Despite the dustiness of this blog, KW Awesome has been running approximately every two months without interruption! Sometimes summers slow down, sometimes we postpone a month. But we haven’t stopped. This year, we’ll try to keep this blog up to date!
Now 50% more awesome ($1500!)
But more importantly, you haven’t stopped either. Amazing people all over Waterloo Region continue to show up for the community in creative, thoughtful, and delightful ways. Funding from the Awesome Foundation is just a tiny part of the whole picture, and we only manage to help a small number of the amazing projects happening in our community.
But late 2025, we figured… maybe we could be a slightly less tiny help to you. $1000 has been the prize for well over a decade. But a few things have changed:
- Things are more expensive now
- The number of trustees we have can consistently sustain a larger prize
So we’ve agreed that our prize is now $1500.
Answers to Questions
What is this again?
The Awesome Foundation has chapters world wide that all roughly do the same thing, though each chapter develops its own character and norms. We think ours is pretty cool. Every two months, KW Awesome invites ordinary people to pitch projects that might ‘make Waterloo Region more awesome’. We award one project $1500 in cash (usually by e-transfer). There’s no reporting or follow up required.
Who are you?
We’re just a group of ordinary people who agree to each donate $100 each pitch night. Our donations are modest compared to the magnitude of work the pitchers are doing. And we hate paperwork.
How often do pitch nights occur?
Roughly every two months, we invite people from our community to pitch ideas that would make the community more Awesome! It could be a specific event, a community group, a workshop, a festival, a social initiative, a community garden, etc, etc.
How do I apply?
Go here. It’s a very short form! We’ll get in touch with you if you’re invited to the pitch night.
I just missed the deadline
Apply anyway – sometimes we pull in late applications. Otherwise we’ll look at your application for the next round in two months.
How do you pick who to invite?
Conversations and some judgment. To maximize your chances of getting selected:
- You should have a pretty clear idea of what you want to do. What is your overall project, and what would you use $1500 for
- You should be able to explain how it makes Waterloo Region More Awesome.
We’re pretty sentimental about grassroots projects, but we have awarded grants to established local organizations, too. There are lots of ways to do cool stuff.
We typically but not always shy away from projects surrounding private businesses. We also typically but not always shy away from funding personal art projects that don’t have a community programming aspect to them. If you’re invited to apply, we’ll send you more details.
I don’t like public speaking
That sounds pretty normal, and you’re not really going to let that stop you from doing something cool in our community, are you??? Many trustees don’t like public speaking either!
We try to make things pretty relaxed – just do your best and communicate in whatever way feels comfortable to you… except for using slides. And we have a nice friendly Q&A afterwards if there are any additional things we’re curious about. The whole thing only takes a few minutes.
How do you choose who wins?
Choosing who to award the grant to takes a lot of conversation and is often really difficult. We use a ranked ballot system. We aren’t generally judging presentation polish – we really try to think about the actual projects being done.
What if I don’t win?
Do your thing anyway, we’re not important enough to stop you. We really really wish we could help everyone, but we can’t (…yet). One of our favourite things about pitch nights is that the people behind different projects get to meet each other, and trustees also like making personal connections. It’s really wonderful to see ideas getting swapped, schemes being hatched, people volunteering on the spot, or offering to make introductions.
What about Cambridge?
Ok, ok. Our name is a misnomer. But we’ve had it for a long time and we don’t like paperwork, remember? We welcome pitches from anywhere in Waterloo Region. That means: Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, and the townships (North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich)!
I don’t have a pitch. Can I watch a pitch night?
Yes! We typically host pitch nights at Together We’re Bitter Co-operative Brewing. Watch our home page for details!
How do you know a winner will use the money properly?
Trust is a beautiful thing.
-Mohan