Deadline: 1-Oct-21
The Community Foundation of Northern Lowa is inviting applications for Black Hawk County Grants. The Community Foundation provides eligible agencies 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 of support are in the following program areas:
- Art and Culture
- Community Betterment
- Education and Youth Development
- Environmental & Animal Welfare
- Health Human Service
Funding Preferences and Priorities
After first considering how strongly a proposal fits the Community Foundation’s strategic initiatives and aligns with the core values, the committee evaluates every grant request according to the following criteria:
- Soundness of the organization’s fiscal, strategic, governance, and program delivery practices.
- Degree to which the project addresses community need.
- 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 our community’s diversity challenges?
- Grow Leadership – Does this help expand volunteer leadership skills and knowledge in our community?
- Build Organizational Capacity– Will this strengthen the foundation or engine of the organization?
- Align with our other Strategic Priorities – Child care, art and culture, and workforce readiness
Funding Information
- While grants can range from $5,000 to $50,000 or more depending on the amount of funds available, the majority of our competitive grants range from $7,000 to $25,000. Applicants interested in applying for more than $50,000 are encouraged to contact Program Director Tom Wickersham prior to applying.
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.
- It is suggested that organizations that are applying for the first time (or the first time in a number of years).
For more information, visit https://www.cfneia.org/grants/grant-opportunities/1-black-hawk-county-grants