Black Hawk County Grants Program 2020 (United States)

Deadline: 1-Oct-20

The Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa is seeking applications for the Black Hawk County Grants Program 2020.

The Community Foundation provides to the eligible agencies a one-year discretionary grants on a competitive basis to improve life for residents of Black Hawk County, Iowa. Requests can be for operations, programming, materials, equipment, and capital projects

Areas

Areas of support are in the following program areas:

Art & Culture
Community Betterment
Education
Environment
Health
Historic Preservation
Human Service

Funding information

While grants can range from $5,000 to $50,000 or more depending on the number of funds available, the majority of competitive grants range from $7,000 to $25,000.

Funding Preferences and Priorities

The top priority is to fund nonprofits most affected by and/or dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. Applicants are encouraged to apply for general operating support instead of project-based proposals. Beyond that, they prioritize grant request according to the following criteria:

The soundness of the organization’s fiscal, strategic, governance, and program delivery practices.
The degree to which the project addresses community needs.
Use of evaluation to assess progress towards goals.
Level of collaboration and being part of a broader approach to improving the lives of community members. In addition, the Community Foundation prefers to fund projects that:
- Are QUALITY – Is this feasible and consistent with the latest knowledge of what works?
- LEVERAGE additional support – Does this generate support, particularly from outside sources?
- Make long-term IMPACT – Will this lead to new solutions for the community?
- Are SUSTAINABLE – Will this continue without annual grant support from the Community Foundation?
- Address INEQUALITY – Will this project proactively address the community’s diversity challenges?
- Grow LEADERSHIP – Does this help expand volunteer leadership skills and knowledge in their community?
- Build ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY – Will this strengthen the foundation or engine of the organization?
- Align with other STRATEGIC PRIORITIES – Child care, art and culture, and workforce readiness.

Eligibility Criteria

Organizations must provide benefits to the people of Black Hawk County and must meet the following criteria in order to apply for a grant:

Be classified as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or be a government entity. Tax-exempt organizations classified as other than 501(c)(3) are also eligible if and only if the project is deemed charitable;
Be current with all state and federal reporting requirements.
Must not have any past due grant reports for previous CFNEIA grants. For groups, projects, or initiatives that do not meet the above eligibility requirements, the Community Foundation will consider projects submitted through a fiscal sponsor. Fiscal sponsors must be classified as a 501(c)(3) or a government entity. The Community Foundation prefers that the fiscal sponsor’s mission closely align with the sponsored project.

Restrictions

In addition to the eligibility requirements, the following restrictions also apply:

Requests should be for one year only.
Requests should be a minimum of $5,000.
Organizations can submit only one proposal at a time. Applicants may also submit up to one additional proposal as a fiscal sponsor.
Grants will not be made to an organization* in consecutive grant cycles. For example, if an organization receives a grant in the fall cycle, it is not eligible to apply in the following spring cycle.
Organizations with a separate supporting organization (like a “friends of” or a foundation) can apply through either the organization or through its supporting organization, but not both. The Foundation encourages applications to be submitted through the supporting organization.
Public and private schools and school districts are eligible, however, requests for capital improvements, salaries, technology, or equipment are not eligible.
The Foundation will not support requests for funds that are re-granted or redistributed by the applicant.
The Foundation will consider requests for capital campaigns, but will not provide multiple grants (in subsequent years) for the same campaign.
Inherently religious activities such as religious worship, instruction, or proselytization or activities that promote specific religious doctrine are not eligible.
Requests for partisan political or lobbying activities are not eligible.
Requests for debt reduction/elimination are not eligible.
Operational requests from other foundations are not eligible.