WiLS’ Ideas to Action Fund
The WiLS 2025 Ideas to Action Fund application period closed on June 2nd. Please check back in April 2026 for your next opportunity to submit a proposal!
The WiLS Ideas to Action Fund provides grants of up to $5,000 so member organizations can bring their project ideas to life. The Fund encourages partnerships and collaborations among WiLS members and with community partners, supports innovative and exploratory new work, and seeds the development of processes, methods, or resources that can be used by other WiLS members.
The total amount awarded in 2025 was $40,000. To date, the WiLS Board has awarded over $266,000 to 64 Wisconsin libraries and cultural organizations.
For examples of successfully funded projects, see the proposal for Appleton Public Library’s Piano Project or Tomahawk School District’s 2020 proposal to create an eSports club.
Have questions about WiLS Ideas to Action Funds? Watch the recording of our webinar on preparing your proposal or contact us at i2a@wils.org.
All WiLS general members are eligible to apply. If you are not a member, it’s free and the application process is quick and easy. Read more about joining WiLS here.
We recognize that sometimes the barrier to completing a project is not lack of funds, but lack of time. Instead of or in addition to funding, members can apply for WiLS staff time to support project planning, facilitation, survey design, marketing, or other project activities.
Review Process
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of WiLS Board members and staff and will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Need and audience: What is the need, problem, or challenge the project is addressing and how was that need determined? What are the primary audiences or communities this project will reach, and how will they be involved throughout the project?
- Impact: How will other libraries be able to use, borrow, learn from, or adapt your work? What kinds of documentation or other project outputs can be used by other WiLS members?
- Plan and Timeline: Is there a strong team in place to tackle this project? Are the project scope and scale realistic and appropriate to the timeline and budget?
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Does the project incorporate diverse community voices and perspectives? Do project partners include multi-type libraries or non-library organizations, if relevant? Are community partners involved as equal partners in creating and implementing the project?
Eligibility
- Complete the project in the timeline you propose (up to two years).
- Submit brief written reports to WiLS at the midpoint and end of the project.
- Make project outputs (guidelines, promotional materials, etc.) available to other members via the WiLS website.
- Collect basic evaluation information throughout the project (e.g. number of event attendees, number of equipment checkouts) and share that data with WiLS in the final report.
- Organization is expected to lead the project; WiLS staff time, if requested, is to be used for specific activities (planning, facilitation, survey administration, etc.), not overall project management or leadership.
Additional Information
At its heart, the Ideas to Action Fund is a competitive program designed to provide support for projects that are both innovative and reproducible. All proposals should include at least a component of the project that could be both inspirational to and replicable by other libraries and cultural organizations without the need for significant financial investment.
Strong proposals:
- Define a clearly articulated need, problem, or challenge at the local level that also considers any broader application to the wider Wisconsin library and cultural organization ecosystem.
- Include articulated or already-established partnerships to carry out the proposed work. These can be across libraries, cultural organizations, or communities. These existing or anticipated partnerships should be communicated with a clear and organized project plan.
- Are innovative, inspiring, and include novel ideas/concepts.
- Frame the project around the broader goal of the proposal versus framing it around specific equipment purchases. For example, a proposal that involves purchasing StoryWalk materials should not be framed around the brand and equipment associated with the StoryWalk, but instead around the community need and demand for something like the StoryWalk, such as bringing the community together, promoting physical activity, taking the library outdoors, etc.
- Include a fully itemized budget with cost estimates for each item.
- Can ask for both money and WiLS’ staff time, but all staff time requests should be offset by a reduction in the total proposed funding award. For example, a proposal requesting $3,500 would still have room to request WiLS’ staff support of their project up to a $1,500 value. However, a proposal requesting the full $5,000 maximum award would not. You can reach out to i2a@wils.org for assistance estimating the cost for staff time and services and if there is capacity to support a project.
- Demonstrate commitment to the spirit of the grant program and an organizational commitment to the project. Funded projects should not be the sole responsibility of a single person; all funded projects require a second contact to promote project sustainability and collaboration.
While we are open to the widest range of ideas (we love creativity!), we are unlikely to fund projects that involve:
- Straight-line equipment purchases
- Author talks/visits and other speaker honoraria
- Budget items related to consulting services
WiLS welcomes proposals from previous Ideas to Action Fund awardees, but only if at least two funding cycles have passed since the award. For example, if you received an award during the 2023 cycle, you are eligible again in 2026.
While WiLS would love to provide customized feedback on each proposal, due to the volunteer nature of the fund and a desire to keep the application process equitable, we are unable to do so at this time. We are unable to review full applications prior to proposal submission or provide specific feedback on rejected proposals during any given grant cycle. Annually, we host a virtual Q&A session in mid-to-late April for interested applicants to have a chance to ask questions and share ideas prior to submitting an application.
Past Ideas to Action Awardees
Have questions about WiLS Ideas to Action Funds? Contact us at information@wils.org.