grants

"The community foundation is an organization to give money through, not an organization to give money to."

George Bennett
Former President, NCCF

General Information

The Noble County Community Foundation, Inc. and it’s supporting organization, Community Initiatives, Inc. are offering four grant cycles per year. Grants will be considered in April, June, August, and December.

Completed proposals need to be submitted by March 2, May 2, July 2, and November 2. If these dates fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday the application must be in our office by the Friday prior to that deadline. All proposals must be in our office by 3:30 PM on the day of the deadline. No faxed proposals will be accepted.

Grant Application Procedure

Applicants may telephone or submit a letter of intent briefly describing the project before submitting a proposal in order to find out if their ideas are potentially fundable by the Foundation. Feel free to contact us by calling 260-894-3335 Monday through Friday.

In applying for grants, the following points MUST be addressed (with explanation if information is not available):

1. The specific purpose and the need for the funds requested.
2. The need for the project in the community.
3. The amount requested.
4. A detailed description of how the money would be spent. Also, for existing projects, a copy of the latest annual operating budget reflecting expenditures, receipts, and a balance sheet.
5. A statement advising how the grant, if made, will be evaluated with regard to improving life in Noble County.
6. Recent grants received and applications pending.
7. Listing of the current board and/or project organizers and their phone numbers.
8. A copy of the organization’s Internal Revenue Service federal tax-exempt letter stating 501(c)3 status (if you have one.)
9. For schools applying a letter of support from your superintendent/principal.

After your request has been received, you may be contacted by a representative of the Foundation requesting a site visit or additional information. Decisions are made approximately 60 days after the deadline and you will be contacted about the Boards’ decision.

The general policy of the Foundation and Community Initiatives is to make grants for innovative, creative projects and programs responsive to changing community needs in the areas of health and human services, education, arts, and culture and civic affairs. The funding from the Foundation and Community Initiatives is not limited to these areas and grant seekers are encouraged to respond to emerging community needs.

Seventy-five percent of Community Initiatives funding is to improve the quality of life for youth in Noble County.Foundation staff members are available for consultation, and will also periodically conduct how-to-write a grant workshops. Please contact the Foundation for more information about funding interests.

Guidelines and Priorities

The Foundation considers only not-for-profit projects that:

Promote cooperation among organizations without duplicating services
Promote volunteer involvement
Demonstrate practical approaches to current community issues
Enhance or improve an organization’s self-sufficiency and effectiveness
Emphasize prevention

In addition, the Foundation is inclined to give favorable consideration to projects that:

Affect a broad segment of the population
Are pilot programs clearly replicable in their design
Have reasonable prospects for future support
Serve people whose needs are not being met by existing services and which encourage independence
Move the community to a higher cultural awareness

Discretionary funds generally will not be used to support:

Routine operating support for ongoing programs and multi-year funding
Research
Uniforms and performance apparel

Discretionary funds will not be used under any circumstances to support:

Deficit spending
Political purposes
Annual fund campaigns
Lobbying
Organizations whose primary function is to allocate funds to other charitable organizations or projects
Projects that don’t serve residents of
Noble County
Travel
Augmenting endowments
Underwriting for fundraising events
Loans

Grant Writing Tips For Any Grant Application

Have a project you truly believe in

Be specific and realistic

Ask for a specific amount of money and tell the specific purpose

Show in-kind services or special events that your organization does

Don’t use acronyms or professional jargon

Don’t use anything smaller than 12 point type

Do have one-sided, typed proposals, on 8 1/2 X 11 paper and don’t staple it together

Avoid including irrelevant appendix material. Too much material is a turnoff to those reading it.

Research is a very important part of writing a grant. You need to know what they fund, who they fund and how much they usually grant. You need to find out when their funding is done and if they have an application you need to complete to apply.

Start a credibility file with newspaper articles on the problem with statistics and letters of support for your agency and project.

When a copy of the organization’s Internal Revenue Service federal tax-exempt letter is requested, that is an actual letter from the Department of Treasury stating you are a non-profit 501(c)3, not the State Form 753 stating you are sales tax exempt.

The Foundation

The Noble County Community Foundation helps build an enduring source of charitable assets to meet the changing needs of the people in Noble County. The Foundation responds to grant requests using unrestricted funds provided by donors. This brochure is a guide for organizations applying for grants from unrestricted funds. The Foundation’s Board of Directors surveys community needs and reviews grant-making guidelines. While requests for money always exceed the Foundation’s unrestricted funds, every effort is made to use its resources to respond to the broad array of needs.

2009 Grant Writing Workshops

Recognizing the increased need that many local organizations are experiencing, the Noble County Community Foundation is sponsoring free How to Apply for a Grant workshops for 2009. The workshops are designed to provide information on the mechanics of preparing and submitting grant proposals to the foundation and other granting organizations.

The foundation has expanded the times and locations to make the workshops more accessible. The workshop will be offered four times in 2009: February 12 from 1:00 to 3:30pm at the Kendallville Public Library; May 11 from 4:30 -7:30pm at the Noble County Community Foundation office; On August 12 from 9:00-11:30am at the Albion Public Library and on November 10 from 1:00 – 3:30pm at the NCCF office. Each workshop will contain the same format and information.

Space for each workshop is limited. Registrations are available on a first come basis and free to those attending. Please contact the NCCF office at 260-894-3335 or the NCCF/CDP office at 260-894-9078 to register or e-mail nccf@ligtel.com. You may download a registration form using the link at the top of the page.