Community-Building Events

The Jackson Community Foundation (JCF) focuses a small amount of grantmaking dollars each year to support local community-building events that also align with our Mission, Vision, Values, and our Community Needs Endowment Fund Grantmaking Priority, Aims, and Guidelines. Grant opportunities are available to Jackson County, Michigan: 501©3 nonprofits, governmental agencies, school districts, churches, community groups, and out of county organizations serving Jackson County.

Examples of community-building events include:

• Conferences
• Forums
• Trainings
• Community events open to the public that
  • Help participants build an understanding of a community issue
  • Bring diverse groups of people together to build relationships and work together
  • Gather community resource organizations to support the community
  • Celebrate cultural diversity and inclusiveness

Grant Amount

Typically between $200 - $500.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• You are eligible to apply, if you can answer “Yes” to the following questions:
  • Are you a 501(c)3 nonprofit, governmental agency, school district, church, community group, or out of county organization serving Jackson County?
  • Will the event be held in Jackson County or will a JCF grant enable people from Jackson County to benefit?
  • Is the ultimate beneficiary of the event a priority group for JCF? In other words, if it’s a community-building event, who benefits from the day’s programming or the organization’s programs and services on an ongoing basis? If it’s a conference, who are target participants and what will they learn?
  • Does the event organizer’s mission and/or the event’s theme/program align with JCF’s Community Needs Endowment Fund Grantmaking Priority, Aims, and Guidelines?
• Limitations
  • Grants for community-building events are limited to one per organization/group, per 12 month period.
  • All requests for grants for community-building events are subject to the availability of resources, with a concerted effort made to spread support across a range of events across Jackson County throughout the four quarters of the calendar year.
  • Current grantees are expected to acknowledge JCF as a grant funder at the event or in publications related to the event.
  • Requests for grants will be considered on a case-by-case basis as these types of events enable JCF to support organizations and events that may not be timely candidates for a formal grant round.

Ineligibility

• Requests will not be considered for:
  • Event planning costs, development costs, fundraising events, capital campaigns, or political campaigns.