Community Grants: Responding to Community Needs

Community Grants: Responding to Community Needs is sponsored by Oregon Community Foundation. Invests in community livability and vitality by responding to pressing needs across Oregon.

2027 Spring Community Grants Program FAQs » Oregon Community Foundation 2027 Spring Community Grants Program FAQs Who is eligible to apply? 501(c)(3) organizations, Tribal entities and government entities are eligible to apply in the 2026 Cycle of the Community Grant program. Additionally, organizations may work with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor to apply.

Applicants must submit formal paperwork confirming the fiscal sponsor relationship with their application. Please note: Fiscal sponsorship materials will not be accepted past the application deadline of June 23, 2026. Does an organization need to be registered with the Oregon Department of Justice to apply?

Yes – nonprofits seeking funds in Oregon are required to register with the Oregon Department of Justice. This applies to both in-state and out-of-state organizations. For fiscally-sponsored organizations, this requirement applies to your fiscal sponsor, regardless of whether the sponsor is in-state or out-of-state.

Processing time with the Oregon Department of Justice can take around 4-6 weeks. As all eligibility requirements should be met at the time a Community Grant application is submitted, we recommend submitting registration as soon as possible. Certain organizations, such as houses of worship, government entities, and tribal entities are exempt from this requirement.

In certain cases, OCF staff may request confirmation of your organization’s exemption from the Oregon Department of Justice. For more information, see this link: https://www. doj.

state. or. us/charitable-activities/starting-or-closing-a-charity/registering-a-new-charity/ What geographic regions are eligible to apply for funds?

All eligible organizations based in Oregon or primarily serving Oregon communities may apply for the 2026 Fall Cycle. All proposal activities must occur within Oregon. Can an organization apply to Community Grants and other OCF grant programs in the same year/cycle?

Yes, typically applications submitted to this program are reviewed independently from other OCF programs. Other applications or current funding with other OCF grant programs will not impact your eligibility or competitiveness for this program. What are the reporting requirements?

There are no reporting requirements for grantees that receive a 2026 Fall Community Grants award. However, grantees may receive an open invitation to connect with a regional Program Officer to share more about the organization’s goals. Do I need to provide community support references?

No – We do not accept community references or letters of support. The only attachments we are accepting are fiscal sponsorship agreements (only required for organizations working with a fiscal sponsor). Program staff will instead closely review responses to the application questions to develop their understanding of your organization’s community engagement and impact.

If I received DAF support in 2026, can I still apply? Yes, you are eligible to apply for the Spring 2027 Cycle if your Community Grant application was declined and you received support from a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) instead. To confirm whether you received a Community Grant award in a previous cycle, please review the list published on our website here .

If I submitted an application for the Spring 2026 or Fall 2026 Cycle and did NOT receive a Community Grants award, am I eligible? Yes – if you met the eligibility criteria and applied for either the Spring 2026 or Fall 2026 Cycle but did not receive funding through Community Grants, you are eligible to apply again this cycle.

This includes if you were sent a decline letter for your Community Grants application but still received funding via a Donor Advised Fund. Please review your response letter(s) or contact us at grants@oregoncf. org for assistance.

Are there specific things OCF does not fund? Community Grants typically do not fund: Animal-focused proposals (except those with direct impact for community members). Organizations doing scientific research.

Public entities typically funded by government dollars. What makes a competitive Community Grants application? A competitive Community Grants application clearly articulates the impact an organization’s programs and services have on the population served.

Competitive applications demonstrate opportunities for community members to provide input on the direction of the organizations and the services they offer. For the Spring 2027 Cycle, competitiveness determinations will also consider whether an application is for a new or expanding project or program, a small capital project or capacity building.

See the FAQs below for full definitions of these terms and the Program Guidelines for review criteria and competitive sample answers. You can also attend the live webinar or watch a recording of the webinar where you can hear directly from program officers what makes submissions competitive.

