Deadline: 26-Aug-2024
For the 2024 Community Fund grant cycle, the Fund and its partners at the Philadelphia Marathon Weekend seek to support programming that takes a holistic approach to youth wellness and inspires lifelong healthy activity.
The Community Fund is an annual grant opportunity hosted by the Philadelphia City Fund in which community organizations are invited to submit proposals for charitable projects that address the grant cycle’s theme for the year. The Fund seeks to support proposals addressing Philadelphia’s greatest areas of need and to align with the City’s goals to improve the quality of life for all Philadelphians.
This grant opportunity is made possible through the Philadelphia City Fund’s partnership with the Philadelphia Marathon Weekend, which allocates a portion of its annual revenues to the Community Fund.
This year’s theme will focus on “Nurturing healthy minds, bodies, and spirits through out of school time programming.”
The Fund will accept proposals from charitable nonprofit organizations that provide out of school time (“OST”) programming that promotes the healthy physical, social, educational, and emotional development of youth, ages pre-K thru 12th grade, in Philadelphia.
This focus area is a priority for the Philadelphia Marathon Weekend as it continues to support and attract youth to its Nemours Children’s Run and integrate them into the race weekend to encourage lifelong athleticism.
Funding Information
- The total funding allocated for the 2024 cycle is $250,000. Grantees will receive awards of $25,000 in unrestricted funds to be used however they see fit, which can include general operations, programmatic activities, or other costs that support the organization’s mission.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be considered for funding, applications must be submitted according to the deadlines, eligibility, and format as set forth in these guidelines and on the online submission form.
- Applicants must demonstrate their charitable organization’s 501(c)(3) status. If the applicant organization will be sponsored by a charitable fiscal sponsor, the applicant must demonstrate its sponsor’s charitable 501(c)(3) status.
- The Fund seeks to support small nonprofit organizations. Only organizations with annual operating budgets which do not exceed $5 million are eligible.
- Only organizations that provide out-of-school time (“OST”) programming to youth in Philadelphia will be considered eligible. OST programming is defined as programs and activities designed for youth enrolled in pre-K through 12th grade to contribute to the overall well-being and safety of youth through access to services that promote their healthy, physical, social, educational, and emotional development.
- In order to increase equitable access to OST programming across the city, preference will be given to requests from organizations that provide programming in the following Priority ZIP Codes: 19120, 19124, 19132, 19134, 19138, 19139, 19141, and 19144.
- Priority ZIP Codes were identified through an analysis conducted by the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families, Performance Management and Technology Team. This analysis used metrics related to quality of life (i.e. poverty rates, number of shootings, and percentage of youth involved with the City’s Department of Human Services (DHS)), the distribution of OST slots across the city, and the utilization of slots funded by DHS.
- Grant awards will be unrestricted, with a one-year grant term expected to begin in February 2025. Funding may be used as the grantee sees fit, which can include general operating support, programmatic activities, or other expenses that support the organization’s mission. Applicants will be expected to address the grant cycle theme “Nurturing healthy minds, bodies, and spirits through out-of-school time programming” in their application, either by connecting the theme with their organization’s mission and/or programming, or, if you intend to use this funding to support specific programming, by explaining how the proposed activities meet the theme.
- Grant funds may be used to supplement (but not replace or redirect) any federal, state, and/or local funding currently provided.
- Grant funds will be awarded on a one-time basis, with no obligation for future funding from the Philadelphia City Fund.
- If awarded funding through this opportunity, grantees will be expected to meet the requirements of the Pennsylvania childcare regulations throughout the grant term. In accordance with the Child Protective Services Laws, 24 P.S. § 1-111, as amended, and 23 Pa. C.S.A. §§ 6354-6358, it is required that all employees, officers, agents, servants, volunteers, or subcontractors of the grantee who will have direct contact with children must have:
- Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (Act 33)
- Pennsylvania State Police Criminal History Clearance (Act 34)
- Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Criminal History Clearance
- Mandated reporter trainings
- For those sites operating in PA DHS Certified childcare sites, the National Sex Offender Registry verification is also required. Grantees must be able to provide the Philadelphia City Fund with proof of staff clearances upon request.
- If awarded funding through this opportunity, grantees will be expected to carry and maintain all insurance coverage reasonably necessary and appropriate under State and Federal laws during the grant term. Upon request, grantees must be able to provide the Philadelphia City Fund with a certificate of insurance evidencing its coverage.
Ineligible
- The Community Fund will not support the following:
- Lobbying or political activity
- Proposals that do not satisfy the Eligibility Criteria or Timeline described in these guidelines
- Requests from applicants that previously received a grant from PCF (formerly “The Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia”) and did not submit a final report or did not fulfill grantee requirements
For more information, visit The Philadelphia City Fund.