Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants

Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants is sponsored by Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. This program supports nonprofit effectiveness and efficiency.

Nonprofit Capacity Building - Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Nonprofit Capacity Building - Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Building organizational effectiveness The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis supports the organizational strength and overall health of Mid-South nonprofits by providing capacity-building grants for one-time projects that improve management, governance, and administration—not direct programs.

A committee of community volunteers reviews all applications and awards grants to established organizations. Because stronger internal capacity leads to stronger programs and services, each grant requires a dollar-for-dollar match, encouraging recipients to leverage our support with additional funding from other donors.

The average Nonprofit Capacity Building grant is around $15,000, and there is approximately $200,000 available this year.

Project examples include but are not limited to: Evaluation of core programs Assessment of technology systems or implementation of technology upgrades Human resources planning, succession planning, or fundraising planning Merger or formal collaboration between organizations For more specific examples, please see previous Nonprofit Capacity Building grants awarded here .

Operating costs, including salaries, other than those related to the capacity building project Project requests from organizations with many branches or departments (YMCA, public libraries, etc.) that do not come through the office of the president/executive director Expansion of existing programs or creation of new ones Brick-and-mortar projects or endowment campaigns Pass-through grants to other nonprofits Nonprofit religious activities Grants to supplant lost funding or eliminate budget deficits If you are unclear where to focus your proposal or of your organization’s capacity needs, completing an organizational assessment could be helpful.

Visit Tennessee Nonprofit Network for more resources. Email Vice President of Community Impact Aerial Ozuzu or call her at (901) 722-0022 if you would like to discuss proposal ideas. We’ve compiled information to help make our grantmaking process clear, transparent, and easy to navigate.

Who is eligible for funding? To be eligible for a Nonprofit Capacity Building grant, your organization must have an in progress profile on LIVEGIVEmidsouth. This profile must be published by the grant award date and maintained for the duration of the grant period.

The LIVEGIVEmidsouth profile of eligible applicants demonstrates that the organization: Has operated as a 501(c)(3) agency for the last two consecutive years or longer Operates in the Community Foundation’s service area: west Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and/or eastern Arkansas Is permitted by the Tennessee Secretary of State to solicit funds Has the last two years of 990’s Has at least one paid staff member and stable, demonstrated board leadership Operates under sound financial management and is financially stable Provides significant community impact in, has solid relationships with, and reflects the makeup of the communities it serves The following organizations are NOT eligible to apply for funding: Individuals, for-profit entities, private foundations, and religious organizations Organizations that received a Nonprofit Capacity Building grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis in the previous fiscal year What is the matching policy?

If awarded a Capacity Building grant, nonprofits are expected to raise funds to match the Community Foundation’s grant dollar-for-dollar. This requirement is intended to help the nonprofit leverage funds for the project by reaching out to new donors and funders. Organizations may use existing unrestricted funds that are not designated for other purposes.

Policies for the match include: Nonprofits are expected to raise funds equal to the grant amount, and therefore the grant amount requested should not exceed 50% of the total project cost. For example, if the total budget for a project is $30,000, the nonprofit may only request a grant of up to $15,000 and must raise the additional $15,000 to complete the project. The entire match does not have to come from one source.

The strategy for raising the match should be thought out before an application is submitted and in most cases a nonprofit’s board or development committee should be involved. No grant funds will be released from the Community Foundation until the nonprofit has raised 100% of the matching funds. The full match must be raised no later than nine months into the grant term.

When the match has been raised, the nonprofit will complete a request for funds in the online grant portal, and the grant check will be processed in 2-4 weeks. Individual donor contributions towards the match should be received before submitting a request for funds. If another foundation is awarding funds towards the match, a grant letter is sufficient, but a verbal commitment is not.

If the grant project is approved by our committee and is already being partially funded by another foundation, Nonprofit Capacity Building grant funds can be used to match the other grant. Additional matching funds would not have to be raised. Please be sure that Community Foundation staff is aware of the situation if this is the case with your grant proposal.