What my organization needs most is general operating support, but we are not a small rural, culturally specific, or culturally responsive organization. What can we do? Due to highly limited resources, this program is prioritizing—but is not exclusive to— organizations that serve communities who have experienced historical underinvestment due to systems, practices, and policies.

OCF aims to provide general operating support to communities who have been historically underrepresented in OCF's grantmaking, both in terms of requesting and receiving funding, and those who have not had the same level of access to outside sources of funding. What is Community Grants' definition of a small rural organization?

In the context of OCF’s Community Grants Program, an organization is small rural if they meet all of the following criteria: The organization is located in and serves a community or communities in Oregon with a population of 35,000 or fewer that is NOT directly adjacent to (or part of) a metropolitan area of 50,000 or more. The organization had less than $250,000 in operating expenses during its most recently completed fiscal year.

This definition was developed by The Ford Family Foundation. What does the term “culturally specific” mean to the OCF Community Grants Program? In the context of OCF’s Community Grants program, an organization is culturally specific if: It primarily serves one or more cultural communities.

Leadership and staff represent the community served and its mission, activities and outreach intentionally focus on one or more cultural communities. The population served recognizes the organization as specific to their community.

The organization demonstrates intimate knowledge of lived experience of the community, including, but not limited to, the impact of structural and individual racism or discrimination on the community; knowledge of specific disparities, barriers or challenges documented in the community and their influences on the structure of their program or service. This definition was developed by the Coalition of Communities of Color.

What does the term “culturally responsive” mean? Cultural responsiveness describes the capacity to respond to the issues of diverse communities. Organizations that are culturally responsive are those that: Provide services that have been adapted to maximize the respect of and relevance to the beliefs, practices, culture and linguistic needs of diverse consumer/client populations and communities.

Require knowledge and capacity at different levels of intervention: systemic, organizational, professional, and individual. This definition was developed by the Coalition of Communities of Color. What is the OCF Community Grants Program’s definition of an “under-resourced” community?

Under-resourced communities have high proportions of low- to moderate-income residents and generally receive below-average services and financial resources from government sources. Many, but not all, comprise an above-average number of people of color, immigrants, and/or geographically-isolated individuals. People earn lower incomes due to many factors, but they often have been negatively impacted by social and economic marginalization.

Some communities have been intentionally disenfranchised by decades of redlining and/or economic disinvestment that limits access to resources and services, devalues physical assets, and weakens community anchor institutions. Others may experience geographic isolation that results in limited investment in critical infrastructure such as medical facilities, internet connectivity and transportation.

Combined, these conditions create what we refer to as under-resourced communities. Where can I find the application questions? Questions are included in the Program Guidelines on page 8.

Where can I find the review criteria used for the application? Review criteria are included in the Program Guidelines on page 12. Where can I find example answers to application questions?

Example answers are included in the Program Guidelines starting on page 8. When is our “last completed fiscal year? ” Your last completed fiscal year is the one for which you have board-approved, final financial statements.

If this does not line up neatly with the application deadline, there is narrative space in the application to provide context about your organization’s accounting practices. For example, if your fiscal year starts August 1st, you should use financial statements for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2026 in your Spring 2027 Community Grant application.

For example, if your fiscal year starts August 1, you should use the operating expenses from your financial statements for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2025 in your 2026 Fall Community Grants application. As a fiscally-sponsored organization, should I apply using the organization record of my sponsor? No. Fiscally-sponsored organizations should create and use their own organization record in the OCF database.

This not only allows us to maintain more accurate records, but also ensures that your application does not impact the eligibility of your sponsor organization. Fiscally-sponsored organizations will be asked to submit documentation of their agreement for review. This documentation should be signed by both parties and dated within the past year.

How can I get feedback on an application? Program Officers are typically available to provide feedback on applications from the most recently completed cycle, whether or not the proposal was funded. However, they are not able to review draft applications before submission.

Where can I go if I need grant writing help? The Nonprofit Association of Oregon has many references, as does the People’s Nonprofit Accelerator . Community libraries may have listings for grant writers or community college resources.

