Telluride Foundation: Community Grants

Welcome to the Telluride Foundation

We strive to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow with a focus on strengthening our robust community of nonprofits, serving our citizens and bolstering our region’s economic ecosystem; all to Make More Possible for everyone living and working in the Telluride region.

Community Grants

The Telluride Foundation’s Community Grants Program is our sustained effort to support local organizations that are addressing community issues consistent with our mission. Our annual competitive grants program focuses on measuring outcomes and developing financially healthy nonprofits.

Annual grants are awarded in seven focus areas:

• Early Childhood Development: increase child school readiness
  • Early Childhood Outcomes & Indicators
• Education: develop 21st century learning skills for children & adults
  • Education Outcomes & Indicators
• Environment & Animals: protect and preserve surrounding natural areas
  • Environment & Animals  Outcomes & Indicators
• Athletics: participation that leads to life skills
  • Athletics Outcomes & Indicators
• Arts and Culture: participatory and quality art experiences
  • Arts and Culture Outcomes & Indicators
• Health: encouraging and promoting life-long health
  • Health Outcomes & Indicators
• Human Service: a strong and inclusive safety net that builds opportunity
  • Human Service Outcomes & Indicators

Funding

Grants fall generally in the range of $500 to $40,000, depending on the amount available for distribution. First time applicants are encouraged to seek a modest request and may want to discuss their request with Foundation staff.

Eligibility

_ You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.
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The Telluride Foundation will consider grant applications from organizations meeting the following eligibility requirements:

Conduct activities and programs consistent with the Foundation’s mission of enriching the quality of life of the residents, visitors and workforce of the Telluride region.

Serve people living or working in the Foundation’s service area of San Miguel, Ouray, West Montrose counties and Rico. All organizations must document a strong case to meet “serving people that live and or work in the Foundation’s service area.”

Qualified as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Code, operating as a local government or subsidiary, or operating as a community organization with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor.

Applicants without 501(c)(3) status, but which are operating under an organization qualified as a 501(c)(3) organization, may apply separately if they have their own advisory board and have the written consent of the qualified organization. In that case, the application must contain a letter of agreement between the two organizations, which sets forth the responsibilities of each organization. An operating relationship is one in which the two organizations have an ongoing or intended relationship with each other. In no case shall the organization holding 501(c)(3) status charge the other organization a fee for acting as the fiscal agent of more than 10% of the total grant awarded. In that case, the application must contain a letter of agreement between the two organizations that sets forth the responsibilities of each. An operating relationship is one in which two organizations have an ongoing or intended relationship with each other.

In no case shall the organization holding the 501(c)(3) status charge the other organization a fee for acting as the fiscal agent of more than 8% of the total grant awarded.

Grants are awarded in seven focus areas: Arts & Culture, Early Childhood Development, Education, Athletics, Health, Human Services, and Environment & Animals.

Current Types of Support:

Grants may be submitted annually for general operating, existing and new programs and projects, conferences and seminars, consulting services, matching funds, technical assistance, and start-up funds.

One request from multiple organizations to support a collaborative project is also accepted.

Once a nonprofit is awarded a capital grant, they are not eligible to apply for additional capital funding for four years.

Although most grants are made for one-year time periods, the Grants Committee will consider multi-year requests.

Applicants are requested to take a year off from applying for Telluride Foundation grant support once every five years.

Foundation staff and the Grants Committee may make exceptions for emergency/hardship situations or for well-run organizations that are unable to meet best financial performance metrics due to size, service area, or constituents served.

Ineligibility

• The Foundation does not fund debt reduction or retiring past operating deficits, fellowships or other grants to individuals, loans, non-educational publications, litigation, political campaigns, operating support for organizations that conduct lobbying or political action campaigns, economic development, endowment funds, religious organizations for religious purposes, graduate and post-graduate research or candidates seeking political office.