This is so awesome.
We applied over the Summer for a grant from The Community Foundation, and we recently found out that we got it! Woo!
$2,500 towards maintaining Walter and expanding our mission – our largest “donation” yet 🙂
And boy… I’ve always heard people talk about how brutal applying to grants are, so much so that companies hire people specifically to do it full-time!, but experiencing it first hand was something else. Took me a total of about 7 hours as I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, but ended up learning a TON in the process and applying for future applications should “only” take half the time now, lol…
It really makes you think through everything more finely though, which for someone like me who likes to just go with the flow is probably good ; ) For example, I knew getting a van would greatly improve our mission, but pinpointing the specifics of *how* it exactly did so became more fleshed out while applying for the grant.
When asked what “measurable impact” it would have on our organization, I estimated that securing a van would:
- Double the number of essential items we can bring to each event
- Increase the number of individuals and families served by at least 50% within the next year
- Increase the number of pop-up distribution events from an average of 8 to 10 each month
- Improve efficiency by reducing the number of trips required to transport inventory
- Strengthen partnerships with other local organizations by participating in joint events and
reaching new locations - Enhance our community visibility and outreach by utilizing the new van as a mobile marketing
tool, wrapped with our branding to raise even more awareness
Which is much more powerful than just “a new van would help us out a lot” 😂
Applying also required submitting a Budget (of which we had none) as well as a Strategic Plan (of which we also had none). It even asked about specifics around diversity, equity and inclusion within the organization and those we serve, which – you guessed it – we also had never sat down to dissect until now! And on that front I was pleasantly surprised to learn how well we excelled in : ) We really are “available to all” which we proudly proclaim in our tagline!
All this to say, while applying to grants takes gobs of time without a guaranteed payment in the end, I highly recommend going for it even just for the learning opportunity. Yes the money is nice if you get it, but forcing yourself to sit down and really deep dive into everything can be a revelation. Especially if you’re new to the game like me.
Here’s more about the specific fund we applied for in case you’re interested too. It opens up once a year in the summer time: The Fredericksburg Savings Charitable Foundation Fund
The Fredericksburg Savings Charitable Foundation Fund shall be used to support not-for-profit programs and projects including community development, housing assistance, scholarships, local education, medical facilities, community groups, cultural organizations and other similar types of organizations and civic-minded projects that contribute to the quality of life in the Counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford and the City of Fredericksburg.
This is just one of the many funds the Community Foundation operates – there are so many different ones dedicated to a variety of services in the area!
And some, like this one, doesn’t require you to be a legal 501(c)3 charity in order to receive a grant from it, provided you have a “fiscal sponsor” that can vouch for you. Which was how we were able to apply ourselves since we’re not an “official” charity yet.
(Shout out to St George’s Episcopal Church for sponsoring us!)
So thanks Community Foundation!! Not only for the funds which will be MASSIVE for us, but also for the opportunity to learn and grow.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times more – this city is so great to us. There’s literally organizations that give away money to worthy causes in our beloved area – how cool is that?!
And even if you don’t run or volunteer with any charities, they’re a great place to start your own foundation as well – big or small. You put in the money and they do all the work – a perfect partnership ; )
You can learn more about the great work The Community Foundation does here: CFRRR.org
Now Walter and I have some work to do!!