Through State Farm Neighborhood Assist, a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative, communities determine where grant funding is awarded, exclusively through Facebook. The grant application is short and simple, and is available on the Neighborhood Assist Facebook application at www.statefarm.com/neighborhoodassist or https://www.facebook.com/statefarm/app_107426122768295.

The submission phase is open from now through March 6 and each Facebook user who downloads the free application can submit up to three causes. Anyone living in Canada or the United States with a Facebook account is eligible to submit a cause. It’s better to submit early, as a maximum of 3,000 submissions will be accepted. The cause must fit into the categories of safety, community development or education. Each cause will be matched with a nonprofit organization that will “run the program.”

After the submission stage ends, the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, a group of college and high school students from across the country, will narrow down the submissions to the top 200 finalists. Here’s what the YAB board will be looking for:

1. How much does the cause focus on an unmet need in the community?

2. How would the $25,000 be used to address the unmet need?

3. How will the project make a lasting impact on the community?

4. How will the project define and measure success?

Once the top 200 causes are identified, they will appear on the Facebook application to be voted on by the public. Voting will take place from April 4 through April 22 and each Facebook user gets 10 votes every day. Winners will be announced on April 29.

Last year in North Carolina, there were three $25,000 grant winners.