The Marin Community Foundation is requesting proposals for 2024 Community Power Initiative.
Donor Name: Marin Community Foundation (MCF)
State: California
County: Marin County (CA)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/05/2024
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The goal is to support this commitment, foundation is launching the Community Power Initiative with up to $10 million in funding for fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) to explore a new model for how MCF can support community-based organizations. The goal is to reduce the administrative burden, increase flexibility, build the health and vitality of organizations, sustain crucial organizations, recognize innovative ones, and ultimately empower leading organizations throughout the County to flourish and focus on the critical work at hand.
The Community Power Initiative comprises two funding opportunities, each of which they expect to receive far more applications than they will be able to fund. Each organization should apply to one of them. Applications will be considered independent of whether an applicant receives or intends to receive funds from any other MCF program. Each of the funding opportunities seeks the goals described above but in different ways. They are:
- Larger applicants. This funding opportunity provides general operating support grants for one to three years to sustain crucial organizations in Marin. It supports organizations and collaboratives with a consistent track record of providing essential, irreplaceable benefits to marginalized communities, at scale. Applicants are likely to have a significant number of staff employed in specialized positions and/or a robust volunteer network, with an annual budget of $2 million or more.
- Smaller applicants. This funding opportunity provides general operating support grants for one to three years to help nurture smaller entities seeking to build their impact. Applicants for funding are not expected to exhibit the same track record, level of organizational effectiveness or service delivery, or level of staffing as in the first funding opportunity. However, they should clearly demonstrate unique, innovative, or entrepreneurial approaches to achieving their mission. These applicants likely have an annual budget under $2 million. They also should meet basic standards of financial and governance controls.
Funding Information
- For Larger Organizations (budgets of $2 million or more), grant requests can be made for up to $600K per year, for 1-3 years if needed.
- For Smaller Organizations (budgets under $2 million), grant requests can be made for up to $125K per year, for 1-3 years if needed.
Eligibility Criteria
Any organization or collaborative that works with and supports marginalized communities in Marin County and meets the criteria below is eligible to apply. They fund both larger organizations providing essential services or advocacy at scale, as well as smaller, innovative organizations seeking impactful approaches.
Applicants may demonstrate greater strength and focus on some criteria than others, but priority will be given to applicants demonstrating commitment across the full set of criteria.
- Efficacy. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to defining, achieving and tracking impact, and an alignment between their mission and community need. They should:
- For larger applicants: Demonstrate a consistent track record of meaningful impact in their work in the past. The organization should have benefitted residents of the community for five or more years.
- For smaller applicants: Demonstrate innovative, unique, and/or entrepreneurial approaches to addressing persistent challenges in Marin County.
- For all applicants:
- Articulate clear organizational goals.
- Provide unique, irreplaceable, essential benefits that serve important populations at risk.
- Present a clear plan for achieving results.
- Deliver and track outcomes and impact on people and communities served.
- If possible, leverage other funding in collaboration with MCF (e.g., public funding, other private philanthropic funders) to achieve greater impact.
- Commitment to equity. MCF believes that all residents in Marin deserve the opportunity to lead thriving, joyous, and dignified lives in their community. Applicants should explicitly describe how they are working on behalf of the most marginalized populations. They should:
- Serve Marin County residents, with priority given to applicants that serve the key populations described above (e.g., Marin City, the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, Novato, West Marin, at-risk populations across the County).
- Reflect efforts to embrace a community-driven approach (e.g., identify the specific needs facing the community and use community input to determine how it will address those needs).
- Represent the diversity of the community served, including in its leadership.
- Seek to build community from the ground up.
- Articulate how your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) influences your programs, policies, and practices.
- Organizational and financial due diligence. Applicants should demonstrate:
- For larger applicants: If an audit is required, the current and prior-year auditor’s letter indicates the organization is following all financial regulations and has strong financial practices; there is evidence the organization has implemented any recommendations from the prior year.
- For all applicants:
- Ongoing financial support for the organization, separate from MCF support. Consistent history of running without substantial operating deficits.
- Boards and staff that are skilled, diverse, and knowledgeable; and have shown a desire to move the organization forward to achieve the best results.
- A sound financial management system and financial stability.
- Consistent with general MCF guidelines, only certain kinds of applicants are eligible. Eligible entities are those with a 501(c)(3) designation, those that have a fiscal sponsor with a 501(c)(3) designation, collaborations of nonprofit and public agencies, coalitions, or other entities that have a designated charitable purpose to directly serve or benefit Marin County residents.
For more information, visit MCF.
