Wellness Grants

Current BeWell Champions can apply for a wellness grant, ranging from $200 to $1,000, to fund a workgroup or department wellness activity.

Application periods:

• March 1 to March 15. Applicants will be notified by April 15.
• Sept. 1 to Sept. 15. Applicants will be notified by Oct. 15.

Application requirements:

• Applications must be submitted by a BeWell Champion. Become a Champion today.
• Grant proposals must be supported by your supervisor. The proposed activity should also be supported by colleagues and department leadership.
• If your proposal involves changes to facilities (e.g., bringing in equipment or modifying the built environment), get approval from your facilities manager before submitting your application.
• Because of limited funding, most individuals benefiting from the proposed activity must be benefits-eligible university employees. (i.e., exempt, non-exempt, academic or bargaining unit staff and/or faculty). Postdocs, fellows, and SHC employees are not benefits-eligible university employees.
• Describe the wellness outcome you wish to achieve.
• Use the SMART format to describe your proposed wellness activity:
  • Specific: Be as specific as possible with the activities you’re proposing. Include all relevant details.
  • Measurable: How will you measure the outcome of your proposed activity or activities?
  • Achievable: Ensure that your proposed activities are achievable.
  • Realistic: Are your proposed activities and budget realistic? Please demonstrate why.
  • Time-bound: What is the time frame for your goals? Can you achieve your outcomes through your proposed activities and timeline?
• Demonstrate how your workgroup will sustain this new wellness practice after the grant period is over. 
• Describe how this activity will promote a culture of care in your workgroup.
• Let us know which wellness practices your department has already implemented.
• Propose an itemized budget. Your goals and activities must align with your fund request; the funds must be necessary to support the proposed activity. Please research all costs involved before submission. If your application requires the assistance of other departments or partners, please consult with them and confirm the potential costs before submitting your application. Be as cost-effective in your proposal as possible; priority will be given to applications with a relatively low cost-per-person ratio (i.e., less than $50 per person, and even better, less than $35 per person).
• Only complete applications, submitted by the due date, will be considered. Applications with missing, under-specified, or inaccurate information will be not considered.

We strongly encourage applicants to review the sample application and grant FAQs before completing their application.

All grant recipients will be asked to provide periodic progress reports three and six months after receiving the funds to describe how the activity is going and how their funds are being used.

Wellness grant activity examples:

• Compassion check-in rituals: A team decides to focus on compassion in the workplace. Collectively, they use the funds to bring a virtual compassion training to their workgroup through Healthy Living for Teams. They acquire new skills to implement compassion check-ins and use this  ritual at the start of their meetings.
• Move more: A team creates a shared goal to move more in short bursts throughout the day. They design their activities and track their progress as a group. The department uses the funds to purchase exercise bands for their movement breaks. The workgroup changes work policies to build an exercise break into the workday.

Please email bewellchampions@stanford.edu with any questions.