We have added *SPECIAL* COVID-19 Response Fund Grants, see details below
Community Foundation offers 3 grant cycles in 2020.
Please note a number of changes from previous years.
1) Library Grant Cycle (Eligible applicants are the 33 libraries within the Finger Lakes Library System in Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins counties)
2) Spring Grant Cycle (5 priorities: Aging, Animal Welfare, Environment, Women, and Youth)
3) Fall Grant Cycle is the (for methodology and processes to achieve community planning, capacity building, systemic change and solutions to complex challenges) (eligible applicants are limited to 2019 fall cycle grantees)
Once again, in 2020 the Out of Cycle Request will be received and reviewed during the Spring and Fall cycle timeframes.
In general, applications will be available on CommunityForce approximately 4 weeks before the deadline for each grant. You can find the CommunityForce link in each grant cycle section below. Applicants must provide services for a charitable purpose to residents of Tompkins County unless otherwise noted. Applicants must also be a not-for-profit organization 501(c)3 or have a fiscal sponsor.
Each grant cycle application is reviewed by a community represented review team that will provide feedback for the applicant. Each grant request will be shared with our many fund advisors who wish to see them. All grant cycle grants will require a written report at the end of the grant period. For each grant, Community Foundation will provide specific attribution language by fund, not by cycle. Scroll down for details on each cycle.
Application Deadline: For review team access to all applications
To Review Applications, Click Here: CommunityForce.
To inquire about serving as a review team member, please complete the Volunteer Information Form and return it to info@cftompkins.org.
Application Deadline: October 14, 2020
Grant Range: in response to applications received. $5,000-$20,000 (with eligibility to renew the grant in 2020)
Community Foundation is committed to fostering collaboration and strategic approaches to improve the quality of life for all in Tompkins County. This cycle prioritizes methodology and processes to achieve community planning, capacity building, systemic change and solutions to complex challenges.
Fall Grant Cycle applications and reports must be received through CommunityForce, our online grant management platform.
The Fall Grant Cycle makes grants from the Community Foundation’s Tompkins Today & Tomorrow Fund (board discretionary grants), from the Susan Christopherson Community Planning Fund, and from donor advised and field of interest funds.
2019 Fall Grant Cycle Guidelines
CLICK HERE for resources from September Q&A session for this cycle.
2017-18 Grantee Community Report Presentations
GUIDELINESApplication Deadline: has passed. All 2020 applicants have been notified. Applications for the 2021 grant cycle will be posted in late 2020.
Grant Range: $200-$16,000
Library Grant Cycle applications and reports must be received through CommunityForce, an online grant management platform.
Final reports for 2018 grants are due on August 23, 2019
This grant cycle was inspired by the Bernard Carl and Shirley Rosen Library Fund which seeks to promote genuine intellectual curiosity and a lifelong love of reading and learning, by promoting greater and easier access by youth to local libraries. Eligible applicants are the 33 public libraries in Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins counties, the 5 counties of the Finger Lakes Library System.
Application Deadline: This is not a traditional cycle with a hard end date.
Grants Range: maximum of $10,000 per request
Make requests through CommunityForce, an online grant management platform.
This is not a traditional cycle. There is no hard end date. Please update your requests as your needs and circumstances change.
The COVID-19 Response Fund will provide flexible resources to basic needs nonprofit organizations serving Tompkins County communities to address how they and their participants are impacted by this crisis. This is not intended to make grants directly to individuals nor provide emergency paid leave.
We are engaging in collaborative efforts with other local funders to deliver a coordinated philanthropic response. Requests to Community Foundation are shared with other local funders. Together our local philanthropic community is meeting regularly to facilitate getting more targeted resources into the community where they are needed most.
Application Deadline: has passed. All 2020 applicants have been notified. Applications for the 2021 grant cycle will be posted in late 2020.
Review the PowerPoint from the recent Q&A session for this cycle. CLICK HERE
Grants Range: $1,000 to $5,000
Spring Grant Cycle applications and must be received through CommunityForce, an online grant management platform.
The Spring Grant Cycle makes grants from the Howland Foundation (assets held at M & T Bank) and the Community Foundation’s donor advised and field of interest funds, especially our Children & Youth Fund and our Women’s Fund.
The Spring Grant Cycle supports the following areas:
• AGING (serving Tompkins County only)
• ANIMAL WELFARE (Serving Tompkins and/or Broome County)
• ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION (Serving Tompkins and/or Broome County)
• WOMEN (Serving Tompkins County only) Newly moved to the spring from the fall
• YOUTH (Serving Tompkins County only)
Lists of previous Spring Grant Cycle grantees are provided below as examples of the range of organizations and types of programs supported in the past.
Application Deadline: March deadline has now passed and applications are under consideration, next deadline is October 14, 2020
Out of Cycle applications and reports must be received through CommunityForce, our online grant management platform.
Out of Cycle Request are intended for applications which do not fit into any other cycle priorities. Out of Cycles Request will be received and reviewed during the Spring and Fall cycle timeframes with two application deadlines in 2020, March 16 and October 14.
Out of Cycle grantees will only be notified if a donor advisor selects the application to support. If an applicant does not hear from us, it means that no donor advisor has provided support. Applicants will not hear from us if there is no grant being made.
John Milton
I do believe we're all connected. I do believe in positive energy. I do believe in the power of prayer. I do believe in putting good out into the world. And I believe in taking care of each other.