Announcing the 2025 GM on Main Street Grant Recipients
Meet the recipients of the 2025 GM on Main Street grants!
Named Best Fundraiser by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, the Friendly City Fortune is Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance’s (HDR) biggest fundraising event. Each summer, HDR raffles off $250,000 in cash and prizes to 54 lucky winners from the local community. The funds support HDR’s work to make Harrisonburg a destination for locals and visitors.
HDR developed the event to raise increased funds from a wider donor pool while also giving back to the community. They describe it as a win-win-win program. “Prize winners win, HDR wins because it can fund an ambitious work plan, and the downtown wins, too, when HDR can do more to improve downtown and strengthen the district so visitors and locals can have more memorable experiences and the business community can thrive,” said Emily Winter, Director of Marketing.
Prizes are given away every five minutes for four hours, building excitement and momentum over the course of the event. This year’s event featured phenomenal prizes including a 2022 Kia Telluride, an all-inclusive trip to St. Martin, a speakeasy part for twenty at a downtown venue, a Coleman Outfitter 400 UTV, a Fuse Sport Mountain Bike, a MacBook Pro, and a $20,000 check! HDR works with local venders to supply these prizes.
Proceeds are based on the number of tickets sold, how many winners select the prize or the 50% cash payout, and how much raffle marketing and other expenses cost. Tickets cost $100 and offer two chances for the ticketholder to win.
The funds raised through Friendly City Fortune have had a huge impact on HDR’s work. Projects funded through the program include:
- Façade enhancement grants
- A sculpture instillation
- Alley beautification project
- LED holiday lights
- A multimedia shop small campaign
- Customized technical assistance for small businesses
- Free community festivals and events
The program also provides an opportunity for rich community engagement and stakeholder networking. For example, in January, HDR ran a “this or that” promotion on Facebook and Instagram where people voted for which prizes they’d like to see offered at the raffle. HDR also gives tickets to important community members, like healthcare workers, the fire department, and the police department. The tickets are sold in local businesses in the downtown, encouraging people to visit these shops and hopefully buy other items along with the tickets.
“This fund raiser has allowed us to level up and start making some things happen that would have taken years of fund raising to accomplish,” said Executive Director Andrea L Dono. “From realizing small business’ dreams through our Bricks & Clicks assistance program to giving kids a new place to play on our latest public art sculpture - we are thrilled that the community (and beyond) is supporting our raffle and helping us meet important community goals.”
Related News and Stories
Main Spotlight: Connecting, Innovating, and Sustaining a Healthy Main Street Movement
Key takeaways from six sessions at the 2025 Main Street Now Conference.
Announcing the Science Discovery on Main Street Grant Recipients
Main Street America is thrilled to announce the 12 Science Discovery on Main Street grant program recipients.
New Webinar Series: Turn Your Grant-Writing Goals into Funded Realities with Intro to Grant Writing
Whether you're new to grant writing or seeking to sharpen your expertise, this four-part webinar series—presented in partnership with Grant Ready Kentucky—will provide you with the tools and insights needed to secure funding and drive your mission forward.
© skynesher/Getty Images Signature
Main Spotlight: A Short Guide to End-Of-Year Fundraising
The holidays are a great time to boost your fundraising efforts and meet your annual goals. Check out these tips for how to run a successful end-of-year fundraising drive.
Advocacy Spotlight: Improving Connectivity in Main Streets through Infrastructure Investments
Learn how Main Streets can tap into federal resources to improve transportation infrastructure, take down barriers, and improve access to key services.
Main Spotlight: How Fredericksburg Main Street Uses Shop Crawls to Boost Downtown Businesses
Shop crawls are a great way to introduce people to your small businesses. Fredericksburg Main Street loves to host shop crawls, and this spring, they tried a new model: the flower crawl.
Apply for the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant Program
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure has many benefits for Main Streets. Learn how to apply for federal funding to support EV charging in your community.
500 Small Business Owners Receive $10,000 through Backing Small Businesses Grant Program
American Express and Main Street America announced the 500 small business owners who have been awarded $10,000 through the Backing Small Businesses grant program.
Apply for the Safe Streets and Roads for All Program to Support Safety in Your Downtown
Learn how the Safe Streets and Roads for All program is providing grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.
