We have updated our special grant opportunity: Resilient Communities Rolling Grant Cycle. This now incorporates all Out of Cycle requests for fall 2020 and it expands the previous COVID Rolling Grant Cycle.
Community Foundation offers 4 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) Resilient Communities Rolling Grant Cycle
4) 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)
In general, applications will be available on CommunityForce approximately 4 weeks before the deadline for each grant.
Each grant cycle application is reviewed by a community represented review team that will provide feedback for the applicant. 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 16, 2020, extensions may be requested
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: 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: For fall 2020 submit Out of Cycle Requests to the Resilient Communities Rolling Grant Cycle
For fall 2020 submit Out of Cycle Requests to the Resilient Communities Rolling Grant Cycle through CommunityForce
Out of Cycle Request are intended for applications which do not fit into any other cycle priorities. 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.
Application Deadline: This is not a traditional cycle with a hard end date.
Grants Range: to date, range: $200-$10,000 per request
Make requests through CommunityForce, an online grant management platform.
This cycle incorporates the Out of Cycle Requests (typically due in October) and expands the previous COVID Rolling Grant Cycle.
This is not a traditional cycle. There is no hard end date.
This cycle is designed for local nonprofits to share their emerging and changing needs as our community faces the ongoing challenges posed by COVID-19. We are reviewing submitted applications weekly to provide a nimble and timely response to requests. Furthermore, we also meet regularly with other local funders and are sharing COVID-related requests, working together to create a coordinated response.
In response to your request, grant support could come from one or more sources inside the Community Foundation, including the COVID-19 Response Fund, or from another funder. Support for COVID-19 needs should not impact the regular support that you receive from local funders. Please contact us if you have questions about this.
Funding Guidelines
* Need is defined broadly and might relate to: food/nutritional security, health and safety, childcare, access to healthcare, affordable housing, mental health, family services, equitable access to education, etc.
* The needs of your organizational capacity will also be considered.
* Populations served might be: Older adults, low-income households, homeless, People of color, rural communities, those with limited English proficiency, those with disabilities, those with other barriers to accessing services, etc.
* Support for programs, overhead, equipment, etc. are all allowable
* Requests are welcome, even if a prior grant from Community Foundation has been awarded this year, but previous reporting requirements need to be completed as per guidelines of that grant
* Your organization must be a 501(c)(3) organization or charitable organization able to receive tax-deductible contributions
* Funding must be in service to Tompkins County.
EXAMPLES of previous grants
Application Deadline:
Application Deadline:
Cesar Chavez
I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.