Individuals and teams working at small and large organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors (including universities). We particularly invite submissions from SBAN members and from BIPOC- and immigrant-led organizations.

Authors of selected proposals will be notified Thursday, May 16, 2024. Case study site visit hosts will be selected and announced at the same time as the case study grantees.

Organizations are encouraged to partner and collaborate on the proposal and subsequent work. However, only one organization can be identified as the main applicant, and one member of that organization must be listed as the “Key Contact.” This will be the primary grantee and main SBAN point of contact.

Only one person from the main applicant organization should be listed as the “Key Contact.” Other team members who are serving a leadership role should be listed as “Project Leaders.” Other support staff who will not play a key role in the design and execution of the project can be listed as “Additional Staff.” However, all team members should attach CVs or resumes and contact information, including their organization affiliations. The main applicant organization will be responsible for contracting with SBAN and ensuring that all other team members are compensated. They will also be responsible for communicating any information from SBAN to other team members.

Applicants should be individuals with direct and deep knowledge of small business anti-displacement issues. A Ph.D student, consultant, organizational entity, or public agency can apply and be the key contact and/or project leader.

Yes. Applicants may propose to study the efforts of other organizations or their own organization.

The proposal criteria do not specify scale. Applicants are encouraged to propose a scale that best fits them. Scales could be: hyper-local street; identifiable community, neighborhood, or business area; local jurisdictions; regional corridor; state; multistate region; or national in scope.

SBAN is happy to make introductions to SBAN member organizations and encourage collaboration among applicants. If you are interested in partnering with an SBAN member organization or with another applicant, please reach out to the SBAN case study team at SBAN@umd.edu. We would also encourage you to reach out directly to SBAN members or other organizations who you know are applying.

A list of the SBAN member organizations is provided on the SBAN website at https://antidisplacement.org/our-network/member-directory/.

We welcome proposals to study anti-displacement efforts not listed in the toolkit. 2024 proposals should focus on community ownership strategies that  prevent small business displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods.  We are particularly interested in examples of strategies that have worked for BIPOC and immigrant businesses and communities. 

Community ownership is a long-term solution that allows community members and stakeholders to control commercial assets, land, and enterprises. It provides stability for small businesses and helps avoid commercial gentrification pressures, including rapid rent increases. Community ownership can be a catalyst for asset- and wealth-building in low-wealth communities, helping to promote community control and self-determination. Community ownership models support both individual and collective ownership. 

Case studies should examine how community ownership strategies allow vulnerable small businesses to remain and thrive in their communities. They should offer lessons for combating commercial gentrification. Examples of potential topics include:   

• Commercial Condominiums
• Commercial Cooperatives
• Community Land Trusts
• Commercial Property Acquisition Funds
• Community Investment Trusts

We understand that “success stories”’ in anti-displacement work are hard to define. We are seeking examples and narratives that help us understand how to build strategies that can advance ground-level work and policy in community ownership for BIPOC- and immigrant-owned businesses facing displacement pressures. Studies of outcomes that are different from what an organization originally envisioned, as well as stories about challenges along the way, are welcome. These case studies should be accompanied by explanations of what may have been done differently and lessons learned. Applicants are also encouraged to explain and define their own measures of “success.”

Yes. Just as success is hard to define, it is also sometimes difficult to see quick policy changes or outcomes in this work. We are looking for case studies that are useful to organizations working on the ground with small businesses as well as policymakers and advocates working to advance small business anti-displacement agendas. We are interested in learning what has worked and not worked, how, and why. These projects do not necessarily need to be complete as they may be in their early phases with little to no policy changes produced. However, projects that have yet to begin are probably too new to offer substantive results.

The final case study is expected to be a 25-30 page narrative document that includes graphics, photos, and other visual material. This should include a detailed description of the specific anti-displacement tool(s) or strategy deployed and recommendations for other organizations that wish to advance similar work. The case study should be supported by a description of the individual or organization submitting the study and the community context in which the case study is being implemented. Please refer to examples of previous SBAN case studies and a sample outline.  SBAN will publish awarded case studies in 2025 and provide limited copy editing and graphic design support for the final document.

We also encourage other types of media and formats, including videos and policy briefs, as a supplement to grantees final project submissions.

Yes. Grant monies can be used to buy out a percentage of employees time to work on the project. Their percentage time and salary should be listed in the budget.

Successful applicants will meet with our SBAN case study coordinator and liaison during one kick-off webinar, two group webinars, and four individual sessions. The coordinator and liaison’s roles are to support and advise grantees throughout the process. The coordinator will facilitate learning among the teams and work to identify common challenges, solutions, and resources. SBAN will also work to enhance each grantees’ capacity to conduct policy-relevant research, data collection and management, and analysis through individual consultation to identify grantee needs and challenges. This may include connecting you with data, research, or networks to advance your work. We will also provide limited copyediting and graphic design support for the final product. We understand that the needs of each grantee will vary. SBAN staff will be available to answer any questions or concerns throughout the process and will work to ensure that your final product is distributed widely to multiple stakeholders.

SBAN staff will be available to answer questions about the process and the proposed ideas via email (SBAN@umd.edu) and during the pre-proposal information session, Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 2:00pm ET, via Zoom. (Register to attend). However, SBAN will not directly review and comment on proposals until the formal review process. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to attend the pre-proposal session.

Selected grantees will receive the $15,000 grant in three payments of $5,000 after the completion of key milestones, which include submission of their work plan and outline, draft report, and final report. Payments will be made in the form of University of Maryland honorariums, which will require a signed W-9 and honorarium document (provided by SBAN). It can take between 30 to 90 days to receive payment once the proper paperwork is submitted.

Any case study applicant can apply to host a site visit. This is part of the case study application process and no separate application is required. Awards will not be given solely for site visits and must be in conjunction with a case study award. Only two grantees will be selected.

Case study site visits will provide the SBAN members and broader audiences of stakeholders a first-hand look into communities who are actively combatting displacement, and what is working on the ground. These participatory workshops are meant to complement and inform grantees case studies, while also being a learning opportunity for workshop participants. 

Some of the expectations, roles, and responsibilities of a host are:

• Collaborate with SBAN to develop site visit agenda
• Identify and share preferred lodging options and airports for out-of-town participants
• Prepare all material to hand out to participants
• Arrange for welcome dinner and lunch(es) at a space conducive to dialogue
• Secure participation of local stakeholders in the site visit
• Arrange for local transportation related to site visit, including bus with microphone
• Arrange for all meeting spaces
• Design route for bus 
• Design and lead walking tours, ensuring the interaction with businesses and other pertinent local stakeholders
• Prepare facilitated panel discussions and presentations, ensuring participation of SBAN leadership and local stakeholders
• Create site visit agenda for participants

The site visits will occur in the Fall of 2024 and the Spring of 2025. Site hosts will discuss with SBAN the most appropriate time to host the site visit. View our film We’re Still Here, made during our Summer 2023 site visits, for a sense of what the event entails.

No. Only two of the selected case study grantees will be selected to also host site visits. When responding to the RFP, you will have the option to indicate your interest in hosting a site visit.

• How the site visit incorporates the tools and strategies on which the case study is based;
• Experience hosting similar site visits;
• Organizational capacity to manage the logistics of the site visit; and
• Relevance of sites to be visited to the purpose of the site visit.

Those who are selected to host a site visit will receive their $10,000 via a process similar to payment for case study grants, which requires the completion of a W-9 and two invoices. Grantees can invoice for half the expenses ($5,000) before the site visit occurs, and the other half ($5,000) after the site visit is complete.  

If you have further questions or concerns, contact the SBAN case study team at SBAN@umd.edu.