Denver Foundation’s Community Grants Program – United States

Deadline: 1-Aug-23

The Denver Foundation is pleased to invite qualified organizations to apply for funding from the Community Grants Programs (CGP).

The Denver Foundation is a community foundation dedicated to improving life for people who live in the seven-county Metro Denver region, which includes Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties.

The Denver Foundation supports nonprofits that advance their Core Values of community leadership and racial equity.

Vision

• A Metro Denver that is racially equitable in its leadership, prosperity, and culture.

Mission

• They inspire people and mobilize resources to strengthen the community.

Purpose

• They are a proactive, collaborative, and resolute leader in reducing racial disparities.

Priority Areas

• The Denver Foundation seeks proposals from organizations that center BIPOC voices and constituent-led work in the following areas:
  • Economic Opportunity
    • Community wealth-building
    • Workforce development
  • Education
    • K-12 reforms with an emphasis on:
      • Racial equity
      • School funding
  • Environment and Climate
    • Energy efficiency
    • Renewable energy
    • Air quality
  • Housing
    • Affordable housing
    • Homelessness
  • Transportation
    • Public transit accessibility and affordability

Funding Information

• Grant awards typically range from $20,000 to $50,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• They seek to fund organizations that are aligned with the Denver Foundation’s values.
• They fund 501(c)(3) organizations and collaborative efforts among 501(c)(3) organizations and other groups in the sevencounty Metro Denver region that address one or more of the goals. Organizations that have fiscal sponsorship from a 501(c)(3) are eligible to apply.
• They prefer requests for general operating support, but they will consider both general operating and program support.
• The Denver Foundation wants to follow your organization’s progress and commitment to constituent and BIPOC inclusion in staffing and board representation to better serve all populations utilizing your services. They will prioritize funding to support BIPOC-led organizations and will take into account your overall progress and learnings.
• They prioritize improving the lives of historically oppressed people living in Metro Denver, with a particular focus on people who live in low-income communities and people of color.
• They seek to reduce racial and ethnic disparities, as well as economic disparities.
• They support organizations that share and demonstrate the Core Values of racial equity and community leadership.
• They do not fund proposals that fall outside of the priority areas. The Denver Foundation embraces organizations that work to address two or more of the priority areas.

What they do not fund?

• Capital campaigns
• Building endowments or reserve funds
• Membership campaigns
• Sponsorships
• Retroactive funding, i.e., activities, projects, or programs that will be completed before funding becomes available
• Debt retirement
• Grants to individuals
• Grants for re-granting purposes
• Grants for medical, scientific, or academic research
• Grants that further political doctrine or religious activities
• Grants to parochial or religious schools
• The Denver Foundation does not fund organizations or programs that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), physical or mental disability, pregnancy status, body type, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, except to serve a historically disadvantaged group.

For more information, visit The Denver Foundation.