Rapid Response: Advocacy Grant Program

The Colorado Health Foundation offers the Rapid Response: Advocacy Grant Program to support short-term advocacy initiatives that promote health equity in Colorado. There is no application deadline; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with decisions generally made within 45 days. Eligible organizations can focus on time-sensitive public policy advocacy addressing priorities such as access to quality healthcare, children's safety, and affordable housing. This grant empowers community-driven solutions to enhance health outcomes for underserved populations.

There is no application deadline or formal grant cycle for Advocacy Rapid Response Funding. Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.
All applications will undergo due diligence with a program officer assigned to the application. Rapid Response funding decisions will generally be made within 45 days of a proposal being submitted.
Background
Advocacy Rapid Response Funding aims to fund short-term advocacy initiatives (three-to-nine months in length) that ensure Coloradans’ interests and priorities are front and center in shaping policy decisions that will have long-term impacts on creating health equity in Colorado.
Our Rapid Response funding focuses on advocacy work that reflects the following priorities:

• Creating equity in access to and use of high-quality, comprehensive primary care
• Supporting children to move their bodies safely and conveniently on a daily basis
• Enhancing services and supports that foster social-emotional development and resiliency of young children
• Ensuring teens and young adults have access to the resources they need to support healthy minds
• Ensuring adults have access to local recovery resources that promote healthy minds and productive lives
• Ensuring Coloradans have enough affordable, nutritious food
• Supporting access to affordable, safe and high-quality housing options

There is no application deadline or formal grant cycle for Advocacy Rapid Response Funding. Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. All applications will undergo due diligence with a program officer assigned to the application. Rapid Response funding decisions will generally be made within 30 days of a proposal being submitted.
Proposed advocacy projects must reflect the Foundation’s cornerstones, as our work is grounded in serving Coloradans who have low income and historically have had less power or privilege, putting the creation of health equity at the center of everything we do, and being informed by the community and those we exist to serve.
Criteria
Advocacy Rapid Response grant applications should seek support for projects that meet the following criteria:

• Focus on time-sensitive opportunities for public policy advocacy:
• Proposed projects for rapid response funding may seek to:
• Promote a public policy change at the local, state and/or federal level related to one or more of the priorities listed below or;
• Protect or improve implementation of an existing local, state or federal policy related to one or more of the priorities listed below.
• Reflect one or more of the following priorities that aim to advance health equity in Colorado by:
• Creating equity in access to and use of high-quality, comprehensive primary care
• Supporting children to move their bodies safely and conveniently on a daily basis
• Enhancing services and supports that foster social-emotional development and resiliency of young children
• Ensuring teens and young adults have access to the resources they need to support healthy minds
• Ensuring adults have access to local recovery resources that promote healthy minds and productive lives
• Ensuring Coloradans have enough affordable, nutritious food
• Supporting access to affordable, safe and high-quality housing options
• Include each of the following features:
• Foundation Alignment: Aligns with and advances the Foundation’s cornerstones that are necessary to serve our mission.

Priority Alignment: Clearly articulates how activities undertaken at this time contribute to and advance one or more of the Foundation’s seven issue-focused priorities above that aim to advance health equity in Colorado.
Advocacy Focus: Focuses on advocacy related to public policy at the local, state and/or federal level. Activities that address individual behaviors or provide direct services will not receive consideration.
Urgency: Describe the intended impact on public policy at the local, state and/or federal level and the critical importance of timeliness within the current policy environment.
Community Support: Reflects the interests of community members most impacted by the current policy environment; this should go beyond demonstrating support of the sponsoring organization or group and instead show authentic engagement of and /or with community members.
Impact: Describe the intended impact on public policy at the local, state and/or federal level related to the above priorities, as well as how activities undertaken will contribute to bringing health in reach for communities experiencing health inequities.
Right Group: Reflect why this is an appropriate group to conduct this work, including expertise in the proposed approach, understanding of the issue, appropriateness for representing the community you are seeking to serve, and trust gained from the community, other advocates and policymakers.

Eligibility

The Foundation may provide Advocacy Rapid Response Funding to eligible organizations who are conducting time-sensitive advocacy projects, such as:Coalition building, management and facilitation
Messaging development and testing
Regulatory advocacyGenerally, we make grants to the following types of organizations:Colorado organizations classified as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3)
Colorado public agencies, including state and local governments
New or emerging organizations without 501(c)(3) status are permitted to apply through a tax-exempt organization acting as fiscal sponsor.

Ineligibility

We are not accepting applications for COVID-19-related activities and efforts through our Advocacy Rapid Response Funding.Advocacy Rapid Response Funding may not be used for the following:Bridge funding (to fill a funding gap) Previously planned initiatives Partisan political activitiesThe Foundation will not fund advocacy tactics that involve partisan political activities or any activities that are prohibited for 501(c)(3) organizations.We do not award grants to organizations that willfully discriminate against a particular class of individuals. To be eligible for funding organizations must abide by all applicable local, state, and federal anti-discrimination laws in hiring, employment practices and when providing services.Generally, the Foundation does not make grants to or for the following:Individuals Programs that require membership in a certain religion or advance a particular religious faith (faith-based organizations may be eligible for funding if they welcome and serve all members of the community regardless of religious faith, and provided that they do not require participation in activities that are specifically religious) For-profit organizations or programs operated by, or for the benefit of, for-profit organizations