Regional Impact Grants & Give NCW

Application Open: June 1
Application Deadline: August 1

The Regional Impact Grant (RIG) is the Community Foundation of NCW’s largest grant funding opportunity for nonprofits in the NCW region. The RIG program has funded over $4.5 million to nonprofit agencies that are improving lives and enhancing our communities.

Offered once per year, the Regional Impact Grants support general operating needs and/or specific projects for eligible charitable organizations in Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan Counties. Grant awards will be published in an online giving catalog, Give NCW, with the goal of leveraging the community’s support to help complete the goal for the total grant request.

VIEW 2019 GRANT RECIPIENTS

To apply, you will need to create an account if you don’t already have one. Once you start the application, you can save your work throughout the process and come back to it later – you do not need to complete the application in one sitting. We recommend you read through the Grant and Eligibility Guidelines before starting your application. If you have any questions about your eligibility, please contact Director of Community Grants, Claire Oatey at claire@cfncw.org.

Grant Guidelines

Receiving a Regional Impact Grant means you also participate in the Give NCW crowdfunding campaign. The RIG is an opportunity to seek funding directly from the foundation to support a nonprofit project or general operations, while the Give NCW component builds awareness of your organization’s needs and seeks funding from the community to help reach your total project goal.

Regional Impact Grant

Application opens June 1 and is due by 10 PM on August 1. If you would like your application to be reviewed for completeness (this is a great option for first time applicants!), you must submit your application at least one week prior to the deadline. Applications are completed through our online application process and each applicant will participate in a site visit with CFNCW staff and board to learn more about your organization and your proposal. If your organization is chosen to receive an award, you will be awarded a portion of your total project goal. The remainder will be published on the Give NCW campaign (see Funding Request guidelines below). RIG award amounts are based on several evaluation criteria determined by site visit committees and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Give NCW

Give NCW is a crowdfunding effort through an online grant catalog featuring the Regional Impact Grants awarded. CFNCW promotes Give NCW across the region and invites the general public to donate toward completing the remainder of your funding request. CFNCW will provide regular incentives (which may include matches and/or bonuses) to motivate giving. There will be training available in early November for participating nonprofits to learn how best to take advantage of this opportunity.

Funding Request

CFNCW will award a portion of the grant request (up to 75%), based on several factors, and the remaining amount will be published on Give NCW for the public to help complete. For example, if your total project goal is $10,000 and you are awarded $7,000, the remaining $3,000 would be published on Give NCW. There is no maximum amount of funding that can be requested. However, the 2018 total grant awards ranged from $6,777 to $34,786 total. The median amount granted from CFNCW was $8,460 and the median amount raised through Give NCW was $8,228. The crowdfunding campaign results were widely varied; the least amount raised through Give NCW was $777 and the most raised was $26,786. When determining your total project goal, think about how much your organization could realistically crowdfund (factors to consider include your current donor base and resources for outreach).

Award Notification and Disbursement

Regional Impact Grant awards will be announced in early November. The Give NCW campaign will open on Thanksgiving Day and end on December 31. The total grant award (CFNCW award plus gifts through Give NCW) will be disbursed in January.

Activities Considered for Support

Programs and projects that serve a broad sector of the community (or a particularly vulnerable or at-risk population) and help resolve important existing or emerging community issues
Programs and projects that will enable nonprofit and charitable agencies to reduce costs, increase efficiency and move toward self-sufficiency
“Seed Grants” to initiate promising new projects and programs so that such projects and programs are able to demonstrate their usefulness to the community
Final funding for capital campaigns. Capital campaign must be at least 70% complete before CFNCW will consider for a Regional Impact Grant (such as for acquiring or renovating a building)
General operating support

Activities Generally NOT Considered for Support

Endowment, annual fund drives, budget deficits and debt reduction
Multi-year grants
Religious-based activities
Funding for items purchased or activities completed prior to grant decisions
Sponsorship for fundraising, for-profit events, or recurring events directly related to organizational fundraising
Grants for political campaigns or organizations that directly or indirectly participate in them

Eligibility Guidelines

Grants are for 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations in Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan counties, with the exception of those that serve the Methow Valley. Government entities, (excluding public educational institutions,) and religious organizations defined by the IRS in Section 170(c)1 or 170(b)1A are also eligible. All other organizations are required to have a 501c3 fiscal sponsor prior to submitting a grant request.
Grantees who have received a Regional Impact Grant must wait out one grant cycle (one year) before reapplying.
Multiple Regional Impact Grant applications in any one grant cycle from the same organization will not be accepted (exception is for organizations acting as fiscal sponsor for community projects or programs). Regional Impact Grants and Helping Hands grants are separate programs; an application in one program does not preclude an organization’s ability to apply for the other.
All eligible grant requests must participate in a site visit by a team comprised of CFNCW staff, board members and/or community volunteers. CFNCW selects site visit team members who do not have conflicts of interest with the applicant.
Grant funds must be expended within one year of award date.
Final grant reports will be required to be submitted by the grantees or fiscal sponsors. Organizations that fail to submit final grant reports will be ineligible to apply for further funding from CFNCW.
Grant applicants must be responsible fiscal agents practicing general accepted accounting principles. CFNCW will ascertain this through financial statements provided in the grant application.
No grants will be made specifically for religious purposes but can be made to religious organizations for general community programs (please see Grant Guidelines and Policies before applying).
No grants will be made for projects, programs, and/or equipment that were completed or acquired prior to the scheduled grant award date.
The Board of Directors is responsible for final grant decisions and authorizes distribution of grants pursuant to these and other guidelines established by the Community Foundation.

Evaluation

In reviewing grant proposals, the Community Foundation generally utilizes the following evaluation criteria:

Is there an established need for the project or program for which the grant is requested? How was that need determined? (statistical data, client waiting lists, documented lack of services, etc.)
Is the organization in a position to impact the need? (strong leadership-board, volunteer and staff, well-crafted policies and procedures, broad funding base)
Are the services of the organization well planned and likely to succeed? (realistic budget – both income and expenses, operating or business plan in place, evaluation or outcomes targeted and measures in place)
Special attention will be given to those grant applications which include collaboration between two or more nonprofit applicant organizations in carrying out the proposed project(s)
Applicants should be prepared for a site visit of their agency at the mutual convenience of the applicant and the Community Foundation’s Grant Committee. Further, the Grants Committee and the Community Foundation Board retain the option of holding an application open in order to request further information from the applying organization. The decision to request additional information is at the sole discretion of the Grant Committee and/or the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors is responsible for final grant decisions and will distribute grants pursuant to guidelines that the Community Foundation has established.

Grant Reports

All grant recipients are required to submit a Grant Report 45 days after the close of the grant period indicated on the Grant Agreement.

Future grant requests will not be considered if reports on previously funded projects are outstanding.

SUBMIT YOUR GRANT REPORT

GRANT APPLICATION QUESTIONS

General

Project Name
Short Project Description
Total Project Goal

Organization

Service Area
Area of Interest
Organization Mission
Organizational Strength
Financial Health
Population Served
Other Service Providers

Project

Full Program Description
Program Need
Collaboration (optional)
Time Frame
Program Outcomes & Evaluation Plan

Next Steps

Give NCW Project Description
Site Visit Information

Documents

Project Budget (or Organizational Budget if applying for general operation support)
Balance Sheet
Last Year’s Income Statement
Project Budget & Financial Narrative (optional)
Board of Directors List
Letter of Support (optional)
Capital Project Documentation (optional)

If you are using a Fiscal Sponsor, you will need their EIN number and a letter of agreement from the sponsor.