Community foundations are 501(c)(3) public charities that engage in both grantmaking and fundraising activities. With more than 700 community foundations in the U.S., it’s likely that your nonprofit works within one of those organizations’ service areas. While community foundations come in all sort of shapes and sizes, there are a few near-universal characteristics:

  • Geographic Focus: Almost all community foundations are place-based grantmakers that define their mission through geography. A few define their mission through an identity.
  • Support for Diverse Causes: Unlike most other private foundations, community foundations generally represent a collection of permanently endowed and non-permanent charitable funds with a wide range of purposes. Think of community foundations as a conglomerate of charitable activities rather than a single-purpose institution.

It’s impossible to generalize how community foundations make grants because practices vary significantly across the field. However, here’s one suggested method for improving your chances to secure a grant:

Step One—Do your homework: You can often get great insight by reviewing several common publications produced by community foundations: their websites, their annual reports, their newsletters, their audited financials, and their 990 tax returns.

Step Two—Engage program staff: Once you’ve done your homework and see some potential fits, you should next find a way to communicate with a community foundation’s grant program staff to get a lay of the land. Sometimes staff is willing to meet in person, do a call, or communicate by email. Sometimes community foundations offer info sessions instead of doing one-on-one communication. No matter how much homework you do, interaction with staff helps ensure a strong fit and an application that has a chance to succeed. Some tips on this interaction:

Step Three—Apply for a grant: Assuming you’re fully informed and see a strong fit, then it’s time to go for it. Assuming your community foundation’s process involves a written application, here are some tips:

Step Four—Maintain a relationship: If you got the grant, congratulations (remember to keep in touch with staff)! If you didn’t, use it as an opportunity to understand why the request was declined. In either case, focus on maintaining a productive relationship with the community foundation staff, since there will always be more opportunities in the future. Here are some relationship pitfalls to guard against:

Read the full article about connecting with community foundations by Neel Hajra at GuideStar by Candid.