How do I submit a Community Fund Grant application?
All organizations wishing to apply for a Community Fund Grant must submit a full application. Once the application process opens on June 6, 2022, the application form will be available at https://www.grantinterface.com/Process/Apply?urlkey=parkcitycf. All applicants should submit a full application by the deadline of July 8, 2022.
What are key elements of the grant application?
Please see the Review Criteria on the grant guidelines to learn what should be included.
How many organizations submit applications, and how many then receive grants?
In 2021, 62 organizations applied and of those, 52 received grants. The final number of grants awarded in 2022 is likely to be similar to last year.
How much should we request?
Grant requests may range from $1,000 to $10,000. In 2020, grant amounts awarded ranged from $1,000 to $10,000, with an average grant size of $5,000. Considerations to keep in mind when determining the request size might include the scale of the proposed program, the overall size of the organization, and the likelihood of other complementary funding being available.
Do you use a scoring sheet or rubric to rate the proposals?
The Grants Committee scores applications based the presence or absence of indicators listed under the Review Criteria in the Grant Guidelines.
Are projects funded outside of Summit County?
The focus of the Community Fund is to support programs that serve the greater Park City and Summit County region. Grants may include activities that provide benefits outside of Summit County, but the committee will mostly be looking at the aspects of the proposal benefitting Summit County and its nearest neighboring areas.
What elements of prior proposals have resonated strongly and made them more appealing?
Beyond the Review Criteria listed in the grant guidelines, applications are strengthened when they include a sense of where the passion for the program comes from. What led to these activities being considered important? Why are the organization and its partners committed to this program? How achievable are the proposed goals?
The committee looks for whether all the pieces of the proposal fit together and flow toward the proposed goals and outcomes. Section headings that indicate what criteria are being covered can be helpful in making applications more understandable. If the grant proposal is a collaboration with another organization, it is often beneficial to get a letter of support from that organization to demonstrate the partnership.
What are capacity-building proposals?
Examples included areas such as board development, strategic planning, and communications, among others. The application should clearly demonstrate how the proposed support will directly affect the scale and/or depth of their impact in the community.
Could a grant be made to help pay for an intern or staff member?
Some past Community Fund grants have included support for staff and/or intern positions. The key question for the Grants Committee is less about which specific line items are the subject of the request, and more about how those line items (staff or otherwise) are critical to the organization’s being able to accomplish the proposed goals and outcomes.
Should we apply for a new program or re-apply for the same program we’ve applied for in previous years?
There is no specific preference given toward new or repeat program requests. For a repeat request, some elements that might be helpful to include are what (if anything) is different this year; whether the needs the program has been meeting are as important as ever; evidence of success in achieving outcomes; and what the future outlook is for the program to possibly develop other sources of support.
For a large statewide program that includes many funders, is it best to apply for a specific piece of the program, or to ask for a contribution to the program as a whole?
Either approach is acceptable. As stewards of funds donated to benefit the local community, the Grants Committee generally prioritizes applications that include clear local benefits. For a large, statewide program, the reviewers would want to know: How does our funding fit into the whole? How will our funding benefit the people of Summit County?
Are multiyear grants available?
Yes. These multiyear grants can cover two to three years. A handful of organizations that have received consistent grant support in recent years will be specifically invited to apply for multiyear grants. If a multiyear grant is awarded, continuation of funds beyond year one will be contingent upon an annual site visit, progress toward intended goals, and any other factors the grants committee considers relevant.
File types: What parts of the online application require file uploads?
The only format accepted for document submission on the online grant application form is pdf format. The project/program budget as well as the organization budget will be required as uploads. The remainder of the application fields will be text entries. Scanning budget documents to pdf files is not preferred, as that results in image files that do not allow easy copying-and-pasting of text; if direct conversion to pdf is not available, applicants may submit scanned versions.
Scanned pdfs are acceptable for copies of the IRS 990 and similar supporting documents that may not be available in their original text form. File size limits for uploaded documents will be noted on the application form once the form is available online.
What are the reporting requirements for Community Fund Grants?
Community Fund Grantees are asked to undergo a site visit during March or April the following year after grant issuance. Grantees are encouraged to invite key staff and/or board members to the site visit; participants from Park City Community Foundation may include grants committee members, staff, board members, donors, and other interested community members. A site visit outline is available on the foundation’s Apply for a Grant web page. No written or financial reports are generally required of Community Fund grantees.
Over what period of time can grant funds be spent?
While there is no specific required spending period, Community Fund Grants are generally expected to be spent within twelve months of issuance. For the small number of multiyear grants issued, the spending period will extend to two or three years, with funding provided in annual amounts based on the original budget and/or other considerations.
Where does the money come from for Community Fund Grants?
Park City Community Foundation raises unrestricted donations through the Community Pass donation program and through unrestricted gifts from individuals, families, businesses, and donor-advised funds. In addition, there are sometimes other donor funds that provide funding through the Community Fund Grants process.
How do funds get allocated from donor-advised funds?
Donor-advised funds are directed by donors or others authorized to direct grants, and approved by the Park City Community Foundation board of directors. Foundation staff occasionally provide information to donor advisors on what nonprofits are active in particular areas of interest.
Will the site visit questions be different next year if an organization receives unrestricted funding in 2022? Not really. We will still be interested in your overall organizational progress, diversity, equity, and inclusion journey, and specific program highlights.
More questions? Please visit the Apply for a Grant page and the application platform.