Fairfield County Food Security Fund

Fairfield County Food Security Fund is sponsored by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. Provides rolling, flexible rapid‑response grants to nonprofits and grassroots organizations (including food pantries) addressing food insecurity in Fairfield County.

Apply for a Strategic Grant - Fairfield County's Community Foundation › Apply for a Strategic Grant Our Strategic Grantmaking is one way in which we partner with organizations that align with our Fairfield County Forward strategic plan goals. These grants aim to help meet the needs of Fairfield County residents who haven’t always been afforded the opportunity to thrive..

We look for opportunities that have the potential to meaningfully change unfair systems and structures that cause disparate outcomes. Our strategic grantmaking takes place on a Fall cycle. Unless otherwise noted, grant applications may be submitted in the fall for funding that covers a full year.

Submit Letter of Interest: July 15 – Aug 15 Invitations to Apply: Early September Application Due: End of September Decision Announced: Early January Grant Term: January 1 – December 31 Reports Due: July 15 (interim) & Jan 15 (final) Beginning in Fall 2025 we will only have a fall cycle. If an existing grantee would not have been eligible to apply for a grant until spring 2026, we are making a one-time exception to apply in Fall 2025.

Rolling Grant Opportunities The Fairfield County Food Security Fund is accepting grant applications until all available funds have been expended. Learn more & apply. The Fund for Women & Girls Small Grants Program also accepts applications on a rolling basis.

This program is currently closed. Various types of strategic grants are available to Fairfield County nonprofits. Program Support seeks to support specific programs and services that contribute to one of our key result areas, and their corresponding strategies.

The Community Foundation prioritizes requests from organizations that are centered in systems change, results-oriented, and have the capacity to measure/evaluate the impact of their work. Reporting will focus on the impact the program has on its primary beneficiaries. We recommend that first-time applicants apply for program support.

The average grant size will be $10,000-$15,000. GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT GRANTS General Operating seeks to support highly effective organizations that are critical to the achievement of one or more of our key result areas, center systems-change work that addresses the root causes of inequity, and have a proven track record of effectiveness and impact. Reporting will focus on the organization’s overall impact and effectiveness.

We recommend that organizations previously funded by the Foundation apply for general operating support. Only those organizations that are highly aligned with FCCF’s systems-change priority should apply for general operating support. The grant sizes will range up to $50,000.

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation offers capacity-building grants of up to $10,000 f or mission-aligned organizations investing in their strength and sustainability . These grants are intended to support organizational effectiveness, such as leadership development, strategic planning, technology improvements, an d impact measurement . Applications are accepted on a rolling basis as long as funding is available.

Organizations can apply for Capacity Building support even if they have another open grant with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. Learn more & apply . THE FUND FOR WOMEN & GIRLS SMALL GRANTS For organizations that are still growing and might not yet qualify for larger grants, our Fund for Women & Girls gives out smaller grants of up to $5,000.

These grants support projects that focus on the intersecting needs of women, girls, and non-binary people who are affected by inequitable systems. Applications are accepted year-round, as long as money is still available, through a streamlined process. Learn more & apply.

FAIRFIELD COUNTY FOOD SECURITY FUND Fairfield County Food Security grants seek to fill unmet needs in underserved communities by strengthening the collaborative efforts of nonprofits and grassroots organizations that are responding to increased demands and community needs.

The Community Foundation will award organizations that best demonstrate the potential to make meaningful, measurable changes in our community by centering equity and transforming the systems and structures at the root of inequities. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, until available funded are expended. Learn more & apply.

Most of our strategic grants follow the below four-step process. (Note: our Fund for Women & Girls Small Grants and Equity Incubator Grants follow a streamlined process.) We handle all communications for strategic grants through an online Grants and Programs Portal.

This includes all steps from Letters of Inquiry (LOI) and applications, to grant agreements and reports. First-time users need to set up an account to get started. Need help?

Watch this tutorial. 2.) Complete an eligibility screening.

After logging in to the portal, you’ll go through a quick quiz to confirm you’re eligible to apply for a strategic grant. If the quiz determines that you meet the requirements, you will be shown a list of opportunities. (Note: When you click through to learn more about opportunities, you may choose an option to export application questions as a PDF so that you may gather information at your convenience.)

When you are ready, select your desired opportunity to be directed to a section where you can submit a letter of inquiry. 3.) Submit a Letter of Inquiry.

The LOI section will ask you to provide some simple information about your organization, explain what your grant request covers, and describe how your work will help the Community Foundation achieve one or more of its result areas . (Note: Nonprofits can only submit one LOI per cycle. To be considered for a general operating support grant, talk with your Program Director during an open LOI period.)

3.) If invited, submit a full application. Our team will look over your LOI.

If your project meets our funding priorities , we will invite you to submit a full grant application through the grants portal. These invitations are made at the discretion of program directors, and do not in any way guarantee a grant award. Have questions about our strategic grant process?

Contact Sharon Jones, Grants Associate, at SJones@FCCFoundation. org or call (203) 750-3200 . Center for Nonprofit Excellence Scholarships & Eligibility Claim or Renew Your Scholarship Youth Education & Careers Black Maternal Health Initiative Business Collaborative for Education Equity Career Pathways for Youth Fairfield County Food Security Fund Youth Philanthropy Council You are using an outdated browser.

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