Colcom Foundation Local Grants (Southwestern Pennsylvania)

Colcom Foundation is an independent Pittsburgh-based foundation (est. 1996 by Cordelia S. May) whose regional grantmaking supports environmental and conservation projects, cultural assets and community vitality in southwestern Pennsylvania — defined on the page as Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties. The two regional funding interests are 'Local Environment' (conservation, land trusts, watershed and reforestation work) and 'Local Community'. Named regional grantees include Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Allegheny Land Trust, Hollow Oak Land Trust, Pennsylvania Environmental Council and WeConservePA; a $1M revolving fund helps 40 local land trusts buy environmentally important property, and a $1M grant in Aug 2025 supports Upper Allegheny watershed acquisition. Process is LOI (rolling) -> invited full application, with four fixed application deadlines a year.

If your project has not been previously funded by Colcom, submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) first — LOIs are accepted on a rolling basis via the online Blackbaud applicant portal. If the LOI is approved you are invited to submit a full Grant Application. Grant Application due dates and the trustee meeting each feeds: November 30 (February meeting), February 28 (May), May 31 (August), August 31 (November). Required with a full application: most recent 990, most recent audited financials or equivalent, itemized project budget, and the current Key Performance Indicator (KPI) table.