NEGEF has two definitions of grassroots: 1) the grassroots are the everyday people, neighbors, who are engaged in local level issues, for whom community-based work is a passion and whose volunteer time is a priceless contribution to the common good.; 2) for our grant program, we define grassroots as groups that have annual operating budgets of less than $100,000 with no more than two full time staff. Two-thirds of grantee groups are all-volunteer.