Responsive New Grants

• General operating support (GOS) 
• Project support
• Capacity building support

These grants are generally awarded to address an agency's operating, programmatic or capacity building needs. The full application review process for responsive new grants -- from pre-application to grant award or decline -- takes seven months. Notification of award or decline is sent by email within ten working days of the Board of Directors meeting in October.  Upon notification of awards, grantees are asked to sign an agreement delineating the terms of condition of the grant and payment plan.

There is only one grantmaking cycle per year for Responsive New Grants from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven & the Valley Community Foundation. This is a joint application process that occurs online and requires that a pre-application be submitted as the first step. The pre-application deadline for 2012 is Friday, March 2, by 5pm.  Those organizations encouraged to take the second step of submitting a full application will be notified by the end of April.  Below is a description of the three types of responsive new grants.

General Operating Support (GOS) 

General operating support is defined as a grant made to further the general mission and work of an organization, rather than for a specific purpose or project. Only organizations that have been incorporated for at least five years AND have received a Responsive New Grant from either The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven or the Valley Community Foundation are eligible to apply for general operating support. General operating support gives nonprofits flexibility to direct their spending where it is needed most and allows greater focus on achieving an organization’s mission. Nonprofits demonstrating strong management and a good track record of accomplishments will be given priority consideration. Refer to the Guiding Principles for Nonprofits: Leadership, Evaluation and Sound Management.

Sample Pre-application Merit Score Sheet (used in the review process)

Project Support

Project support is defined as a grant made for a specific new or existing projects.

Sample Pre-application Merit Score Sheet (used in the review process)

Capacity Building Support

Capacity building support is defined as a grant for short term financial assistance to build the infrastructure of an organization for long term success.  Requests for capacity building include but are not limited to board development, strategic planning, evaluation and capital expenditures including equipment, building renovations or relocation. Only organizations that have been incorporated for at least five years AND have received a Responsive New Grant from either The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven or the Valley Community Foundation are eligible to apply for capacity building support.

Sample Pre-application Merit Score Sheet (used in the review process)

Read The Community Foundation's Guiding Principles for Nonprofits: Leadership, Evaluation and Sound Management 

For Full Applicants:

• Anti-Discrimination Policy
• Logic Model
• Budget Form Guide

The Community Foundation recognizes the importance of having clear, transparent and well-understood grant making processes that provide a 'level playing field' to all potential applicants and that are perceived by the community as fair and as being applied in an even-handed fashion.  At the same time, The Community Foundation recognizes the importance of being able to respond in a timely way to community needs and opportunities as they arise or to take a leadership position in important community activities, and understands that it needs to have processes that are sufficiently flexible to enable it to do so.  

In considering any request to respond to a grant application in advance of the next comprehensive round of new competitive grant making, The Foundation will weigh the relative importance of these fairness and responsiveness considerations in the particular circumstances presented.   In the exceptional circumstances in which the program or activity to be funded by the application could not or would not be undertaken or would otherwise be faced with an undue hardship if a decision was delayed until the date on which it would otherwise be considered, The Community Foundation may decide that a grant application merits expeditious consideration.  

Procedurally, when a pre-application is received requesting out-of-cycle consideration, The Foundation will in a timely fashion analyze and score the pre-application.  If, based on the score that it receives, the pre-application merits encouragement of a full application, the issue of whether or not to consider the full application on an accelerated out-of-cycle time frame will be referred to the appropriate Board committee, which will make the determination after receiving the recommendation of the staff.  In circumstances in which The Community Foundation decides to consider a grant off-cycle, the full application will be encouraged with a schedule established that will enable the full Board to receive the recommendation of the staff and to make a decision as to the grant in a timely fashion.

The Neighborhood Leadership Grant Program, formerly known as The Neighborhood Small Grant Program, works with resident leaders in New Haven neighborhoods to make our community a better place. Eligible grantseekers can be awarded a grant up to $3,000 and participate in Leadership Workshops designed to help residents of New Haven contribute to positive change in their neighborhood.

Applications for the 2012 grantmaking cycle are now being accepted and must be submitted by 12:00 pm on February 13, 2012. Apply now.

Donor advised funds enable a donor, or a committee established by the donor, to make recommendations regarding grant distributions from the fund. Examples of donor advised funds that currently accept applications are The Community Fund for Women & Girls and the Quinnipiac River Fund.

Any organization with an operating budget of $2 million or less is eligible to receive a grant provided through the Grants $5,000 and Under process, and no organization shall be eligible to receive a grant under this process more often than once in any period of two calendar years. Learn more

Applications for sponsorships are accepted year-round. Sponsorships are awarded only for events and may not exceed $2,500 per event. It is recommended that your organization submit a sponsorship request at least 60 days in advance of the event. Apply now

In addition to the grant opportunities from The Foundation (listed above), there is a Non-profit Philanthropic Resource Center (NPRC) at the New Haven Free Public Library. NPRC is a Cooperating Collection of the Foundation Center, which is the nation's leading authority on institutional philanthropy. NPRC is located on the first floor of the Main Library, 133 Elm Street, New Haven and is open during regular library hours. No appointment is necessary, but if you would like to arrange for an orientation of resources or instruction on one of the databases, please contact Seth Godfrey at nprc@nhfpl.org or (203) 946-7431.