Deadline: 30-Jun-21
The Wichita Community Foundation is pleased to announce the Evergy Community Investment Fund Grant Program.
Type of Projects
Nonprofits are eligible to apply for one project type.
- Community and environment enhancement
- Enhancement of the look and feel of a neighborhood (e.g. housing façade improvements, neighborhood cleanup/blight removal, interactive art, murals, neighborhood naming stones, sidewalk installation/repair)
- Enhancement of public spaces to promote a sense of community (e.g. park improvements, neighborhood celebrations and/or recreational activities, wayfinding signage, median beautification)
- Service a community need (e.g. fresh produce opportunities, energy-efficient housing improvements, small business development, entrepreneurship)
- Youth enrichment and development
- Support early childhood learning (e.g. literacy programs, all day or half-day preschool programs)
- Mentorship for students in grades three to 12
- Encouragement of career advancement (e.g. career development programs for students in grades six to 12)
- Provides work experience for teenage students (e.g. summer youth employment)
Funding Information
- Grant requests between $5,000 and $100,000 from Wichita nonprofits and will award a total of $200,000 in 2021.
Eligibility Criteria
- If your organization received a grant from the Evergy Community Investment Fund at the Wichita Community Foundation in 2020, your organization is not eligible to apply in 2021.
- All applicants to the Evergy Community Investment Fund at the Wichita Community Foundation must be in good standing with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office, must be currently exempt under IRS Section 501(c)(3), and classified as an organization to which contributions are deductible under Section 170(c)(2), normally a public charity under Section 509(a).
- If an emerging nonprofit is certified by the Internal Revenue Service through a form 1023EZ, or is working with a qualified Kansas nonprofit as their fiscal agent, they may apply.
- 501(c)(3) nonprofits serving zip codes 67208, 67214 and/or 67219
- 501(c)(3) nonprofits based in or that have a chapter in Sedgwick County, Kansas
- Projects focusing on either community and environment enhancement or youth enrichment and development
Additional Details
- Preference will be given to projects that are within direct visibility of the upgraded high-capacity transmission lines installed by Westar Energy.
- While some amount of operational expenses of the nonprofit organization may be covered as part of the project covered by the grant funding, grants will not be made to a nonprofit solely to cover operational expenses. Operational expenses must be presented as a unique line item within the project proposal.
- There will be no future funding for ongoing maintenance of any physical structures. Given the nature of a proposed project, if ongoing maintenance will be required in the future, the project plan must provide details of how that funding will be raised in order to avoid having the original project fall into disrepair.
- Sponsoring nonprofit organizations must be of sufficient size (personnel and fiscal resources) to handle the proposed project. Established history of execution on similar projects is a plus.
- Any project signage and/or publicity for funded projects must reference the Evergy Central NE Fund at the Wichita Community Foundation. Artwork design/font/colors will be approved by WCF prior to use.
For more information, visit https://wichitacf.org/nonprofits/grants/available-funding/evergy-community-investment-fund
