BHF Capacity Building and Service Support Grants

The Better Health Foundation's Capacity Building and Service Support Grants aim to enhance the effectiveness of nonprofits in the 9-county Quad Cities area. These grants focus on improving internal operations, expanding service reach, and ensuring high-quality community health services. Eligible organizations must be dedicated to community health and demonstrate innovative partnerships. The grants are not available for individuals or certain other proposals, such as political campaigns and capital projects, ensuring funds directly benefit local health initiatives.

Note: 1) Capacity Building and Service Support grants will be considered in the fall cycle. 2) The cycle opens in July with Letters of Inquiry (LOI). Grants are awarded before the end of the calendar year.
Capacity Building and Service Support grants are intended to strengthen the operations and programs of nonprofits and nonprofit partnerships in the region to increase their service reach and their ability to generate significant community health results.
Focus
We seek partners that will use our grant investments to produce concrete, material results for the betterment of health in communities within the region.
What are examples?
Examples of capacity building include (but are not limited to) requests to improve management skills, to develop true business and financial plans that will guide sustainability, or to expand fundraising strategies or staffing. Focus is on the quality, strength and sustainability of the internal operations of the organization or partnership that are necessary to achieve growth and stability.
To support service expansion or quality, grant applications might address the addition of complementary services, service access by underserved communities, or service quality improvement. The focus is on ensuring that high quality community health services are available to and accessible by everyone in all types of communities in the region.

Eligibility

Eligible organizations
Nonprofit organizations providing services that address community health in our 9-county region are encouraged to apply for funding.(IA COUNTIES: Cedar, Clinton, Louisa, Muscatine, Scott; IL COUNTIES: Henry, Mercer, Rock Island, Whiteside) While affiliates in the region tied to national organizations are welcome to apply, the services and the funds must be wholly focused on the region.
Collaborations
We recognize that innovative partnerships may involve organizations or associations who are not 501(c)3 organizations. We encourage and welcome such partnerships, but the grantee should be a designated 501(c)3. If the proposal involves partnerships where funds are flowing to other partners from the core grantee, co-signed Memoranda of Understanding must be included in the proposal between the core grantee and each of the partners indicating the level and purposes of resource transfer.

Ineligibility

Grants are not awarded to individuals or to fiscal agents (pass through organizations) The Foundation does not consider proposals for the following:Political campaigns or lobbying effortsSponsorships or eventsConferences and ConveningsEndowmentsBuilding or Capital projects and campaignsDebt ReductionExclusively religious purposes, although service-providing, faith-based organizations are welcome to apply regarding those service purposesLaboratory or clinical research or individual academic support (e.g., dissertation support)Competitor organizations to the Genesis, MercyOne, or Trinity Health Systems