Streetscape in Denison, Texas. © Mel Climer — Climer Design
T‑Mobile Helps Drive Local Change with Over $12 Million in Hometown Grants
T-Mobile announced its latest round of Hometown Grant recipients, with 275 communities across 46 states now part of the exclusive crew that will receive funding and support to fuel local projects that help people connect and innovate.
Announcing the GM on Main Street Grant Recipients
Meet the recipients of the 2024 round of GM on Main Street grants.
Community Spotlight: West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition in Charlotte, N.C.
Learn how this organization is uplifting business owners and preventing displacement.
Charlotte, NC © Pixabay
Thriving Communities Program FY23 Program: Hands-on capacity building support for infrastructure projects
Learn how you can participate in the Thriving Communities program as a capacity builder or how you can receive support from the program.
Main Spotlight: Fighting Hunger at the Roslindale Village Farmers Market
Learn how this Massachusetts community uses their farmer's market to increase access to fresh food.
A Big Win for Older Buildings, Main Streets, and the Climate
Learn how the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) and the Clean Communities Accelerator Fund (CCIA) will pump billions of dollars into reducing carbon emissions from the built environment in the coming years.
T‑Mobile Hometown Grant Program Reaches 200 Winners
Meet the newest recipients of the T-Mobile Hometown Grants, reaching a milestone of 200 towns impacted by the program.
A Match Made on Main Street: Channeling Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Dollars to Small-Scale Deals
Main Street America is leading a coalition urging that the EPA make available the GGRF funds for adaptive reuse and location-efficient projects because of the substantial greenhouse gas emissions reduction offered by such developments.
Main Spotlight: The Power of Collaboration: How the Boston Main Streets Foundation Serves the Community as a Public-Private Partnership
Learn about the Boston Main Street Foundation’s role in fostering powerful collaborations, and stay tuned for our final featured article in March.
The Small Deal Survey: What We Learned
In Fall 2022, MSA partnered with infill developer and small-deal guru Jim Heid and the Incremental Development Alliance to conduct surveys on the barriers to small-scale real estate projects across the United States. Here we share the results.
Main Spotlight: How to Build a Meaningful End-of-Year Fundraising Initiative
Creating a meaningful, place-based fundraising program is a great way to tap into the holiday giving season while centering your mission and values.
Main Spotlight: Beyond Passing the Plate — The Main Street America Small Deal Initiative
Main Street America launches a project to learn more about the specific barriers to small-scale real estate development on our Main Streets and identify solutions for financing small-scale deals.
Main Spotlight: Catalyzing Upper Floor Housing with the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program
learn how Rethos: Places Reimagined is encouraging upper-floor development through their program funded by the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program.
Red Wing, MN © Megan Tsui
Community Spotlight: Main Street Programs Receive AARP Community Challenge Grants
The AARP Community Challenge program gives out quick-action grants to activate public spaces. Meet some of the Main Streets awarded grants through the program this year.
Main Spotlight: People-Centered Funding for Main Streets in the New Economy
An exploration of microfinance as a tool that helps communities and small businesses thrive, while allowing money to be reinvested in local businesses and neighborhoods where it is needed most.
Main Spotlight: Behind the Ribbon Cutting — The Merwyn Building
How do those amazing Main Street rehabilitation projects happen? And what policies and public support make them happen? In the Behind the Ribbon Cutting series, we look at a project or businesses from concept to opening day to break down the partnerships and funding brought to bear and recognize how we can advocate for policies and resources for revitalization across the country.
Astoria, OR © ADHDA
Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Georgia: Progress on the Georgia Main Street Innovation Grant Program
To support Georgia Main Streets throughout the recovery process and position them for long-term sustainability, Main Street America launched the Georgia Main Street Innovation Grant Program, made possible through generous support from The Williams Family Foundation of Georgia.
Thomasville, GA © Thomasville Main Street
Main Street: A Place for a More Connected Economy in a World of Dispersion
The global pandemic gave us all a glimpse of a further dispersed future – a time when you don’t sit in a classroom at school, watch movies in a theater, or even go to the grocery store. Where do Main Streets fit in that model?
Main Spotlight: Understanding Philanthropic Resources in Community Economic Development
Community economic development leaders need to get creative with their fundraising plans, identifying and securing diverse funding sources from both inside and outside their community
San Francisco, CA © Bjorn Bakstad
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: First Round Recipient Spotlights
These 67 recipients from across the country ranged from bakeries and boutiques to salons and museums, but they all shared a commitment to the program's goals of responding and adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic and helping to revitalize and strengthen older and historic downtown commercial districts.
