Grants & Opportunities

Grant Categories

1. Planning Grants
   • Purpose: To support the development of actionable plans for addressing specific rural health care challenges. These grants are ideal for organizations or partnerships seeking to assess needs, build capacity, and design evidence-based solutions tailored to their rural communities.
   • Funding Amount: Up to $100,000 per award
   • Duration: 12 months
   • Stipulations: Up to 10% of the total awarded amount can be used towards indirect costs
2. Implementation Grants
   • Purpose: To fund the execution of well-developed projects that directly improve access, quality, or sustainability of health care services in rural Tennessee. These grants are intended for initiatives ready to move from planning to action.
   • Funding Amount: Up to $500,000 per award
   • Duration: Up to 36 months
   • Stipulations: Up to 10% of the total awarded amount can be used towards indirect costs.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants include:

• Non-profit organizations, health care institutions (non-profit and for-profit), academic institutions, and community-based organizations serving rural areas in Tennessee.
• Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to addressing health care gaps and engaging local stakeholders in their proposed projects.

Application Process

Letter of Intent (LOI)

• Deadline: November 14, 2025
• The LOI should provide a brief overview of the proposed project, including:
  • Organization name, primary contact name and title, email address, phone number, mailing address
  • Project title and type of grant (Planning or Implementation)
  • Brief biosketch for the Program Director (PD)/ Principal Investigator (PI) and all key personnel (see example below)
  • If a nonacademic institution, identify what grant writing support might be needed for application submission

And max 500 words total for following sections:

• Outline and evidence of the rural health care challenge being addressed
• Evidenced-based description of how proposal addresses the problem
• Key objectives, anticipated outcomes, and challenges
• Proposed partners (if applicable)
• Estimated budget range

Full Application (By Invitation Only)

• Based on the review of LOIs, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal with detailed project plans, budgets, dissemination plan (sharing of results with state partners, broader scientific community and the lay community), and timelines. Additional guidance will be provided upon invitation.
• An invitation to submit a full application does not guarantee funding

Review Criteria for LOI

• Rural/Rural Serving – Institution must be located in a rural area OR located in a rural-adjacent community that serves rural communities (weight: Qualifying/Disqualifying).
• Community Need – The institution clearly articulates a health care need within the rural community (weight: 35%).
• Evidence of Need – The institution has either qualitative or quantitative evidence that supports their articulated need (weight: 25%).
• Response to Need – The institution has a clearly articulated response to the need, built on evidence, and is reasonable for the scope and size of the organization (weight: 30%).
• Community Partnerships – The institution has engaged with other organizations in the community that will help address the need (weight: 10%).