolidate the long-term stability and success of the new or expanded revenue stream.
In the spirit of philanthropy and community, in subsequent years the beneficiary will agree to share expertise and knowledge gained on an informal basis with future recipients of the Ian Helms Award who may benefit from such mentorship.
Progression to each phase will depend upon feasibility as determined by The Dakota Foundation in consultation with the beneficiary
Award amounts
The amount of the initial grant and any subsequent PRI will depend on the specific details of the proposal, not to exceed $100,000. Depending on the availability of resources and the suitability of proposals received, The Dakota Foundation may choose not to bestow the Ian Helms Award in a given year.
Funding guidelines and eligibility
Before submitting an application, please review The Dakota Foundation’s application guidelines, and ensure you fall within our geographic purview and have mission alignment. This award favors new partnerships to The Dakota Foundation.
Application and deadline
Interested program leaders may submit a proposal via the application form below. The application requests some information about your organization and leadership, a brief but specific description of the intended project and justification for the funds requested, the intended social impact, and plans for the effective utilization of any future revenues achieved. To be considered for our 2024 award cycle, proposals must be submitted by February 29th, 2024.
Past Award Recipients
+ 2024: Breakthrough, Denver, CO
The 2024 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is Breakthrough. Breakthrough seeks to foster positive transformation and empowerment for incarcerated individuals, helping them achieve their highest potential while changing community perceptions of those with criminal histories. They use a holistic approach that includes the in-facility career education program and provides wraparound services post-release. Notably, the organization has a 6% recidivism rate among its graduates, compared to Colorado's overall rate of 47%, and a 91% employment rate, significantly higher than the state’s 30.7%. The initial $50,000 grant will enable Breakthrough to continue its life-changing services while developing a Pay for Success model. This model will facilitate the establishment of key performance indicators (KPIs) with stakeholders and enhance relationships with the Governor’s Office and other potential funders to create a sustainable funding stream that empowers individuals in the criminal justice system.
+ 2023: Benevolence Farm, Graham, NC
The 2023 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is Benevolence Farm. The organization seeks to cultivate leadership, promote sustainable livelihoods, and reap structural change with individuals impacted by the criminal legal system in North Carolina. Upon leaving prison, the barriers women face finding safe housing, secure transportation, obtaining gainful employment, receiving medical and mental care, and reuniting with children are staggering. Benevolence Farm exists to ensure that women leaving incarceration have a fair shot at a second chance, providing services and resources that directly address these barriers. While residents at Benevolence Farm, women earn a living wage operating a 13 acre farm developing skills in sustainable farming and small business practices. Proceeds from the sale of produce, flowers, herbs, and natural body care products go back into the program. The $80,000 initial award will be used to hire a graphic designer, update packaging and market displays, and for staff wages.
+ 2022: The Other Side Academy, Denver, CO
The 2022 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is The Other Side Academy. The Other Side Academy was founded in Orem, Utah in 2015. Using the same successful model, a Denver, Colorado location was established in 2019. The organization’s mission is to provide repeat criminals and chronic substance abusers, many of whom experience homelessness, the ability to change their lives, free of charge, in a 2+ year, residential, non clinical, work-oriented environment. Students are taught skill sets needed to create and maintain healthy lifestyles long-term and secure economic self-sufficiency. The Other Side Academy became self-sufficient in May of 2021 through revenues generated by the social ventures of its students. The $100,000 award, structured as a $25,000 PRI and $75,000 Grant, will be used to expand The Other Side Furniture Boutique, an already operational boutique furniture business in Denver, Colorado.
+ 2021: Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute, Rural Southwest Colorado
The 2021 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is the Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute. As a Community Development Financial Institution, Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute is a community-oriented, integrated education/mentorship/micro-financing non-profit that creates economic and social mobility through entrepreneurship. Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute has filled a gap serving under-resourced entrepreneurs who have both a feasible business idea and entrepreneurial spark but often lack the resources and support to transform that idea into an income-generating business. The organization’s mission is to create the space for communities and people of all backgrounds to realize their unique potential through the power of entrepreneurship, serving its entrepreneurs through both business development and lending services. Their unique model creates a $3.64 social return on every $1 invested in the form of measurable social and economic gains among entrepreneurs and the regional Denver Metro community. The $70,000 award will enable the Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute to expand their mission into the rural San Luis Valley of Colorado. This initial award may be followed by an additional $30,000 Program Related Investment.
+ 2020: Frames Prison Program by Brink Literacy Project
The 2020 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is the Frames Prison Program by Brink Literacy Project in Denver, CO. Brink Literacy Project's mission is to utilize the power of storytelling to positively affect the lives of people on the brink. Through their education, community, and publishing divisions, their nonprofit works worldwide to foster a love of literature, increase literacy rates, and use storytelling to empower underserved communities. The award carries an initial $40,000 grant designated to support the non-profit’s work in local max-security women’s prison populations, and will follow with another $40,000 grant AND $15,000 PRI to support the revenue generating project of publishing stories from those within the Frames Prison Program. This creative initiative's goals are to increase literacy rates, decrease recidivism, and shift public perception of those with justice backgrounds.
+ 2019: Simply Good Cakery by Extended Hands of Hope
The 2019 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is Simply Good Cakery by Extended Hands of Hope in Denver, CO. Extended Hands of Hope’s mission is to offer safe housing and supportive services to sex trafficking survivors, empowering them to move forward with hope and dignity. The award carries an initial $50,000 grant designated to support the non-profit’s new Simply Good Cakery, a social enterprise, and will follow with another $50,000 PRI to support the ongoing growth of the program. This innovative initiative offers survivors of human trafficking practical pathways to freedom and self-sufficiency through paid employment and on-the-job economic empowerment training. In addition to employment and a path to self-sufficiency, this one-year empowerment program offers survivors training and education in Financial Literacy, Business Management, Cake Decorating and Baking, and Customer Service. The enterprise will also create a sustaining revenue source for Extended Hands of Hope.
+ 2018: Community Violence Intervention Center
The 2018 recipient of the Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship is the Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC) in Grand Forks, ND. For over 38 years, the CVIC has worked to create violence-free families and communities by building coalitions, raising awareness, generating new ideas, and raising the resources necessary to improve lives and halt entrenched cycles of violence. The 2018 Ian Helms Award consists of a grant of $50,000 in 2018, with the option for a $50,000 PRI in 2019. The funds will be used to create a new software package that will drastically reduce the amount of labor-hours necessary for the proper compilation and organization of data, thereby saving money and greatly facilitating the work of the CVIC’s front line of counselors, educators, and treatment professionals. If successful, the software might be licensed out to other organizations and governmental partners, thereby securing revenues for the CVIC and promoting efficiency elsewhere in a model of social entrepreneurship.
+ 2017: Discover Goodwill - Things Forgotten But Not Gone
Things Forgotten But Not Gone is a nonprofit division of Discover Goodwill of Southern and Western Colorado. It is a personalized, white-glove service that helps seniors and their families prepare for the next stage of their lives by assisting with downsizing and decluttering and, if needed, by providing affordable and much-needed packing and moving services, house cleaning, and estate sale management. The employees of Things Forgotten But Not Gone are trainees of Discover Goodwill, and their services help raise funds to support Discover Goodwill’s other operations in the community. In 2017, Things Forgotten But Not Gone received $100,000 as the first recipient of The Dakota Foundation’s annual Ian Helms Award for Social Entrepreneurship. $25,000 was in the form of a grant for startup costs and $75,000 was a PRI to provide working capital for the operation.