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Spotlighting Tina’s Timeless Threads
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
Main Spotlight: Creating an Exchange of Ideas, Perspectives, and Relationships
Learn how the Main Street Exchange Visits made people think in different ways, interact with peers, forge new relationships, and travel beyond the bounds of their own communities for inspiration.
Community Spotlight: Missouri Main Street Connection Leads the Iowa Community Expedition
Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) had the opportunity to take Missouri Executive Directors and other community representatives on the Iowa Community Expedition
Community Spotlight: Final Round of Made on Main Street Events
Main Street America partnered with OneMain Financial to create Made on Main Street.
Local Impact: Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday® is more than a day to shop. It’s a nationwide movement that shines a spotlight on the importance of supporting small businesses in communities across America.
Community Spotlight: Newton, North Carolina
The Downtown Newton Development Association (North Carolina) partnered with the City of Newton on a temporary tactical urbanism project to demonstrate how their permanent streetscape improvements will benefit downtown.
Made on Main Street: Painesville, OH
Over 500 people braved the misty rain this past weekend to come and celebrate Painesville and its Made on Main Street community transformation project.
Inspiring a Community and State to Build a Better Block
In October 2017, Main Street Ottumwa collaborated with local partners, Main Street Iowa, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Better Block Foundation to stop planning, talking, and wishing, and start doing.
Grants to Green Maine Channels Yankee Ingenuity to Reduce Energy Costs
As part of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta’s Grants to Green program, Maine was designated one of two national replication sites.
Transforming a Neglected Parking Lot in Metuchen, New Jersey
The Metuchen Downtown Alliance created a cool, family-friendly public gathering space in “the worst looking spot in town” with the help of just $2,500 in Edward Jones Placemaking on Main Challenge matching grant funds,
Community Spotlight: #ShopSmall in Goldsboro, North Carolina
Small Business Saturday promo pic from Downtown Goldsboro, North Carolina, showing all the folks who took the pledge support a small business in their community.
Network Spotlight: Main Streets Raise Money to Help Hurricane-Affected Communities in Texas
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Main Street merchants in two communities in Michigan and Kentucky, as well as a fellow Texas Main Street community, jumped in to help their Texas colleagues.
Network Spotlight: Edward Jones Placemaking on Main Crowdfunding Challenge
Through the Edward Jones Placemaking on Main Crowdfunding Challenge, the National Main Street Center and Edward Jones awarded 10 Main Street America programs $2,500 each in match funds to implement their lighter, quicker, cheaper-type placemaking projects.
Sparking a Movement in Small Business and Small Towns
Being the only person in the know can be fun, exhilarating even. Except when you are the one person out of 600+ in a room and you know bad news is coming.
Partnering for Good Design
In 2016, the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center partnered with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Interior Architecture (UNCG) to provide design assistance to Main Street communities.
Working with Homeless Individuals
Main Street America is committed to helping build inclusive communities. Homelessness is an increasingly important issue facing Main Street communities big and small, urban and rural.
Re-Ride Me Cheyenne: Implementing a Free Bike Share Program
How one Wyoming Main Street implemented a free bike share program.
National Parks and Main Street
With 413 National Park areas¹ and over 1,000 Main Street America programs, it’s no surprise that many of the communities following the Four Point Approach serve as gateways to our national parks.
We Are Milford Mural
The local Main Street organization, Downtown Milford Inc., is trying to address these shifting demographics by creating a more inclusive sense of community.
Building Community Through Street Fairs: Eight Fundraising Tips for Making Your Street Fair Profitable
Street Fairs are fun! Fundraising is not. Unless an individual or local business would like to underwrite the full cost of your Fair, consider the following eight tested fundraising programs.
Get Ready to Ask for Year-End Gifts
Given these facts and others about year-end appeals, you should be planning a fundraising campaign during the six weeks of the year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
Shark Tank ‘Living Session’ Teaches Sponsorship Survival
Enter the aLABama Downtown Laboratory, a two-day event where participants work in sessions to study, analyze, and question experts on one area of the Main Street Four Point Approach®.
Value Propositions That Work
5 questions to understand how to tap into the motivations of your Main Street stakeholders to achieve what you (and they) want.