VERO BEACH — The Indian River Community Foundation is currently accepting applications for grants from its 2013 Unrestricted Grants Program and the recently established Quail Valley Charities Nonprofit Collaboration Fund.
Applications must be submitted by March 22 on the common grant application form available at www.IRCommunityFoundation.com.
“The two grant opportunities are separate requests for proposals, each with its own specific focus area and requiring its own application,” said Kerry Bartlett, IRCF Executive Director.
The Unrestricted Grants Program responds to unmet community needs, while the new Quail Valley Charities Nonprofit Collaboration Fund is focused on supporting nonprofit strategic collaboration in the areas of children and education.
“In determining the focus areas for the Unrestricted Grants Program, the IRCF Board of Directors looks at community trends and economic factors impacting our residents. That allows us to determine how we can partner with local nonprofits to resolve unmet community needs,” Bartlett added.
This year, the Unrestricted Grants Program will focus on proposals addressing literacy, homelessness, hunger, mental health, and substance abuse.
The awards will include up to five $5,000 micro-grants for organizations with operating budgets less than $500,000. Additional program grants, ranging from $25,000-$50,000, are available for larger organizations.
Grants from the Nonprofit Collaboration Fund are restricted to covering the one-time costs of exploring, evaluating, and implementing a collaboration. These costs may include: joint programming, consulting services, real estate transitions, integration of technology, or other functions.
The fund defines collaboration as a long-term relationship between two or more nonprofit organizations that will meaningfully change the way the organizations do business.
“Quail Valley is eager to give nonprofit organizations a platform for exploring opportunities to work together to improve our community. Over the years, their leadership feels they have seen many missed opportunities for nonprofit organizations to forge natural relationships that could decrease duplicated efforts in the sector,” Bartlett explained.
The Community Foundation uses a Board-appointed committee of local experts and community leaders to review proposals and recommend to the board how the grants should be awarded.
The committee looks for well-tested models that can be brought to scale or expanded, as well as pilot programs that can be grown and replicated.
Bartlett anticipates about $200,000 will be awarded from the Unrestricted Grants Fund and anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 from the Quail Valley Charities Fund, depending on the quality of the ideas.
Bartlett said donors to the Unrestricted Grants Fund and the leadership of the Quail Valley Charities were attracted to IRCF because of the high level of accountability required of grant recipients.
Bartlett said donors also appreciate the clear and consistent methods the foundation uses to share outcome measures back to the donors.
“We focus not only on the stewardship of the donors’ gifts, but also on the stewardship of the results realized from the grants,” Bartlett said.
The Indian River Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides donors with flexible philanthropic tools to achieve their current and long-term charitable giving goals.
The Foundation currently manages over $18 million in assets restricted for charitable purposes, the majority of which are held in donor advised funds.
Complete guidelines and the required application for both grant opportunities are available on the foundation’s website at www.IRCommunityFoundation.com.
For more information, please contact Ms. Bartlett at (772) 492-1407.