VCF - VT COVID-19 Response Fund

Overview

About the VT COVID-19 Response Fund

The Community Foundation established its VT COVID-19 Response Fund in March 2020 to encourage collective, coordinated grantmaking efforts that can quickly adapt to changing circumstances. Since that time, grants have gone to ensure vulnerable populations receive basic needs—something that is top of mind given recent spikes in cases. In September 2020, we announced five recovery initiatives that address key challenges magnified by the pandemic: Rural Entrepreneurship, Food System Resilience, Rural Connectivity, Learning in Transition, and Welcoming, Equitable, Anti-Racist Communities. Through focused grantmaking, our goal is to set the state on a pathway to more equity and greater resilience in the face of future disruption.

The Vermont Community Foundation established the VT COVID-19 Response Fund to support nonprofits that were particularly equipped to address community impacts of the spread of COVID-19 in Vermont.

\\The Community Foundation continues to support the recovery work initiated through the VT COVID-19 Response Fund. We are in the process of distributing the remaining monies from this fund, and the work will continue through other new and existing funds at the Foundation.

Working with state, federal, municipal, public health, and nonprofit leadership, the Community Foundation provided flexible resources to nonprofits working to address the most immediate public health and economic impacts of the disease, focusing on vulnerable populations and the service providers that support them.

The Fund offered donors the opportunity to be part of a coordinated response to the many effects of COVID-19 in Vermont.

The Community Foundation and its partners designed and implemented a dynamic grant-making strategy that was responsive to the rapidly changing situation.

* The Foundation established a VT COVID-19 Response Fund Advisory Committee. (Listed below.)
* The Foundation provided flexible, one-time general operating grants to local and regional organizations that were on the front lines of serving vulnerable populations. The type of grant or funding was adapted as needs evolved.
* To act quickly and remain flexible, there was not a formal application process for the VT COVID-19 Response Fund.
* Grants were made in multiple phases on a rolling basis, depending on the fundraising dollars that are received.

In Phase One, we looked to extend capacity and support the infrastructure of nonprofits positioned to meet the basic human needs of our most vulnerable populations, specifically elders, and families compelled to stay at home by illness, school, childcare and work closures.

Phase Two of grantmaking included six initiatives that built on the Community Foundation’s existing commitment to closing the opportunity gap and addressing deep demographic challenges faced by Vermont communities. Each recovery initiative was grounded in data, relied on network and capacity building, and focused on systemic change.

Eligibility

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