The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne has launched its grants program to “improve the quality of life” for the citizens of Allen County.

The Community Foundation encourages requests that are developed in consultation with other agencies and planning groups, increase coordination and cooperation among agencies, and reduce unnecessary duplication of services.

Preference is given to funding requests that:

• Address priority community concerns;
• Encourage more effective use of community resources;
• Test or demonstrate new approaches and techniques in the solution of community problems;
• Are intended to strengthen the management capabilities of agencies; and
• Promote volunteer participation and citizen involvement in community affairs.

Characteristics of eligible programs may include, but are not limited to:

• May be located in a house of worship;
• Separate nonreligious programs from religious programs;
• May use the same room, but not at the same time, for religious and nonreligious programs;
• Are open to all, regardless of religious affiliation;
• Abstain from religious worship, instruction, or proselytization (recruitment); and
• Eliminate required statements of belief from participants.

Descriptions of previously funded programs include:

• A soup kitchen operated out of a church;
• Transitional housing for homeless families run by a faith-based organization;
• Case management for families in need at a faith-based social service agency;
• Emergency housing located in various churches; and
• A food bank serving the unemployed out of a faith-based ministry.

Funding Information

• Agency support requests are eligible for multi-year awards of up to $75,000 a year for three years, totaling no more than $225,000.
• Technology support requests are eligible for single year awards of up to $50,000.
• An agency can only apply for one grant, unrestricted agency support or technology support, in a 12-month period. Exceptions to the one grant per organization, per 12-month policy, may be made in cases when the organization requesting funding serves as the fiscal sponsor for another organization.

Eligibility Criteria

• Grants are made only to nonprofit organizations that have federal tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(3) public charity or to government agencies. The nonprofit or government agency must serve the Allen County area. No grants are made to individuals other than those made through designated scholarship funds.
• An agency can only apply for one grant, unrestricted agency support or technology support, in a 12-month period. Additionally, the foundation does not respond to annual appeals for support or to widely circulated, generalized funding requests. Although the Community Foundation does not award grants from the competitive process for religious purposes, grants for religious purposes may be awarded from other funds at the Community Foundation.

For more information, visit CFGFW.