Explore answers to commonly asked questions that help explain the Community Foundation’s grantmaking service area and process. Understand dates, deadlines, and the decision-making process for Nonprofit Capacity Building grants. What is the grant timeline?

August – Attend a mandatory pre-application information session REGISTER HERE September 3 – Application opens online in GranteeView September 19 – Deadline to have LIVEGIVEmidsouth.

org profile in progress OR updates to an existing profile September 26 – Deadline to submit application online via GranteeView October 18 – Applicants notified via e-mail whether they are invited to continue in the grant process by hosting a grant committee site visit October, November – Grant committee site visits December 15 – Applicants notified of funding decision via e-mail January 1 – December 31, 2025 – Grant term A complete application includes a submitted application through GranteeView, an in progress LIVEGIVEmidsouth.

org profile with identified fields approved, and a line item project budget (including all project revenues and expenses). The project budget should be submitted along with the application through the Community Foundation’s online grant portal, GranteeView. Click here to access GranteeView .

All eligible applications are reviewed by a Community Foundation grant committee to determine which applicants are invited to move forward in the process and host a site visit. (If your organization is invited to host a site visit, further information and instructions will be provided upon notification.)

Members of the committee then attend applicant site visits, before making funding recommendations to present to the Community Foundation’s Board of Governors. Grants are awarded for a 12-month term, and all funds must be raised and spent by the end of that term. Who makes grantmaking decisions?

The Strengthening Nonprofits Committee is composed of 26 members who reflect our community and/or serve on the Community Foundation’s Board of Governors. Committee members have significant nonprofit leadership experience, other deep industry experience, and/or are engaged donors to the foundation. A core value of our Community Investment Principles (see below) is inclusion.

Therefore, it is expected that the membership of this committee goes beyond subject-matter experts to consider other parts of the community and other lived experiences that may be affected by the work of this committee and the Board of Governors. All members understand the grant requirements and are given a grant evaluation tool by which to guide their decision making. How are applications prioritized?

All else being equal, the grant committee gives funding priority to the following.

Demonstrate potential vendors, consultants, and/or products for the project have been thoroughly researched and identified Include a realistic timeline for completion and demonstrate that ongoing maintenance and/or costs have been accounted for, if applicable Show evidence of sufficient internal capacity to implement the project Include a clear, detailed, and feasible project budget Clearly define success for the project that can be easily communicated to stakeholders Outline a clear strategy for raising matching funds and how this grant can provide leverage to attract donors or serve as a final element to fully fund the project Are BIPOC-led by an Executive Director or CEO of color Have a history of success in the community they serve Have stable revenues and expenses Can demonstrate appropriate diversity in board and staff leadership, specifically in ethnicity and gender What are additional resources an applicant can explore?

2024 Nonprofit Capacity Building Grant Guidelines 2024 Sample Evaluation Tool Frequently asked questions about a LIVEGIVEmidsouth.

org profile Instructions for registering on GranteeView, the Community Foundation’s grant portal Reimagining Capacity Building: Navigating Culture, Systems, and Power Tennessee Nonprofit Network , statewide nonprofit training and technical assistance TechImpact , for research on nonprofit technology products TechSoup , a nonprofit tech marketplace NTEN , an online information exchange for nonprofits My organization was awarded a grant.

How do I submit a progress report? Organizations awarded a grant are required to check in with staff 12 months after the completion of the term and complete one grant report at 18 months to share the project’s short-term impact on the organization’s capacity. These and any other grant requirements are included in your organization’s grant contract.

Click to Login to GranteeView and submit written grant reports. Once you have logged in, click on ‘Application Status & History’ in the portal’s navigation menu. Search for the application associated with your grant by updating the search date range to ‘Before [today’s date]’.

Click on the associated application, and complete your reporting requirements listed in the Application Uploads table. If the person who initially submitted your organization’s application is NOT who will be the best contact throughout the grant term, email Vice President of Community Impact Aerial Ozuzu or call her at (901) 722-0022. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.

The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.

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