Deadline: 15-Jan-21
The Greater Toledo Community Foundation is inviting applications for its Community Builder Grant program to support a variety of services in the fields of education, social services, physical and mental health, neighbourhood and urban affairs, natural resources, and the arts.
Emphasis is placed on programs that will: Create safe, positive living environments; Enable families to develop the skills/resources needed to support and nurture each member; and Foster the development of responsible young people who are capable of achieving their fullest potential.
Funding Categories
The Community Builder grant program offers grants in the following three categories:
- To provide seed money for new, innovative programming that addresses unmet community needs,
- To expand successful programming in order to reach unique audiences, or
- To provide capacity-building benefits to existing nonprofit organizations.
Funding Information
- The grant program offers grants of up to $25,000.
Activities
- Evaluation: funds may be requested to support costs associated with a high-quality, third-party assessment designed to ascertain a program’s impact or increase the effectiveness of an organization’s internal process.
- Business Planning: funds may be requested to support costs associated with a high-quality consultant to evaluate the organization’s fee structure, staffing configuration and other business practices and create a business plan designed to increase efficiency and sustainability. Funding to support regularly occurring organizational expenses like strategic planning processes will not be a high priority.
- Leadership Development: funds may be requested for agency leadership or board members to attend training opportunities. In this category, a high priority will be placed on joint-training sessions that incorporate leadership from multiple organizations. Recurring professional development opportunities like attendance at annual conferences are not eligible for consideration.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible requests can focus on one or more of the three categories above.
- Grants will only be awarded to nonprofit, charitable organizations which have been designated as having tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code.
- Applications must propose to provide services benefitting residents of northwest Ohio or southeast Michigan.
Grant Review Criteria
Competitive grant proposals will address the following:
- Promote coordination, cooperation and sharing among organizations. Applications which propose deep partnerships among organizations will receive high priority consideration.
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of other organizations providing similar services in the immediate geographic area and represent an unduplicated opportunity to meet a significant community need.
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of relevant community planning efforts and how the proposed program may correspond to and advance those plans.
- Encourage more efficient use of community resources.
- Test or demonstrate new approaches and techniques in the solution of community problems.
- Propose a specific program rather than general operating support for the organization.
- Include a thoughtful, reasonable plan for obtaining continuing financial support once Foundation funds are expended.
- Propose to generate matching funds, thus leveraging additional support.
Grant Application Process
- The Foundation considers grant requests two times annually. The deadline dates for proposals are January 15 and July 15. Proposals must be submitted through the Foundation’s online application process.
- The online application can be accessed via the Foundation’s website. Proposals must be received by 11:59 p.m. of the application deadline in order to be considered for funding. All grant applications are carefully reviewed by the Foundation’s professional staff and Board of Trustees.
- The Board of Trustees meets approximately two to three months subsequent to each deadline date to make decisions.
- Applicant organizations are notified, in writing, of the approval or denial of funding requests within one week after the Board of Trustees takes action. Project expenses incurred by an applicant organization prior to notification cannot be paid by the Foundation.
For more information, visit https://www.toledocf.org/grants-2/#tcf__grant-4386