The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is seeking proposals from nonprofits or community groups conducting community organizing efforts led by people of color and/or people representing communities traditionally marginalized as they engage and activate residents locally for the purpose of more inclusive civic participation.
Donor Name: Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
State: Connecticut
County: Hartford County (CT), Middlesex County (CT) and Tolland County (CT)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/26/2023
Size of the Grant: $5,000 – $60,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
The Foundation acknowledges that while residents frequently assemble to achieve shared community goals, community organizing as a practice has the additional goal of increasing the collective power and internal capacity of people of color and traditionally marginalized and/or underrepresented populations. This RFP will support organizations or community groups with a mission to increase power sharing between underserved communities and the institutions meant to serve them, for example, state or municipal governments.
Successful proposals could support community organizing efforts, broadly or around specific issue campaigns, increasing community organizing group or organizational capacity, and/or community organizing infrastructure to benefit the field in Greater Hartford.
Community organizing efforts might include conducting one on ones, information gathering and research meetings, hosting community meetings or forums, leadership training, and supporting community members as they identify common problems, develop strategies to address them, and support for community members as they participate in civic activities including advocacy.
Funded requests could include but are not limited to efforts that increase racial/social justice issue awareness, increase civic education/issue awareness, increase community organizing organizational capacity (e.g., software, working with a consultant), increase resident leadership on racial/social justice issues, and/or increase community organizing network infrastructure to maximize effectiveness among multiple organizations. Examples of shared field infrastructure could include shared technology, meeting space or training providers/materials across groups in the Greater Hartford region.
Requests can address issues such as housing, education, health care, the concerns of returning citizens, and issues affecting LGBTQIA+ persons, or other issues identified by community members with preference given for efforts related to the advancement of racial justice.
Funding Information
- Grant awards will range from $5,000 – $60,000
- Scope of work considered could take place over the span of one year.
Uses of funds
Line items requested from the Foundation may include but are not limited to: materials, software or equipment, stipends for residents, payment for professional services, organizational staffing and overhead. The Foundation will not support the hiring of new, permanent staffing with this funding opportunity.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications must be submitted by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Community groups can use a 501(c)(3) organization as a fiscal sponsor.
- Board of directors and staff must be reflective of the racial/ethnic diversity of the community members engaged. If the applicant 501(c)(3) is serving as a fiscal sponsor, community group leadership must be reflective of the racial/ethnic diversity of the population served
- Nonprofits may serve as a fiscal agent for multiple projects
- Applications can be submitted for projects that support more than one group or nonprofit.
- Organizations and groups with applications denied during the open process should contact Foundations staff before submitting another application to make sure the initial denial wasn’t based on something you can’t change
- As a rule, if a nonprofit organization or community group is currently the recipient of multi-year core or project support from the Foundation, they will not review an application through this opportunity (excluding those serving as a fiscal agent)
- As another rule, if you are awarded a grant during the 2023 Community Organizing or Resident Engagement process the Foundation will not review an additional application through this opportunity
- As a caveat to the rules: due to the emergent, shifting, and responsive nature of this kind of work the Foundation is open to reviewing applications from organizations and groups who can provide evidence that extra resources have a good chance of achieving impactful change shortly.
For more information, visit HFPG.