How do I contact my regional Program Officer with questions about my application? Contact information for regional Program Officers can be found here . I am an OCF grantee and would like to share news, images or information about our organization.

How can I do that? OCF welcomes your written stories, videos, and photos so we can share them with prospective donors and the public. Real stories from nonprofits help us secure more gifts, and that benefits the entire nonprofit community.

Email them to communications@oregoncf. org . Do you have blanket photo and video releases for everyone pictured?

If not, please make sure they each complete an OCF Photo Release Form . LinkedIn - @ TheOregonCommunityFoundation What is the typical range of grant award amounts? Typical ranges are $15,000 - $20,000.

We will consider requests up to $40,000, especially for efforts that closely match Community Grants funding priorities and clearly demonstrate the timeliness, feasibility, and impact of an OCF grant of this size. This means it is possible that your request may be partially funded. However, award amounts will be decided in the context of the overall Community Grants program budget and amount requested.

This means you may receive a smaller award than requested. General operating grants will also not exceed your organization’s total operating budget for your last completed fiscal year. Is this program accepting multi-year requests?

No. All awards in the Spring 2027 Cycle will be one year in duration. Why was my application declined? There are many factors that go into the final decisions about which applications get funded.

In most cases the reason is some combination of these factors: There is significant need across all regions of the state and while we do our best to prioritize the greatest needs, the amount of dollars requested historically far exceeds the resources available. Your organization or request did not meet the eligibility criteria. Your application did not adequately demonstrate how the community served is meaningfully engaged in your work.

Your application lacks detail on impactful service to priority populations. Your organization's focus is listed in "what we don't fund." Following a decline decision, you can reach out to a Program Officer for feedback on your specific application if you have outstanding questions.

Who will read my application? We recommend you structure your application as if the reader is learning about your organization for the first time. While an OCF Program Officer is likely to be the first reader of your application, it may also be read by volunteers, OCF donors or other funders, all of whom bring different levels of lived experience and community knowledge to their reading.

How can our organization share our needs with OCF’s network of donors and funders so they may also contribute to our efforts? The new MyOCF portal provides opportunities to highlight your organization to donors. Some information you submit in your Community Grants application may be added to your Organizational Profile which would be searchable by donors with Donor Advised Funds through the portal.

If you would like to update your profile directly, please send a request to grants@oregoncf. org . The 0rganizational profile is not a grant application but is still an excellent way to share your organization's current needs with donors.

Your profile can be updated any time during the year. Please note requested updates can take up to a week to be reflected in your profile. What is the deadline to submit an application for general operating support?

Your application must be submitted and received by December 15, at 5 p. m. Pacific Time .

OCF will not accept late submissions I’m having trouble with the online application system. Who do I contact for assistance? Email us at grants@oregoncf.

org and we will get back to you as soon as we are able. I’ve just connected to my organization and it says that my status is pending. Can I start my application?

Yes. OCF staff will review your status and eventually give you full admin access to your organization’s records. But, in the meantime, you are able to begin and submit an application.

How can I confirm my application was received? Your application must be submitted and received by December 15, 2026, at 5 p. m.

Pacific Time. We experience a high volume of submissions close to the deadline and highly recommend you submit your application in advance. After you hit submit, you can confirm the status of your application by navigating to your organization’s page, clicking “More Details” and scroll down to see your application.

Your application status will read “In Process" and have a “Continue Application” button if you have not yet submitted. Once submitted it will have a status of “Received” and you can only “View Application. ” A video tutorial demonstrating this process is available here on our website .

If you have questions about your application submission, please contact grants@oregoncf. org . If my application is approved, how long will it take to receive funding?

Approved and declined applicants will be notified by email in April. Funds will be distributed on the same day via check or ACH. If your organization is not pursuing work that is competitive in this cycle, the Fall 2027 funding priorities will be announced after the Spring awards are made.