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The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado promotes philanthropy by responding to the needs of donors and investing in the vision, passion, and expertise of local nonprofit organizations. The Foundation's grantmaking programs help improve the quality of life within the Northern Colorado region and encourage a more giving community.
To apply for a grant from the Community Foundation, an organization must be a 501(c)3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization that directly serves residents of Larimer County.
2008 Competitive Grantmaking Process:
Nonprofit agencies are now invited to submit one Letter of Inquiry (LOI) for consideration by our Grant Review committees. Prior to submitting your LOI, please carefully read the instructions below and then visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
In calendar year 2007, the Community Foundation made grant and program distributions totaling $3.3 million. Only a small percentage of those distributions are made as part of the Fall competitive grant cycle (during the Fall 2007 competitive grant cycle, we awarded 45 grants totaling $136,119.)
The size of our competitive grant awards varies a great deal; grant awards may depend on the size of the fund and the assessment of need. In Fall 2007, most competitive grant awards ranged from $500 - $6,500; one $10,000 grant was awarded. The median competitive grant award in Fall 2007 was $2,500.
Letter of Inquiry Instructions:
1. Nonprofit agencies should identify the community or area of need (see Letter of Inquiry Links below) that will be the primary beneficiary of the project or organization for which you are seeking funding.
2. The deadline to submit a Letter of Inquiry is 5 p.m. on Friday, July 25. Once your LOI is submitted, you will receive an email confirmation for your records. You will also be able to log back in to My Account and view your submission.
3. Each 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency may submit only one LOI.
4. Our Grant Review committees will review all LOIs and then take one of the following three actions for each LOI: (a) Award funding; (b) Deny funding; (c) Ask an applicant to submit a full application for further consideration.
5. Agencies selected to submit a full application will be notified of that opportunity by Sept. 1. They will receive an email with a link where they will expand their LOI to become a full proposal. The deadline for submission of full proposals will be Sept. 26.
6. Agencies that are not selected to submit a full proposal will typically receive an email advising of their status by Sept. 15.
7. Grant checks are mailed by the end of November.
Letter of Inquiry Submission Tips:
- We understand that some agencies serve the entire county; however, agencies may submit only one LOI ---select either a community LOI (Berthoud, Fort Collins, Loveland) or the county-wide LOI (Hope Fund) described in the Letter of Inquiry Links section below.
- If you select the Fort Collins LOI link below, you will be asked to select a Funding Area. Your responses to this question will help our staff direct your LOI to the Grant Review committee that best aligns with your funding request.
- Nonprofit agencies that primarily serve the Estes Valley will not be particpating in this year's competitive grant cycle. They will be eligible to receive grant funding later in our 2008-2009 fiscal year. Our staff will work closely with the Estes Valley Community Fund Committee to identify and support nonprofit needs in that geographic area.
- While we estimate that submitting your LOI will require only 10-15 minutes of your time, you may wish to save your work and complete the submission process at a later date. Simply follow the online directions to save the LOI and exit the form, and then log back in to My Account when you have more time to complete the LOI submission. NOTE: All LOIs must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 25.
Letter of Inquiry Links:
To apply for a grant from the Community Foundation, an organization must be a 501(c)3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization that directly serves residents of Larimer County. Each 501(c)3 nonprofit agency may submit only one LOI.
After submitting your Letter of Inquiry, you may log back in and review your submission by visiting the My Account page.
A Final Report is required of any agency that applies for and receives a competitive grant of $2,500 or more from the Community Foundation. Nonprofit agencies receiving grants as part of our Fall competitive grant cycle must submit their Final Reports by Sept. 1 of the following year (i.e, approximately 9 months after funds were received.) The report must be submitted electronically using the online Final Report Form. Agencies receiving competitive grants of less than $2,500 should not submit a final report.
Grants from Donor Advised funds are made based on recommendations from the fund's advisors. The Community Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for grants from Donor Advised Funds.
The Community Foundation may choose to highlight your organization in the e-newsletter that we distribute to our Fund Advisors each month. To request inclusion in the next issue of the e-newsletter, please click here to complete our electronic submission form. In addition, we may share your Letter of Inquiry with donors if your funding need appears to be a good match with the donors' interests.
Prior to calling Chief Operating Officer Roxanne Fry, please carefully review the Frequently Asked Questions page. If your question is not addressed on that page, please contact Roxanne at (970) 488-1989 or roxanne@CommunityFoundationNC.org.
Additional information on this topic is contained in the expanded navigation bar now visible on the left-hand side of your screen.
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