Competitive Grant Process is sponsored by El Pomar Foundation. El Pomar Foundation offers general-purpose grantmaking for arts and culture, civic and community initiatives, education, health, and human services.

Grant Process and Guidelines - El Pomar Foundation Learn about our historic properties Learn about our historic properties Grant Process and Guidelines Grant Process & Guidelines If you are interested in applying for an El Pomar grant, the process is straightforward: Make sure you’re eligible – review the Grant Toolkit page and the Guidelines below Complete your online application – review the materials you’ll need to apply on our Grant Toolkit page Key Insights about El Pomar's Grant Making Most grants are awarded through the competitive process, but there are also several Funds for which an organization or government agency can apply.

Neither the competitive process nor select Funds require an invitation or request for proposal. For more information about Funds that El Pomar oversees, click here . El Pomar provides grants for general operating support, programs, and capital needs.

The Trustees are interested in increasing support in Southern and rural Colorado. While they make grants in metro Denver, they are much more competitive in that region. Due to the tremendous need throughout the state of Colorado, requests, if funded, are often funded at lesser levels than requested.

Generally speaking, the Trustees prefer to go broad rather than deep and therefore tend to make a lot of smaller grants rather than a few larger ones. Average grant sizes over the last five years are below, however, you may apply for what you want – there are no negative repercussions for asking for more than the Trustees want to grant.

General operating support $2,500-$10,000 Priority consideration will be provided to organizations, programs, and capital projects that have received local community and other support. For programs and capital needs, we recommend having about half the needed funds secured before submitting an application. El Pomar’s recent grant history may be viewed here.

While some grants are larger than the above ranges, all grants are made at the discretion of the Trustees. Eligibility and Limitations The Foundation is limited to providing grant support to 501c3 organizations and government agencies whose activities take place within Colorado.

El Pomar does not accept competitive or Fund applications for grant support for: Organizations that do not have an active 501c3 nonprofit IRS determination letter or a fiscal agent with an active 501c3 status Private foundations or 509a3 organizations that are not functionally integrated according to the IRS Organizations that do not have fiscal responsibility for the proposed project Organizations that practice discrimination of any kind Other foundations or nonprofits that distribute scholarships to recipients of its own selection Religious organizations for support of religious programs Deficits or debt elimination Travel, conferences, conventions, group meetings, or seminars Influence legislation or support candidates for political office Produce videos or other media projects Scientific research projects or studies Without prior approval, El Pomar does not accept competitive or Fund applications for grant support for the items listed below.

Please contact the Grants Office for consent to apply for any of the following: Camps, camp programs, or other seasonal activities* Research projects or studies* Primary or secondary schools (K-12); El Pomar will consider, on a limited basis, capital requests from non-publicly funded secondary schools* *Without prior approval, El Pomar does not accept competitive or Fund applications for grant support for these items.

Please contact the Grants Office to discuss consent to apply for these. Foundation policy discourages interviews with Trustees collectively or individually either before or after application submittal. Any discussions or indication of interest prior to or after submission of an application or onsite visit should not be construed as a commitment by the Foundation.

Each application will be considered on its own merit and accepted or rejected only in writing. Requests are thoroughly reviewed by the Trustees. Follow-up conversations and/or site visits by Foundation representatives may be requested.

A final decision is reached after discussion and a majority vote of the Board. The Trustees’ action on an application is final. The application as presented will not be given further consideration.

An applicant may be considered no sooner than 12 months following the grant denial, which will be provided in writing. A new application should not request reinstatement of a prior request.

An organization that receives a competitive grant will be eligible to be considered for another competitive grant no sooner than three years (36 months) from the date of the grant award letter or one year from the date of the final payment, whichever is later. An organization that receives a declination will be eligible to be considered for another grant no sooner than one year (12 months) from the date of the written correspondence.

Please see the Our Funds page for eligibility requirements for each of our Funds. El Pomar’s grant program is subject to the various state and federal laws, including the Tax Reform Act of 1969, that govern the activities of private foundations. Think you might be ready to apply?

Here are more resources to help you prepare. The toolkit includes a checklist of what you'll need to begin an application, as well as FAQ answers and links to helpful videos and other resources. Determine type of funding you are applying for We make most grants through our competitive process, but also have individual funds with specific focus or geographic areas.

Review each of our funds to determine what you are applying for. Start/Submit your application Upcoming Grant Review Dates We accept applications on a rolling basis, and our Trustees review them 4-6 times a year during Trustee meetings. In order to ensure eligibility for Trustee review we ask you to submit your complete competitive or Fund application at least 10 weeks in advance of a Trustee meeting.

Incomplete applications will be assigned to the next Trustee meeting. Should you have questions, please reach out to our grants staff at grants@elpomar. org .

Here are a few resources that might help. Read our Grant Making Overview To get an even better understanding of grants we've made, in what locations, and at what funding level, you can search the past three years of this data using our grant search portal. Our Grants Office team is small, but mighty, and always happy to help however they can.

Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906