Deadline: 16-Nov-20
The Outer Banks Community Foundation is accepting applications for COVID-19 Rapid Response Grants Program to support nonprofit organizations on a proactive and/or competitive basis, as urgent needs arise. Rapid Response Grants may follow a natural disaster (e.g., Hurricane Dorian) or maybe initiated during other times of need (e.g., COVID-19 crisis).
Purpose
- The primary goal of COVID-19 Rapid Response Grants is to enable nonprofits to adapt, expand, or initiate vital services to the Outer Banks through the Coronavirus crisis. Those services could include child care, elder care, patient care, emergency response services, financial assistance to people out of work, nutritional assistance, and beyond. They define the Outer Banks as Dare County, Ocracoke, and/or the Currituck beaches.
- To be eligible for a Rapid Response Grant, programs must be related to the COVID-19 crisis, either directly (e.g., programs to stop the spread) or indirectly (e.g., assistance to working parents without child care). They will also consider grants that would allow a nonprofit to adapt its existing programs in the face of the ever-evolving COVID-19 landscape (e.g., modifications to a food program to allow for community closures). In all cases, special emphasis may be given to efforts that help the most vulnerable and/or most people in a community.
Eligible Organizations
- Any nonprofit organization serving the Outer Banks is eligible applied — including those organizations that have an active Community Enrichment or Special Focus Grant with the Community Foundation. Local organizations may be given priority for funding.
- Schools and government agencies may be eligible to apply if it is demonstrated that financial support is not available from other sources.
- Churches and faith-based organizations are eligible to apply for projects assisting the wider community (i.e., not just members of their own faith or congregation), and if their outreach does not include the promotion of religious beliefs.
Eligible Projects
- COVID-19 Rapid Response Grants will be awarded to support the direct costs of a charitable project or program (e.g., supplies, equipment, food, educational materials, program staff). Operating, overhead, and indirect costs are not eligible for grant funding.
- Contract help and/or additional program staff may be eligible if used for extra personnel hired or augmented to meet a need related to the COVID-19 crisis. Grants are to be used for program staff only; neither administrative nor management staff time is eligible.
How To Apply
- Before applying, please call or email to discuss your nonprofit’s needs. Grant requests will be reviewed quickly to ensure rapid decisions and timely programs.
- Applications should consist of a one- or two-page letter in PDF format, briefly describing your nonprofit’s mission, the project at hand, the dollar amount requested the local need it would meet and the beneficiaries of the proposed program. Please be as specific as possible in terms of the number and demographics of the people you would serve with the grant.
- Attached to your letter, please include a project budget in PDF format and, if you’ve never received a grant from the Community Foundation, your 501(c)3 letter, also in PDF format.
- The next deadline for COVID Rapid Response Grant applications is 5 pm on Monday, November 16. Funding decisions will be made on Thursday, November 19.
For more information, visit https://www.obcf.org/grants/rapid-response-grants/
