Grants

The mission of the York County Community Foundation is to inspire philanthropy and strengthen our community by supporting initiatives that address local needs and providing quality services to donors and constituents.

The Board of Trustees meets their mission of supporting local initiatives through the annual competitive grantmaking program. The Foundation is an investor in the community and is interested in creating the highest possible levels of community gain, focused on improving the lives of York County citizens.

Grant dollars are available through the York County Community Foundation's endowment fund, as well as the York County Environmental and Conservation Fund. The Community Investment Guidelines more clearly reflect how the board makes grant award decisions.

Community Investment Guidelines

To decide how to invest the limited dollars of the Foundation, the Board will look for effective programs and strategies that strive to support the funding priorities listed below. The success of a grant is predicted by reviewing the expected results of the proposal and results tracking approaches. Programs that are capable of attaining measureable results receive higher consideration. In that mode, grant requests are reviewed with the following questions in mind:

• What results are we buying?
• What are the chances we will get results?
• Is this the best possible use of money?

Funding Priorities

• Projects/programs that address a proven community or environmental need.
• General operations support with demonstrated stability of the organization.
• Seed requests for new projects/programs initiated by existing agencies or by new organizations that are not duplicating services.

Projects/programs with multiple funding sources to support the project will be viewed favorably, and either innovative or proven approaches are acceptable.

Grant Size
Typically, grants will not exceed $2,500. However, grant awards may vary depending on the scope and type of project.

Duration and Tracking of Grant
Grants are typically one year in duration. All grant recipients are expected to provide an interim written report evaluating the project and accounting for grant expenses 9 months after the grant award date. If grant funds are not fully expended at 9 months, an additional final evaluation report will be required no later than 14 months after the grant award.  

Funds are to be spent for the approved purposes and within 12 months. Reallocation of the funds or extension of expenditures beyond 12 months requires a written request to be approved by the York County Community Foundation Board of Trustees.

Deadline
The 2010 grant cycle is closed.

Eligibility
Grants are limited to eligible organizations recognized as tax exempt through IRS (nonprofit, governmental or educational institutions) for projects that will serve the residents of York County.

Areas Not Generally Funded:

• Capital requests
• Debt retirement/deficit funding or expenses incurred prior to grant award decisions
• Direct support of individuals
• Duplication of existing programs or services by new organizations
• Endowment funds
• Travel and conferences
• Publication of books
• Projects that are typically the funding responsibility of federal, state or local government
• Projects that promote political or religious views
• Political or lobbying activities
• Sponsorships or fundraisers

Conflict of Interest
To conduct a fair and ethical grants program, the Foundation follows a conflict of interest policy, which states that volunteers and/or staff not participate in the grant process for an organization with which they are affiliated. Please do not lobby board or grant committee members on behalf of your organization. If an individual or organization wishes to express support for your project’s application, please have them contact the Community Philanthropy department at Foundation For The Carolinas.

If a member is contacted on behalf of a grantee, the following will take place: 

• Board/committee members will disclose the contact during discussion of the application
• Board/committee members will remove themselves from the deliberation process if they feel their objectivity has been compromised by the contact

Applying for a Grant
The 2010 grant cycle is closed.

For more information about the grants process, contact:
Karen Coppadge, Grants Specialist, at kcoppadge@fftc.org or 704.973.4559.