Catalyst Fund Icon

Catalyst Fund
Investing in Our Members

The Catalyst Fund is an award program that provides support for new ideas and innovative projects that advance the mission and reach of Lyrasis member organizations.

Initiated by the Lyrasis Leaders Circle, the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund expands opportunities to explore, test, refine and collaborate on innovations with potential for community-wide impact. All Lyrasis members are encouraged to propose, become a reviewer and vote for which proposals are funded each year!

Catalyst Fund Values

The Catalyst Fund values are:

  • Community-driven projects and projects having community impact
  • Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility
  • Open source, open access, open sharing of results and open infrastructure
  • Cross-institutional collaboration
Creative Concepts

The Catalyst Fund supports creative concepts that:

  • Serve the broad interests of the Lyrasis membership
  • Test-and-try new approaches to shared problems; and
  • Advance important objectives of libraries, archives, museums and complementary research communities.

The 2024 Catalyst Fund Cycle

The 2024 Catalyst Fund Cycle has concluded. See the funded recipients and their projects. Our next application cycle will begin in January of 2025. In the meantime, the staff is happy to discuss concepts throughout the year. To make an appointment or ask questions, please contact catalystfund@lyrasis.org.

Submissions

Submissions are accepted from any member of Lyrasis. The types of applications seen in previous years have addressed subjects and concepts as varied as AI, accessibility, climate change, copyright challenges, digital archiving, disaster preparedness/response, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), metadata transformation, open educational resources, professional education, open source and community-supported software development, scholarly communication, social justice work and virtual reality, just to name a few. However, don't let this list limit your creativity.

A member may submit no more than ONE proposal and ONE idea per year.

  • If submitting a proposal, you are requesting funds to pilot your own project. Funds will be awarded to your organization if the project is selected.
  • If submitting an idea, you are recommending an issue, problem, service need or solution that Lyrasis could investigate, test and address. If selected, ideas will be included in Lyrasis' Research and Innovation agenda for exploration, planning, program design and piloting. Your organization may have the option, but would not be obligated, to participate in the resulting program, service, or solution.

If you wish to submit a proposal or idea to continue work on a project previously funded by the Catalyst Fund, you may apply. Such applications will be judged by the same criteria as others in the competition. The work on the prior Catalyst Fund project must be completed and the final report submitted for consideration of a new grant award. In addition, the new Catalyst Fund submission must include a description of the previously funded project's accomplishments and what new activities are proposed.

If you'd like the staff to review your application, or comment on your concept, reach out to us at catalystfund@lyrasis.org.

Not planning to apply this year? Consider volunteering as a reviewer.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2025 Catalyst Fund will open in January, 2025. Members are encouraged to discuss their proposed concept with Catalyst Fund staff prior to submitting a brief online application form and two-page PDF describing their proposal or idea.

Please review the Instructions and Selection Process & Criteria before submitting.

For Proposals:

  • All prospective applicants should consider discussing their proposed concept with Catalyst Fund staff prior to submitting a proposal. Contact catalystfund@lyrasis.org to schedule a meeting.
  • Review the Instructions for Proposals.
  • Create your proposal. Use this template (MS Word format) to create your application. Your final proposal will need to be formatted as a PDF.

For Ideas:

  • All prospective applicants should consider discussing their proposed concept with Catalyst Fund staff prior to submitting an ‘Idea’. Contact catalystfund@lyrasis.org to schedule a meeting.
  • Review the Instructions for Ideas.
  • Describe your idea. Use the template linked below (MS Word format) to create your own document using the same outline. Your final proposal will need to be formatted as a PDF.

Want to Learn More About The Catalyst Fund?
https://lyrasis.org/catalyst-fund/
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