Cultivating Health Grant Program

Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations, school districts, and towns

Geographic Scope: Foundation for Community Health's catchment area (17 communities in Connecticut and New York including Litchfield County, CT and Dutchess/Columbia counties, NY)

Grant Amounts: Vary depending on project scope; no minimum or maximum amounts specified; grants above $30,000 for capacity building are considered separately

Focus Areas

The foundation funds a range of initiatives:

• Nonprofits seeking support for capacity building or similar requests above $30,000:
  • Partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions
  • Strategic planning
  • Organization-wide evaluation
  • Financial infrastructure assessment, cash flow analysis, cost accounting
• Schools and towns:
  • Significantly increase capacity to support, build, and strengthen school/town-sponsored committees or boards
  • Support professional development or educational opportunities for school/town-sponsored committees or boards
  • Strengthen coordination between towns with shared goals and objectives
  • Support strategic communication efforts with the public
  • Must demonstrate how request improves living conditions required for health and well-being
• Community-level infrastructure initiatives:
  • Plan, create, or increase access to community-level infrastructure that improves health outcomes
  • Priority given to initiatives related to: food (access, procurement, distribution), housing, broadband, or initiatives contributing directly to community health access

Funding Philosophy:

• Grants may be unrestricted and multi-year when feasible
• Foundation works closely with prospective grantees
• Most applications approved due to clear communication about funding likelihood
• Two-stage application process minimizes unnecessary questions

Community Definition: Community-level resource that shapes conditions experienced by community members

Application Process

The Cultivating Health Grant Program utilizes a two-stage process for most funding requests.

Stage 1 – Concept/Idea

Applicants submit brief information including:

Organization Information:

• Contact information
• Organization status

Project Information:

• Project name
• Project period
• Project purpose (400 words or less): What the work entails and, if applicable, how the proposed project would improve living conditions required for health and well-being

Budget Information:

• Requested amount
• Estimated project budget (not exclusive to FCH funding request)
• Descriptive information about fund use (e.g., supplies, consultant, personnel)

Note: For approved Stage 1 requests at or below $15,000, the foundation will accept Stage 1 as the complete application.

Stage 2 – Full Proposal

FCH staff works with prospective grantees to determine application requirements. Requirements are right-sized based on project scope.

Minimum Requirements:

1. Overview of organization, long-range plans, and accomplishments most related to proposed project (if not publicly available)
2. Organization's budget or, for large organizations, department budget affiliated with project
3. Statement detailing demonstrated need for project, program, or initiative
4. Narrative describing the opportunity

Potential Supplemental Materials:

1. Logic model for the project addressing:
   • Project objectives
   • Activities
   • Anticipated outputs and outcomes
   • OR an existing work plan for the project
2. Timeline detailing key events, milestones, or activities during project period
3. Project's evaluation plan including:
   • Anticipated impact
   • How results will be used
4. Complete budget information accounting for all expenses and relevant revenue
5. Supplemental budgetary information:
   • Pending or anticipated funding requests
   • Plans to sustain project at conclusion of grant
6. For partner-dependent projects: Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and/or Scope of Work for each partner

Due Diligence Materials:
FCH will obtain copies of:

• Organization's 501(c)3 designation letter
• Recent Form 990
• (FCH staff will contact prospective grantees if these cannot be accessed through publicly available resources)

Alternative Application: If there is another proposal developed for another funder, the foundation will accept this in lieu of their application.

Timeline: Requests are typically approved within 2 weeks