November 14th, 2019, marked the 20th anniversary of the creation of The DAISY Foundation. We never imagined that DAISY's recognition of nurses' extraordinary compassionate care would spread as far and as wide as it has, with thousands of healthcare organizations and schools of nursing worldwide committed to celebrating their nurses with us. We kicked off that anniversary year by announcing yet another expression of our gratitude to nurses- a grant program offering funding to DAISY Honorees who want to share their clinical expertise and extraordinary compassion by participating in a medical mission.
-Program Goals
-General Guidelines and Requirements
-What is Funded
-Application
-If Your Grant is Funded
-After Your Mission Trip- Required Documents
-Mission Opportunities (not required)
Program Goals
According to the World Health Organization, some 3.8 billion people lack access to basic healthcare services. Nurses who volunteer their time and expertise to medical mission trips, providing care in under-served areas, are making a significant difference to those populations. Often, medical mission trips require that volunteers pay their own expenses. From time to time, we have been asked to contribute to those expenses, and we have not, until now, had the means to do so.
Therefore, as a new benefit, The DAISY Foundation is offering grants to DAISY Honorees who require funding for their expenses to volunteer on medical missions. We hope this new initiative will encourage nurses who have demonstrated extraordinary compassion in their daily practice to contribute to patient care for the world’s most under-served and vulnerable people.
If you are planning to go on a medical mission and are hoping DAISY can help fund it, here are the guidelines for this grant program:
General Guidelines and Requirements for Research Grants and EBPs
Eligibility
Applicants must be DAISY Award Honorees who have been registered with The DAISY Foundation. If you don’t know if you have been registered with us, please visit www.DAISYFoundation.org. Type your name into the search bar at the top of the home page. You should find your DAISY Spotlight page. You’ll need the URL for this page for the application. If your page does not appear, please ask your organization’s DAISY Coordinator to register you before you complete your application. Please note, you may not apply for and receive this grant more than three times.
What we will Fund
Should your application be chosen, we will pay your direct costs to participate in a medical mission, not to exceed the grant amount of $1,500.00. An example of a direct cost would be your travel expenses, not indirect costs, such as wages and vacation days lost by your participation in the mission. For the purposes of this grant, your medical mission must be recognized as a provider of clinical and/or medical/health education services to populations in need.
Criteria for Selection
A team of Reviewers will review your statement through a blinded process and score based on four criteria:
- Medical Mission purpose and alignment with your professional skills (Professional Perspective)
- Why this mission is important to you (Personal Perspective)
- Expected Contributions and Outcomes as a DAISY Nurse (Scope of Impact)
- How you will share your story with others (Dissemination)
Your Medical Mission trip must take place after the application deadline. We are no longer providing grant funds to trips that have already been taken.
Funding Your Grant
Checks will be issued to our Grantees as individuals- not to your organization nor to the mission organization-
When you return from your mission and provide documentation that you participated. Please understand that we appreciate that sometimes, someone will commit to a mission trip, and then, unfortunately, have to cancel at the last minute. Our payment process ensures we are paying for missions actually taken.
Please check with your tax preparer to ensure this grant is not taxed as income. The DAISY Foundation is not responsible for any tax liability to this grant may incur.
Grants of up to $1,500 each will be funded
Application Form
Medical Mission Grant Application Form
Following Application Acceptance
Grant recipients will be notified by email whether or not their application is approved for funding. All applications will require a waiver document with your signature to ensure that The DAISY Foundation has no liability for your safety in the medical mission that you will participate in, should you be selected for a grant.
Following Your Mission Trip
Within 30 days of your return from your mission trip, to receive reimbursement, you will complete the form below where you may describe the impact of your medical mission and your contribution to it. You will be able to upload photos for our use in the publicity of your experience and future promotion of this grant program. Also, through this form, you will provide the receipts for your expenses that we will reimburse.
DAISY looks forward to using your description and your photos in marketing the Foundation and the grant program in the future.
Finally, we require that you share the story of your mission experience as you described you would in your application.
Mission Opportunities Through DAISY Supportive Associations
If you are looking for opportunities to participate in a Medical Mission, we have several Supportive Association partners that may be a good fit for you. You are not required to participate with these particular organizations, and the trips are not affiliated with The DAISY Foundation. Please use the links below to learn more.
U-VOL Foundation
About U-VOL Foundation:
U-VOL (United Vessels of Love) Foundation is an international healthcare relief non-profit organization in the United States. Founded by a passionate Nurse Practitioner, its mission is to help meet the unmet healthcare and wellness needs of underprivileged societies through medical outreach, health education, clean water, hygiene, sanitation, women empowerment and other healthcare sustainability projects. U-VOL's vision is to build dynamic relationships and partnerships with people, communities, and organizations to create global healthcare and wellness initiatives to lessen existing healthcare disparities worldwide.
How U-VOL serves through Medical Missions:
U-VOL holds various international medical mission trips throughout the year providing free medical services from health promotion, screening, treatment and general surgeries.
Medical missions open doors by providing access to underserved and often marginalized regions and people groups. It’s an opportunity to both serve & advocate for others.
Volunteering your time and expertise to support the health and wellness needs of the most vulnerable communities provides impactful support to communities in need and connects you to people, ideas, and experiences that will positively impact your perspective for the rest of your life.
Learn more about U-VOL’s volunteer medical mission opportunities at https://www.u-volfoundation.org/become-a-volunteer or email us at volunteer@u-volfoundation.org for inquiries.
VOOM Foundation
About VOOM Foundation:
The VOOM Foundation is an international medical humanitarian organization that provides open-heart surgery to the underprivileged in Nigeria and medical training and education through collaboration with Nigerian hospitals. Since 2014, VOOM Foundation has provided missions supporting open-heart surgery, cardiac interventions, and general surgery. We focus on training the local staff with a long-term goal of a sustainable open-heart program. To date, VOOM leads all healthcare organizations in Nigeria in open-heart procedures performed, although our primary focus is to train and educate. VOOM Foundation makes it a priority to serve indigent patients who cannot afford to fly out of the country for healthcare.
If you are a medical professional interested in volunteering on a mission, please sign up through our website and you will be contacted by VOOM Foundation staff for further details.
Please check out our website for upcoming medical mission dates and details here: https://www.voomfoundation.org/mission-dates--sign-up.html
Mercy Ships
About Mercy Ships:
Mercy Ships began their mission in 1978 to provide hope and healing to those in need. Each year they send hospital ships filled with volunteer professionals who provide life changing surgeries to children and adults who otherwise would go without. 50% of the world’s population lives near a coast, so these “floating hospitals” can provide care where resources are scarce. In addition to the free surgical services they provide, they also create lasting change by training local professionals, providing new medical tools and resources, and renovating facilities. Learn more on getting involved here https://www.mercyships.org/