Guiding Principles for Grantmaking
 The following principles guide the Foundation's Board of Directors in its grantmaking decisions while preserving our flexibility to respond to changing community needs and emerging opportunities:
Broad-Based Grantmaking
The Foundation provides funding in a variety of areas, reflecting the diverse interests of its donors and the special responsibility of a community foundation to support a broad range of activities that together strengthen the fabric of the community.
Substantial Long-Term Community Benefit
The Foundation focuses its resources on those institutions and projects that are likely to produce benefits that endure beyond the period of Foundation funding.
Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods
The Foundation supports efforts to help families and neighborhoods thrive as cornerstones of healthy communities.
Strengthening the Capacity of the Nonprofit Sector
The Foundation supports efforts that build the governance, management, financial, and organizational capacities of individual nonprofit agencies and the sector as a whole.
Increased Diversity and Outreach
For example, the racial and ethnic diversity of an applicant's board of directors and staff is an important factor in grant reviews.
Cooperative Efforts between the Private and Public Sectors
While the Foundation does not typically make grants directly to public agencies, we support efforts that enable nonprofit organizations and public agencies to work together to improve the planning, coordination, and delivery of services.
Sustained and Interrelated Grantmaking
Periodically, the Foundation elects to concentrate resources by launching a special initiative or special project to address particularly important community concerns.
While these guiding principles reflect the Foundation's grantmaking priorities, additional interests and factors may ultimately affect funding decisions.
The first steps to seeking a grant from the Foundation are to:
- Review our Guidelines for Grantseekers, which provides information about our grantmaking principles and policies.
- Contact the Foundation to talk with a program officer about the project for which you are seeking the grant.
|